One of the 4 basic rules of gun safety is to be sure of your target.
But how do you do that in the dark? The easiest way is to add a flashlight to your pistol.
There are many choices on the market and not every light will fit every pistol. There are some key features to consider as well.
In this guide on how to choose a pistol light, we will help you pick the optimal light for your pistol and situation.
Mounting Interface
This first step, and typically most difficult, is to choose a pistol light that has the correct mounting details for your pistol.
Each pistol is made a little differently. There are different sizes, some have an integrated rail for a pistol light, and some have a special light rail that is not standard.
Full size handguns like the Glock 17/19, Walther PDP, and Sig P320 come with a light rail built into the frame. These are the easiest to purchase a light for since the rail is standard. There are many options available.
Smaller handguns like the Glock 43 and Sig P365 do not have standard light rails and need a special pistol light specifically made for them. There are not as many options for these pistols, and it takes a little more research to select the correct one.
Some pistol lights come with various adapters for different pistols or have removeable mounts that can be changed out depending on the mounting interface.
Below we will have a complete list of pistol lights we recommend along with links to their individual compatibility guides.
Size
Next, consider the size of the pistol light. If you have a smaller handgun, a large pistol light could be unwieldly and cumbersome. It could make it difficult to draw and manipulate your handgun.
Pistol lights are made in a variety of sizes, with mini versions intended for smaller, compact carry handguns. Some will look like pistol lights in a picture, while they are in fact intended for rifles and shotguns. Be sure to check what the light is intended for and the size first.
Light Activation
How you turn on the light and where the switches are located is an important consideration. The ergonomics of manipulating the switches becomes more apparent in a stressful situation. If the switches are hard to find and not easy to activate, they will be more of a hinderance under duress.
Also consider if the pistol light has ambidextrous controls. Even if you are right-handed, there still may be situations where you need to shoot and manipulate your pistol with your left hand (and vice-versa). You don’t want to be stuck with a light you can’t use.
Finally, the light should have momentary on/off capability. There could be situations when you don’t want to leave the light on for cover/concealment reasons. You may want to activate it briefly when it is advantageous.
Holster Availability
If you plan to put a pistol light on your concealed carry handgun, then it is important to check that there are holsters available for your pistol/light combo. Some new or unpopular lights may not have very many holsters available for them.
If you need help finding a good holster, read my review on the best IWB holsters for some that I prefer.
Light Type, Brightness, and Intensity
LED lights are the way to go. While LEDs are now typically standard, there are still a few incandescent pistol lights out there. LEDs are more robust, brighter, and use less power.
The brightness of a pistol light is measured in both lumens and candelas. This is where it gets a little confusing, because these measurements are not the same thing.
Lumens is the total amount of light that the pistol light outputs. This doesn’t take into account how focused the light is, rather it is just how much light is coming out into the environment.
Candela is a measure of the light beam’s intensity and focus. For example, if we take the extremes, a lantern will have a very low candela count since it is not a beam at all. A laser will have a very high candela count since it is a very small and intense beam.
Lumens is typically the measurement you will see for pistol lights since they all have a fairly concentrated beam.
Keep in mind that the brightest pistol light is not necessarily the best depending on how you intend to use the light.
When used indoors at night, a very bright light will have a large amount of “splash back” towards the user. The reflection of the light off of light-colored walls can have a temporary blinding effect, especially when your eyes are used to the darkness.
For home defense pistols and for concealed carry pistols, a pistol light with around 500-600 lumens is sufficient. Since self-defense situations occur at very close ranges, more than this is not needed and may not be practical with a smaller handgun.
If the main purpose of your handgun is for use outdoors or for duty purposes, then 600-1000 lumens is a good rule of thumb.
Battery Type
Some pistol lights use standard batteries while others use a propriety rechargeable battery.
The choice between a standard or rechargeable battery is mostly personal preference based on your maintenance discipline.
If you want a rechargeable battery but only have one, you must have the discipline to keep it charged. For example, if you use a rechargeable battery in your concealed carry pistol light and realize it has died when you are about to leave for the day, there is no opportunity to charge it.
With standard batteries, you do incur the cost of replacing them, but they are easily exchanged when they run down.
Decide which you prefer and stick to a schedule of checking and/or charging periodically.
Summary of Pistol Lights
Below is a list of pistol lights we recommend. Each links to an individual mounting guide to show the compatibility with different pistols.
Surefire X300U – 1000 Lumen large pistol light for full size handguns like the Glock 17, Walther PDP, and Sig P320. Includes mounts for Glock rails and 1913 Picatinny rails. See our full mounting guide here.
Streamlight TLR-1 HL – 1000 Lumen large pistol light for full size handguns like the Glock 17, Walther PDP, and Sig P320. Includes mounts for Glock rails, 1913 Picatinny rails, Beretta 90two, S&W 99, and S&W TSW. See our full mounting guide here.
Streamlight TLR-7x – 500 Lumen compact pistol light for full size handguns like the Glock 17, Walther PDP, and Sig P320 as well as some compact handguns like the Sig P365 XMacro and Springfield Hellcat Pro. See our full mounting guide here.
Streamlight TLR-7x sub – 500 Lumen compact pistol light for compact size handguns like the Glock 43X/48 MOS, Sig P365/XL, Springfield Hellcat, and other handguns with standard 1913 rails.
Inforce Wild 1 – 500 Lumen compact pistol light for full size handguns like the Glock 17, Walther PDP, and Sig P320. Includes mounts for Glock rails and 1913 Picatinny rails. See our full mounting guide here.
Inforce Wild 2 – 1000 Lumen large pistol light for full size handguns like the Glock 17, Walther PDP, and Sig P320. Includes mounts for Glock rails and 1913 Picatinny rails. See our full mounting guide here.
Olight PL-Mini 2 – 600 Lumen compact pistol light for full size handguns like the Glock 17, Walther PDP, and Sig P320. Includes mounts for Glock rails and 1913 Picatinny rails. See our full mounting guide here.
Olight PL-Mini 3 – 600 Lumen compact pistol light for full size handguns like the Glock 17, Walther PDP, and Sig P320 as well as some compact handguns like the Sig P365, Springfield Hellcat and Glock 43X/48 MOS. See our full mounting guide here.