We hit the range for a low-light shoot last evening. I learned a few interesting things. I was shooting my 858, there were a couple of AR's, an M14 and a Garand, too.
- The NEA Heavy Brake is a decent flash suppressor, too. It probably reduced the flash over a plain barrel by about 50% while the Hybrid cut it by 75%.
- The 10 o'clock position I had my light mounted with the barrel clamp was no good. It was fine for 25m with a reflective background (paper IDPA targets), but the glare off the front sight post made shooting farther or into blackness no good. I rotated it under to the 6 o'clock position like you are using and that worked much better. I had to engage the tail cap switch with a knuckle on my left hand.
- My 225 lumen Fenix light is only good to about 50m. I could engage targets 100m away, but only positively identify them to about 50m.
- The smoke from the Czech ammo is a real factor when shooting with a light. There was no wind and I had to wait a fair time for the smoke to clear so my light would illuminate downrange instead of the smoke cloud.
- My 858 with Hybrid flash suppressor had less flash than two different 16" ARs, one with a brake, and the other with an A2 flash suppressor.
- The OEM flash suppressor on a Norinco M14 is VERY effective. All we could see was a few small "sparks" come out the end.
- A .30-06 Garand throws a very nice fireball.
Next time I'll bring out my Vortex'd M14 and AR to see how well they work.
I'm going to paint the rear of the front sight on my 858 with matte black paint to see if that reduces the glare. I like the 10 o'clock light position much more than 6 o'clock.
- The NEA Heavy Brake is a decent flash suppressor, too. It probably reduced the flash over a plain barrel by about 50% while the Hybrid cut it by 75%.
- The 10 o'clock position I had my light mounted with the barrel clamp was no good. It was fine for 25m with a reflective background (paper IDPA targets), but the glare off the front sight post made shooting farther or into blackness no good. I rotated it under to the 6 o'clock position like you are using and that worked much better. I had to engage the tail cap switch with a knuckle on my left hand.
- My 225 lumen Fenix light is only good to about 50m. I could engage targets 100m away, but only positively identify them to about 50m.
- The smoke from the Czech ammo is a real factor when shooting with a light. There was no wind and I had to wait a fair time for the smoke to clear so my light would illuminate downrange instead of the smoke cloud.
- My 858 with Hybrid flash suppressor had less flash than two different 16" ARs, one with a brake, and the other with an A2 flash suppressor.
- The OEM flash suppressor on a Norinco M14 is VERY effective. All we could see was a few small "sparks" come out the end.
- A .30-06 Garand throws a very nice fireball.
Next time I'll bring out my Vortex'd M14 and AR to see how well they work.
I'm going to paint the rear of the front sight on my 858 with matte black paint to see if that reduces the glare. I like the 10 o'clock light position much more than 6 o'clock.
