Any of you ever try one of these?SUREFIRE XC1 ULTRA COMPACT 300 LUMEN LED HANDGUN LIGHT - XC1-B
Any of you ever try one of these?SUREFIRE XC1 ULTRA COMPACT 300 LUMEN LED HANDGUN LIGHT - XC1-B
Earth has always been a dangerous place to live, be prepared!
Good evening,
I have a few friends who have been running the X series Surefires in this style for a few years. The biggest benefit it offers is being ambidextrous, low profile, and having a quick, easy to mount, and cost effective light setup on their carbines.
From shooting with them, I have seen 3 of the A-style mount X-series Surefires break. One was when racked against the A frame of a vehicle during an IAD, one physically shot loose off of the picatinny mount (I chalk this up to his likely failure to use loctite), and the third was one shearing off of the mount during a 2-gun match when he slammed it into the port in the concrete wall we were shooting through on that stage.
In terms of reliability, I have not heard of an X series light dying on a carbine from use.
In terms of performance of the lights, this is just my opinion, but the key difference between say the X300 and a Scout is how the beam is optimized. The X300 has a very wide spill and does not throw anywhere near as far as a Scout. Yes, I can physically see a target at 100 yards (easily) with the X300U, but I can not PID their hands or facial features. With my 500 lumen Scout, I can confidently PID hands easily at 75 yards and could possibly stretch that out to 90/100. I can throw light out to around the 150ish mark sufficient enough to say "Yep, that's a dude".
Personally, I would consider that to be a fight best done under NODs. But that's an entirely different topic.
In real world, the biggest benefit of the Scout is that it throws a tight beam pretty far. I've shot down hallways that were 60-70 yards long and I had a hot spot thrown all the way down. The farthest I have had to hold someone down under white light was approximately 50ish yards while we detained them. I have no doubt I could have done the same with an X300U, but the Scout was like the light of God coming down on him.
The X300U will illuminate a target at that distance, but it is not optimized for it. It throws a wide beam that spills, as opposed to a Scout type light that will throw a tighter focused beam farther. I think I've said this already.
The M600 Ultra on this carbine was bought the first day they launched and went downrange on my last deployment and has probably 30k rounds under its belt between being on my service and personal rifles. It's been a trooper, and I love it. Mounted at the 1:30 (I guess?) with an Arisaka mount, I have it in a position that does not interfere with my front sight placement or grip on the rifle. Mounted where it is, I have no shadow thrown in my line of sight. Additionally, I've attached a pic of my rifle setup when I was dealing with the shorter KAC rail that required my light to be closer to the receiver. I found that, even when in the low offset position, barrel shadow was a non-issue and I never had a problem with it obscuring my line of sight.
I apologize for only having an iPotato to take pics with, but I hope these are somewhat helpful. The Scout is probably halfway through its current battery life, but it should give an idea about how well it keeps the beam tight. You'll notice that positioned there with that particular flash hider, I have no carbon deposited on the bezel of the light and it fully illuminates my LOS.
As a side note, while I have only heard of the X300 rocker levers breaking from forum users, the only one I've broken in the like 10 years I've had one is on a DG switch that I struck a role player in the face mask with during force on force training a while back. He got a little too carried away with his strikes and I racked him in the face. Broke off the lever, but it still works.
TL;DR- there is nothing particularly wrong with mounting a pistol light on a rifle, but if you do, look into any of the more robust mounting options out there (I believe Unity Tactical sell a shroud like thing for the X series that protects the levers? I'm sure other guys on the forum will be able to help you out with that). Additionally, just know that most pistol lights are optimized for use on a pistol, and with the $206 I just paid for one of the new 1,000 lumen M600 Ultras, I would personally go with a light that was purpose built for use on a rifle. With a good mount like the Arisaka and proper placement, any concerns you may have with ergonomics or barrel shadow will be negated.
Good luck to you.
The Scout w Arisaka, detailing its profile on the handguard.
FOV through optic with light in use. Note the barrel shadow is very minimal at offset far out of LOS.
Outside shot of the Scout in use. Fence is 30-35 yards away, batteries are at best halfway charged.
The same light when on a 7" KAC rail. Even offset down low, I never had an issue with barrel shadow obscuring my LOS.
Pic of the broken lever. The only thing I have ever broken on an X series light, and its technically a DG switch. Great lights.
^^ That's an incredible post above, and one that could be a sticky on it's own. I can't imagine a better answer or reply than that one. Thanks for posting!
GTF425 beat me to it. In general terms, pistol lights throw wide, but 'tube' lights (think SF Fury series) throw long and tight. There's some variation out there, but that's the gist of it.
Where violence is the local language, be fluent.
Great thing about a front sight, all you need to see is the sight post.
My solution is X300/X300Vs on RDS ARs, M300 Scouts on LPV ARs.
I would go M600 on LPV ARs but it’s really hard to get a >75-100 yard shot where I am, even less so a realistic scenario where I would be shooting in the dark without NVDs. So I choose the more compact M300 and X300 as my use will be <50 yards, if not much closer.
Last edited by RHINOWSO; 01-04-19 at 00:05.
OP,
You’ve received some good info here. I too was once a pistol light “guy” on ARs but never liked how I had to adjust my support hand grip for activation. This adjustment for activation was not significant but still took time and effort. I now run Streamlight Pro tac rail mount HL-X with cloud defense for tape switch. I don’t have to move my support hand for activation now. Just my two cents
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Like GTF said, pistol lights are floodier, rifle lights have less flood and have a more tight beam. Can you use a pistol light on a rifle? Sure....but you can also boil an egg with a pack of lighters. There are better options.
A bigger and deeper reflector gives you a tighter beam and longer throw, something which compact pistol lights cannot do due to the size limitations. The reverse is true of shallow and small reflectors, less throw more flood. If you are dead set on a pistol light, the PL-2 Valkyrie is as bright as they come and it's throw is pretty damn respectable for a pistol light. Here is a shot with it to my fence. As you can see...very floody but it lights up the fence and trees behind it pretty well for a pistol light.
My rifle light. An EagTac S200C2VN. This thing is a modified beast. The photos still don't do it justice because the iris on the camera closes more than when taking shots of the pistol light. You can tell because it looks like there is a tube around it...there isn't...it is that bright. The 3rd pic is at least 150' away and it is still burning a hole through the tree branches.
You have choices. Only you can decide what's best for you.
OK, say I get a more powerful flashlight instead. What mount do you use to keep it tight against the rifle? I don't like it when they hang out off the side.
Earth has always been a dangerous place to live, be prepared!
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