Weapon-Mounted vs. Hand-held Gun Flashlight: Which is the Ideal Option?

So, you have a gun, you are stacked up on ammo, and you think you are ready for a zombie apocalypse. Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret: if you can’t see it, you can’t shoot it. Without a reliable source illumination, you just end up waving your gun in the dark and you are practically zombie chow. OK, a zombie apocalypse is a highly unlikely scenario (or is it?), but you get my point – firearms are useless if you can’t see what you are shooting at.

Maybe you’ve noticed the rail at the front of your handgun. That rail actually serves a purpose. It is designed for mounting various accessories, most often a tactical flashlight. The rail mounted flashlight is a convenient solution, but many people seem to prefer handheld flashlights as an alternative option. Whichever the case, basically anyone who owns a gun should also have a quality tactical flashlight.

Over the past decade, LED technology has come a long way and today we have gun flashlights that pack some serious power and they can still fit in your pocket. But the light output and basic quality by themselves don’t make a good handheld tactical flashlight. In order for a flashlight to be suitable for use with a handgun, it also needs to be designed with a switch that can be easily activated with one hand. A tail-cap switch has proven to be one of the most efficient solutions since it can be operated with the thumb when you grip the flashlight. Simple interface is also important. Going through the different modes should be a no-brainer. And finally, a tactical flashlight should be reliable and not fail you when you most need it. This is why you make sure that your gun flashlight comes from a reputable manufacturer.

A gun flashlight that is designed to be mounted on your gun is quite a different story. Usually a weapon-mounted flashlight will cost much more than a hand-held flashlight of the same quality. This is because you need to pack a lot of power in a much smaller package, but it’s not only that. Weapon-mounted flashlights must also have a switch that is easy to reach. All the sensitive electronic parts must be able to withstand the recoil from the gun and the lens needs to endure muzzle blast without breaking or diminishing the quality of the light beam. As you can see, those are not simple challenges to overcome, which is why all those features don’t come cheap. A top-quality weapon-mounted flashlight should be able to withstand abuse and recoil from more than a thousand rounds.

Which type of tactical flashlight you choose depends entirely on your personal preference, but at the end of the day, a flashlight can’t make you a better shooter, hard training and practice are much more important.