The modern sporting and tactical rifle industry constantly sees an influx of accessories. Some accessories are good….some are bad. Some accessories are brilliant in their design and function; some are poorly made and serve no function at all. One awesome accessory that recently hit the market is the PLM or Proctor Light Mount from Way of the Gun. The Proctor Light Mount is a low profile light mount that mates a Streamlight ProTac 1L to a MIL-STD-1913/Picatinny Rail. The Proctor Light Mount is a collaboration between Way Of The Gun owner and US Army Special Forces veteran Frank Proctor and Unity Tactical.
Key Features of the Proctor Light Mount include:
- Made of DLC coated Stainless steel.
- Attaches to one MIL-STD-1913/Picatinny Rail.
- Will fit under some fold down front sights.
- Fits the Streamlight ProTac 1L, Streamlight ProTac 2L, Surefire E-Series and the Fenix P3D.
I received a test sample in early February and immediately installed the Proctor Light Mount on my main testing rifle. Since installing the Proctor Light Mount 5 months ago I made the following observations:
- You may have to remove your rail and accessories to properly mount the Proctor Light Mount.
- The Proctor Light Mount survived being aggressively ripped out of an Eberlestock X3 LoDrag pack several dozen times. My Eberlestock X3 LoDrag can be really hard on rifle accessories (This was seen when I tested the Lucid M7).
- The Proctor Light Mount survived several long rucks in the Eberlestock LoDrag.
- The rifle was (intentionally) dropped directly on the Streamlight ProTac 1L and both the Streamlight and the Proctor Light Mount survived.
- The Streamlight ProTac 1L survived being accidentally bumped on barricades during shooting drills.
- Does not occlude field of view, and is not visible through optics.
- Weighing several ounces, I did not notice the weight of the optic and the mount.
- Will the Proctor Light Mount fit brand “X”? The width of the ProTac 1L is .767 inches where the pocket clip interfaces with the light and .833 inches near the tail cap. I could tighten the WML down at either of these areas.
A note about the Streamlight ProTac 1L
I have been using the Streamlight ProTac 1L for several years. I have had absolutely no problems with the Streamlight ProTac 1L or with Streamlight products in general.
Key features of the ProTac 1L
- High setting is 180 lumens/3,800 candela and will run for 2 hours.
- Low setting is 12 lumens/1500 candela and will run for 24 hours.
- Strobe setting will run for 4 hours.
- Runs on one 3 Volt CR123A Battery.
- Features Streamlight’s Ten-Tap Programming. This enables an end user to program the light to run high beam only, low/high or high/strobe/low (high/strobe/low is the factory default).
- Anodized aluminum body.
- IPX7 waterproof to 1 meter for 30 minutes. Impact resistant up to 2 meters.
- Pocket clip that is removable.
- The Streamlight ProTac 1L is 3.43 inches long and weighs 2 ounces.
Streamlight’s cold weather reliability was called into question in this article. Prior to fielding a flashlight I both submerge my lights in water and leave them in the freezer for several hours to test reliability. I primarily use Streamlight and Surefire products, and both accompany me on my backcountry fly fishing trips, hikes, and trips to the ranch. As previously mentioned I have never had a Streamlight or Surefire product fail on me. One of my shooting buddies had a Surefire tailcap/switch fail on a Surefire Aviator: I consider Surefire the gold standard in reliability, but even the best can fail. When I go to the ranch or the backcountry I carry a minimum of two flashlights with at least 150 lumens of output and extra Surefire CR123A batteries. Long story short: buy gear from a company that stands by their products and be hard on gear during testing.
After 5 months of testing, the Proctor Light Mount is amazing. Initially I was concerned whether or not the mount would be strong enough for hard use, but the Proctor Light Mount held up under aggressive testing. It is interesting to note that Frank Proctor is now offering the Proctor Light Mount Version 2, a slightly “beefed-up” version of the original. At the time of writing this article, the original Light Mount might not be available for purchase, but the differences are minimal, save for a bit of extra steel on the new model. The Proctor Light Mount retails for $68.50, which is comparable to similar mounting solutions. Frank did mention in our email correspondence that a 1 inch version is in the works. If you are looking to streamline and lighten your rifle, I would seriously consider this product.