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Shotgun light+mount recommendations

4angrybadgers

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2009
Messages
411
Location
Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA
After reading the excellent and plentiful advice given in Jim Thorpe's thread asking about a home defense shotgun, I had some more questions about recommendations for a shotgun light+mount.

I have a Remington 870 Express 20ga Youth model (1" or 2" shorter LOP, so my wife can hold it comfortably) with the standard 4-round tube. I have a $100 prepaid Amex card that I can devote to this project, so I'd like to keep the total cost under $100.

Here are the options I've seen so far:
-ATI clamp + Surefire G2 LED (advantage: flashlight can be used standalone)
-Botach Tactical Light Package 1 (I've heard mixed reviews about Botach. Not sure how stable the "universal" shotgun mount is, and if it will work well on a 20ga barrel. Advantage: the flashlight can be used by itself.)
-Botach Tactical Light Package 2 (Same as above. Light has a strobe function, not sure if that's useful or not. If I ever upgraded to a full-size pistol I might be able to use the TLR-1s on the pistol also.)
-Streamlight 870 mount + a Streamlight TLR-1/2/3 (If I can fit a TLR-3 on there, I'll have the option of using it on my Springfield XD40 subcompact. Not entirely sure if that 870 mount works with the TLR series though.)

Thoughts? Advice? Ridicule? :D
 

swinokur

Activist Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2009
Messages
917
Location
Montgomery County, MD
several manufactures make a picatinny rail that you can mount on your shotgun. Then you can mount any kind of light you like. TR3 can be moved around between you weapons. surefire makes one but it's probably expensive. i saw a mount on ebay for 25 dollars.

look here as well. www.candewman.com
 
Last edited:

TyGuy

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Messages
775
Location
, ,
UTG barrel clamp with picatinny rail. It attaches to the barrel or the tube magazine. I put a little black rubber tool drawer liner behind mine to not scratch the Mossberg. It was $10 and works great.
 

4angrybadgers

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2009
Messages
411
Location
Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA
UTG barrel clamp with picatinny rail. It attaches to the barrel or the tube magazine. I put a little black rubber tool drawer liner behind mine to not scratch the Mossberg. It was $10 and works great.
Cool, that's something I had missed. Is it stable - does the light stay still even with recoil or accidental impacts?

whatever you do get an LED light. They can deal with recoil better than filament based lights.
That's a very good point. Yes, I was planning on an LED light - all my handheld lights are LED and I'll never go back. :D
 

Michigander

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2007
Messages
4,818
Location
Mulligan's Valley
An ATI clamp with the G2 will work very well, particularly if you mount it in such a way that you can manipulate it easily from a pose where you have a bead drawn on a bad guy. (You want to be able to control it easily, because a light that's on is a big shoot me sign). G2's will hold up okay for at least 500 rounds in my experience, but you can always take them off at the range during the day time.

There are aftermarket parts available for 25 dollars or so that replace the tail cap on a sure fire with a pressure switch on a wire, which you can mount to the slide. Surefire would rather sell a 200 dollar system, so they don't sell them, gotta get them aftermarket. But they are available, and a good idea if you wish to be able to manipulate the light this way.
 

since9

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
6,964
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
Best bet is to be familiar enough with shotgun operations that you can hit what you're aiming at, whether it's at your shoulder, cradled mid-chest, or at your hip.

I see very well in the dark. If I ever encounter an intruder situation that gets me out of bed, I keep the lights off. That way I have the advantage. :)
 

PrayingForWar

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2007
Messages
1,701
Location
The Real World.
Best bet is to be familiar enough with shotgun operations that you can hit what you're aiming at, whether it's at your shoulder, cradled mid-chest, or at your hip.

I see very well in the dark. If I ever encounter an intruder situation that gets me out of bed, I keep the lights off. That way I have the advantage. :)

I have fairly good night vision myself, but I still like having lights on guns. That way I know for certain who I'm about to neutralize.
 

4angrybadgers

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2009
Messages
411
Location
Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA
An ATI clamp with the G2 will work very well, particularly if you mount it in such a way that you can manipulate it easily from a pose where you have a bead drawn on a bad guy. (You want to be able to control it easily, because a light that's on is a big shoot me sign). G2's will hold up okay for at least 500 rounds in my experience, but you can always take them off at the range during the day time.

There are aftermarket parts available for 25 dollars or so that replace the tail cap on a sure fire with a pressure switch on a wire, which you can mount to the slide. Surefire would rather sell a 200 dollar system, so they don't sell them, gotta get them aftermarket. But they are available, and a good idea if you wish to be able to manipulate the light this way.
Awesome. I'll probably end up getting the ATI clamp. I did plan on purchasing a remote pressure switch for ease of use.

Best bet is to be familiar enough with shotgun operations that you can hit what you're aiming at, whether it's at your shoulder, cradled mid-chest, or at your hip.

I see very well in the dark. If I ever encounter an intruder situation that gets me out of bed, I keep the lights off. That way I have the advantage. :)
I have fairly good night vision (I won't say "excellent", because it probably isn't excellent), but I want to be able to positively ID who's in a room. Especially in the future, when my child (or children, we'll see) is in another room.

I have fairly good night vision myself, but I still like having lights on guns. That way I know for certain who I'm about to neutralize.
++ If I pick up my XD I have a 3-D-cell LED Maglite in the other hand. That will burn your eyeballs out... I know this from personal experience. It's a bit too large and heavy to mount on the 870 though, and a pump obviously requires both hands.
 

since9

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
6,964
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
I have fairly good night vision myself, but I still like having lights on guns. That way I know for certain who I'm about to neutralize.

I hear what you're saying, and that's certainly a factor. No one wants to shoot a family member, friend, neighbor, or a maintenance member from their apartment complex.

Perhaps my situation is a bit different than yours, as I live alone, and parents, friends, and the apartment maintenance staff knows to never open my door! I have a standing order on file with the management that I must present for all maintenance visits/inspections, as per the option listen when I signed my lease.

The maintenance staff learned that lesson the hard way, when they unlocked my door without knocking and just walked in one morning back in March. The turn of the key in my lock gave me enough time to grab my gun and position myself behind the corner of my living room wall (makeshift barricade). I'm friends with the maintenance supervisor, and as soon as I recognized him I stepped out and lowered my weapon. He still became visibly shaken when he saw it, but I simply said, "Dave[sup]1[/sup], you know I took option B. Next time, please knock, ok?"

They've never pulled that stunt again.

[sup]1[/sup]Not his real name.
 
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