Weapon mounted lights are a big deal, bigger than most people realize. The vast majority of situations where you would have to use your firearm occur during the hours of darkness, and to use you weapon legally, you need to be able to identify your target, which is where the weapons mounted light comes in; however, not all lights are created equal. There are some key factors that will help keep you and your family safe, that need to be considered when mounting a light to your long gun. Keep reading to see why the new Inforce Weapons Mounted Light: Gen 2 fits the bill.
No matter what the firearms and accessories industry may tell you with their fancy marketing schemes, there really are only a few considerations when you mount any light to any weapon.
1. Is it as reliable as the weapon you are mounting it to?
2. Do you have to modify your shooting style to use it?
3. Can you use it in multiple shooting positions?
These factors are fairly straight forward, but you’d be surprised how often they are ignored when mounting a light to your weapon.
Reliability
Reliability will always be the first consideration on any piece of gear that is mission critical. As we stated above, this is definitely mission critical. Imagine that you are home, and you hear the sound of glass breaking somewhere down stairs. Instantly you are alert. You continue to hear the sounds of footsteps. You go to grab your rifle with light, then move to the stairs, where you hear even louder foot steps, and you see a shaping moving up the stairs. You then try and activate your rifle’s tape switch and nothing happens. Shoot or no shoot?
Now depending on your state, you may be authorized to shoot this person in your house (you should consult a lawyer to determine if you live in such a state) but that does not mean you should. This very well could be the 70 year old man down the street who suffers from dementia, and thought he was locked out of his house. Just because you can legally do something doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to do so.
This highlights the fact that you need to have a light that will work when you need it. There is one main factor that I like to consider when evaluating reliability. Does the light require any external switching to activate? If it does, then that is a definite failure point.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had tape switches fail me in the Marine Corps, whether it be from coming unplugged from the unit, or the wire snagging on a piece of equipment and breaking. Ideally we need the activation system on the body of the light itself. As long as this is the case, and the light is from a reputable manufacturer, you will probably have a good piece of gear.
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Shooting Style
I know as readers of this website that you all are practicing with your weapons, both live and dry fire. What we are really doing is honing our muscle memory to do very detailed tasks accurately. This requires you to practice hundreds of reps, but what happens if you have to change how you shoot because of your light? Well you have to start back from square one in many cases, building up meaningful reps with your new gear.
A better way is to add the light to your rifle so that it falls into natural alignment with all of your previous practice. The easiest way to do that is to mount the light where your support hand naturally falls. This will allow you to keep shooting in the style that you’ve become accustomed to, without significant modification. Sure you will need to practice activating it when you want, and when you don’t, but I’d rathe practice pushing my thumb, than I would acquiring a target with a whole new hand placement.
Shooting Positions
We all know that we can’t just practice our shooting skills in one, or even a few positions. We have to practice prone, kneeling, squatting, off hand, etc, because you never know when you might have to use these positions. This means our light must be set up to allow us to use it in multiple positions.
Often times this means mounting it to the top rail of your rifle, or at a 45 degree offset. The top rail will allow ambidextrous use, but it generally will occupy the space your iron sights use, so this can be a major deal breaker. This leaves us with a 45 deg offset, which is very ergonomic, and my preferred method. It works for any position, but it can be somewhat difficult to use in when you switch to shooting with your non dominant stance.
Inforce WML Gen 2
Now that we know what we need to look for in a light, let’s discuss how the Inforce WML fits that requirement to a T. First it has a rear switch activation system with a throw lever to switch modes. When the switch is on one side, it has a strobe mode, and when it’s on the other side it’s momentary on only, which is ideal for tactical use. There’s nothing worse than when you want momentary or constant on, and instead you get strobe. Check out the graphic below for it’s detailed specs.
This light is also great for preventing white light accidental discharges (AD). You can use the bezel or the lock out bar to keep the light from activating when you don’t want it. As good as this light is, it does need one key accessory to mount it to your rifle’s rail.
Hailey Thorntail Offset Light Mount
The thorntail allows you to mount the light at a 45 degree angle off of your rail. It has 8 mounting solutions, which allows you to configure the light’s location for either hand and any length of picatinny rail.
The mount is light weight and very sturdy once cinched down. Check this video out for the mounting details.
Review
Overall I’ve found this package to be ideal. It allows me to shoot in the style I’m accustomed to, and adds little weight to the rifle. Honestly, I can’t even feel the difference on the rifle.
The throw pattern is also very good good for close environments, and with 400 lumens of output, it can work well outdoors too. That being said, the sweetest light setup is no good if you don’t practice with it. So put your setup together, and get out there and practice lighting them up, before you light them up.
If you’d like to give this light a try, you can use this affiliate link to purchase from Amazon.com. You’ll get the lowest prices available and help support this site.
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