Your Privacy Choices
There are endless debates on what flashlight is best for a rifle but not many people talk about the benefits of offset light mounts vs standard factory mounts. I didn’t think much of offset light mounts until I started using a Haley Strategic SBR Thorntail mount on my 10.5 AR Pistol. Now that I’ve had about six months under my belt with a few different offset light mounts, I’m a true believer for a number of reasons. Let’s jump into why you should consider an offset light mount.
Prolonged Light Durability
With standard flashlight mounts, they often come to be mounted right on a Picatinny rail attachment or at an angle where the light will be relatively close to the muzzle depending on your barrel length. This may not be a problem if you’re running something like a linear compensator or flash can but for muzzle brakes its a real issue. In the past, there have been known cases where lights have been blown out due to the concussion of escaping gases. Escaping gases and concussion can be the death of a rifle light fairly fast no matter how high quality it is. With an offset light mount, the light will experience considerably less gas and concussion when it’s above the gas path rather than directly in its path.
The concussion from the muzzle blast is hard on lights, to say the least.
Another consideration to look at is what works best for you as a whole. One big reason I use an offset mount is to keep the lens clean. When a rifle light is next to the muzzle, not only does it get abused by the rifle’s concussion, it also covers the lens with carbon over time. It doesn’t take long to have the flashlight so covered that it’s not able to project light. It’s fairly easy to get the excess carbon off. I wrote an article a couple weeks back talking about ways to clean the lens, but it’s even better to keep it clean without much work. An offset mount keeps it out of the way and ultimately keeps much cleaner over time.
Original Factory Mount (Left) vs Offset Light Mount (Right)
Rifle Profile
The most obvious reason for an offset light mount is keeping the flashlight out of harm’s way when it comes to gasses and concussion. Another less obvious reason to run an offset mount is to have a thinner overall profile. Running a standard factory mount on your rifle can make the overall width much wider with the flashlight hanging off the side of the gun. Having an offset light mount will bring the light closer to the gun so you won’t have a large piece of metal hanging off the edge anymore. In the last six months, I’ve stopped hitting my light on barriers and other things at the range. Keeping your light out of harm’s way is always important. Whether it’s a concussion blast or a barrier frame at the range, it’s important to try and protect your light from excessive abuse.
Overall Thoughts
As a whole, I really do prefer an offset light mount when I shoot with weapon lights. Personally, I’m very happy with my Haley Strategic SBR Thorntail, and plan on getting different variations for my other lights. An offset light mount can save your weapon light from unnecessary abuse and concussion. It can also make your gun have a much thinner profile overall saving it accident bumps and abuse. There are a ton of options out there but my personal favorite are the Haley Strategic line of mounts. They aren’t overly expensive at around $50 and are some of the highest quality without being bulky. Let me know what you guys think about offset light mounts. If you have questions about mounts feel free to contact me on Instagram @fridgeoperator. Stay safe out there!
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