Why Pistol Light Is So Important, by Jay Chambers

Having a light on a home defense weapon is a must-have. Its not a matter of opinion, either. Jay Chambers from Minuteman Review has a great primer on it. Positive Identification, or PID, of your target is not only common sense but more importantly will help to keep you out of trouble when the dust settles after the shot- the inevitable wrongful death lawsuit even if you’re 100% in the right. And all of this underscores the need for training. What’s your schedule look like? -NCS


We live in a world where nothing is certain anymore. So, a life-threatening situation could occur at any moment. It doesn’t ask whether you’re prepared or unprepared – it just comes over without calling first. Just like that, you may find yourself in a very dangerous situation. And since most crimes happen at night, even if you have a gun for self-defense, it might not be that useful when it’s dark. Shooting in the dark when you cannot spot the target could end up badly for you.

But all this could change if you purchase a pistol light. Why exactly is it so important to have a pistol light? Let’s find out!

1. House Protection

Of course, a pistol light could be just perfect when it comes to home defense. If you use a carry pistol for protection, then a pistol light would only increase your safety. When a perpetrator enters your house, you may not have time to switch on the lights, or you may not want to do it out of fear of a dangerous situation. As such, having a mounted light in these situations is very useful.

2. You’d Have a Convenient Extra Carry

Your gun is not the only thing in your arsenal that could help with self-defense in a dangerous situation. In fact, many people who conceal carry have many other useful things with themselves. These include an extra mag or a knife.

So, a pistol light would be another item added to your self-defense arsenal. It can be easily mounted to your weapon, and it’s very easy to carry around. Unlike a handheld light, this one is more convenient, and it allows you to use it immediately.

3. Better Visibility

Probably the most important aspect of pistol lights is the fact that they enable you to identify targets at night. You can encounter a self-defense situation in the middle of the night, and it could occur before you get a chance to turn on the lights. Not only would it be dangerous for yourself to shoot blindly out of fear, but it would not be wise to do it since you don’t know for sure who the target is.

Luckily, with a pistol light, it will be easier to identify the target and quickly decide whether to shoot or not. If it’s one of your family members trying to surprise you, or a roommate coming home earlier, you wouldn’t want to shoot them.

In addition, it will give you better aim in the event it’s an actual intruder trying to steal from your house. While it would be difficult to aim in the dark, a mounted pistol light will make sure you can aim at the right spot. Visibility makes a difference for sure, and if you use a model such as the Streamlight TLR-3, you can get as much as 125 lumens of white light. That helps identify the target and make sure you are shooting only when it matters. Besides, the TLR-3 model is pretty small and will be easy to use on a concealed carry gun while maintaining comfort.

4. Blinding Your Attacker

If you’ve ever had someone pointing a flashlight at you as a joke, then you surely know how annoying it can be. It blinds you and you’re unable to see properly for a couple of seconds, even a few minutes. Well, wouldn’t that be a nice defense against a possible home invader? You never know if the attacker carries weapons as well, so it’s best to make sure they are unable to use them if anything. With a pistol light, you can blind your attacker and get an advance over him/her. During those few seconds when the person is disoriented, you can tell whether they are a stranger or someone from your group of friends or family.

Then, if necessary, you can shoot at the target.

5. It Adds Recoil Counterweight

Another cool thing about the pistol light is that it adds recoil counterweight. Because it’s mounted on your gun, it will be able to reduce the muzzle climb of the weapon. As a result, you will be able to make faster follow up shots. It is similar to the way counterweights are sometimes added to pistols by competitive shooters, so they can add recoil counterweight.

If you want to shoot at the threat more accurately, then it’s best to consider a pistol light.

6. Better than a Hand-Held Light

When looking for a light for your concealed carry, you have two options – a handheld light and a mounted one. Well, the thing with the handheld one is that, obviously, you have to be the one holding it – you cannot mount it on your weapon. But it’s more difficult than you think, because you will have to use one hand for the light, and the other for the weapon. As such, you will only be able to make a one-handed shot. Just try out shooting with a handheld light at one point, and you’ll see just how challenging it can be.

Conversely, a mounted light is a much better option because it will not require you to hold it. It will stay on your handgun and will allow you to make two-handed shots. In addition, it will add more accuracy and speed when you try to shoot.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, owning a pistol light could help you with self-defense and make it easier for you to deal with a possible attacker. Aside from allowing you to see them properly and aim better, it can also be used to blind the attacker before you make a move. At the same time, it lets you see if the person is actually an attacker or someone close to you. So, make sure you have a pistol light in your arsenal.

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About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .

