Welcome back my nocturnal friends to another installment of Friday Night Lights. Last week we took a close look at Gibbous Outfitters up and coming weapon light mounts for the MP5 platform. Well, this week we take a look at the weapon lights of yesteryear, actually photos of said weapon lights.

Weapon lights @ TFB:

• Friday Night Lights: Gibbous Outfitters Weapon Light Mounts For The MP5
• SureFire Launches XSC-B Subcompact Handgun WeaponLight
• [SHOT 2023] Valhalla Tactical SOL Light Mount, Lights, & SCRS Mount

Weapon Lights Of Yesteryear

I came across the images you are about to see in a book called Advanced Weapons Training For Hostage Rescue Teams by Mark V. Lonsdale. I found this book after trying to find more images and information about the Fero D-51 night vision goggles. It was commenter Kono Arms that shared a photo of the G41/INKAS.

For obvious reasons, this intrigued me. While I do not have a G41, I do have an HK93 but it was the laser that was most intriguing to me. When I did a search for G41 INKAS, I came across a book by Mark V. Lonsdale. These images are from his book. Here is a close-up image of the INKAS laser from Lonsdale’s book.

MP5 Weapon Lights Of Yesteryear

In Lonsdale’s book, he shows examples of lasers for the MP5 series of weapons. These were provided by Laser Products who went on to become SureFire.

In the image below you can see the Model 36 laser. Not sure why the laser above has such a long protrusion. Perhaps it is to refocus the laser beam? Anyway, the image below has the iconic SureFire light mount handguard of yesteryear for the HK94/MP5.

This image is one we have seen something similar before. I posted about a yesteryear Streamlight version of this same setup. However, after reading Lonsdale’s book he references a defunct company called B.E.A.M. Co. out of San Dimas, CA.

I have not seen a yesteryear setup like this before. Underbarrel mounted B.E.A.M. light. You could easily swap that for a Maglite but most people mount Maglites.

As I mentioned in my review of Gibbous Outfitters’ MP5 weapon light mounts, there are not many ways to attach a weapon light to an MP5SD. But it looks like B.E.A.M. made one for yesteryear to mount to an MP5SD. Sadly the photograph was taken with the sun behind the subject so a lot of the detail is in shadow.

B.E.A.M. LightsOf Yesteryear For Rifles

In Lonsdale’s book, he has this photo to help illustrate what he called “aim fire”. Using the sights to aim and shoot the gun. The HK93/33 pictured above appears to have a B.E.A.M weapon light attached to the side of the handguard.

Here are some other examples I found in Lonsdale’s book showcasing some B.E.A.M. weapon lights of yesteryear.

Oddball Low Light Fighting Of Yesteryear

Lonsdale’s book had some really interesting images in them. This arm-mounted light seems rather cumbersome but it would allow you to shoot a Browning Hi-Power with a proper Weaver stance and two hands on the gun.

I have the SureFire 2211 wrist-mounted light and light activation is less than ideal. You have to press the light switch with the hand that does not have the light and it was only designed to work on the support hand. If you mounted it to your firing hand, the light beam does not line up properly. Having the B.E.A.M. mounted inline with your forearm might work well in a Weaver stance. If you look closely, a cable appears to be used under the right hand. I suspect this weapon light of yesteryear is activated with a tape switch that you hold while grasping the pistol of choice. I imagine deploying this would be convoluted unless you have your handgun in your hand all the time.

This next picture is very interesting. It is the S8 light/designator by IMI for their micro UZI. The soda can-sized weapon light of yesteryear is apparently a light as well as some form of aiming designator. I am not sure if this is a projected reticle/light like the projected sights we see for HK weapons or if this is a light and laser which would be ahead of its time.

I always wondered how people used night vision with handguns without the aid of red dots or lasers. Well, Mark Lonsdale answered that question for me.

Good old point shooting.

These are not so oddball. These techniques are well established for using a Maglite sized light of yesteryear with a handgun.

The top image is referred to “Harries”. I forget the second one but I have seen it in the SureFire training video. The one below is similar to FBI Search Modified but normally the hand position is reversed so you can switch to the Harries technique. Although the way he has it held, the shooter could put the light on the side of the Hi-Power like in the image above.

Other Gems From Lonsdale’s Book Of Yesteryear

As a fan of the MP5K briefcase, this was nice to see in Lonsdale’s book. As you can see in the image above, the briefcase is deceptive with point shooting. Often the shooter aims too high as seen in the image above.

Suppressed Steyr SSG-P11 sniper rifle looks awesome. Below is a target to show where to aim to instantly turn a suspect off.

Mark recommends any agency have at least one Colt AR-15 equipped with night vision. Here is one setup with a Litton M845. It is a red dot combined with a traditional image intensifier.

I found this image at the back of Lonsdale’s book and it shows a PVS-4 mounted on an M60. The height over bore seems excessive.

There is a section about handguns he recommends. Since this was before the wide adoption of the GLOCK 17, he mentioned that GSG-9 are issued the HK P7-M13.

Revolver launched gas grenades. Not much cooler than that.

Final Thoughts On Weapon Lights Of Yesteryear

Thanks to technology weapon lights and lasers have become a lot smaller and bespoke for some weapons. The way B.E.A.M. went about attaching their lights to guns seems a bit rudimentary. I wonder how effective they were? Considering B.E.A.M. Co seems to not be in business anymore and Laser Products went on to become SureFire, I guess that is an answer in itself. If anyone has information on where to get an INKAS laser, please let me know. Thanks for reading.