Streamlight ProTac Rail Mount 1 and 2

FOG HORN June, 2016

Twobirds Flying Publication

Copyright 2016, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.

Streamlight ProTac® Rail Mount 1 and 2

Streamlight ProTac® Rail Mount 1 and 2 2016

Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

Streamlight ProTac® Rail Mount 1 and 2

By: Sal Palma

Streamlight began shipping the ProTac Rail

Mount 1 and 2, the company’s newest addition

to their family of weapon mounted lights, in

May. With their arrival, it is now possible to

have all of the ProTac features on your favorite

long gun. In today’s complex and changing

environments having three program

illuminations settings is very useful and unique

to the Streamlight Rail Mount lights. So I was

looking forward to the opportunity to test drive

both of these lights and share my observations

and opinions with you.

The ProTac Rail Mount lights are Streamlight’s

answer to Surefire’s M300B and M600U Scout

lights, and what a Perry and Riposte they are.

First let’s consider that the Surefire lights will

set you back $299 with an additional $89 for the

long gun pressure switch. Compare that with

Streamlight’s street price of $100 for the Rail

Mount 1 and $110 for the Rail Mount 2, both of

which ship with a tailcap and long gun pressure

switch, that’s value folks. It doesn’t stop there

and this story gets better.

The Rail Mount 1 will accept several power

sources AA lithium, AA alkaline or CR123

lithium. This is a very nice feature that

accommodates those situations where your

battery options may be limited. The CR123

lithium is the breakfast of champions though

and will drive the Rail Mount 1 to 350 lumens

on HIGH for 1.75 hours of continuous use. The

AA batteries will power the Rail Mount 1 at 150

lumens for 1.5 hours if you’re using the AA

alkaline battery or 4.5 hours with the AA lithium

battery. Personally, I’ve given up on alkaline

batteries for both their anemic current and

durability; not to mention the damage they can

inflict on your kit. Make your life simpler; run

your lights with lithium batteries and never look

back, they’re worth the added expense. The Rail

Mount 2 requires (2) CR123 lithium batteries to

power its whopping 625 lumen output, on

HIGH, for 2 hours of continuous use.

Readers already familiar with the ProTac ten tap

programming will appreciate having the same

feature and functions on both the Rail Mount 1

and 2. When clearing a space in low or no light



having the ability to quickly and easily select

between output levels, on demand, makes life

safer and easier. The ProTac Rail Mount lights,

offer three program options: high/strobe, high

only and low/high. I found the low/high

program to work best for me. I can use the low

setting to navigate a space, but if I need the

high output it’s just a double tap away. This is

true of both Rail Mount lights.

Outdoors you’ll want to use high/strobe or high

only programs and that’s no problem. Switching

is simple with 9 rapid taps and hold on the 10th

to move through three program settings.

Tremendous flexibility that’s only available with

the ProTac lights.

From inception, Streamlight’s ProTac lights have

been handheld lights. So, if you wanted to use

them on a long gun rail system you usually had

to purchase a dedicated light mount or a 1”

scope ring. Although both methods are

workable they weren’t optimal and it usually

meant your light extended well beyond your

quad rail surface. Streamlight solved that

problem in their ProTac Rail Mount lights with

an integral Picatinny rail mount. The excellent

Streamlight mount positions the lights close to

the rail surface presenting a very low profile. It’s

also a very stout mount with a large knurled

thumb wheel to easily tighten or loosen the

light.

All in all a very slick arrangement made even

better by a choice of tailcap or pressure pad

activation. Most of the shooters I commune

with run their rail mounted lights with tailcap; I

like the flexibility of the pressure switch

because it allows me to quickly transition from

low to high, or high to strobe for signaling – or

to light up the dance floor.

Streamlight ships the ProTac Rail Mount 1 and 2

lights with a pushbutton tailcap and a long gun

pressure pad. Unlike what you may be used to,

Streamlight’s pressure pad offers both

momentary and continuous mode activation.

Your typical pressure pad does not support

continuous operation of the light or requires

two presses to get to continuous illumination.