8 Comments

  1. Matt Bracken April 21, 2020 at 08:20

    I have a light mounted on my bedroom gun for go-to at night. And I take one with me on road trips etc.
    But if you only have a handheld light, you can do a nice job with it as well. With my pistol in my right hand extended, I hold my light in my left hand, thumb to the rear to control the switch, light to the front through my fingers. I hold the light at a comfortable shoulder level but out ahead of my face. This way, my sights are illuminated by the side-shine for accurate shots at good distances outside. (Everybody should be a good shot with one hand anyway, correct? Everybody should practice one hand shooting, left and right.)

    Inside the house, distances are close, and the pistol mounted sight is all you need, just aiming over the slide, even if sights are not clearly visible. But outside at greater distances (50+ feet) the light held in the off-hand a bit out to the side allows you to clearly use your sights for more accuracy. This is my experience, YMMV.

    Another note while on the subject of using weapon lights at night: if doing a lot of shooting from a carbine while using a light on your long gun, you will make enough smoke that your light will cause this cloud (that you don’t even notice during the day) to kind of shine back at you. It can actually be hard to see your target out there 50 to 100 feet or more away due to the smoke cloud being lit up. Of course, this also depends on your ammo, but the point is, the smoke you don’t even see in daytime becomes an issue in the dark when your bright tactical light causes it to shine. If possible, you might have to move laterally while firing, to keep your carbine light in clear air and avoid lighting up that cloud. It’s also a good idea to be moving while shooting anyway.

    The point is to practice under all conditions to discover all the weird stuff that can happen under unusual circumstances.
    Another night tip: clear shooting glasses! Nothing sucks like getting poked in the eye by a sharp branch at night.

  2. Skillet April 21, 2020 at 09:45

    These are great tips for night ops. Being rudely awakened from a deep sleep by an intruder would be very disorienting. You could be groggy, scared, confused, and have an insane heart rate. I don’t think I could even find a light switch like that, nor would I want to with dilated pupils.
    I like Viridian light/laser attachments for handguns. You can set up flood light, strobe, and/or a green laser to turn on when activated- your choice. I keep mine on low or medium flood light and blinking green laser. I can illuminate a potential threat and not think too much about my aim in my state of confusion.
    Thanks for the great ideas!

  3. Chris April 21, 2020 at 09:49

    You need a hand held light too. You don’t point your gun at something you are unwilling to shoot. You need light to determine if the object you see is shootable. Your gun mounted light can’t do that without pointing the gun at the object. So you need another light.

    • NC Scout April 21, 2020 at 11:59

      I carry a slim streamlight that uses AAA batteries on my non-firing side for this very reason. Incidentally enough, it also makes a good impact tool.

  4. Jon April 21, 2020 at 11:35

    Thought provoking article.

    Light is important. A flashlight is essential EDC tool. I use my flashlight everyday, as well as my small knife. It’s good to have both available and they’re more likely to be used than OC spray or a pistol. There are lots of good single or two cell high output pocket lights available right now. Pick one from a reliable brand (Streamlight, 4Sevens, Olight, Surefire…etc) and learn to use it.

    I’ve been using weapon mounted lights on long guns since the long past days when we zip tied mag lights to our M16A2s. Indispensable tools for indoor work. Illuminating corners, target ID, etc. I prefer mounting them at 11 o’clock. Don’t care for 6 or 12 o’clock mounting. YMMV. A light on your long Gun is a great addition. Call it essential kit.

    I have a love-hate relationship with lights mounted on handguns. Used both. Now prefer a handheld light only. There are good reasons for either option. Just have a light.

    Here’s our routine. Pistol and light carried all day. At night, pistol goes into a table top quick access safe and light goes on top of safe. Both available. Pistol secured from unauthorized access. It’s a technique. Yours may differ.

    • NC Scout April 21, 2020 at 12:04

      The hose clamp Maglight….old school brother. An old 1SG and mentor / good friend of mine recalled the days of that back when we were getting first gen surefires on the M4 rails.

      Not long after than Vltor came out with their offset mount and I stuffed a Surefire G2 in there, keeping it at the 11 so I could index the button with my left thumb. I still run it like that.

      Your comment brought back some good memories man. Thanks. :)

  5. Veritas April 21, 2020 at 15:16

    Good stuff, I am a big fan of weapon mounted lights. Go shoot a low light course with both a WML and a handheld light and see which you prefer after, your results may very. I found keeping a good two handed grip is difficult with a Surefire G2X in hand, it can be done but a WML doesn’t change my grip in any meaningful way. The con given is you will be pointing your gun at things you want to shine a light on. This is partially true but you also learn ways to use the spread and splash to mitigate this, also I am able to keep my finger off the trigger and not shoot everything I muzzle. My last comment about getting quality training around using a tactical light (and I use that term to describe a light aiding you to fight, I don’t care if its your son’s Snoopy flashlight) is there are a ton of considerations and techniques you wouldn’t discover without instruction. Go get it, your day time classes haven’t prepared you as well as you think for a low light fight.

  6. Anonymous April 21, 2020 at 21:23

    5

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