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We are far more likely to use and need a hand-held flashlight than we are a pistol-mounted light. Never mind lights mounted on shotguns and carbines. Those are for another discussion.
Before we get into the meat of the discussion, there are two things to address. First, none of these techniques should be locked in one specific spot, aka – Set In Stone. You should be capable of flowing with them, from one to another and from one space to another, as the situation you are dealing with changes and evolves.
Students in a Cougar Mountain Solutions low-light class each using the FBI method in different ways during an interior search.
Second, you should absolutely have a way of employing the hand-held light on each side of the firearm. If Louis Awerbuck did not say it directly, he said something that developed the same idea in my head years back about the need to do it. Recently, a firearms instructor acquaintance—Chris—from a large Southwest agency—made a similar comment. However, he distilled his thoughts down to just having a way of working your hand-held light on each side of the handgun.
Hand-held flashlight techniques will almost exclusively require strong hand-only shooting skills.
Switching
Tail cap or a side button? While there are any number of lights that still have power buttons on the side of the light, the preferred method is using the tail cap to activate the light.
Best Option
For the vast majority of those I have worked with, as well as those I’ve seen across the country, tail cap activation necessitates holding the light like an ice pick. That puts the thumb on the tail cap, the fingers around the body of the light, and the head (bulb, reflector) protruding at the bottom of the hand.
This makes it easier to turn the light on and off and allows you to move through a variety of positions when using the hand-held light.
FBI
One advantage to the FBI method is the wide range of light positioning it gives you – like getting it outside of the gun here.
It is good for searching, but it’s not the best for shooting. With the ice pick grip and the elevated initial position, it is a very solid starting point. It has an excellent range of motion that works rotationally, vertically, and laterally. Initially, the light is held above and slightly offset from your head.
Next
The light has dropped into a Jaw Index from an elevated technique. However, it illuminates the back of the slide and optic.
From the starting point of the FBI, again, you can move the light in any number of ways. One of them is dropping down to what was originally called the Surefire / Jaw Index. The knuckles of the hand holding the light go to the side of the jaw and press inward there. Generally, this works well as a shooting position in that ….
With the increasing use of pistol-mounted optics, the location has been modified by shifting upwards. Many, myself included, work this up by the temple piece of their glasses. Having the light up there helps by projecting the beam over the optic rather than into the back of it.
Some called this adjustment the Temple Index because of its connection to the glasses’ arms. One friend, recognizing the appropriateness of both contact points, has begun calling it the Face Index. Regardless of the name, it is a viable method.
Working with the light up by the temple piece of his glasses, the light is projected over the optic and down range.
From there, I can move into a third option on the support side of the handgun. Maintaining the ice pick grip, I can connect the knuckles of the shooting hand to those of the support. While some methods lack hand-to-hand support, this does give the user some increase in stability over strictly one-handed shooting.
The far side of the gun
You can start by shifting your light from the FBI method over to the outside of the pistol. You can move it across, over, or under the pistol – without contacting the shooting hand.
Projecting light down the hallway from the Harries technique.
You can also use the Harries technique. Named for its originator – Michael Harries (pronounced Hair-REES), it replaced two hands on the handgun with the back of the support hand against the back of the shooting hand or the forearm. The support arm does not support the pistol, like a shelf. Instead, the support elbow is driven downward to help generate the tension you lost after removing the support hand.
Though you can search and shoot from it, the position becomes uncomfortable in a relatively short period. Unfortunately, shooters excessively relax it to alleviate the discomfort.
Even though the barricade is absorbing some of the light, this shooter is still getting most of the light downrange.
Regardless of whether you have a pistol-mounted light, realistically, a handgun shooting will be strong-hand only to start. The hand-held light will have located and illuminated the threat. The pistol will be shot one-handed, and, at some point during the event, the support hand will try to establish a grip—whether it has discarded the light or not.
Also, there is holding the light between the thumb and index finger while getting three fingers on the grip
Weapon Mounted Light Usage
While I prefer Surefire’s DG switch, many use only the rocker switch on the rear of the light’s body. When turning on the pistol light, your support hand thumb will most likely depress the switch.
The shooter has gone from a handheld technique to both hands on the pistol and its weapon-mounted light.
What to do with the hand-held?
This can happen when you must reload, clear a stoppage, or transition from a hand-held technique to one with both hands on the pistol.
A version of the ice pick grip that allows you to manipulate the slide or magazine.
Back in the 90s, Surefire shipped paracord lanyards with their lights. We have moved on from there and adopted other options. Raven Concealment once made a metal clip with a synthetic rubber ring attached. You could hook a finger through the ring and retain possession of the light. Thyrm created the Switchback, a rigid pocket clip and finger ring made from polymer.
You can also retain the light by adjusting how you hold it. One method, depicted, involves hooking the pinkie around the light’s barrel and holding it between that and the ring finger.
For manipulations, the light can stowed in the strong-side armpit or even a pocket.
Final Thought
Regardless of which one you choose, leaving the light on can provide information to others, while turning the light off can deny them that information.
