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In many ways, we’re in a golden age of firearms and firearm accessories. There’s a wider variety of both available at reasonable prices than I’ve ever seen. I have another gun and holster or two to discuss in the near future, but this article is about an accessory. Specifically, a Weapon Mounted Light (WML). Out of the wide, wide variety of lights out there I’ve gone with the Surefire TLR-1 HL.

Why this one, specifically? Two reasons, really. First, the price is comparable with other WML’s I’ve seen. Secondly, I have another Surefire product, the G2X Tactical 600 flashlight that I’m very happy with. The fact that they use the same batteries doesn’t hurt, either.

The rise of the WML.

Ten years ago only professional people had lights on their guns: cops, soldiers, etc. And I don’t recall it being particularly common, then. It was kind of cool looking but seemed like a lot of effort. Further, as I mentioned in my review of the G2X, flashlights now are vastly improved over what was available then. It’s only recently that WML’s have become particularly useful. I think it’s only going to get better from here.

WML complications.

For myself, I don’t normally carry with a WML. Until recently my only guns with rails were larger: a Springfield XDM and a Sig Sauer SP2022. Neither of these are small guns, and the light in question isn’t exactly tiny, either.

There are some lights that exist to attach to guns without using a rail, but I honestly don’t trust that system. I’d prefer there be a solid attachment point. There are now smaller firearms that have rails for this purpose. I recently picked up a Sig P365 that has one so I will be looking into one of those soon.

The other catch is that holsters must be designed for the light, of course. At least the Kydex holsters. Even most of the multi-gun leather holsters have to be built to allow for lights.

When I use one.

I like this light on one of the mentioned guns for two specific scenarios.

Home defense. While I’m a big fan of hand-held flashlights for searching and identification, the fact is that we normally train to have both hands on the gun for a reason. If the light is on the gun then we have more control over it. Obviously, this leads to a question about pointing a loaded gun at someone you’re not entirely sure you want to shoot.

First, and this is just my situation, I live alone and rarely have visitors in my tiny place. If something’s going bump in the night, the odds are that it’s a problem to be solved and not an innocent mistake or misunderstanding.

Having said that, this light is more than bright enough to use indirect lighting to ID what’s making the bumps. In other words, I can point it at the floor, ceiling, or walls between myself and the noise or movement and it will generate enough light to let me see what’s going on without breaking a cardinal rule of gun handling.

The second time is when I take walks. I’m often out when it’s dark. I have a large, fanny pack type holster that holds the light with no problems. It doesn’t even really change the angle of the gun and has no effect on the draw stroke. The fanny pack has slots for four extra magazines and a pocket for my phone, keys, etc. The indirect light option works just as well out there as it does inside.

Functionality.

The first picture shows the light shined on my door at three yards. Since my bedroom is only about 12 feet long this is what I’d be dealing with if I needed it. I’ve been to the range with this light on both the Sig and the XDM. The center of the light is about two inches below the sights and point of impact at five yards. This makes perfect sense since the light is about two inches below the sights. I can’t really see that as a major concern at those ranges; it’s close enough to use the center of the light as my aiming point.

The next few pictures are of the desert at about 4:30 in the morning. Yes, I drove out to the middle of nowhere in the early morning just to take these. Anyway, the ones pointed towards the ground were centered five to seven yards out. The last one in this set has a spindly plant in the middle of it. That plant was in the 15 – 20 yard range.

As you can see, this thing really lights up the area.

So far, I’ve fired 200 rounds of 9mm and 100 rounds of .40 S&W with the light attached. I shot from close enough range to see the light against the targets. I observed nary a flicker. I tugged hard on the light after each set of magazines and there was no looseness.

As you can see, there are paddles on each side of the light as it faces the trigger guard. With my right-handed trigger finger, up is momentary on and down is constant on. On the left side down is momentary and up is constant. There is also a strobe mode that happens with a double tap of the paddle. If you double up then you get the strobe until you release. If you tap up then down, then strobe stays on until you turn it off.

Ergonomics.

I like the different paddle directions for constant and momentary on. The paddles themselves are easy to manipulate. Except: I don’t have the world’s longest fingers. On the Sig they’re almost but not quite out of reach of my trigger finger if I’m holding the gun correctly. The XDM has a slightly shorter distance from the paddles to the back strap and I can reach them better.

Changing out the rail mounts is easy. The Allen wrenches in the picture above came with it. As you can see, it comes with several different slot/rail type attachments. Both the guns I have it for are Picatinny so that’s the only one I really need.

After you get it on the rail and the rail mount into the slot, you just tighten down the screw on the left side. I’d personally prefer a smaller slot for the screw. I guess, in a pinch, you could probably use a coin or something instead of a real screwdriver.

You do have to take it off the gun to change out the batteries. I’ll call that a minor annoyance. You’re simply not going to have to change them that often and it’s so easy to take off and on I can’t really call that a disadvantage.

Conclusion.

This is an excellent light. I originally bought it for my SP 2022, but I’ve changed my mind. Mainly because of the short finger issue, I’ll put it on my XDM and keep it there. It just feels better there.

As I said, I don’t see myself carrying this as a daily carry thing. For home defense and my nocturnal walks, though, I’m always going to have it. The links below go to Optics Planet. I’ve been buying a number of things from them lately, including this light, and I’ve always gotten good service and competitive prices. If you’re looking for a good WML, the TLR-1 HL from Optics Plant is a good combination.

There are several different models, and this was my specific one. This link takes you to the search page for the TLR-1 HL in general.

Naturally, Amazon also has them.

Specs.

• Length: 3.4”
• Weight: 4.4 oz.
• Lumens: 1,000
• 123A lithium batteries (not rechargeable)
• Run time: 1.75 hours