These four SureFire flash- lights should cover all of your family needs. Left to right: X300 Weapons Light, E1B Backup, LX2 LumaMax, G2X Pro.
rugged enough you won’t have to worry about it breaking. As a matter of fact, I smacked one into a support barricade at Gunsite and the MFV survived but the polymer rail on the rifle I was using shattered. The Crimson Trace MFV has an in- tegrated 150- to 200-lumen flash- light and a green laser. This makes the little carbine all that much more appropriate for my wife and son because it eliminates the need for them to carry a light in their sup- port hand, and, the laser makes aiming easy. We have already used the combination to rid the area of a suspected rabid red fox. If you think you might want a weapon light for your carbine this unit de- serves consideration. At $649 the green-laser version isn’t cheap, but the good stuff never is. The red-laser unit may not have as cool a looking beam but it does retail for $200 less. Both are a darn sight better than duct taping a Maglite to your rifle. *
26
I keep a Smith & Wesson M&P15- 22 in my closet. It’s loaded with CCI Stingers and it’s my default home- defense firearm. You might question my choice but trust me, CCI Sting- ers are devastating when fired from a carbine and will penetrate 10" into ordnance gelatin, creating a wound cavity better than some defensive- handgun loads. On top of that, my wife, my 10-year-old son and I can all shoot this gun accurately and fast. On this little carbine I’ve mounted one of Crimson Trace’s MFV 515 vertical foregrips. This unit attaches right to the quad-rail handguard and is, as it sounds, a vertical grip for you to grasp with your support hand. The attachment
CRIMSON TRACE MFV 515
is rugged;
Some are as small as an ink pen and others as large, and as heavy, as a half- gallon milk container. The consumer has to decide which light best suits their needs, and fits within the con- straints of their pocket book. Some common sense or flashlight logic is helpful when making those choices.
Brightness The amount of
light a flashlight
puts out is probably the first, if not the most important aspect to consid- er. This is measured in lumens. The lumen is the measure of the light per- ceived by the human eye, but there is more to light brightness than just the lumen rating. The best flashlights pro- duce consistent illumination across the entire beam they cast, not just in the middle. Brightness comes from these consistent beams, the battery power, the bulb and reflector design. All flashlights are not created equal. The question for the consumer is:
How many lumens do you need? This of course depends on what you want a flashlight to do. The general consen- sus is that tactical flashlights should have a minimum of 60 lumens. This is usually enough brightness to let you search out a building and create a safe zone outside. It’s also enough light to temporarily interfere with an attacker’s night vision, hopefully pro- viding you with enough time to create distance or seek safety. I prefer at least 100 lumens. Hu-
mans can’t look into a 100-lumen beam and if they do, they will see a bright purple spot in their vision for a good while afterwards. Just brief exposure to a 100-lumen flashlight will totally destroy your night vision. If 100 lumens are good, then 200
lumens should be better, right? Well, yeah. But, as the lumen rating of a flashlight increases, so does the draw on the battery and the increase in flashlight size. SureFire makes a light
A weapons light might seem like a super tactical tool, but on a home-defense handgun it makes perfect sense because it frees up your support hand and eliminates the necessity to hold a flashlight in one hand and shoot with the other; a skill some find very difficult.
PERSONAL DEFENSE • SPRING 2011 SPECIAL EDITION
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180