How To Mount Your Scout Light Pro
A SureFire Scout Light Pro is a veritable necessity. Mounting one to your long gun is hassle-free, but it helps to have a plan and manage a few details beforehand.

Thanks to the internet and an increase in information accessibility, the necessity of a weapon-mounted light is common knowledge these days. That said, we have been getting an influx of questions on best practices for where and how to mount the Scout Light® Pro WeaponLight on long guns. Read on to see how it’s done.

As always, firearms safety rules always apply, so start by ensuring that the firearm is unloaded before you begin any work on it. We also strongly recommend that you remove any ammunition from your work area.

How To Mount a SureFire Scout Light ProThe first step is to determine where you want to mount your WeaponLight. With that in mind, you should present the carbine as if you were going to engage an offhand target at a close distance. With a good, solid grip on the firearm, note where your support hand holds the forend (see photo at right). To make things easier, you can use a pencil or paint pen to mark where your hand sits exactly on the rail. This will help you avoid mounting the light in a position where it could interfere with the hand or other accessories on the rail. Accessories should improve your ability to engage targets, not impede your ability to run the gun.

Now that you know where your support hand sits, you can position the light according to available space and how you want to activate the switch, depending on what switch you’re using. Generally speaking, it is preferable to mount the light on the upper portion of the forend so that when supporting the bottom of the forend on barricades for more precise shots, the gun sits nice and level and isn’t canted to one side due to the light being on the low left or low right. In addition, it can be beneficial to push the light toward the front of the forend to reduce barrel shadow.

The standard Z68 push/click tailcap that comes on the Scout Light is a great switch, and on rifles with no additional accessories, I prefer to mount it in the offset position in front of the support hand thumb (see photo above right). This would be roughly in the 11 o’clock position. If you’re running other accessories such as IR lasers, our remote pressure switches can greatly aid in mounting the light out of the way of your grip but still make the light easy and intuitive to activate under stress.

Picatinny cleat

SureFire Scout Light Pros have the absolute best mounting mechanism on the market, and every Scout Light Pro comes with cleats for mounting to Picatinny or M-LOK rails. That’s especially helpful as most M-LOK rails typically still have a Picatinny top rail, so with the Scout Light Pro, you can mount the light precisely where you want. The Scout Light Pro allows you to go from one rail style to another with a simple cleat swap.

For Picatinny, loosen the slotted screw on the cleat to ensure that you have enough play to mount the Scout Light to the rail. Next, attach the cleat to the rail and then tighten the screw to hand tight plus ¼ turn to ensure that the light is secure to the rail. Be careful not to over-tighten the screw, which could cause it to break.

M-Lok cleat

The Scout Light Pro M-LOK cleat utilizes two 7-millimeter Allen screws with the t-nuts. To mount the light, tighten the screws until the t-nuts make contact with the back of the cleat, then loosen the Allens ½ turn or until the t-nuts begin to rotate. Next, attach the cleat through the M-LOK slot, applying slight downward and forward pressure, then tighten the Allen screws. If you have adjusted the t-nuts appropriately, they should rotate into perfect 90-degree alignment with a ¼ turn of the screw. Finally, with the t-nuts seated, tighten the Allen screws another ¼ turn to ensure that the cleat is mounted securely to the rail.

Among the numerous advantages of the Scout Light Pro, SureFire’s Low-Profile Mount (LPM) delivers unprecedented versatility by allowing the user to rotate the light to optimize its position relative to the rail. The LPM provides an easy way to tuck the Scout Light Pro body close to other rail accessories without interference. To adjust the light’s position, loosen the slotted screw on the LPM until the light rotates freely about the LPM pivot. Position the light as needed, then tighten the slotted screw to hand tight plus ¼ turn. One extra note here: Remember that replacing the batteries in most Scout Lights is done by removing the head, so it’s a good practice to leave a couple of thousandths of extra clearance around the head to avoid any hassles with removal and installation.

Scout Light Pro mounted via Picatinny rail

Every Scout Light (except the M140 Micro Scout Light Pro) ships with the SureFire Z68 tailcap, but SureFire also offers the most comprehensive switching options in the industry, including a variety of durable remote pressure switches for easy location of the activation function per user needs. If you use a pressure switch, I recommend locating the pressure pad on the opposite side of the rail from the palm of the support hand. When mounting the switch, avoid creating sharp bends in the remote pressure switch cable; they should be kept as gradual as possible to ensure long cable life.

Scout Light Pro mounted via M-LOK rail

How To Mount a SureFire Scout Light ProThat’s about all there is to it. At the end of the day, a Scout Light should improve your ability to operate in low-light environments without compromising your ability to run the gun. That’s the advantage of the Scout Light Pro. It is the most versatile weapon-mounted light system on the planet because it allows you to mount the light exactly where you want it.  It’s a worthwhile investment in your security.

SureFire has been the leader in weapon-mounted light innovation for more than four decades, and our Scout Light Pro long gun WeaponLights are recognized as the gold standard in the industry. They deliver high performance and supreme durability, and they are easily adaptable to a myriad of long gun configurations. They’re simple to install, guaranteed for life, and a worthwhile investment in your personal security.

For more information on Scout Light Pros, visit SureFire.com.