[ShaneInsane90]

Yes, I was wondering where a good place to order either a tactical light or red dot laser for my Xd-45 ACP ? I know I could google it but I wana get some other ideas from people that knows where I could find add-ons that are reasonably priced- Thanks, Shane

 

[Cuda66]

Here's the question...or questions, as it were:

First: what do you want to be able to do with the pistol; what purposes do you envision using the pistol for? Carry? Home defense/nighstand gun? Range toy?

Second: how much do you want to spend?

 

[mustang_gtcs]

Forget about the laser. I had one and all it was good for was making my friends cat run around the room chasing the red dot. You will get a lot more use out of a weapon mounted light. I am LEO and most of my fellow officers and I have gone the laser route and ditched them for the light. The lasers never got used for their intended perpose (refur back to my second sentance) and sometimes they would be accidentaly switched on (laser max) while the weapon was being holstered and you wouldn't know it till someone told you that you were being followed by a small red dot on the floor.

I have had several lights over the years and my favorite one by far is the TLR-3. This light is rated at 90 lumins but it seems much brighter than that. It is compact so it does not stick way out past the barrel. On my G-21 it is flush with the barrel and on my Xd45 it goes slightly past the end of the barrel.

I got the TLR-3 for $84.00 new at a pawn shop that sells a lot of guns and accessories. This was cheaper than the local Law Enforcement dist. by a few dollars. I find that Midway USA and Cheaper than dirt have very good every day pricing and the shipping fees are not bad either but if you shop around on line you can find them on sale but you won't save much over the Midway and CTD price seeing that when stuff goes on sale the shipping rate usualy goes up to cover the sale amount on the lesser known web stores.

 

[rkammer]

Forget about the laser. I had one and all it was good for was making my friends cat run around the room chasing the red dot. You will get a lot more use out of a weapon mounted light. I am LEO and most of my fellow officers and I have gone the laser route and ditched them for the light. The lasers never got used for their intended perpose (refur back to my second sentance) and sometimes they would be accidentaly switched on (laser max) while the weapon was being holstered and you wouldn't know it till someone told you that you were being followed by a small red dot on the floor.

I have had several lights over the years and my favorite one by far is the TLR-3. This light is rated at 90 lumins but it seems much brighter than that. It is compact so it does not stick way out past the barrel. On my G-21 it is flush with the barrel and on my Xd45 it goes slightly past the end of the barrel.

I got the TLR-3 for $84.00 new at a pawn shop that sells a lot of guns and accessories. This was cheaper than the local Law Enforcement dist. by a few dollars. I find that Midway USA and Cheaper than dirt have very good every day pricing and the shipping fees are not bad either but if you shop around on line you can find them on sale but you won't save much over the Midway and CTD price seeing that when stuff goes on sale the shipping rate usualy goes up to cover the sale amount on the lesser known web stores.

I've got the TLR-3 on my XDm 45 and it's almost flush with the muzzle end. It's super light, super bright, and super easy to operate. Great light irregardless of price.

 

[uponthestair]

Having a light on the weapon has never made any sense to me.

In the second or so that you are moving the light back and forth to find the bad guy, the bad guy has a lighted target to shoot at that you are holding right in front of your face.

Why is that a ever good idea?

 

[glennhmd]

Having a light on the weapon has never made any sense to me.

In the second or so that you are moving the light back and forth to find the bad guy, the bad guy has a lighted target to shoot at that you are holding right in front of your face.

Why is that a ever good idea?

maybe because it won't always be a bad guy making those noises downstairs in the middle of the night. i would at least make sure who or what i'm shooting at. anyone would surely regret shooting their dog or their wife or their kid in the dark by mistake. or maybe you're a LEO and don't want to shoot someone holding a hair dryer by mistake. how can that be a bad idea?

 

[glennhmd]

for the original poster:

here are a few more pics for you.

HS(XD) 45 compact with TLR-3. as mentioned above its a very bright light, very light and very affordable. but it sticks out way too far (for my taste) on my gun. see pic below.

and here's what's on my gun now. viridian X5L gen 1. love the green laser. big price tag though. also the light isn't as bright as the TLR-3, seems the beam is too scattered or diffuse but then again i feel its just fine for engagements within my pistol's effective range.

 

[mustang_gtcs]

Having a light on the weapon has never made any sense to me.

In the second or so that you are moving the light back and forth to find the bad guy, the bad guy has a lighted target to shoot at that you are holding right in front of your face.

Why is that a ever good idea?

Years ago in Law Enforcement training we were tought to think just like you but it never made sence to me. We are told to hold our light way out to our side to throw off the bad guy which actualy can throw you off ballance and is no good at all in door ways as it would let the bad guy know you are headed his way before you got there. Hell they even said that before entering a room we should lay our flash light on the floor just inside the door way and roll it into the room in a way that it would roll and light up the entire room. Ok now my light is in the room and I am outside of the room in the dark with no light and have to enter the room to get my light What if the BG is in there behind or under something and I did not see him as my light rolled across the floor Now I am going to enter the room thinking it is clear and get my ass shot off trying to get my light back. Thank God we are not tought this technique anymore.

Not to mention that having the light mounted to the weapon alows you to use both hands to control your weapon just like most people train. We have to shoot with our strong hand only and weak hand only when we qualify with our backup and off duty weapons so I can tell you for a fact that 2 hands is better than one when it comes to controling a firearm. We also have to do a night fire qualification every year and those that use the weapon mounted lights and shoot with both hands on the gun do far better than those that have to hold a light in one hand and shoot with the other.

Sorry for the inverted pic, I havent figured out how to stop my Iphone from doing this.

Light on bedroom door at ruffly 15 feet, both hands on gun for better control if someone (bad guy) was to come in.

 

[HLF]

Not trying to High Jack here but what are good holsters with lights?