I disagree with your statement in red above. A mounted light (or even a rail) spoils the beautiful lines of a 1911.AJSully421 wrote:For a HD weapon that you intend to use for things that go "yo homie" in the night, a light is not an optional accessory.
It is your choice as to whether or not they will be mounted or hand held. I have both. Just because you have a light on your pistol / rifle / shotgun does not mean that you HAVE to use it. You can use a handheld for all of the reasons that the "handheld only" folks say a mounted light is a bad idea... and then you have the ability use the clearly superior mounted light as well. No matter what, there is absolutely zero reason not to have a mounted light on every projectile weapon that you own. How and when you use that light will be situational.
I have a pistol with a light in the nightstand... but my go to is a 16" AR with an Aimpoint and TLR-1 pistol light mounted on the quad rail.
