P320 Compact Light

N

ninosdemente

New member
Hello all, I have no experience in lighting for firearms period. I have a Sig P320 RX Compact 9mm and it has a red dot that came with it. Interested in getting a light for it. Don't know what to stay away from or even where to begin with the many choices out there available.

Would like it to be bright as possible. Not sure about having a laser. Guess if I have a red dot, no need for laser. What do you guys use and perhaps you guys can school me on what I should be looking for and not get that really cheap light. I haven't set a budget as I haven't done much research on these as there is a lot of different choices online. Haven't seen one that has been mentioned often to read what is good about a particular manufacturer/model.

Have seen up to $150 but again not thoroughly searched and imagine there are more expensive ones. I guess somewhere between $70 - $100. For now I do take it for range only but plan to use for daily. I currently have M&P Shield 9mm for carry. Thanks in advanced.
 
The world is your oyster. SureFire, Streamlight, Olight, Inforce, the list goes on. If you want a full sized duty light there is the SureFire x300 Ultra, Streamlight TLR-1 HL, Olight Valkyrie, Inforce APL, etc. For smaller lights that don’t really add to the footprint of the pistol there is the SureFire XC1, Streamlight TLR-7, Olight Mini Valkyrie, Inforce APLc, etc.


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Thank your for the reply and your list TunnelRat. Will research those, good starting point for me. Is there a good/bad about having one period?
 
Do you mean one light total or one particular brand? I’ll try to answer both.

I like a bit smaller light for carry. I get kydex holsters molded for the pistol and the light. If the light doesn’t extend much passed the muzzle it doesn’t affect my carry comfort much. For a home defense light I don’t really care how big the light is. There’s no reason you can’t use a smaller light for home defense. The difference is usually that a smaller light has a smaller battery and less total output. Now a TLR-7 still puts out 500 lumens and I think that’s enough for home defense personally, but the bigger lights put out 1000 lumens.

Part of this becomes a big religious in that some people think lumen counts are what really matters. Others look at candela. I think of lumens as the total output of the light whereas candela is the directional intensity of the light. Some people say more is always better, and some people say too much can blind yourself if you catch an unlucky reflection. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. If you do a Google search you should get some good articles on it by people more experienced than myself.

Is one particular brand the best might be another way to look at this. SureFire has a number of military contracts, was one of the leading companies in the field, and all of their products I know of are made in the US. Streamlight is very popular with first responders. Many of their lights are made in the US, but many are also made in China. Olights are entirely made in China, but they also offer rechargeable options that are interesting that many competitors don’t (removes worrying about batteries as much). Inforce I think are made in the US, but they use a lot of polymer in the light bodies rather than aluminum. Prices between these vary a lot. The more it is made in the US the more expensive it is, generally (and keep in mind that there is whether a product is assembled in the US, machined in the US, etc. so be careful of the marketing). Aluminum bodies are more expensive than polymer bodies.

To me I think of Streamlight as the safe middle ground. Widely used and generally well received lights but not as pricey as SureFire. Lots of opinions in this area.

I’ve owned lights from all the manufacturers I’ve mentioned. I’d be comfortable with any of them. There are also differences in the way the switches on these lights work. Look at some reviews on YouTube or similar to see if one seems better or worse to you.


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Nino, I have the Streamlight TLR-7 for my compact sized handguns and like it a lot for the reasons TunnelRat brought up. Here’s an image of it on my Glock 45, along with a few shots of it at night to give you an idea of it’s brightness. One minor gripe I have about it, is that it has a bit of a yellow color to it’s beam, especially compared to the TLR-6 I have on my Glock 26.

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This final image is the tree in the previous shot, with my 80 lb. GSD beside it for reference.

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TunnelRat, thanks for the reply. Helpful information for me. To be honest, I am one of those thinking of higher lumens the better. With your info, then I can look at lumens vs candela.

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Cyanide971, thanks for your input and for those pictures. Does give a different perspective comparing the images. I do see the yellow you are referring to. I too am not fond of the yellow, guess just got use to using 5000k on vehicle, home lighting, etc. Also see the TLR-7 lights the surrounding better than the TLR-6.

My brother has the OLIGHT PL-MINI Valkyrie. Will see how that looks and try to read on that model.
 
My brother has the OLIGHT PL-MINI Valkyrie. Will see how that looks and try to read on that model.
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I have that light and like it a lot. It's a smaller light though, more on the order of the TLR-7, and 400 lumens of output. It has a bit more of a flood pattern than a spotlight pattern. That's great for lighting a room, less so for distance or blinding an opponent.
 
I did get a chance to look at it.... from what I saw did like it. Did see it is 400 lumens as well from online reading. Tried it indoors and seems bright but then again I was indoors. Did not get a chance to go outside and try it out.

I like the smaller body vs a bigger body (mostly seeing online pictures, just don't like how it may look on the P320). Do want almost blinding light but see one has to give up on brightness with a smaller body for a compact pistol. I did see the TLR-7 is 500 lumens. Noticed the OLIGHT is rechargeable vs the TLR-7 not rechargeable. Not a deal breaker, would think non rechargeable battery would last some time if not used much. Then again would depend how good the charge holds through time. Also not a deal breaker. From Cyanide971's pictures, I am leaning more towards the TLR-7. Some difference in pricing but more of my reach compared to the more expensive ones which I just won't end up getting.
 
So the rechargeable battery is a double edged sword. You can leave it plugged in say at night and never worry about where the batteries are in terms of charge. At the same time, rechargeable batteries will only recharge so many times. I’ve had my Mini Valkyrie for a while and it doesn’t seem to have any issue holding a charge, but I do wonder sometimes.

The Mini Valkyrie is a solid light. I like the mounting system better than the TLR-7 and I actually like the switches a bit better too. I’m not trying to discourage you from getting it. My point was simply it’s not a 1000 lumen monster. Again I don’t necessarily think you need 1000 lumens for indoors, just making a note of that fact. If you had a lot of out buildings on your property you might have to check, then you might really want more lumens.


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No worries.... helpful of course when one gets a different point of view. Specially when someone has tried a few different lights and I do know your needs/wants/purpose will be different from mine or someone else's. I did ask my brother about pricing and he said he paid no more than $60 on amazon. Guess they were on sale at time of purchase. After searching I saw there is a mini 2. Yeah, the rechargeable eventually will not hold the same charge with time like any other rechargeable battery in the market.
 
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