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View Poll Results: Which side for you? (Reference from the rear of the rifle)
Shoot Right - Mount Right side 1 4.35%
Shoot Right - Mount Left side 14 60.87%
Shoot Left - Mount Right side 0 0%
Shoot Left - Mount Left side 1 4.35%
Mount on Bottom 2 8.70%
Mount on Top 1 4.35%
Light? What light? 4 17.39%
Voters: 23. You may not vote on this poll

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Old November 22, 2012, 08:47 AM   #1
HKGuns
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AR Light Mount -Which side for you?

I read a few articles on which side of the rifle to mount your light and conventional wisdom appears to say mount it on the outboard side of of whichever way you carry it so it won't get it hung up in gear.

Not being one to follow conventional wisdom I chose to mount mine inside as I can fluidly hit the button should I need to do so. Doing the reach around with my trigger hand makes little sense and I don't want one of those stupid pressure switches.

Which side do you mount your light on?
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Old November 22, 2012, 09:27 AM   #2
Crow Hunter
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Contrary to conventional wisdom I run a Surefire X300 on the left side.

-I tried running it way out on front. (I don't like holding my arms out the "new cool" Costa way of running a rifle.

-I tried running it on the outboard side, the way everyone says it is supposed to be run. I would miss the light switch sometimes and the shadow of the barrel obscured a large portion of my light.

-Running it on the left side (inboard for me), allowed me to hit the light with my thumb, and the barrel shadow winds up on my right side, which is partially obstructed by the housing of Aimpoint anyway so the light isn't as important to me on that side as it is on my unobstructed left side.

My big decision maker was back a while ago. I own 200 acres of woods back home and I noticed that there was a trail in a location that I didn't make. It was starting to get dark but I wanted to check it out, so I grabbed my rifle and some spare mags and walked the trail. (Meth cookers are rampant in my home county)

While walking down the trail as dusk was settling in, I heard a rustle off to my right side, so I spun and tried to illuminate the noise in the darkness under the trees. I fumbled the light REALLY bad. (Mounted to the Outboard side). It turned out to be a rabbit, but missing that light really smacked me hard. I also noticed and didn't like how much the barrel shadow obscured what I was actually seeing. It didn't seem that bad in the house with bright taupe walls. Outside, at dusk with trees, a lot of the light was absorbed rather than being reflected back at me and making it look brighter. So I swapped sides right then and there.

The other added benefit for me is that if I were to ever need to shoot around the corner from my bedroom down the hall into my living room and need to illuminate a target, it is a left hand corner, so I would probably be blinding myself if I used the light on the right hand side of the rifle.

I am NOT a tactical expert though. Just a guy who likes evil black rifles and actually uses them occasionally.
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Good luck.
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Old November 22, 2012, 04:45 PM   #3
Quentin2
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I like the light on top. No interference when shooting around barriers.
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Old November 22, 2012, 06:05 PM   #4
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Support hand side. It just feels the most natural to me...
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Old November 22, 2012, 07:01 PM   #5
Ridge_Runner_5
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Righty, I set my light at 11 o'clock so I can activate it with my thumb from the VFG. I tried setting it on the other side with a tapeswitch, but I don't like having the shadow of my barrel and FSB over the target.

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Old November 22, 2012, 10:42 PM   #6
raimius
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I go on the outboard side (MI FSB mount), and use a tape-switch mounted at the 12 o'clock. It works decently well.
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