Here of late, I have been trying out a TREX Sidecar with a Glock 17/RMR/X300. Its actually not all that bad but requires a bit more of a concealment garnet.

Thought about it for HD shotgun and decided not a good idea to give away location. Have handheld lights, one with red filter when minimal light is needed. On top of that light makes pistol larger more difficult to conceal. For HD purposes I'd be more inclined to spend the money on outside lighting around the home.

Every flashlight I have ever had has always been premium storage for dead batteries.

No.

Having started to set a range bag on fire with a weapon light, IWB could prove an interesting experience. Though I’m sure you feel the pain before you burst into flames. lol

I would say yes, especially given the availability of extremely small footprint lights.

The biggest arguments I hear folks make against are...
-You are muzzling people or things when using the light.
First a weapon light isn't a replacement for a handheld. You don't draw down on your car to find the keyhole or use it to see the menu in the dark restaurant.
Second even in the event you have a legitimate weapon need/use you do not have to point the light/gun directly at the target to provide enough light for target ID / situational awareness. Modern lights have plenty of power to "splash" off the ground or ceiling in a low/high ready type hold.

-The light will give away your position.
You are not going to be running around weapon light on non stop waving it around like a lighthouse beacon. You are going to likely flash and move etc. You don't need to leave it on and frankly in most cases don't want or need to.

My take is having enough light to positively identify a threat is NEVER a bad thing and if said light also deters the actions of said threat without needing to fire all the better. More tools in the tool box is not a bad thing just use the right tool for the job. Shadowy figure climbing in your broken bay window.....weapon light, looking to see if you spilled wine on on your tie in the dark restaurant.......probably not weapon light.....I mean YMMV but I am going with handheld there.

Okay, I have a question here for those that have a light on either their carry gun or just at home by the bed gun...

Where do you practice with this?

My gun club does not allow shooting after sun set... are there indoor ranges or even outdoor ranges at night that will let you turn the lights off?

This is a real question... if I was going to have a light on a gun I would want to practice using it in the dark.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
Here of late, I have been trying out a TREX Sidecar with a Glock 17/RMR/X300. Its actually not all that bad but requires a bit more of a concealment garnet.

That's a lot of gun for AWIB. More power to you, I could never get AWIB to work comfortably for me let alone a G17, although I did try with a 19.

Both my nightstand pistol and hd carbine have bright as hell lights on them. There I don't mind the bulk and I prefer momentary lighting of a wml in the event someone breaks in after dark. Since I have home field advantage and know every corner and nook I'll leave the lights off.
I like to keep my ccw as plain as I can. Iron sights and nothing on the rail.

My bedside pistol is a G19 Gen 5, it wears a TLR-7. I do carry it with the light sometimes, in a Black Rhino Concealment holster.

Not on my P365, but my nightstand gun has a light as does the truck gun.

+

I don’t wander out after dark too much so No. I do carry a pretty intense pocket light when I do. I reserve the WML for My HD gun..

At work yes, uniform G17 w/X300 and plainclothes G19 w/Tlr-7. Off duty, no.

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:
Okay, I have a question here for those that have a light on either their carry gun or just at home by the bed gun...

Where do you practice with this?

My gun club does not allow shooting after sun set... are there indoor ranges or even outdoor ranges at night that will let you turn the lights off?

This is a real question... if I was going to have a light on a gun I would want to practice using it in the dark.

I don’t use a WML on my carry pistol, but when I put one on a carbine for the house, I practiced at the house. Dry fire practice is something that most of don’t use enough, but with the light it’s really about what you can see and when, and handling the weapon and operating the light-target acquisition. Trigger time is not really the thing. At least not in my opinion.

My suggestion for dry (and live) practice with a WML is to spend time both on activation of the light as part of the draw AND (probably more importantly) using a handheld light and transitioning to WML.

Start with your handheld light on your "target" and then execute a one-hand draw, activate the WML, and stow the handheld (if you think that makes sense). Do the same thing but with the gun held down along your leg or wherever you think you might hold it while searching. Try the same thing while starting with a baseboard or umbrella light technique with the handheld, going to handheld on target, then to WML. Etc, etc, etc. This transition skill is arguably more important than just drawing the gun and activating the light because of the myriad potential scenarios where you would have your handheld out first.

Work the same thing in live fire if you can. It may look stupid, but if you have to do it in the daytime, do it in it daytime for live fire if you have to. You can work the low light portion dry if that's all you've got. In live fire, also work drills of handheld on threat, draw and fire, THEN activate WML. It's very conceivable that your threat will dictate the need to shoot immediately with the handheld light and the WML may only be a factor after you have fired initially.

I think it's very important to incorporate handheld techniques into your low light skills even if you have a WML. Shooting with a handheld is ultimately one-handed shooting and those skills need to be good. The WML, particularly on a handgun, is primarily a supplemental light. If you can get it into your fight, it's an asset.

Does this all sound complex? It is. Find a low light class. Sage Dynamics, Steve Fisher, Centrifuge Training, and many others offer stuff. Travel of you have to.

As for training time, I will from time to time just move through the house after dark with an unloaded gun and test out the "splash" of my WML. I found the switch on mine (Streamlight) to be intuitive and when picking up my gun, the extra weight and slight balance change lets me know right away its my WML equipped gun. I have test fired my WML gun to ensure its fully functional.

Yep, dry fire is the key.