Weapon Mounted Lights and Lasers

The CCW culture sees its fair share of innovations, discoveries, or what some might even call trends. An example? The move to the small, pocket-capable .380ACP single stack pistol circa 2008-2009. Everyone had to have a Ruger LCP or equivalent. This was followed by the micro 9 craze about 4 years or so later – everyone had to have a Sig P938, an M&P Shield or a Glock G43. In the past few years, more and more concealed carriers are carrying a pistol with either a weapon mounted flashlight or laser on them.

Carrying a weapon mounted light or laser has been popular in some circles for a long time, but we are noticing it is now moving in to the mainstream and is considered “normal” by today’s standards. I do not want to get into a debate about why someone would use a weapon mounted light instead of a handheld flashlight or debate the merits of having a light or laser mounted to your carry gun. This is a personal decision that needs to be decided based on your own needs and preferences.

This new movement brings along its own set of challenges for those that adopt this carry method. One of the biggest challenges is finding a holster to accommodate your gun/light or gun/laser combination. Most lasers will either mount to the pistol’s grip or replace the grips (like Crimson Trace Laser Grips) or attach to the weapon’s accessory rail (like many Crimson Trace and Viridian models). Grip mounted lasers pose the least amount of problems when looking for a holster. Many “stock” open top holster models are cut low enough to allow the laser module to clear the top of the holster mouth without any modification, however this is not always the case, so checking with the vendor or a test fit may be in order. If you plan on using a holster with a thumb break, then the thumb break strap will need to be modified to accommodate the grip mounted laser.

A rail mounted laser or weapon light requires holster modification to fit the laser/light equipped weapon. The addition of a light or laser to the pistol’s rail completely changes the form factor and footprint of the pistol, so it cannot fit in to a holster designed for the pistol alone. This is where things tend to become complicated for some users. For example, let’s say you carry a Glock G19 and you decide to add a Surefire X300B weapon light and you want to get a holster. The holster that is made to fit the G19 with the Surefire X300 will only work when carrying the X300 on the G19. You can’t take the X300 off and add the new Surefire XH35 light and have the gun fit in that holster. In addition, taking the light off completely and putting the stock pistol into the light capable holster is not a great idea either…the gun will fit, but the retention will be less than optimal since the light is now missing.

MTR Custom makes most of their holster models in light bearing or laser capable configurations. They fit for a large variety of pistol/light and pistol/laser combinations. If you need help finding a holster to fit you light or laser equipped pistol, please check out the options offered by MTR Custom or contact us for assistance at 919.388.1991 or info@gunnersalley.com.