Lights and sights for Glocks

[cedartop]

I whole heartedly agree. Been to both, in multiples.

After your night vision has kicked in, it's a different experience. The older you get, the longer it takes for your night vision to adjust. Needless to say, it takes my eyes a while for night vision to work for me. Around an hour into full darkness, my night vision is running full on. Then, also very susceptible to self blinding.

Nothing compares to the experience of blinding yourself accidently, when under pressure.

Being too close to the white barrel that is your cover. Light on the wrong side for the cover you are behind. Freezing on the light switch or not getting it turned off before accidental blinding. Super bright light pointed to your path, even new white gravel in a range bay can cause a squint. Many many lumens hitting in front of your feet can be a problem. The same with a white ceiling, door or door frame. Not to mention, anything glass.

How much does squinting slow down your target acquisition and engagement?


.

So a caveat for me, most of my real experience with low light came in 3years of 7p-3a shift on a very busy PD. This was back before WML or even what we would today consider high output handhelds. I don't remember ever having any issues with being bothered by too much brightness. I think this was two fold, as mentioned lights weren't nearly as bright, and I was almost never in a completely dark environment for an extended period of time.

The last ten years or so have been mostly training and running around trying this stuff out at home. I have to say that sometimes I am bothered by too much splashback, but not often. Over a number of classes at student and instructor level, (though I do not claim to be an expert) I just didn't find that there was a such of thing as too much light. Sure there are times when it is not ideal, but that is more than made up for by the times when you want all the lumens. Like so much of what we do, even the experts don't agree on all of this which is why it behooves people to try it out for themselves in environments such as those they might be likely to find themselves in. I have to say I learned more about how dot guns work in low light doing low light cqb/fof than anything else. When I think about it, even my last CQB instructor school has been a number of years ago now and lights have definitely evolved even in that period of time. Low light is on my short list for this year. It is for sure time for a refresher.

 

[Big Hank]

Thats very imformative and i appreciate it and yes I have been looking at G17 and G19 mostly, I am most likely looking for something that is going to stay flush with the end of the barrel. I have looked through a few holosuns and like them, and with holster i am most likely going to have one custom made because i am not a big fan of kydex so leather is what i usually go for and im left handed.

As a lefty myself… I hear ya. I own a lot of kydex and almost always modify them to my liking.

The TLR-7a on a g19 is simply amazing for all around use. I can sit in my car for hours.. I can throw light far enough with perfect light “spill” for lighting the rest of a room or area. Durability seems to be there too. The “flex” has multiple switches for meeting your preferences.

If you’re big on the G19 but know there are moments a g17/45 would kick butt, look at the X-Grip and buy the appropriate Glock G17 mag. I keep a spare mag in my car and the x grip means I have a larger mag for backup. Or it’s a nice backup for a g17 if needed.

If you work out a left handed leather g19 with TLR7a holster…. I’m going to be very curious. Or…. See if there’s a price break for two and maybe I’ll get in on one.

 

[Amishman44]

Sights are personal preference (what you see well). Lights I can't speak to I don't have a weapon light

I must be in the same category...Ameriglo trititum (low/no-light shooting) front sight with orange ring (daylight) and a hand-held, cross-over flashlight! Neanderthal for some people...yet still works for me!

 

[Tombs]

Holosun if you don't have night vision or never plan on getting night vision. Otherwise, Trijicon RMR all the way. If you're going holosun, 509 + vulcan reticle is a pretty unparralleled combo. I wish trijicon would make something on par with it, it truly is what a modern handgun optic should be in every way.

For a light, surefire X300. If you plan to EDC, I'd go with a TLR-7.

For backup sights I want the plainest possible sights. Black notch rear and black serrated front. That way they're not distracting you or slowing down your use of the optic. But should you happen to have a 1 in a trillion odds of this thing failing, they will do the job just fine.

 

[Mas86]

This thread got me off on a holster tangent because I've been having a tough time finding light bearing holsters for my VP9 that also has an optics cut. I primarily carry OWB these days and the only thing I've found so far that works is a no name Amazon holster that carries and conceals well, but is just on the edge of acceptable retention. It works, but I wouldn't want to wrestle with it on l. It has no way to tighten it down at all.

My search led me to the PHLster Flood Light holsters. It retains the gun based on the specific light, not the pistol and gives you two ways to tighten it or loosen the retention, meaning it accepts multiple models of pistols. As long as you use the same light, it really doesn't matter what gun you're using. You can also reverse all of the hardware making it usable for right or left handed carry.

