Originally Posted by
KF5MLT
El Cid, thanks for challenging me with a damned good question. The Surefire M300A is my top choice, but I'm constrained by current budget and other priorities (mags, ammo, FAK, hydration, everything that's just as important for the gun but doesn't have a picatinny rail mount) for the theater I see this carbine in... Life situation has done a total 180 since I began putting it together.
I've toyed around with a Streamlight TLR-3 on it. It works well enough if I need it, but I'd rather keep it on the handgun. It's just easier to go check out what the dog is barking this time with a handgun in my neighborhood. I don't need to label myself with the local PD as "that guy" while the nosey neighbors repeatedly call the cops for me "brandishing" (the beholder needs new eyes, yes?)… Without opening up the invitation for a total handgun vs carbine vs shotgun for home defense tangent, I've weighed the pros and cons for myself, and I have all options on hot standby, and yes, opening and closing the safe every time I get home or leave is a PITA.
Let's narrow down what I meant by "fighting rifle". I envision this to be a minute man musket. It's what I'm going to grab when I'm planning a road trip. It's what I'm going to grab when it's time to head to the family friend's farm on the other side of the state. Most importantly, it's what I'm going to grab when Paul Revere rides through my local neighborhood.
As previously alluded, I have a shotgun on home defense duty. Admittedly, it needs some illumination capability on it too, but that's getting on another tangent. In the interim, I have the good old fashioned pistol with a mounted light and a hand light right there beside the shotgun at the ready. I love options. If I need the firepower and the power is running to the numerous night lights in the house, we're good to go. If I need the lumens, I grab the light and handgun-with-light. More often than not, I'm going to be checking out a noise to see if it's a problem rather than knowing a problem is there.
If I were to dedicate this carbine to home defense, the ACOG would come off, the rear sight would go up, and the TLR-3 would go on. There's also the option of throwing an Eotech on there which is hanging out in the safe, waiting on me to decide what to do with it. I like the Eotech a lot, but I hate the idea of having to choose between turning the damn thing on when trouble comes or replacing the battery often and just leaving it on at night. There are answers for this too, but these answers raise more questions (such as repeat zero toggling between the two optics, blah blah blah).
El Cid, if you were in that situation, what would you do with a light? I'd like to hear your opinion. Thanks again.
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