Flashlights on a shotgun

Pants on head. "Need a WML"...none of us. Not a one of us requires it. The trenches of 1917 Europe were cleared without so much as one wml. The odds of one of us having to discern between friendly and armed foe...is next to zero. It's just a cool, utilitarian thing to bolt to a shotgun is all. I'm sorry my Olight touched you in the no-no place where your bathing suit normally covers.

I'll inform my $250 dollar flashlight that it is to leave you alone, okay?
 
Tried all the cheaper lights and I only trust Surefire now. Scout lights are the best but expensive. I have used a “g2x tactical” in a pair of cheap 1” scope rings on a couple guns for several years with no issues. They have a shock isolated bezel (spring in the front of the battery compartment). When I get a budget scope I always get better rings for it so I end up with a bunch of cheap rings and a g2x body fits in them perfectly, so you don’t need to spend money on a mount. You need make sure you get the “tactical” model though because they have a few different types of tail cap switches with different modes. The ones I have been using (model E191492 600 Lumens) have a single brightness, no flashing modes or anything like that just press for momentary, click for constant and you have to push them a lot further than a regular g2x tail cap to activate the constant. For about 120 bucks that’s a better option to me than any stream light or Olight or anything else.

Or get a m600
 
So I've got the streamlight hlx on my 590a1, fantastic light great value for the money especially with the pressure pad and everything ready to of out of the box. (Not the biggest fan of the wires as well, so the pads don't get used much)

The M600 DF scout is a great light as well (very floody beam) bit more of a neutral / warm vs the cool white light from the hlx. I find the hlx beam pushes further and probably has more candela as it has a tighter hotspot then the m600 but not so much that it is blinding indoors. (The new m640 turbos are candela monsters and probably not the best for shotgun imo).

Buddy has an olight on the maverick and it runs just fine - no issues what so ever.(In the photo I mounted up my surefire x300 just to give an idea for the footprint with a pistol light

Honestly pick whichever one you like the most in terms of features - they are all pretty rugged.

This is one of the better light torture test videos out there...

The 18650 battery lights have the best battery capacity, no experience with the smaller ones they now have. The rechargeable cr123s from surefire only have around the 1/3 of the capacity as regular cr123s fyi.



Edit: he does a rifle light comparison as well.


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^what this guy said about batteries is correct. If you go 18650 you have to have a charger that can do it or it has to have an integrated usb charger and in my opinion that’s just one more thing to go wrong eventually. Plus I like swapable batteries in a flashlight so I can carry spares. I only tend to prefer plug in rechargable for lanterns and work lights and that kind of thing.

I use fenix rechargeable 123’s in my surefires. The reason the Surefire rechargeables don’t last long is they are lifepo4 battery chemistry instead of regular old lithium ion. They do that because the slightly higher voltage of lithium ion could damage some lights. The fenix rechargeables last as long as the primary (single use throw away) and I haven’t had any issues with the higher voltage yet.
 
Too teu
Ungrateful said:
^what this guy said about batteries is correct. If you go 18650 you have to have a charger that can do it or it has to have an integrated usb charger and in my opinion that’s just one more thing to go wrong eventually. Plus I like swapable batteries in a flashlight so I can carry spares. I only tend to prefer plug in rechargable for lanterns and work lights and that kind of thing.

I use fenix rechargeable 123’s in my surefires. The reason the Surefire rechargeables don’t last long is they are lifepo4 battery chemistry instead of regular old lithium ion. They do that because the slightly higher voltage of lithium ion could damage some lights. The fenix rechargeables last as long as the primary (single use throw away) and I haven’t had any issues with the higher voltage yet.
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Too true on the higher voltage issue; I had a bulb blown out on an old SF light due fo using higher voltage.
 
