Today’s feature is from our companion service Shooting News Weekly.
Streamlight introduced their latest full-size rail-mounted pistol light, the new TLR-1 HL-X at SHOT. This absolute floodlight cranks out a full 1500 lumens, generates 20,000 candela, and uses either the included rechargeable batteries or widely available CR123A lithium batteries.
The TLR-1 HL-X a large duty-size weapon light. It’s almost 1.5 inches wide and weighs about 5 ounces depending on the batteries you use.
As you can see below, batteries load from the front so you don’t have to dismount the light in order to change them. Opening the gasket-sealed tilt-down front portion of the light is a two-step process so you don’t have to worry about it happening accidentally. Just lift the lever on the right side and push an indented release button on the left side of the TLR-1 HL-X’s housing.
Streamlight ships the TLR-1 HL-X with two of their SL-B9 rechargeable batteries along with a ‘Y’ type USB cable so that you can charge both of them at the same time. The weapon light will also run on widely available CR123A lithium batteries.
While the CR123A’s are slightly lighter and will give you about 30 minutes more runtime, they won’t generate as much light output as the rechargeable batteries will. While the SL-B9 batteries will crank out 1500 lumens, you’ll only(!) get 1000 lumens using CR123A’s.
This is a large weapon light, but it ships with four interchangeable rail “keys” that let you mount the gun on virtually any compact or full-size pistol.
Most of the photos here show the TLR-1 HL-X mounted on an FN 509 Compact Tactical. You can see it above on a Beretta APX A1 Full Size. Streamlight has a handy TLR fit guide that lets you search by gun model, but — probably because this is one of their newest lights — the TLR-1 HL-X doesn’t show up yet for either gun. Whatever the guide may say, I can’t imagine any railed pistol with a 4- or 5-inch barrel that the TLR-1 HL-X won’t fit.
Streamlight gives you options as to their ambidextrous actuator switches. They come with the low position switches you see above pre-mounted, but you can easily replace one or both of them with included switches that ride higher toward the gun.
A quick, momentary press of either lever gives you constant on, or you can press and hold for momentary operation ("off" on release).
The TLR-1 HL-X also has a programmable strobe function. It’s sort of hidden, though, and ships from Streamlight with the strobe function disabled. To use it, quickly tap either one of the switches nine times in a row and hold it down on the tenth tap. Wait until the light turns off and the strobe function will be activated.
Once it is, you can use the strobe by tapping either of the switches once, then quickly pressing and holding it down again. You’ll then be strobing (and blinding) anyone in front of you with a full 1500 lumens of power.
Using the two rechargeable batteries, the TLR-1 HL-X lets you light up a lot of territory. It’s rated to generate a beam distance of 283 meters…that’s almost the length of a football field. If you’re using CR123A batteries you’ll get a little less throw distance at 245 meters.
What does that mean in the real world? Take a look at the photo above. The far corner of the yard is about 60 feet away in the dead of night. As you can see, the TLR-1 HL-X generates a wide beam that illuminates almost the entire yard, with a brighter hot spot in the center. As you can imagine, it will light up an interior room of a home almost like daylight.
The TLR-1 HL-X’s beam spillover is a very good thing in that you can use it to safely see what’s what. That wide beam means you can keep your pistol pointed down in the low-ready position and determine what you’re dealing with in front of you without muzzling anything or anyone unnecessarily.
The TLR-1 HL-X is also built. It’s machined from 6000 series aluminum and is fully waterproof (IPX7 rated). That means it will survive at one meter under water for 30 minutes. I don’t have anything that’s one meter deep, but I filled a sink and left it in there for an hour. It kept right on ticking.
The only downside (possibly aside from price) is that if you have a holster that’s made for your pistol with another larger Streamlight model weapon light (like, say, their 1000 lumen TLR-1 HL), it isn’t likely to fit. The TLR-1 HL-X is a bigger light.
Most of us won’t have a use for something like Streamlight’s TLR-1 HL-X. We just don’t need anything that’s as large and powerful as this on our everyday carry or home defense gun. Something that’s more compact — like, for instance, one of the TLR-7 variants — will make more sense. But if you have a need for a full-sized, full power lumen blaster on your carry or duty gun, the TLR-1 HL-X is likely just what the doctor ordered.
Specifications: Streamlight TLR-1 HL-X Weapon Light
Lumens: 1,500
Candela: 20,000
Beam Distance: 283 meters
Battery Type: SL-B9 rechargeable batteries (2 included) or CR123A lithium
Run Time: 60 minutes continuous with SL-B9, 90 minutes CR123A
Length: 3.45 inches
Width: 1.44 inches
Weight: 5.2 ounces (with rechargeable batteries
MSRP: $359 (retail about $178)
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— Dan Zimmerman