Imagine your carbine’s hand guard is the dial of a clock where the top rail is at 12 o’clock. When I first started training with carbines for defense (and fun), most weapon lights that I saw where mounted somewhere around 4 to 5 o’clock, or 7 to 8 o’clock for south paws, so people could activate their lights with their support hand thumb that was being wrapped around a vertical grip. Then, as the way people used vertical grips changed to more of a thumb break method, so did the positions of their lights to 10 to 11 o’clock, or 2 to 3 o’clock for south paws. There are also proponents of mounting their lights are 3, 6, 9, and 12 o’clock.
An example of a light mounted at 12 o’clock (on the top rail)
Sometimes you can tell a lot about how someone holds a carbine by how they have mounted their light and sometimes I am left scratching my head when I see a light mounted in a strange position for no reason at all. So, now I want to know where you mount your light and why you chose to mount it there. Did you take into account your shooting stance and grip? Does the use of cover play into your decision? Were there other factors? Is there a light mount position that want to try but haven’t yet?
Now is your chance to Be Heard. Leave a comment below to join the conversation.
Same side I’ve got my eyes. Left all the way out front. Gets the job done well.
In the 12 o’clock position, like in the picture above. Run a fixed sight just behind an x300. Love the setup.
I run a WML at 9 o’clock, as far forward as I can on my forend. that position works great with my AFG.
11 o’clock as far forward as rail space allows. The end of my light is nearly even with my comp. This works for my grip and cuts down on the amount of shadow produced from my barrel.
I run an M3 with pressure switch at the 3 o’clock position as far forward as possible. The tape switch is attached to my AFG just out of the way enough that I don’t get light AD but I can easily find it when I need light.
I run a X300 or X300U at 12 o’clock. It is fully ambidextrous, is less prone to splash back when working around cover and less of myself exposed when working over cover.
It also produces less of a barrel shadow and the shadow is cast straight down to 6 o’clock instead of creating dead space off to either side.
I run a Surfire G2X in a Impact Weapons Components SMC mount on my MOE hand guards at 11 o’clock. That allows my thumb to run the light easily, and has the light far enough forward that the barrel of my 14.5 inch middy doesn’t interfere with the throw of the light.
on carbine, on the right side of the FSP mounted on 1913 rail.
AFG and the wrap over thumb activates the light.
on rifle w/moe hand guard and afg, it’s on the left mounted on moe scout mount. will switch it to right hand version if i ever come across one in the store.
going to go with hsp thorntail offset @ 10 oclock for AK and mini-30.