Thinking about a Taclight.....

Zeus said:

I like the tac light but I have to tell ya, the worst waste of money I ever spent was on my laser. It's tacticool and looks like the movies but not only does the green laser I chose lead a trajectory right back to me but you aquire the target much quicker with two eyes open shooting with a red dot than the laser. Just my opionion. My laser sits in the closet and I never use it. I should have bought another light instead.

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I agree. I bought a green laser and it is basically a laser that acts as a flashlight. My walls are off-white and in total darkness when I hit one with my green laser it lights up the whole room. It does the same outside in closed quarters, like when I hit my wood fence from my porch with it. IT is really only useful for long-distance shots. It suffers in broad daylight just like red ones do. Get a red laser, if you get a laser at all, since you will probably only use it at night and its source signature is nowhere as bad as the green ones and it won't ruin your night adapted vision.

That said, I have an Insight Typhoon (it's a Blackhawk Gladius, literally since Insight makes and brands them for Blackhawk, without the mark-up) on my 556. I want that strobe function but only wish it was capable of being remotely switched. But, to get my thumb on the activation button from my foregrip I had to move it back enough that it put weight closer to the magwell. It's north of your price range but I highly recommend it. I got it NIB on eBay for ~$130. It's held on by a Viking Tactics offset mount (~$25), another product I highly recommend.

I and other friends have used Leapers and UTG products but not their lights. They are very quality products but I would say not as refined as their more expensive counterparts. I would recommend one of their lights based on past experience with their other products.

I use the Command Arms Accessories (CAA) weaponlight/flashlight mount ($22.49) and a Surefire G3 Nitrolon flashlight ($28 on sale) as a backup light on several of my rifles. Very reasonably priced setup, and if you bang it on something and break it, much easier to absorb the loss. And if you need a handheld light for any reason, you have one on the gun that can be in your hand with the push of a button. Great setup....

USMC buddy of mine cracked his Surefire vertical grip/weaponlight combo over in Asskrakistan on the door of a mud hut -- Surefire wouldn't cover it under warranty since it was "abuse" - he was out $350 and ticked off about it. He has gone to my backup setup as his primary now...as has most of his squad, after seeing how handy and tough the setup is.

I use Streamlight TLR-2s or TLR-1s as the primary weaponlight on my railed rifles, mounted on the lower (6 o'clock) rail next to a CAA vertical grip mounted behind the primary light. TLR-2s are on all of my nighttime/nightsight pistols (TLR-1s go on the daylight sights versions, because even in the day you may end up in some place that is dark). All my weapons are set up to be either daytime or nightime use - switch guns at sundown to go to night sights and lasers.... The red laser on the Streamlight is bright, but it doesn't light up a room at night (it will "sparkle" if you shine it on a highly polished brass door knob, though) -- very effective, especially if used intermittently....