Ever since I attended the November 2007 edition of the Vickers/Hackathorn low light class, I’ve become extremely interested in laser systems for handguns. The demonstrations and the ability to watch the performance of shooters who had laser systems on their weapons made me a believer in their utility as a practical sighting system, especially for low light use.
As a result, I’ve been trying out various options to see how they work. My most recent acquisition was the Streamlight TLR-2 weapon light/laser combo unit. It’s essentially a TLR-1 with a small laser pod attached to the bottom of it. The TLR-1 comes in at a very economical pricepoint and also happens to be a pretty darn good weapon light…probably the best value in a dedicated weapon light on the market.
The difference between the TLR-1 and the TLR-2 is readily apparent:
The controls are fairly easy to figure out. There is a traditional rocker style switch identical to the TLR-1 that allows for momentary or constant-on function depending upon position. Beneath that, however, there is a small silver toggle switch:
The toggle switch allows you to control how the unit works. In the middle position, (as pictured) the rocker switch will only turn on the light. When switched to the left (left being your left when you have a firing grip on the weapon) the rocker switch will only turn on the laser. When switched to the right, both the light and laser are activated.
As with most dedicated handgun lights of this style, the TLR-2 is powered by 2 CR-123A batteries. Two are included in the package with the TLR-2. The TLR-2 is a bit larger than the Surefire X series units, which could be an issue if you are carrying the weapon it is mounted to concealed.
Since the TLR-1 is a fairly well known quantity, I’ll focus mainly on the laser system of the unit.
Here the TLR-2’s laser is on the left, and a Crimson Trace laser is on the right:
Despite my wobbly hand, you can see that the Crimson Trace dot is a bit brighter than the TLR-2’s dot. This difference is even more pronounced in person than it is in these pictures. This turns out to be a significant problem when the light of the TLR-2 is activated along with the laser:
Here you can see that the Crimson Trace dot is visible in the hot-spot of the light, but the TLR-2’s dot is not visible. Again, the pictures here aren’t showing things as the naked eye sees them. The TLR-2’s dot is not completely washed out by the light in person…but it is much harder to pick up (to my eye) than the Crimson Trace dot is when used in conjunction with the light.
In actual use, I’ve found the function of the TLR-2 to be awkward. Having to manipulate the toggle switch to alternate control of the laser and light is FAR from an ideal setup. It would be very easy to end up with the switch set to the setting you don’t want when putting the weapon in the holster to head out the door. The natural assumption would be to leave the switch set to have the light and laser activated at the same time, but I don’t like that option because the light washes out the dot so much it can actually hinder someone who is looking for the dot even in a reasonably well-lit room like you see in the pictures. Attempting to switch back and forth to use the light and laser separately (as you might need to do when clearing a structure) quickly becomes a giant pain in the neck. It’s easy to get the switch positions confused and when your brain is busy with other more important things it can be easy to forget which position you last left the switch in.
The tape switches available for the TLR-2 don’t seem to improve this situation any, as they seem to offer only the same basic on/off control that the rocker switch offers. A separate control for the laser and the light would be a welcome improvement for my taste.
I also found zeroing the laser to be problematic. As you can see, I mounted the unit on my M&P 45 ACP. To get the dot properly zeroed to my sights required running the elevation (the screw directly on the bottom of the unit) almost all the way out. This also means that the screw protrudes from the light a bit, which makes me worry about it getting loose over time effecting the zero of the laser. The Crimson Trace units have a much shorter distance between the beam and the bore, requiring much less adjustment on the weapons I have CT grips mounted on. Their screws are also completely contained within the housing of the laser no matter how you have the elevation and windage set.
Once set, the dot seems to come back to the same point of aim when the unit is removed from the weapon and replaced.
Summary –
Pros:
Price – I picked up this TLR-2 brand new for right at 200 dollars. A set of CT grips alone will cost around 50 dollars more than this combo unit.
Batteries – The light and the laser are powered by the same battery source. That’s one less logistical problem to worry about.
Cons:
Dot visibility – the dot on this particular sample is not as bright as the CT offerings, and that makes a significant difference in useability, in my opinion. I don’t know if this is true of all TLR-2’s or just this particular unit.
Controls – the controls aren’t conducive to getting the best results out of this unit, in my opinion.
Size – The unit is fairly large and adds noticeably more bulk and weight to the weapon than the Surefire X series lights.
Beam to Bore Relationship – at closer distances (7 yards and in) there is a CONSIDERABLE difference in where the sights are and where the dot is when sighted in at around 10 yards. (Meaning the dot and the sights are at the same place at 10 yards) The dot is MUCH lower than the sights at those closer ranges.
The fact that my elevation adjustment is almost maxed out doesn’t help that problem either. The distance between the beam and the bore on CT grips is significantly less. At even extremely close ranges there’s less offset with my CT grips than there is on the TLR-2 even at 7 yards.
Conclusion –
I’m afraid this one is going back. The light function itself is just fine, but the laser element just doesn’t measure up to the CT offerings in the useability department, in my opinion. The TLR-2’s laser unit may tolerate abuse better than the CT grips, but I haven’t spent time beating up both units to find out.
If you can’t afford a separate laser unit and light unit, the TLR-2 might be the best compromise you can find.
If you can afford both, however, I’d personally suggest obtaining a dedicated light and a dedicated laser unit.