I think i have settled to go with the surefire 640DF....what everyone's opinion on the Turbo vs non Turbo pro?
This will mostly be for the woods, so my thinking is the Turbo would be better to be able to see further, however the flood pattern of the non Turbo seems like it may also have advantages....decisions , decisions 😆
 
Cteve said:
I think i have settled to go with the surefire 640DF....what everyone's opinion on the Turbo vs non Turbo pro?
This will mostly be for the woods, so my thinking is the Turbo would be better to be able to see further, however the flood pattern of the non Turbo seems like it may also have advantages....decisions , decisions 😆
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Good choice with SF. Can’t speak to the difference but I’m sure you can find a few good video reviews on YouTube.
 
I've got both, if I have the time tonight I can take some side by side beam patterns at various ranges inside and outside. The turbo is like 90k candela and just throws the light. Super tight hotspot. I'll toss in the streamlight (around 20k candela I think for the older one, newer ones are 40-50k candela I think) and the Modlight okw I think are around 65-75k I believe, have that as well for the comparison.

You can always create flood from high candela lights at close range - bouncing off objects to illuminate the surounding area but can't use flood to get candela.... Big downside to the high candela at close range is the blinding hotspot potential. But for distance that m640df turbo is awesome.
 
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You can't go wrong with a Surefire. There have been other lights made for 12 gauge shotguns but they were specialized to specific makes of pumps, replacing the charging handle. I currently have a Streamlight handgun light on my Benelli semi, but I have no faith it will survive a lot of that gauge of shooting. If I was relying on being able to light up the night with great reach for safe shooting for some reason, working as a camping guide in bear country for instance, I would get a Surefire. And the guests would be horrified, shocked, appalled, and outraged.
 
I just mounted a Streamlight on my pump 12. I am going to run some slugs and buckshot through it tomorrow weather permitting. This is the first personal weapon I have mounted a light on. All of the Streamlights on our carbines at work have never died but 5.56 recoil is nothing compared to 12 gauge. I will let you know if I run into any issues.
 
Ungrateful said:
^what this guy said about batteries is correct. If you go 18650 you have to have a charger that can do it or it has to have an integrated usb charger and in my opinion that’s just one more thing to go wrong eventually. Plus I like swapable batteries in a flashlight so I can carry spares. I only tend to prefer plug in rechargable for lanterns and work lights and that kind of thing.

I use fenix rechargeable 123’s in my surefires. The reason the Surefire rechargeables don’t last long is they are lifepo4 battery chemistry instead of regular old lithium ion. They do that because the slightly higher voltage of lithium ion could damage some lights. The fenix rechargeables last as long as the primary (single use throw away) and I haven’t had any issues with the higher voltage yet.
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But you can get free 18650 batteries by scavenging laptop and other battery packs. They are filled with 18650s.

Make friends with IT guys. They often have stacks of discarded laptops.

I have around 30 scavenged 18650s so I have stadardized on that format for most of my lights.
 
Painkillers said:
Pants on head. "Need a WML"...none of us. Not a one of us requires it. The trenches of 1917 Europe were cleared without so much as one wml. The odds of one of us having to discern between friendly and armed foe...is next to zero. It's just a cool, utilitarian thing to bolt to a shotgun is all. I'm sorry my Olight touched you in the no-no place where your bathing suit normally covers.

I'll inform my $250 dollar flashlight that it is to leave you alone, okay?
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I just came back from a trip in the Caribou, spent 2 weeks sleeping outside in a tent in grizzly country. This is a pretty good example of needing a WML.
 
Streamlight and Surefire on all my work guns.
At home it’s a mix of streamlight, Olight and even an AliExpress fake Surefire.

Have never had a single light fail beyond battery running low. Thousands of rounds on the home guns, Hundreds on the work guns. My personal opinion? It comes down to preference and budget and what it’s being used for.
 
I am assuming this is your home defence shotgun. If that is the case, buy a full size rifle flashlight (Surefire, modlite, streamlight, etc.). You dont want your WML to fail, when things go bump in the night.
 
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