They have both IWB and OWB options and you can use Safariland QLS attachments, G-code, Bladetech. Lots of ways to reconfigure for types of carry and battle belt set-ups. It seems like a pretty ingenious set-up.

I will have to look into that, holsters were one of the next things on my list to start looking into either custom made or if I can find one online that will work with being a lefty and having a light attached.

 

[Mas86]

And made right here in Indiana! Woo!

RE pistol lights:

I'm of a mind like many of other posters. I do not think they're a necessity on a daily carry handgun. At times they can be nice for sure.

And like so many other things in this industry - don't skimp out. You can quickly be a "penny wise but a pound foolish". IE - spending less on a not-quite-adequate WML can lead you spending 3-4x as much on holsters because only one dude in Snohomish, WA will even attempt to make a holster for your Taurus GX-4 SC with a Nebo HD w/ crennelated bezel.

Stick with well known and properly vetted options. Streamlight, Surfire, Modlight, and now Cloud Defensive (Though, honestly, CD doesn't yet have long-term pistol light vetting)

And for ME: IF you're going to put a WML on a life-saving device, I want a great deal many lumens and candela. 1000L minimum for ME - IF I carry a WML at all.

That is my plan to stick to the big name brands even if it means the big price tag that comes along with it. I rather pay big and hurt once then pay little and have to continue to replace.

 

[cedartop]

Holosun if you don't have night vision or never plan on getting night vision. Otherwise, Trijicon RMR all the way. If you're going holosun, 509 + vulcan reticle is a pretty unparralleled combo. I wish trijicon would make something on par with it, it truly is what a modern handgun optic should be in every way.

For a light, surefire X300. If you plan to EDC, I'd go with a TLR-7.

For backup sights I want the plainest possible sights. Black notch rear and black serrated front. That way they're not distracting you or slowing down your use of the optic. But should you happen to have a 1 in a trillion odds of this thing failing, they will do the job just fine.

What do you like about the Vulcan reticle? I gave it a try and did not care for it, but that could be because I am so used to having a regular dot. For me, it worked fine for standing and shooting open targets, but when moving and shooting partials it was way more work.

 

[Squid556]

I have come to really enjoy the Streamlight TLR-1 on my Glock 17. Also fits my 19 without needing to change the spacer piece. Very well built and lots of holster availability. Only downside is size. Its wide.

Recently started using those Ameriglo Hackathorn sights. Great for my near sighted eyes. I shoot them faster than the normal 3 dot trijicon night sights.

 

[kjdoski]

The TLR8 is perfect for EDC - plenty bright for indoor and close-mid range outdoor use, and the laser is a huge plus at night and in low light. Plus it's small enough to not add a huge amount of bulk to your carry gun.

On optics, I'm still on the fence. I've tried a lot, and continue having the following issues:

1. Brightness. Unless it auto-adjusts very well, it's always either way to bright (indoors/low light) or invisible (outdoors or bright interior lighting).
2. Emitter design - if you're using an "open" emitter optic, you're basically adding a moderate size ash tray to the top of your slide. Lint, dirt, sweat, dust, french fries, etc will all collect there. Not a problem on the range when you have time to check your gear before the beep, not great in the real world.
3. Mounting. If you get an "optics ready" platform, it will be ready, for ONE footprint. It seems like the optics makers are CONSTANTLY trying to come up with a new proprietary footprint. If you want to switch optics, you have to buy a new plate, which adds cost and height over bore to your optic.
4. BUIS. I will NOT use a no-BUIS carry pistol. YMMV, but I've seen EVERY optic fail, and when it does, I'm convinced you MUST have BUIS. The issue is most optics sit so proud in the slide (unless they're direct milled) that you have to use VERY tall BUIS to have them visible when you need them. A lot of rear BUIS options are nicely serrated, which makes them great for shooting, but hell on your clothes (and skin, if you're carrying without an undershirt).

All in all, I haven't found an optic yet that checks enough of those boxes for me to use on a CARRY gun. Holosun's latest optic that's fully solar powered (no battery) has a reportedly fantastic auto-adjust system, and direct mounts to an MOS cut on a Glock might change my mind. For what's on the market today, I would only consider the RMR/RMRcc, or Holosun's 509T (though the latter lacks a decent auto-adjust).