Video Transcript
Intro (00:00)
The Streamlight TLR-1 doesn't need much of an intro, but it is worth noting that this is one of the few pistol lights that's been on the market for a very long time. And Streamlight has done a really good job of keeping it updated with the lumens, the candela, and with other options out there. This is the TLR-1 HL, there's a couple other models out there. This is specifically for, or this is particularly sold for handguns. You can obviously mount it to a rifle, especially in the 12 o'clock position on a rail, and then be able to hit the switches very easily. And what we're gonna do is we're gonna talk about a couple of the features on this and show you guys kind of how that works.
What's Included (00:33)
So you have the light right here in the box, includes a 1913 standard. Just like on most lights nowadays, you can replace the little Picatinny section here for a standard 1913, and then it also has the universal Glock, which in this case it says GL. So you know exactly what's going on on it. And that's how it's gonna come just right out of the box.
Batteries (00:53)
To replace the batteries, it takes two CR123s . There is a small trap door lever right here on the top, and that is going to leave the rear cap you know, floating loosely, although still attached to the light. So you're not gonna lose that. And then the CR123s can be reloaded. So male goes there and male goes inside there. And then we're gonna index the cap back on—bottom first like this, and then you flip the lever and you that nice tight fit.
Mounting the Light (01:23)
Now, as far as activating… We'll go ahead and add it to the pistol first. So we're gonna loosen—it's all thumb screw. You can also use a flathead screwdriver, but this should all be hand-tight, more or less for mounting to the pistol. You don't need to worry about using a flathead screwdriver. And then I'm gonna tighten this down as much as I can, to the point my fingers hurt. And that should be good to go.
Now you could also do some witness marks if you really want to, to see if your light starts to come loose. You can do a little bit of a white paint or, you know, some other color and actually see, but since this is not an IR laser or a vis laser that you're having to zero you don't have to worry quite as much about torquing it perfectly, exactly. So just hand tightened to the point of it being painful and then just pay attention to it and see if it gets loose in recoil. But in most cases, it shouldn't.
Activation Switches (02:11)
Now as far as activation goes, the TLR-1 has some of the easiest to use switches. It's very similar to other lights on the market. If you push down, you get momentary activation. If you push up on the left side, you get constant. Likewise on the right side of the pistol, if you push down, you will have constant activation. And if you push up, you will have momentary. So what I like about this light is being able to run this in a momentary fashion very easily. I just hold down. I do all my shooting. When I need to do a reload or, you know, do something else or open a door or whatever the light is obviously going to come off. If I need to run constant because I am shooting one-handed, it will be a very simple downwards motion to activate constant. I can do my thing flip up and I'm good to go.
Strobe Feature (02:58)
The TLR-1 HL has a strobe feature, which I'm personally not a huge fan of, but if that's something you wanna play with go ahead. But basically, the way it works is if you double tap very quickly with the switch, typically in the momentary fashion, you will activate the light in to strobe, which is discombobulating for everyone involved, including you. If you wanna disable the strobe feature, so you don't, you know, accidentally turn it on while running momentary, all you have to do is hit the button in the downwards position, activate the light 10 times, and hold. So right now the strobe is on. So 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Hold. And it's programmed.
Now, when I double tap really quickly by accident it or on purpose, I will not have the strobe feature turned on. If I wanna turn the strobe feature back on, I'm gonna do the same thing. I'm gonna tap this 10 times in quick succession, hold on the tenth. It'll flash, it'll strobe, and then the light will cut out. And that's how, you know, the light has been programmed back to have strobe turned on. So that's pretty cool. I personally program the strobe… or I don't like having strobe on these so that's programmed off right away, but if that's something you wanna play with, you can.
Mounting to a Rifle (04:05)
So that's the TLR-1 mounted to a pistol. If you're interested in also running this as a rifle light or a makeshift rifle light, Streamlight does sell and dealers sell a rear cap that will accept a pressure switch, that Streamlight also manufactures. And so that will give you the ability to mount it to, you know, the side of the rifle, not necessarily on the top, you know, being able to activate the paddles and then be able to run a traditional pressure pad, sort of a setup. There's also a button on the back that allows you to activate the light in case your pressure switch, either isn't mounted to the gun, falls off, or brakes, you still have a way of activating the light, and turning it on in both constant and in momentary, which is actually pretty cool.
If you have any other questions on the Streamlight TLR-1 and holsters for it, you can email us at [email protected].