I run 12:00 because I like being able to run a light as long as I have muzzle and optic line of sight (since the light is right in between there), and it lets me run a mirrored ambi setup with momentary switch hardware (X300, M300/X600 w/ just tailcap) for shooting in a variety of positions and over barriers, this works great for me. The offset 1:30 and 10:30 positions would make sense if I needed to run a tube light around a FSP, but the X300 lets me run the 12:00 setup really comfortably and still have the fixed front sight, so there's my answer on that.
If you're worried about heat affecting the function of a quality weaponlight, you'd need to be wearing fricking oven mitts before it's comfortable to drive that gun in the first place using a FF handguard, or any mounting solution that isn't somewhat mickey mouse. If you have some partly dead batteries and budget/curiosity to replace them, just leave the light on for 15 minutes - you'd be amazed how hot they get themselves without affecting function. For visibility, excess burnt powder is an issue, but in the time it takes for that to accumulate in the air to be noticeable, it's not exactly a directed or confined cloud of burnt gas, so light placement doesn't mitigate anything for that. Setting up a fighting gun on the assumption that you'll have good visibility and only be fighting in clean clear air is silly, and anybody with the luxury of clouding themselves in with a couple magazines of burnt powder should realize that's an inconvenience, not something to drive decision making.
The reason some instructors run the 6:00 light is to run a support hand forward grip and thumb-over placement and leave room for a laser system on a suppressed carbine that works best with that setup. It isn't necessary to run high end kit, but I prefer to (M300's); the smarter value setup for that is running the VTAC 3V L4 on an aftermarket mount as a poor man's scout light; mostly the SF Executive based lights can work with a 12:00 placed LDI DBAL-I2 and I can have all my electronic sighting aids mounted at 12:00 on the carbine and be maximally ambi with minimal snag risk on gear/vehicles/other junk.
The high dollar baller solution - C4 FSP12" handguard with a 12:00 TLR or X300. This setup rocks, works well from primary and support hand. Alternatively, free floated long handguard (11-13.5") and running the same approximate template (See LAV promo pics from BCM). The TLR works great on those, even in front of a DD Fixed Front sight.
Last edited by TehLlama; 07-29-14 at 20:53.
عندما تصبح الأسلحة محظورة, قد يملكون حظرون عندهم فقط
کله چی سلاح منع شوی دی، یوازي غلوونکۍ یی به درلود
Semper Fi
"Being able to do the basics, on demand, takes practice. " - Sinister
Bookmarks