Great light - Streamlight ProTac Rail Mount 2 Long Gun Light

StreamLight’s New Fixed Dedicated Long Gun Light

The ProTac Rail Mount 1 is one of the more interesting lights to come to my attention in awhile. It runs on EITHER a single CR123a lithium battery OR a single AA (alkaline or lithium). That’s right EITHER!!! With the CR123a, the ProTac Rail Mount 1 has an output of 350 lumens on high and 40 lumens on low. When using a AA, it puts out 150 lumens on high and 40 lumens on low. Before you say, “Only 150 lumens?” harken back to just a few years ago when industry standard was an eye-scotching 60 lumens. The light is 4.25” long and weights 4.5 oz. Of course, it has a built-in, screw-on mount for 1913 picatinny rail. With the CR123a battery it will run an hour and 45 minutes on high and 14.5 hours on low. With an alkaline AA, it runs 1.5 hours on high and 4.5 hours on low. With a lithium AA, it runs 4.5 hours on high and 30 hours on low…Yes you read that right. Which ever power supply you feed it, this is a great light. It has a pure white, tightly configured hot spot with a wide enough pattern to light up a room with having to sweep the room with your muzzle. There are no dead spots in the beam whatsoever. With CR123, this is a solid choice for indoor or outdoor work. With either AA option, it is an excellent indoor light. Included is a tail switch AND a remote switch. And oh yeah, with a tap of the button, it sends the light into a mind bending strobe effect mode. I can tell you the my kids HATE the strobing feature. Truthfully, they are not that fond of the high output either. Of course, it is all in the name of science, so they understand.

ProTac Rail Mount 2
This is the big brother of the Protac Rail Mount 1. It runs on two CR123a. Sorry, no AA for this one. Otherwise, this light will do everything the ProTac Rail Mount 1 does, just BRIGHTER. As you would expect, it is a little longer (5”) and little heavier (5 oz). It too has the INCLUDED remote switch and tail switch. The remote for either model has a momentary switch as well as a constant on/off switch. Distinguishing between the momentary switch and the constant switch is quite easy as the constant switch is raised above the momentary switch, has a guard around it, and it is only on one end. Both lights come with picatinny rail keepers for the remote, 4 zip ties, small screws, and an double-sided adhesive pad. The ProTac Rail Mount 2 has a high output of 625 lumens and will run for 2 hours. On low output, it sends out 60 lumens for 21 hours. My old Surefire 6Ps were 60 lumens for an hour. Again, the flashlight world has come a LONG way. Like its little brother, the ProTac Rail Mount 2 has a tight center beam for longer range sighting, and a nice even and broad outer beam for target identification without having cover the area with your muzzle. Both lights are very pure white.

Side-by-Side-by-Side
At 9:00 pm in June, I took 3 weapon mounted lights outside: the 2 StreamLights and a Surefire M600. The Surefire is similar in size and lumens to the ProTac Rail Mount 2. Lighting was enough to barely see shapes at ten yards, but too dark to see your sights. I shined all three lights into a wooded, dark corner of the yard 30 yards away. All three did an adequate job lighting the area, but the ProTac Rail Mount 2 did an OUTSTANDING job. The ProTac Rail Mount 1 allowed me to see amongst the bushes and trees. The Surefire light it well, too, but the ProTac Rail Mount 2 hit the area light like a flood light. Anyone hiding back there was not hiding anymore. At 9:30 it is DARK in (there are NO streetlights). I ventured to the front yard and was able to clearly light a neighbors SUV (115 yards according to my Nikon rangefinder) with the ProTac Rail Mount 2. The Sure fire performed well, but not quite as well. The ProTac Rail Mount 1 was not quite enough light to sufficiently penetrate the darkness to engage targets at that distance.Inside the house, all three easily lit a room while bouncing the light of the floor. The Surefire and the ProTac Rail Mount 2 had significant reflection off all light colored or reflective surfaces. They also have larger halo available that helped light up more of the room. If you light up a mirror or stainless steel refrigerator with either the Surefire M600 or ProTac Rail Mount 2, expect to be blinded. In fact, As I write this, I have a series of dots in my vision from strobing the ProTac Rail Mount 2 at myself in the mirror.
OK. I love all my lights still, but I may love the ProTac Rail Mount 1 & 2 more than the others right now. The ProTac Rail Mount 2 outshines even the Surefire M600 which is well over double the price.