OhioNovice

I plan on doing a few night hunts since the weather is getting warmer so I've been looking at spot lights. Are the lights that mount on the gun worth buying? Or should I stick with a hand mounted large spot light? I will typically be with a partner so a light not attached to the gun would be okay, but I'm thinking one on the gun would be nice for those late evening solo hunts.

What all do you guys use?

jfarleyx

I have a Cabelas VRL-1 Varmint Light mounted on my Savage Mark II TR 22LR. It produces a lot of light and a lot of visibility for roughly 150-200 yards. It comes with 2 batteries (each last several hours), a home and car charger, a green and red bulb, and the necessary hardware to mount it to my scope or rail. It has a pressure button that you can velcro to the side of the rifle and activate the light while aiming.

In the picture below, I used the velcro mount to attach it to my scope. It comes with a ring mount, but I later purchased a mount from Daniel Defense that allowed me to mount it to the side of my scope. I don't have a picture of this new setup, but the velcro worked well, too.

I am really happy with this light and would highly recommend it. It's durable, very bright, and the battery time is long.

jfarleyx

Hi OhioNovice! So, what did you decide? You going with a bigger spotlight or a smaller light that you can use by yourself. I'm thinking about getting another VRL-1 for my CZ 17 HMR.

OhioNovice

I think i'm definitely going with the gun mounted version, just have to decide how much I can spend.... or rather my wife tells me how much I can spend.

The VRL-1 Looks good but I also found these that look promising:

http://www.allpredatorcalls.com/wick...pter-w400sgrn/

These are nice because you can buy a separate handle to use them as a hand held light also.

OhioNovice

Just asked the wife.... she says Light or Bi-Pod.... but not both. Which is more of a priority? Im thinking Bi-Pod, and pick up the light after turkey season.

jfarleyx

Great find on the other light! It's very similar to the Cabelas version. Looks like either one will work very well.

Light or bi-pod is a tough choice. You can hunt at night with a light and no bi-pod, but you can't hunt at night with a bi-pod and no light. I guess it's a matter of how bad you want to hunt at night. I do it often and I love it. It's a lot of fun. I could do it without a bipod.

Also, on the topic of bi-pods...you can find less expensive bi-pods that will do a decent job. I picked up a UTG brand bipod for one of my rifles and while it's not as well built as a Harris, it's still decent for the price (~$25). If you search Amazon for "UTG bipods" or "Champion bipods" you'll find them ranging in price from $20-$45. Might be worth a look.

So, one option to consider is buying the light and a less expensive bi-pod until you can buy the nicer bipod later. That way, you get into the woods sooner, rather than later, for night hunts.

Good luck!

Nomercy448

XLR-250 Kill Light, fantastic value, amazing quality in a light.

Bipod vs light? Get the light. A simple set of x shooting sticks will be as effective as a bipod, but a quality light is hard to beat. A great option for a light system, rather than gun mounted, is one mounted on your mono-pod or shooting sticks. It drops the level of the light beam so it's not directly in front of your face, helps prevent glare blindness.

For a heavier wallet, the subzero lasers are fantastic, but for the price, I'm hard pressed to say they are worth it. Primos lights and cabelas lights are decent, but I'd go with the xlr-250 hands down.

OhioNovice

After doing a bunch of research I ended up going with the XLR 250, it was $160 shipped with just a red LED. The VRL-1 from what I can tell is basically the same light but I couldn't find it as readily available.

Got to take it out this past weekend, and holy crap is it bright. I set up along a fence line with a field in front and and woods 323 yards away. Pitch black, not a cloud in the sky I could outline an animal in the field. I couldn't make out the animal, which I do think was a coyote, but I could see its shape and especially its eyes.

I didn't take the shot because I didn't feel comfortable without being able to completely see the animal and I couldn't get it to come any closer. I think 200-250yards the coyote would have stuck out perfectly.

GTOHunter

Maybe You can change out the lense and put on a clear white light...it will reach out clearer and further?Most Predators won't spook when a plain clear light is shined on them,they showed this in a study down in Texas and it didn't lessen their odds while night hunting!

OhioNovice

Its a red led, not a lens so it cant be changed, which I guess is why it shines so far. Im pretty happy with the light. I doubt with my shooting skills I could hit anything farther than 200 yards anyways.