Glock & Picatinny Rail Mounted Light – Buying Guide

Gun-mounted light was first invented by Russian/American immigrant Conrad Hubert. Since then it has come a long way with so many designs, shapes, and sizes. 

Today’s Glock and Picatinny rail-mounted lights are smaller than they used to be. Small but these flashlights are very powerful. 

Compared to regular EDC flashlights, weapon flashlights produce a much brighter beam to enhance illumination in low-lit areas. If you have a laser inbuilt in the light, that’s a bonus point as you can illuminate and simultaneously aim at your target. 

Weapon light can also be hand-held but mounted weapon light gives you better control over your weapon and frees up your supporting hand when needed. 

Whether it’s for law enforcement, the military, concealed carry, or home defense, everyone can benefit from this light. You can use it for rescue searches, clearing rooms, providing positive identification, and temporarily disorients an attacker’s vision. 

Why Do You Need a Weapon Mounted Light?

It makes sense to use your weapon rail-mounted in low-light conditions. In some instances, when your non-dominant hand is busy, a weapon light can play an important role.

A rail-mounted light permits you to put two hands on your weapon and control the gun and light. This makes the weapon simpler to control, as well as gives a more precise shoot. It would be a risky move to shoot with one hand even if you were able to do so.

A weapon light is a fantastic choice for hunting, target shooting, and for tactical situations. 

Many people opt for handheld flashlights instead of Glock & Picatinny rail-mounted lights but in situations when a potential danger shows up, something sufficiently serious to make you draw your weapon. There’s no time to waste so pulling a firearm and getting on track is much quicker than drawing a pocket-conveyed light and a weapon and attempting to get both on track.

What Should You Look For While Buying a Mounted Light? 

Depending on a person’s need, the type of mounted light can vary. But there are factors that can’t be ignored. 

Compatibility 

The first thing you should consider while buying gun-mounted light is compatibility.  Not all flashlights will fit into your gun. Some are made for dedicated guns and some are multi-function lights for multiple guns. 

If you’re looking for a multi-function weapon light, Baldr S Glock & Picatinny rail mounted light can be a good option. 

Brightness 

Brightness is another important factor to consider. Whatever Glock and Picatinny rail-mounted light you choose, it should be able to provide sufficient visual spread and distance reach. 

For home defense, the max lumens output can be anywhere from 200-400 because for home use you will only be targeting a small area to illuminate. Imagine you’re inside a room with 1000 lumen lighting flashlight, you will blind yourself rather than illuminate a target. 

For outdoor use, go for at least 800 lumens. When you’re in the open you need a light that can illuminate larger areas and travel far.

Runtime

Depending on the type of battery a gun-mounted flashlight uses, the better either last long or run out soon. Running out of batteries during tactical situations can be problematic. 

Always go for a flashlight that has a longer runtime to prevent it from dying in the moments you need it the most. Look for a weapon light that is powered by CR123 batteries. This battery type is smaller than most other batteries but it tends to run longer. 

If you normally carry your pistol with you, you may want to get a weapon light that runs on AAA batteries. These batteries are easy to find pretty much everywhere. 

Also, take the low-battery indicator feature into consideration, especially if you’re among those people who often indulge in tactical situations. 

Built-in Laser 

Not all Glock & Picatinny rail-mounted lights come with a laser beam. There are only a few selected flashlight laser combos in the market. 

Laser light in a flashlight can take your shooting experience to the next level. When you have your lights on and laser at the target, there is no way a target can escape. The best part about this type of flashlight is you can either use only the flashlight, only the laser, or both combined. 

Weight 

The weight of a Glock & Picatinny rail-mounted light is as important as the lumen. Heavy tactical flashlights can add weight to the front end of a gun and can cause imbalance, especially if you’re using a Glock. 

The less the weight of a flashlight the less it interferes with the balance of a weapon. 

Ease of use

A light’s design will also affect how easy it is to operate. The switch button is another factor. 

Whether you’re looking for a home-defense mounted light or outdoor shooting flashlight, it should be easy to use. It should have an easy-to-access switch, the light control should be intuitive to use while holding the gun in shooting positions.

You’ll want to double-check to make sure your weapon light is ambidextrous, especially if you’re a southpaw.

It doesn’t matter how easy a flashlight is to handle, you still need to train enough to make sure you get hold of it. In the middle of a combat situation, you can’t expect to figure out how to use a light.

Quality 

A Glock & Picatinny rail-mounted light that can’t stand up to a few recoil rounds should be completely ignored. You want your weapon light to last as long as possible. 

A tactical flashlight is made to withstand extreme weather conditions. It’s made to withstand drops, water splashes, and scorching heat. If a flashlight can’t handle this, it’s not worthy of calling a weapon light. 

A flashlight made of aluminum alloy is far better than a flashlight made of plastic. When you look for a Glock & Picatinny rail-mounted light make sure the body is made of aircraft-grade aluminum. 

Why Baldr S Glock & Picatinny Rail Mounted Light?

Baldr S has all the factors mentioned above. This weapon-mounted flashlight is one of the most powerful white light & green beam combos on the market. It can produce a max of 800 lumens which is 33% more light than the previous Baldr Mini.

The adjustable beam and 100-lumen power mode are other amazing features of this flashlight. The switch setting enables you to change between the white light, green beam, and combined settings easily without turning off the light. 

Balder S is a Glock & Picatinny rail-mounted light, meaning you can use it on both Glock and long guns. Kel-Tec, FN, Taurus, Ruger, Sig Sauger, Steyr, CZ, Walther, Springfield Armory, HK, Beretta, Glock, Smith & Wesson are few guns that Baldr S is compatible with. 

With the sliding rail mount, you can adjust the light to your desired position. It also features a dual ambidextrous switch for smooth momentary-on or constant-on activation accessible with either hand. 

Talking about the battery, this tiny but powerful flashlight is powered by 3.7V 380mAh with a max runtime of 140 minutes when set to 100 lumens. 

Conquer the Dark with a Flashlight

Mounting a Glock & Picatinny rail-mounted light to your gun makes you a dominator of the dark. It’s one of the most important additions to any self-defense firearm.

If you correctly use a weapon-mounted light it can aid target discrimination, temporality ruin an attacker’s eyesight, make your target shooting precise and give your better visibility in tactical situations. 

When you have a mounted flashlight you never have to worry about leaving it behind because it always stays attached to your gun.

There are advantages and disadvantages of every weapon light model, so look for the buying factor mentioned in this blog post. You want to make sure you get the best light at the best deal.