# Flashlight on shotgun?



## Maddiequus (Nov 4, 2003)

Hey folks,
I've had coyotes in my pasture near the house lately. Last night had to go get the ducks in the dark in the mud with a pack nearby. I took my Stoeger M2000 (12g) and realized...it's not really feasible to work a flashlight AND a gun AND be accurate in the dark. (Fortunately didn't have to shoot anything) This gun is primarily used for squirrel and turkey, however, it would be my gun of choice for clearing a pasture. It's got a vented rib barrel. I'm having trouble finding a mount that will allow me to add a flashlight without extending the magazine, which would make it illegal to hunt. Anyone got any ideas??? Thanks!


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## psegnatelli (Sep 12, 2012)

Zip ties or black electrical tape. I've found that the spot I like is between the forend and tthe barrel. There is almost a pocket. You hit the light with your support hand thumb.

For my 870 and 500 I made a mount with a short piece of magpul rail and a 5rd 30cal stripper clip. Plus 2 bolts and nuts. I mounted the rail around the section of barrel that connects to the magazine

For my 22 I screwed a weaver. Scope mount to the stock. 

I also use 1inch weaver rings to hold the light. All my lights are surefire brand and have 1inch bodies


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

Iâd go with a mounted piece of rail as psegnatelli suggested, tape, zip ties etc. may or may not hold and odds are if it fails, it will be at the worst time. 

The other thing to consider is getting a dedicated weapon light, or at least a decent LED. Standard lights arenât designed to deal with recoil. What I use for my HD guns are âpistol lightsâ such as the SureFire X series. These with a short piece of rail allow me to move the light from weapon to weapon depending on need, or to remove altogether quickly for practicing to save wear and tear on the lights. The ones I have (SureFires and Insights) range from 175-300 lumens. I have an X400 for my HD pistol that combines a laser. 

Pictured is the light on my Benelli using a rail mount and several of the same style light on other guns.

Chuck


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> having trouble finding a mount that will allow me to add a flashlight without extending the magazine, which would make it illegal to hunt.


The extended mag is legal as long as it has a PLUG that only allows 2 shells to fit inside


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Here's a nice mount that fits your feed tube so long as it's a 1"tube.. most are.. 

http://www.amazon.com/Laserlyte-Shotgun-Rail-Mount-Exte/dp/B0041FPG40/ref=pd_sim_sbs_sg_7


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I would extend the mag , and fill it up when doing pasture work , then plug it when time to hunt 

I have used a pencil as plug , it works , i think the law states something like must be disassembled to remover plug , un-screwing the cap is disassembling then when i got home i could dump out the pencil and replace cap and load it back up full


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I use a piece of broom stick as my plug.. Same here, unscrew the cap and put it on the back side of the spring..


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## Maddiequus (Nov 4, 2003)

Thanks for the tips. And great thought about the lights not being made for recoil! I'll keep that in mind.


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## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

I am not a fan of firearm mounted lights, I guess they are ok if you re just planning to use if for predators in a field but I would not want it for home defense if you have other people living in the house. Lets say you hear a noise in the middle of the night, you grab your gun and go to clear your house, you shine your light in a room and see it is your child that got up in the night. Now you just pointed a loaded firearm at your child


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

bassmaster17327 said:


> I am not a fan of firearm mounted lights, I guess they are ok if you re just planning to use if for predators in a field but I would not want it for home defense if you have other people living in the house. Lets say you hear a noise in the middle of the night, you grab your gun and go to clear your house, you shine your light in a room and see it is your child that got up in the night. Now you just pointed a loaded firearm at your child


This comes up pretty much every time the subject of mounted weapon lights comes up. There are two things that mitigate this potential issue:

1. Training; take a low light class, learn how to use a mounted light, and practice with it.

2. Equipment; the newer âtacticalâ or dedicated weapon lights have plenty of âspillâ to illuminate a target without pointing the weapon directly at it. My Surefires will light up an entire room well enough to ID a threat when pointed at the low ready. 

Iâve taken 3 low/no-light classes and shot a bunch of low-light stages in IDPA. If afforded the opportunity my weapon will wear a mounted light. Itâs that much of an advantage IMHO for several reasons:

1. No chance of leaving a light behind.

2. Hitting a target is much easier with a mounted light, especially with a long-arm VS a hand-held light. We practice low-light with hand-helds during the fall and spring when sunset is early, even new comers, can hit well with a mounted light, hand-held, not so easy.

3. Opening doors, windows, dialing a phone, reloading, carrying a child etc. are much easier with a light attached to your weapon (again especially with a lomg-arm) VS a handheld light.

4. Lights with a high lumen beam are actually in some ways a non-lethal deterrent. Donât believe me, just let your night vision kick in and then get flashed by one, you will wince and look away, then see green dots for a while. (youâll also learn where the mirrors in your house are)

5. In a pinch, they make a good poor manâs laser for close quarters. On my Benelli, IF your center beam, your center pattern. 

6. Most important, itâs like any other tool, just because itâs there, doesnât mean you have to turn it on. This is where some training comes in. You donât leave the light on constantly, you strobe, move, strobe, shoot, etc. 

