Years ago, it was uncommon to see someone outside of the military or Law Enforcement carrying a handgun with a weapon light. As lights became more compact and less expensive, they became much more common. More and more citizens began to add weapon lights to their concealed carry handguns. Inforce has released a new product to make this even easier.
Traditionally, adding a weapon light to your favorite compact handgun also added unwanted bulk and made it less comfortable to conceal. Lights add some significant length if not also thickness to a pistol. Inforce solved this by taking one of the most popular concealed carry handguns, the Glock 19, and designing a weapon light to fill the empty space under the dust cover.
The Inforce APLc Weapon Light is no thicker than the Glock 19 slide and does not extend beyond the barrel of the handgun. At less than two ounces, it adds 200 lumens of clean white light with almost no drawback. When carried in the IWB (inside the waistband) Appendix position, the minimal mass is not noticeable. If you carry outside the waistband, then you don’t really have an excuse for not mounting a light on your handgun.
The primary (and really, the only) reason for carrying a weapon light is to be able to identify a target in a potential lethal force situation. While some of us are lumen hogs, 200 lumens is sufficient output for a handgun light. Many shooters would have problems hitting a target that is far enough away to be on the edge of the APLc’s reach.
On a dark and foggy night, with a carbine, I want ALL THE LUMENS. In normal urban environments the 200 lumens of the APLc is acceptable when you account for the small package containing it.
The original APL had some issues with its quick release system. This was solved in later generations. With the APLc, Inforce went with a minimalist approach. The mounting system uses a classic cross-bolt design. The bolt passes through the body of the APLc and through the slot in the dust cover of the G19. On the opposite side, it threads into a metal nut contained in the body of the light. Caution should still be used when tightening the cross-bolt to prevent stripping threads or cracking the body of the light. This is a very simple and effective mount design.
The controls on the Inforce APLc set it apart from the competition. The APLc is ambidextrous and allows easy access to momentary or constant on light. In normal, two handed shooting, it is easy to press the paddle switch with the thumb of the support side hand. A quick tap and release will turn the light on in constant mode. Another tap and release will turn it off. Holding the paddle down for more than one half second will put it into momentary on mode. Releasing the paddle will turn it off. If the light is on, in constant on mode, then pressing the paddle for more than 1/2 second and releasing will also turn it off. This is much more complicated to type than to operate.
Where the APLc really leaves the competition behind is when you can only use one hand to operate the handgun. In this situation it is critical to be able to turn on the light with your hand in a firing grip and then be able to quickly index the trigger. The APLc paddles are well within reach of most index fingers. A quick tap as the handgun comes up will engage the light in constant on mode. The index finger is then free to operate the trigger. When it is time to move, another quick tap on the paddle and the light goes off. It is a super simple operation that can be accomplished while you are scooping up the kids and your mind is racing in the middle of the night.
In a purpose built tool, form should take a back seat to function. Appearance should be the last consideration. In this case, Inforce greatly improved on the appearance of the original APL. The full-size APL that we are currently using on our SIG 1911 is a matte grey finish. It does not look bad against the flat grey/black finish of that handgun, it does look a little out of place against the deep black of the Glock polymer frame. It only made sense for Inforce to use a matte black polymer for the Glock-specific APLc. The color and the texture compliments the Glock frame. The shape of the APLc flows into the Glock lines and makes it appear to be a well though out system instead of a tacked on accessory. Inforce even went so far as to stipple the paddles of the APLc to better match the custom frame jobs that are all the rage on Instagram.
Overall Inforce has done a spectacular job in creating a light that compliments the Glock 19 without damaging the compact form that makes this such a wonderful pistol to carry concealed. Even more amazing is that Inforce is offering this US Manufactured light for $150 MSRP.
While this light was designed for the Glock 19, it does fit on any Glock pistol with the Glock-spec rail (that weird picatinny G21 need not apply). It will also fit on a number of other pistols with glock type light rails. We have not had a chance to try this out on the H&K VP9 or S&W M&P, but we will report back once we have had a chance to confirm fit.
Holsters are quickly becoming available for this setup. If you have not purchased the APLc yet, High Threat Concealment offers a combo deal including their SPEKTRE holster. VEIL Solutions also offers holster options for the APLc.
A big “Thank You” to Inforce for sending the APLc Weapon Light out to us for review. If you want to pickup an APLc for your pistol, you can purchase them here: Midway USA.
Multi Holsters from Plymouth, MI offers support for all variations of the inForce lights for a number of different handgun models.
https://www.multiholsters.com
Can i get a new light. Mine proke only after a few months. Never even shot it at the range. I was totally babying it. What can i do!
Contact Inforce. I am sure they will take care of you.
The Insight APLc seems like a very nice light. I’m sure I would be very happy with it, if I could get one that actually worked. My gun is a Sig, so I have tried the AC-05-1 model (not the special Glock model). The lights fit beautifully on my Sig, but neither of them worked. Yes, I said “neither of them” because I bought one, it didn’t work, I sent it back for an exchange, the seller sent me another one, and that was even worse.
I bought my INFORCE APLc compact weapons light from a usually reliable vendor (not Amazon which seems to be flooded with fakes of this light). It arrived quickly, properly packaged, and in absolutely perfect condition except for one small problem, IT DOESN’T WORK. This light is definitely a real INFORCE light, with all proper markings and genuine INFORCE packaging and documentation. It is also very bright — when it works, but that’s where the problems come…
Constant mode does not work at all. To turn the light on in constant mode you are supposed to tap and release either paddle. When I tap and release either paddle this light does NOTHING.
Momentary mode works occasionally. To turn the light on in momentary mode you are supposed to press and hold either paddle for more than 1/2 second. The light should stay on as long as you press the paddle and go off when you release the paddle. My brand new APLc light does that – sometimes! Maybe half the time, momentary mode works as it should. The rest of the time it doesn’t. Either the light flashes once for a very short time or it does nothing at all.
I called the vendor immediately. The gentleman who answered the phone listened to my description of the problem and agreed that it obviously wasn’t supposed to do that. He asked if I wanted a refund or exchange, and I told him that I would try an exchange. He directed me to their website to submit a return request. I submitted the return request before going out to do some errands. By the time I got home, my return shipping label was waiting in my email. I will be mailing this light back tomorrow, and hopefully the replacement will work better. If this light had worked the way it is supposed to, it would definitely be a 5-star light, but for a weapon light it’s pretty much all or nothing.
Here’s the update after I returned the light reviewed above and received another one from the same seller Primary Arms.
Again the light arrived quickly and well packaged. Again the light was in perfect condition with no hint of any sort of damage. Again, the light and all the packaging appear to be 100% genuine. AND AGAIN THE LIGHT DOES NOT WORK!
If anything, this one is even worse than the first one. Both modes at least do appear to work (somewhat) BUT once the light is on for more than about half a second it begins to flicker, sometimes it flickers brightly (almost like a strobe except that the flicker is uneven) other times it flickers very dimly, then it will go out completely, then flash a few times, then flicker some more.
This light will be going back too, but this time it will be for a refund. I’m not going to bother having them send me yet another of these garbage lights.