Is there anyone out there besides Surefire and Streamlight worth looking at for WMLs for pistols? I know Olight makes some and they look more rugged then the Streamlights and they have a lever mounting system instead of a screw and a lower price point. Thoughts...recommendations?

Currently, I have a Surefire X300 Ultra light and a Streamlight TLR-4 light/laser. Both work well, but the Surefire's light is much more powerful.

There is something of a following for Inforce and Olight, but I have a hard time seeing them as viable players when Streamlight and Surefire are doing everything so well.

I'd really like to see a USB rechargable X300 or TLR-1, though.

There are others, but until the light has a good number of holsters available I don't see them as especially viable.

I did use some Viridian compact lights before CCW with WMLs became cool enough for Surefire / Streamlight to get onboard - they worked fine and I liked the auto on option when drawing from a holster but I only use XC1s, X300Us, and some TLR-6s with the smaller Glocks these days. I see the TLR-7A as a viable XC1 alternative with the new switches but I don't think I'll change as it'll be several hundred dollars for another 200 lumens.

The only other light I have used a fair bit is the Crimson Trace CMR-208 which I like very much but you will run into holster issues if that is what you are going to want. My lights are on HD guns and don't get holstered so this is less of an issue for me.

Surefire and Streamlight really are the best options IMO, although I really like the CMR-208 for a couple of reasons.

-Front loading single CR123. Much like the TLR-7 having a front loading battery is so convenient.

-Great beam/output although less then the TLR-7 but not much by the eye.

-Great mounting system. The ability to easily move the cross rail forward or back makes the light easy to mount on just about anything. I specifically got one to mount on an HK45C and it worked like a charm. I bought another because I liked the light.

-So far it has stood up to normal courses of fire out of 9mm and .45 caliber handguns. Now I haven't thrown it, frozen it, blow torched it, smothered it in peanut butter or drug it across broken glass but with my light use it has held up fine.

Chris

I have surefire Streamlight and olight. I run the x300 the most on my carry gun but when I have my BUG I run the olight PL mini 2 as it fits well and doesn't extend like my x300 would, past the muzzle. I'm happy with all of them and each has years of use. I think I like the tlr switch the best, the x300u I expect to be bomb proof and the olight is a great light with a very good output that is my jack of all trades. Ymmv of course.

With Streamlight upping there TLR-1 HL to 1,000 lu,ens and 20,0000 candela, i am not sure as far as out put if there is going to be a better choice for a handgun WML.

I am a X300 fan as well, but was disappointed when they released the 1000 lumen model but took almost 5000 candela away.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
There are others, but until the light has a good number of holsters available I don't see them as especially viable.

snip

This is why I've stuck with TLR1 and x300. Too much invested in holsters to change...not that there's anything out there qualitatively better.

I've got a couple of X300u lights, but have been moving to TLR-7 lights. Plenty of light for handgun ranges and a lot more compact. I like the new TLR-7A switches a lot.

I've not tried any of the other brands.

quote:

I am a X300 fan as well, but was disappointed when they released the 1000 lumen model but took almost 5000 candela away.

What does that mean? (Sorry, I'm not an optical physicist, although I've worked with a few.)

Candela is a measure of throw or beam tightness if you will. You can have a ton of lumens but a wide diffuse flood beam like say a Surefire tactician. This is great for over all situational awareness at a shorter distance.

You can take those same 800 lumens and tighten the beam into more of a spot. The spot will light a smaller area but will throw much farther away and may be more likely to temporarily blind an opponent. They also punch through photonic barriers better (street lights for example). The more candela the more intense the beam will appear to the eye.

Everybody is different in what they want. I prefer a wide room filling flood these days myself.

I always get in trouble when part of this discussion come up and I say thee is no way one should put a light on a gun... handgun or rifle... it violates every thing I've been trained about gun safety....

Go ahead and tell me I'm full of it... I don't plan to change..

Now with that said, I have a number of handguns with lasers on them....

Like cslinger, I also like the CT 208. I like the massive buttons on each side, can't miss it. Not sure about longevity though, I only have 100rds on it.

quote:

I always get in trouble when part of this discussion come up and I say thee is no way one should put a light on a gun... handgun or rifle... it violates every thing I've been trained about gun safety....

Nothing wrong with your belief. Food for thought though. Having a pistol or rifle at low ready and firing any tactical light up will provide more then enough light to ID a target in any kind of likely defensive encounter. So you are able to utilize the weapon mounted light without pointing the weapon immediately at the target.

quote:

Like cslinger, I also like the CT 208. I like the massive buttons on each side, can't miss it. Not sure about longevity though, I only have 100rds on it.

I have 3 in play at this point. 1 on a P30, 1 on a Beretta 92 and 1 on an HK45C. So a variety of types and calibers and I have had no problems at all to this point.

I treat it akin to a spare tire. You have AAA, but when you are out of cell phone range, you have it. No rule you can't have a flashlight, but it's always nice to know you have one already attached.

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:
I always get in trouble when part of this discussion come up and I say thee is no way one should put a light on a gun... handgun or rifle... it violates every thing I've been trained about gun safety....

....

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:
I always get in trouble when part of this discussion come up and I say thee is no way one should put a light on a gun... handgun or rifle... it violates every thing I've been trained about gun safety....

Go ahead and tell me I'm full of it... I don't plan to change..

Now with that said, I have a number of handguns with lasers on them....

You do you. But if you wanna keep touching the hot stove, you can keep losing this argument. That’s not even what this thread is about, anyway. Maybe start your own where you get dogpiled instead of threadshitting this one?

Prime example of what’s being talked about in this thread:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...0601935/m/9660060564


On topic, for the price point, reliability, customer service, and holster options, it’s really hard for me to want to look outside of the Streamlight TLR or Surefire X300 series. Surefire was slightly out of the budget, and so I have two Streamlight TLR-1 HL’s. They have their known weak spots, but for a known quantity at the price point, I’m happy with them.

I liked and carried Olight flashlights for several years, but they eventually died and even though I got an RMA to send both of them in, I decided I was kinda over it. Various design and feature quibbles I didn’t feel like dealing with. Two different generations of the same light, one rechargeable, both with awful battery life. Didn’t make me want to try one of their weapon lights.