If you’ve been wondering which is the best, and most compact light for your AR15, look no further. It’s the excellent Surefire Mini Scout Light Pro. I’ve owned this light for many months, and it’s currently on my home defense rifle because it’s one of the best lights you can get for a long gun. In this review, we are going to cover the specifics of mounting the light, what applications it’s best for, and which switching systems you should use with the Surefire Mini Scout Light Pro.
The first thing we need to cover is that I am an internet weirdo who writes about gear. Occasionally companies will send me gear to review that I don’t pay for. This isn’t the case for this review. I purchased the Surefire Mini Scout light Pro with my own money, because Surefire is awesome, and it’s an incredibly compact light for your AR15. You can trust that I haven’t been bribed by the blackguards of the flashlight industry.
Let’s get into a broad overview of the pros and cons of this light.
Surefire Mini Scout Light Pro M340c Pros and Cons
Pros
- Most compact usable light for your AR15
- Very lightweight
- Includes both MLOK and Picatinny mounts
- Can be mounted at any angle
Cons
- Only 500 lumens
- Not Cheap
- Switches are separate
I think the Surefire Mini Scout Light Pro works well for a variety of applications, but it makes the most sense for home defense, and users that expect to use it for short to medium range applications. It’s plenty bright, at 500 lumens, but there are brighter lights sold in the same form factor. Let’s go over some of the specifications
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Surefire Mini Scout Light Pro Specifications
This light as sold, is 4.1 inches long with the included tail cap. It weighs 3.65 ounces with the mount. It’s also rated for one meter of water submersion. While this light is plenty water proof for normal users, if you’re a Navy SEAL, or a weird Triathlete, then you might have to look elsewhere.
You can see in the photo above that, it’s plenty bright enough to illuminate a normal sized bedroom. It’s also bright enough to momentarily blind David Hasselhof. While the Hoff may not be a frequent problem most users will face, you can’t completely rule it out.
The light is 500 lumens and rated to run for one hour. This may not sound like much, but even heavy weapons light usage will allow for a decent interval before you have to change the 123A cell batteries it uses. Unlike other Surefire flashlights, the mini only uses a single battery.
Surefire Mini Scout Light Pro Initial Impressions: It’s Mighty and Compact
When I purchased this a few months ago, I toyed around with it for a while to see if I liked it. Initially I ran it on my POF Renegade Plus 10.5 in gun, and found it complemented the light weight nature of that firearm well. In fact, I could barely notice its weight even though it was mounted far forward on the top picatinny rail.
I’d considered running it with the push button tail cap. Some users, who are very white light accidental discharge conscious (CAG/DEVGRU) prefer that method, as the button is less likely to be activated during normal operations. I, however, am not that cool, and don’t have to worry too much about white light AD’s. This rifle is a home defense gun, and it won’t be used for any raids in foreign countries (to the best of my knowledge).
This means that I needed to find a light switch that makes sense for this compact AR15 light. After all, this light isn’t just light weight, it hugs the rail very closely creating a very compact rail setup. It’s also reversible, with both mounts. This allows you to mount the light in any position you want on MLOK or picatinny rail sections. You aren’t limited to 3,6,9, and 12 o’clock positions, even if thats all your rail has.
This light is so flexible because it has a set screw that allows it to pivot. You simply loosen the screw and move the light on the hinge mount, and then tighten it once you’ve found the best position. In these photos, I’ve tightened it as close as possible between the top and 3 o’clock rail sections. This allows it to really hug the rail even though I don’t have an MLOK section in that position.
Surefire Mini Scout Light Pro Switches
I know I sound like a boomer but we are quite spoiled for choice these days when it comes to weapons light switches. I can vividly remember my days in the Marine Corps, when I was issued tape switches that worked for about 15 minutes on any given day, and required an arts and crafts miracle to stay attached to your gun.
You can pick from companies like Modlite, Unity, and others if you want some truly fancy setups. I will mostly likely be reviewing a few of these switches in the near future so stay tuned! However, for this build, I chose to go with the Surefire DSSR07 dual switching system for a couple of reasons.
First, the main switch has both temporary, and constant on function. For those of you who’ve ever held someone at gun point, using a weapon light, you can get quite tired of squeezing a momentary only pressure pad for minutes at a time! It’s a good idea to have a constant on.
Secondly, I like to have some redundancy in the switch. The DSSR07 has the tape switch that mounts to your rail, and it also has a rear push button switch, mounted on the rear of the light body. This gives you an option if your tape switch fails or the line gets cut. If you don’t want both switches you can get a simpler tape switch, the SR07.
Surefire Mini Scout Light Pro the Most Compact Light for Your AR15
This setup is perfect for my intended use. It can easily light up a whole room and gives you decent range, out doors at night. Surefire also backs their products with an excellent warranty. I’ve used several Surefire products on duty guns, and personal guns, and while I’ve had a few failures, they always make it right.
The only downside to this setup is that the light and the switch I use will run you around $480 bucks, depending on sales, and whatever Uncle Sam takes in taxes. While this is a lot of money, it’s a quality product that is probably the most compact light for your AR15. It’s also great for flexing on Instagram, which is always a bonus! If you have any questions or comments put them below. Now get out there and get training!
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