Mount Up
While Elzetta is best known for making The Toughest Flashlights on the Planet, we were actually manufacturing flashlight mounts before we began making flashlights. (Clients frequently asked us what flashlights we recommended for use in our mounts. So we tested nearly all the tactical flashlights on the market and quickly broke them all. Consequently, we decided that if flashlights were to be tough enough to endure the rigors of battle we would have to make them ourselves. The rest is history.)
The necessity of having a light on a rifle or shotgun should be self-evident. Colonel Jeff Cooper’s ‘Rule 4’ of Gun Safety demands, “Identify your target, and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything that you have not positively identified.” When darkness falls, a light source is necessary for both proper gun safety and for successful combat. You simply cannot shoot what you cannot see. Choosing the proper lighting system for a defensive weapon is therefore essential.
Our other blog posts have covered many of the critical aspects of choosing the correct flashlight. Now, we will examine the best way to secure such a flashlight to a rifle or shotgun. Several considerations should be pondered before choosing a solution. First is the configuration of the gun to which the light will be attached. Does it have rails or other features designed to accommodate accessories? If so, many commercially available options exist for mounting a flashlight. Our Mini-CQB Modular Weaponlights, for example, attach directly to M1913 Picatinny Rails, Keymod or M-LOK Rails, and MOE Handguards. If such attachment systems are not available on a particular firearm, an alternate means of attachment must be found which may come in the way of weapon-specific flashlight mounts such as our ZFH1500 for AR15 rifles or our ZSM for shotguns.
Positioning is perhaps one of the most important considerations. A good lighting system will place the flashlight in a location that minimizes the amount of light that is blocked by the gun while placing the switch near the operator’s support hand for easy activation. It should be emphasized that one’s support hand be used exclusively to activate the light. Never use the same hand (let alone the same finger) that squeezes the gun’s trigger to activate a light or other accessory! Such a configuration invites negligent discharges and should never be accepted. Of course, in tactical situations it is often necessary to switch to a “weak side” position in which one’s non-dominant hand is operating the fire controls while the dominant hand works in a support role. It is imperative, therefore, that activation of the flashlight can be accomplished easily in either shooting posture. A flashlight in one location may be very comfortable in your preferred shooting stance while rendering the light virtually inoperable when switching sides. Operating in a non-dominant stance can be challenging enough without adding a further complication of an out-of-reach flashlight, so ensure that you can easily manipulate the controls from all shooting positions.
While ‘Rule 4’ provides the rationale for having a Light on every defense rifle or shotgun, ‘Rule 2’ provides a crucial limiting factor in the use of such devices; “Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy”. One must always be mindful that anything illuminated by a weapon-mounted flashlight is also being covered by the muzzle of a deadly weapon. A weaponlight must NEVER be used as a search light. Only with positive determination of the presence of a serious threat may a weapon and its mounted Light be deployed. A weapon-mounted Light can never take the place of a handheld flashlight. Both tools are essential in a proper defensive arsenal and both have different roles that must not be confused.
Colonel Jeff Cooper left an amazing legacy. Every shooter should study his work and memorize his Four Gun Safety Rules. Build on his wisdom and properly equip your defense rifles and shotguns with quality lighting systems. Know how to use them and know when not to.