Just some counter thoughts,

Chuck


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I wish i had some gun mounted lights , I carry a stream light pro tac2AA every were every day , at 120 lumens (same as 3 d-cell led mag light) it will light up a room in my house well enough to ID just from the light bouncing off the ceiling or floor 

nothing says you can't carry a hand held and have a weapon mounted light 


I last thing i shot i needed to hold a light and the gun was a critter that got my carriage house hay loft It's like a garage but set up for 2 horses and a wagon , and not a car although it has been converted for a car by the time i get the tiller the lawn mowers , tools and bikes in there the car stays out. back on topic it was hard to hold the flash light and the gun and aim , i did it but it is a good thing it stood still for a bit..

I was looking at one of these , http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/36_758/products_id/83379 cause who doesn't need another 22 , well i was thinking of it for trapping 4 pounds is a fair amount lighter than my current 22 ,and if i scratch up the cheap synthetic one no big deal , also it has a mount for a light molded into the stock , loaded with CBlongs easy on the ears from a bolt gun , and they don't come out the other side often but make dead critters in close.


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## Cornhusker (Mar 20, 2003)

I've got a couple mounted lights on long guns and one on a pistol
The one i find the most useful is a Hi Point 995 with a light mounted right above the ejection port.
Not only does it light up the target, but it lights the front sight too.
Makes it a great night time chicken house gun


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## K-9 (Jul 27, 2007)

There are several light mounts that clamp on the barrel, a quick google should give you some options. Streamlight makes one I know. As has been mentioned you want an LED light particularlly on a shotgun. Weapon mounted lights greatly increase your success and safety by making for positive target identification and one of your hands is not tied up trying to manipulate a flashlight while the other one is trying to manage your firearm. Obviously you want to become proficent in manipulating the light system with an unloaded firearm before you try it with live ammo.


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## skootchingdog (Jun 30, 2013)

Might be a good idea to check your state hunting regs. In some places, any light is the equivalent of a laser sight, and others it's pretty acceptable. 

That said, an old poacher once told me how they taped a mag lite under a shotgun using a small block to level it off. If they could see the deer was brown, the buck shot spread was tight enough... :nanner: Naturally they haven't done anything like that in a long time, and would never endorse such wantonly illegal activity. :hobbyhors


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## psegnatelli (Sep 12, 2012)

Tape or zip ties work for something you need now while your waiting for something more sturdy to arrive

Ill take a shoddy mounted light vs no light any night


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## Maddiequus (Nov 4, 2003)

Should have thought to mention that I have a semi-auto. Vented rib barrel. None of the mounts that have been suggested will work. :-( Guess it's duct tape and zip ties for me!

I can't imagine a situation where I would ever mistake my child for an intruder. Maybe it's women's intuition, but there are noises you are familiar with and noises you aren't...and you can tell the size of the movement as well, at least I can. Unless a midget was robbing me, I think I'm okay. And as a woman alone at night on the farm...I'm gonna go ahead and have the gun ready. ;-)


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## psegnatelli (Sep 12, 2012)

Don't take it forgranted. I was a sleepwalker as a child and was almost shot by my mother. 

Practice shooting with the light. Its a different feel. It could be painful too. But its needed


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

depending on the model you might be able to get a saddle mount that mounts around the receiver and you could mount a red dot sight and light to that 

things can always be added , to almost any gun, the question is are you willing to take it to the smith for a drill and tap to do it 

drilling and tapping my shotgun for a low power scope was one of the best things i ever did , if you have a good smith do the work it doesn't even detract from the value of the gun


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I found the solution , and it is inexpensive and i got it at walmart 

http://www.amazon.com/NEBO-5598-Universal-Light-Mount/dp/B005BTT8JY

for 15 and some change you can mount a wide variety of light sizes to a wide variety of barrel sizes , or to the top of a scope 

my every day carry flash light is a streamlight pro tack 2AA , great little light weight flash light with about the same intensity as my 3 d cell mag light LED 

last time i needed a critter that was unwelcome dispatched it was dark I held the light with the left hand also trying to steady the 22 rifle while taking aim , not such an easy task

so i purchased the 15 dollar light mount , i had looked at much more expensive ones that mounted to rails and such but this both made sense and was reasonable in cost 

it took about 2 minutes after opening the packaging to mount my flash light to the barrel of a 12ga shotgun , another minute or two and i had it on a 22 , so it does fine with the larger and smaller barrel sizes , and flash light didn't have to be the exact 1 inch as specified on other mounts 

this is definitely not a take it to Afghanistan kind of mount but if your looking to dispatch the **** in the corn crib or check on the ruckus in the chicken house , it may be a very reasonably priced way to make it a hole lot easier to see and aim at the same time


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

That's an interesting looking mount, but it looks like it's kind of a one size fits all?

Curious if you've put any shells through the shotgun with it mounted? Did it hold well after firing off a few rounds if you have tried it?


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

no shells yet , honestly this one is probably staying one the 22 any way 

they also sell it with the Nebo light for 49 dollars at walmart 

but i had a light and wanted to try it and not spend 50 dollars 

i could definitely see buying a dedicated light for this


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## LoonyK (Dec 12, 2009)

Stop fiddling with flashlights, use a headlamp on your head! I've killed a lot with that help.


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## Two Tracks (Jul 13, 2013)

My husband duck taped a flashlight with a red lens taped to the light on his .22 and shot a whole lot of pack rats around our place in Montana. He also shot a coyote 275 yds off our pasture in Michigan using a spotlight resting on his knee and the gun on top of the light, sitting down shot. He shoots a lot so he pulled it off. He likes distance shooting and killed a lot of predators and prey from far off. ~Chris


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