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  1. #1
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    Haley Strategic Thorntail2 SBR Mount

    I have wanted to mount a light on my 300 Blackout SBR for a really long time. The problem is the hand guard for my 9" barrel is too short for almost all solutions that I looked at so far. It's been at least a few years that I have been hunting around.

    When some people mount lights, for whatever reason they like them on the opposite side from their forward hand. Typically doing that requires a remote switch or button to activate the light. Likewise with longer hand guards a remote switch is also preferred by a lot of people simply because your hand isn't riding all the way at the end of the hand guard. Unless you have orangutan arms a remote switch is generally the most popular option.

    With my 10.5" rifle it has grown on me a lot. By nature I am a minimalist. If I can avoid wires I will do so at all cost. On that rifle I have an Arisaka light with a 45 degree m lok scout mount on the left side of the gun. The light itself has an Arisaka momentary tail cap so I can activate the light with my left hand or if I need a constant on I can just twist the tail cap. For this discussion though with that specific hand guard the light is placed in the PERFECT SPOT at the 11 o'clock position for how I have everything set up. It's not just at 11 o'clock, but the distance forward is optimal for me.

    Now on my 9" 300 BLK I've discovered a way to get the same light position, same activation method (same manual of arms so to speak), and I can do it without compromising my hand placement on the rail. The solution is the Haley Strategic mount I mentioned in the title.

    The mount is actually two pieces and it can be configured for either side of the rifle. They offer MLok and pic rail mounts. Even though my hand guard is mlok I didn't go that route. If you look at one of the photos attached below, if I were to use mlok on the left side, that piece that is sticking out in the photo would be right in the palm of my hand. That is less than ideal. I might have been able to push it forward enough to avoid this, but maybe not.

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    That said the pic rail version is also configurable. Long story short I put the mount on the very last spot on my top rail with it dropping the light down at 45 degrees on the left side. This mount pushes the light forward a bit so my grip is not compromised at all and I don't have anything jabbing me in the hand. I can basically continue to use the light exactly the same on both rifles.

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    I got the mount and mocked it up and it seems like a fantastic solution for what I have been wanting. In other words I'm pretty happy.

    I've only mocked it up on the 300BLK, but I got an in stock notice for another 300 series light from Arisaka. My order was placed earlier today.

    The mount itself is quite a genius idea. It seems like a great idea and a quality part. I am pretty happy that I found it. Once the 2nd light gets here both of those will be permanently in place (at least until I learn more and decide to change up for whatever reason).

    That said if you are looking for solutions for a short barrel/short hand guard to get better light placement it might be worth a look.

    Another slight bonus is with this setup (for my 300BLK) there should be a bit less suppressor shadow. It pushes the end of the light out a slight bit more towards the middle of the suppressor. Shadowing is a thing but nothing absolutely major, but with a much larger 30 cal can it had the potential to cause a problem (maybe), but with this setup it's actually less than my 10.5.
    Last edited by alamo5000; 17 March 2022 at 07:31.

  2. #2
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    In the front is 5.56. In the back is 300BLK. The light is within 1/2 inch of the forward position of each rifle. Not really enough to make a difference. That difference though is attributed to using slightly different buffer tubes.

    The front is a standard MLOK 45 degree scout mount from Arisaka. If they made one like that that also had a bar to push the light out a bit, that would have been my choice. It's very low profile. I really like that light mount.

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    Nothing to jab or jam into my hand or fingers. It's got pure unobstructed access.

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    You have the option to move the light around just a little bit to get the best ergonomics. I will still probably play around with this.

    The biggest difference is the Arisaka mount hugs into the rail approximately 1/4th of an inch closer than the the Haley mount. Considering that the Haley mount is two pieces that would be expected. It's not sticking out there so far that it's annoying though. The main thing is I am able to avoid using wires and remote switches while still retaining the approximate same light position.

  3. #3
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    I have M-Loc version on my 12.5 SBR. I like it because it gets the light out in front of the fsb.
    I'll post pics later.

    Sent from my SM-G986U1 using Tapatalk
    "And now you understand. Anything goes wrong, anything at all... your fault, my fault, nobody's fault... it won't matter - I'm gonna blow your head off. No matter what else happens, no matter who gets killed I'm gonna blow your head off." -Big Jake

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  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Big_Tom View Post
    I have M-Loc version on my 12.5 SBR. I like it because it gets the light out in front of the fsb.
    I'll post pics later.

    Sent from my SM-G986U1 using Tapatalk
    Overall it's a pretty good mount so far.

    In my case there are at least two problems that it solves. The first is it keeps me from having to pull my hand back in and moving my vertical grip to a different spot. It also prevents the light from being back way behind the suppressor. It actually pushes it out closer to the end of the suppressor so there is an acceptable amount of suppressor shadow.

    With a longer handguard I'm pretty sure there are other benefits that would be case by case dependent.

    I would be interested in seeing more pictures of the mlok mount. I went pic rail version because of my specific situation.

    Based on my picture above the mlok version would put the light slightly rearward just a little bit. For other set ups that might not be an issue.

  5. #5
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    I think barrel shadow (or suppressor) is overrated in this age of 1000 lumen weapon lights. Hell, I don't notice it indoors with my 500 Lumen light. There's enough reflected light to illuminate the silhouette cast by the rifle. there might be a few feet of dimness outdoors, but I want to light up things downrange outside, not close-up.

