Design Features of a 870/590 Shotgun WML

[Paul Blackburn]

I can't recall if the SF P2X/P3X Fury I used on my issued SBS sat just behind, flush, or IFO the barrel. Regardless, it was not an issue for me and I probably used that for at least 10 of the 15 years I carried it.

In a ring mount?

[Erick Gelhaus]

In a ring mount?

A VTac mount onto a section of Pic rail.

[Lon]

Has anyone tried the Nightstick forearm?

https://www.amazon.com/Nightstick-SF.../dp/B0B61T88CQ

[willie]

Playing with other guys' Surefire fore ends, I was not comfortable with the light itself moving back and forth and would have preferred attaching the light on the juncture of tube and barrel. I understand that this method of switch attachment may not be optimal when attaching mount to tube/barrel, but in a house gun I think this way would suffice.

[Paul Blackburn]

I dont believe there are any current combination of existing components to make an optimal set up. Even the $600 Surefire forend is lacking.

[gato naranja]

It will be a truly remarkable design that can accommodates the likes and dislikes of even the relatively small population sample on P-F. "Mary Anne vs Ginger" issues like having the light on the forend vs mounting the light on the barrel/mag tube make it pretty daunting.

As a guy who fiddled with a bunch of options and never did find the "perfect" one, I have settled on the Magpul OEM and a few available mount/light combinations that range from acceptable to good, so I have stopped actively seeking anything better. Not that I couldn't be wowed by something new down the road...

[Lon]

Sounds like we need a Bluetooth option - light that doesn’t move and a pressure pad that’s MLOK compatible for the forearm.

[Edster]

Integrated into one unit, snag-free, with no extraneous wires.

Momentary switches on both sides

A constant-on switch

Grip portion is grippy/textured. If you can't do this right, make it smooth and include a supply of "skateboard" tape.

Battery mounted behind bezel (Surefire) rather than in grip (Streamlight)

LED head. Ideal would be if it is replaceable with common handheld light heads but it's more important that it be durable

Robust, simple electronics and OFF means OFF, not a current-draining kinda-off

Needs to be able to survive hard use. That includes waterproof.

Under $300, ok maybe $350

This would pretty much own the marketplace. Unfortunately, that marketplace is probably too small to make it profitable these days.

[L-2]

I've been good with my two older-style Surefire shotgun fore-end weaponlights (590A1 and an 870P); and one shotgun with a Streamlight TLR-1 mounted to a MLOK Magpul fore-end (870 SBS).

I like how, if needed, I can easily change the TLR-1 to another make/model (e.g. Surefire X300 series), and change mounting from left/bottom/right fairly easily, or even just remove it and use on some other firearm. Whether I use my thumb or other fingers to switch the light from momentary to constant-on/off is not a big thing to me.

The older Surefire lights have the on/off or momentary options (no momentary lock-out) now with LED bulbs replacing older halogen bulbs.

The current/newer Surefire lights are:
-~$350-$400 delivered
-have more switching options light intensity/system disable/ambi switches-both-sides
-are dedicated to the exact firearm (590A1 or 870)

Note, my old department never did put weaponlights on its Mossberg shotguns, but did supply weapon-lights on its AR15 guns with a momentary/tape switch.
I believe it was mostly a lack of budget and prioritization.
While I was there, we went from the 20" bead-sights; to 20" ghost ring sights; to 14" ghost ring sighted 590A1 guns.

Overall, I like the pistol light mounted onto a Pic-railed/MLOK shotgun fore-end.

[Screwball]

and one shotgun with a Streamlight TLR-1 mounted to a MLOK Magpul fore-end (870 SBS).

That used to be my go-to… until…



I think I have six or so TLR-1s floating around. One on my duty gun, one on my truck gun, so on and so forth. That one pictured was on my TAC-14. Only on that TAC-14 and had a little bit of use behind it.

I am aware of those latches being a weak point, but I can only attribute that failure to it being on a 12 gauge.

My answer was to look at other long guns and weapon lights I used on them. Came down to the Inforce WML and WMLx. The WMLx is the longer one, which I put on my 20” 870. The shorter one… went on the TAC-14. I like the controls and mounting a little better on those than using the TLR-1 (had an Insight M3X on the 870). Freed up some pistol lights for other things.

Streamlight was good with the warranty, and I still run TLR-1s without any hesitation. But I just stopped running them on heavy recoil firearms.

Off topic, but I wish there was a service to mill Gen 3 Glock frames to 1913 slot. Pulling those lights off the 12 gauges, I started fitting them on my other guns. Annoys me now that the only gun different than the others is my 34 Gen 3. [emoji2959]