Flashlight For 22 Rifle – Barrel Clamp Light Mount

A flashlight for a 22 rifle. Lets talk about a barrel light. That is, a barrel mounted flashlight for a 22 rifle, or… a shotgun…whatever. A clamp mount to fit the barrel, and the flashlight.

I would like to share with you a simple and inexpensive way to attach a barrel light to a 22 rifle, or almost any rifle or shotgun, if so desired.

There are some really nice barrel lights out there, and many choices compared to years ago. Their specifications have improved dramatically too (lumens-brightness output). Some examples below..

.22 Rifle Barrel Clamp Light Mount

One of my 22 rifles (an old Marlin 880 bolt action, pictured above) had been designated for coyote ‘guard duty’ during nighttime “potty time” for my little 14-pound mini-Dachshund. The problem was, what about evening or nighttime?

I attached a barrel mounted flashlight to the rifle barrel using a simple and inexpensive universal barrel mount. The clamp mount provides a short 2-slot Picatinny rail to attach a tactical light.

Now the 22 rifle becomes a potential varmint hunter after dark, just in case..

In the picture below, you can see the mount clamped to the rifle barrel with four screws (2 on each side). And a TLR-1 Streamlight flashlight attached to it.

Here’s the barrel mount that I used:

UTG Universal
(amzn)

Note: The UTG universal barrel mount linked above will fit any barrel diameter ranging from .51 to.78 inches (13mm to 19.8mm). Measure your barrel first, to be sure it will fit.

I pulled out my digital caliper and measured this particular 22 rifle barrel diameter to be 0.688 inches, or 17.48mm.

I also checked my Winchester 1400 shotgun barrel diameter to be 0.9 inches, or 22.88mm. So I would need a different barrel clamp light mount for this shotgun, such as the following.. 20-24 mm (.79-.94 inch)

Beamshot RF9
(amzn)

Here’s a unique barrel mount with dual sides, “Both Sides Weaver Picatinny Rail”. Maybe a scope on one side and a flashlight on the other?

Universal Dual Sides (12-20mm)

Examples of Light / Flashlights for Barrel Clamp Mount

If I had to separate the light choices into three price categories, it would be the following:

The most expensive and one of the best is the SureFire X300.
SureFire X300 Ultra LED (600 Lumens)
(SureFire on amzn)

The most popular and a great choice for most is the Streamlight TLR-1.
Streamlight 69260 TLR-1 HL (1000 Lumens)
(Streamlight on amzn)

A great value from ‘UTG’ is their Compact LED Light.
UTG Compact (400 Lumens)
(UTG on amzn)

The Advantage of a Barrel Mounted Flashlight

The primary advantage is of course, to see a potential target when it’s dim or dark. A mounted light not only lights up the target area, but allows the sights to be used.

A secondary tactical advantage is to blind and disorient the target with bright (or even strobing) light, enabling target acquisition during those critical seconds.

The ultimate though, is night vision..

[ Read: Nighttime Security Night Vision Devices | A Force Multiplier ]

[ Read: PVS-14 ]