    Does the Arisaka inline mount not achieve the same desired result? I found that it cantilevered the light farther than I wanted with my 9.5" rail; I wasn't fond of the head unit being in the direct blast of the comp. That does create a little shadow, but again, I don't find it a problem indoors, or hunting coyotes, for that matter. I've run my 200 Lumen SF in IR mode with a nv optic and it was a blast. That 200 isn't much by today's standards, but it is good enough for target id when they are trying to surround you!
    Last edited by Joelski; 21 March 2022 at 17:36.
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joelski View Post
    I think barrel shadow (or suppressor) is overrated in this age of 1000 lumen weapon lights. Hell, I don't notice it indoors with my 500 Lumen light. There's enough reflected light to illuminate the silhouette cast by the rifle. there might be a few feet of dimness outdoors, but I want to light up things downrange outside, not close-up.
    I agree totally regarding suppressor shadow. That does come with caveats (to me). If I used a regular scout mount on the 300 BLK the light bezzle is right there by the suppressor mount. That would be like 8 or 9 inches behind the end of the suppressor. It becomes excessive particularly outdoors. Inside the light bounces around a lot from walls and especially the ceiling so it's less of an issue. That said I've never shot indoors even once except for at an indoor range or whatever.

    Outdoors if you have it too bad it's a lot more annoying. Depends on the setup but with my 5.56 and arisaka mounted light if you look at it like a pie chart maybe 20 to 25% of the spill area would be shadow/blind spot. The farther back behind the muzzle the worse it gets. It could say go up 30 to 40% of the pie chart would be shadow.

    In addition if I did a regular scout mount on the shorter rail it would change the whole setup. I would have to put my vertical grip in another spot and I would have to pull my hand position back in. It's not nearly as comfortable.

    In the end it boils down to comfort.

    If I mounted the light on the opposite side of the rail I would need a remote switch of some sort. That's not a bad plan by any means, but in the end I stumbled on this mount before I purchased a light and remote switch.

    For me avoiding wires is a big bonus, which this setup allows me operations without any additional wires or switches.


    Quote Originally Posted by Joelski View Post
    Does the Arisaka inline mount not achieve the same desired result? I found that it cantilevered the light farther than I wanted with my 9.5" rail; I wasn't fond of the head unit being in the direct blast of the comp. That does create a little shadow, but again, I don't find it a problem indoors, or hunting coyotes, for that matter. I've run my 200 Lumen SF in IR mode with a nv optic and it was a blast. That 200 isn't much by today's standards, but it is good enough for target id when they are trying to surround you!
    I absolutely love my arisaka mount. For my shorter rail, and particularly what I wanted to do (or avoid) it wasn't the best option on the really short 8.3 inch rail. Using that mount on that rifle would change my entire shooting setup which I was trying to avoid. I'm barely learning as is so throwing me a curve ball kind of gave me pause.

    I shoot suppressed 100% of the time so I'm not worried about muzzle blast.

    Even this cantilever light mount still has shadow but it's not NEARLY as bad as it would be if it were farther back. Now both of the rifles are about the same in regards to shadow.

    The goal wasn't to try and eliminate shadow but rather reduce it to within reason on that one gun.

    The other 75% of the reasoning has zero to do with shadow, but rather was a means to keep me from having to reconfigure how I use my other SBR while keeping everything simple.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joelski View Post
    Does the Arisaka inline mount not achieve the same desired result?
    Cantilevered inline mounts are not recommended due to their tendency to bend upon impact. IWC specifically recommends against it on their inline mounts (they suggest their offset mounts for that, which do have more mass and thus more strength), and I believe Arisaka does too.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Default.mp3 View Post
    Cantilevered inline mounts are not recommended due to their tendency to bend upon impact. IWC specifically recommends against it on their inline mounts (they suggest their offset mounts for that, which do have more mass and thus more strength), and I believe Arisaka does too.
    I've heard something similar but on balance there are a few factors that I took into account as well.

    In no order:
    I'm using my rifles for personal use, not in some hard use war scenario.

    I live in the country and the primary use will be outdoors.

    Anything can break if you hit it hard enough.

    It's a light, not so much an absolute "my gun won't work without it" part.

    If I am a dumbass and my rifle falls off the tailgate and breaks the mount I have a backup rifle just in case.

    For me in my specific use, on balance it seems like it's ok.

    That's all said with the caveat that I'm always trying to learn something new.

  9. #9
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    BTW, the mount itself is pretty thick. It's at least twice, maybe three times as thick as the arisaka mount.

    In my opinion if something is going to break on the mount it will be the screws and/or junction where the two parts mate up.

    The Arisaka isn't nearly as thick but then again it doesn't need to be. It's a totally different design.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by alamo5000 View Post
    I've heard something similar but on balance there are a few factors that I took into account as well.

    In no order:
    I'm using my rifles for personal use, not in some hard use war scenario.

    I live in the country and the primary use will be outdoors.

    Anything can break if you hit it hard enough.

    It's a light, not so much an absolute "my gun won't work without it" part.

    If I am a dumbass and my rifle falls off the tailgate and breaks the mount I have a backup rifle just in case.

    For me in my specific use, on balance it seems like it's ok.

    That's all said with the caveat that I'm always trying to learn something new.
    The mount you have if an off-set, not an inline, so it is what IWC recommends for cantilevering (note that IWC is the one that actually made your mount, HSP just provides the marketing).

    That being said, I have significantly bent the light bar on one of my Thorntail2 M-LOK mounts with a single drop on rocky terrain; it was not the SBR version, so it's cantilevered more, but I also had a can with a suppressor cover on, which should have provided some back-stop. The bending can be more of an issue if it ends up interfering with your ability to mount/use a can, along with causing inaccuracies due to pressure on the can. Most likely not an issue with using the shorter SBR version, along with it being the 1913 version that keeps it much further from the can, particularly off of the top rail, but something to be aware of for general cantilevering of any mounts.

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