Streamlight uses a dual switch pressure pad.

The pad itself operates the light momentarily or

allows the shooter to select between program

modes while the raised switch places the light

in to continuous operation. I like this

arrangement a great deal because it frees the



shooter from having to maintain continuous

pressure on the pad.

As a side note, Streamlight makes their weapon

mounted lights to be IPX7 compliant for water

resistance. That stndard is consistent in the

ProTac Rail Mount 1 and 2 but it is limited to

using the tailcap switch. If you use the tape

switch the light’s water resistance is then IPX4

compliant. I’ve found this to be a similar

situation even on devices that are military grade

for maritime opertions. The key to water

resistance is to keep those o-ring seals lubed. A

little dab of silicon grease will make all the

difference in the world for you.

So, how do these lights perform?

The short answer is exceptionally well.

Mounting and operating the light is very simple

and secure, run times meet or exceed anything

the competition currently offers. Both the Rail

Mount 1 &2 generate a tightly focused beam

with an abundance of peripheral lighting. As

with the majority of weapon lights, heat is an

issue, so if you are trying to keep your heat

signature to a minimum you’ll want to consider

that fact. Lastly, and not to be understated, is

the ProTac 10-tap feature which places a very

generous amount of functionality at your finger

tips.

In closing, I always like to ask myself, do

competing options offer enough utility to

warrant the sometimes not so trivial cost.

Streamlight asks that very same question

throughout its product development process,

and you will be hard pressed to find a weapon

mounted light that delivers the quality, features

and performance of the ProTac Rail Mount 1

and Rail Mount 2. There’s nothing currently on

the market that can come close to the price to

performance ratio that these lights deliver. It’s

an easy decision to make.

-SP

Manufacturer Specifications

ProTac Rail Mount 1

Dual fuel - uses one AA alkaline or CR123A

lithium battery (both included); also accepts AA

lithium

CR123A lithium battery output:

o High: 350 lumens; 12,000 candela;

219m beam; runs 1.75 hours

o Low 40 lumens; 1,380 candela; 19m

beam; runs 14.5 hours

AA alkaline/AA lithium battery output:


141m beam; runs 1.5 hours (alkaline);

runs 4.5 hours (AA lithium)

o Low: 40 lumens; 1,380 candela; 19m

beam; runs 8 hours (alkaline); runs 14

hours (AA lithium)

Strobe for signaling or disorienting

TEN-TAP® Programming - choice of three

operating modes: 1.) high/strobe; 2.) high only;

3.) low/high

Remote pressure switch features momentary

and “constant on” operation

Integrated rail clamp attaches to MIL-STD-1913

rails

o Easy to attach, secure mounting

Includes remote pressure switch, push-button

tail switch, remote retaining clips, double-sided

tape and zip ties

Durable, anodized aluminum construction with

impact-resistant tempered glass lens



IPX7 rated with the Standard button switch

installed; waterproof to 1 meter for 30 minutes.

IPX4 rated with the Remote Pressure Switch

installed

Operating temperature: -40°F to +120°F

Limited lifetime warranty

RoHS compliant

ProTac Rail Mount 2

TEN-TAP® Programming - choice of three

operating modes: 1.) high/strobe; 2.) high only;

3.) low/high


297m beam; runs 2 hours

o Low: 60 lumens; 2,000 candela; 89m

beam; runs 21 hours

o Strobe for signaling or disorienting

Remote pressure switch features momentary

and “constant on” operation

Integrated rail clamp attaches to MIL-STD-1913

rails

o Easy to attach, secure mounting

Includes remote pressure switch, push-button

tail switch, remote retaining clips, double-sided

tape and zip ties

Uses two CR123A lithium batteries (included)

Durable, anodized aluminum construction with

impact-resistant tempered glass lens

IPX7 rated with the Standard button switch

installed; waterproof to 1 meter for 30 minutes.

IPX4 rated with the Remote Pressure Switch

installed

Operating temperature: -40°F to +120°F

Limited lifetime warranty

RoHS compliant

Documents

Streamlight ProTac Rail Mount 1 and 2