Its very unusual in this day and age to see a manufacturer put out a product that is purposely designed to help you spend less money instead of buying more of their products. A while back I was asked by Impact Weapons Components to review their new Radial Universal light mount which is designed to do just that. The first thought is that their must be a catch. Many manufacturers will actually tweak the design of an item just slight enough to make you have to buy some of their other products to make it functional, even if they say its supposed to help you save money. Fortunately I’ve had plenty of experience with Impact Weapons Components and had a pretty good idea that the new Radial Universal light mount would be a pretty special product. Check out the rest of the review and pictures below.
This really is a very simple product. Its a small, lightweight Aluminum bar that has been CNC Machined on one side to mount Surefire’s M300A and M600C Scout lights. The other side is machined to accept either a Pistol style light or a Handheld Weapon Light using the supplied light ring. The kit also includes all mounting hardware and tools required to attach the mount to the handguard.
First off, I would like to make it clear that the Radial Universal light mount is much easier to install if you remove the handguard but can be installed while its still mounted to the rifle. I chose to use a quad rail with a different design to the open slots to show that this does not have to be used on a smooth round handguard or one with smaller openings. I don’t have either of the Surefire M300A or M600C Scout lights so I won’t really focus on that aspect as much in this review.
The light mount uses two small oval shaped backing plates that go on the inside of the handguard/rail while two screws are inserted through the mount itself to hold it in place. Once the screws are in its really easy to adjust and get it right where you want it. Now that its on, its really rock solid. In the picture below you can see how it looks attached prior to having a light mounted to it. This photo also shows 1913 Picatiny slot used to mount the Pistol light and the screw holes used to mount the Light Ring. To mount a Surefire M300A or M600C all you do is flip it over and install it with that side up.
Now the fun begins. I already had a Surefire G2X Tactical and an Insight WL1-AA so all I had to do was start mounting them. I chose to install the mount on the right side of the handguard. This allowed me to efficiently use the remote tape switch with my WL1-AA. It also allowed me to mount the Surefire G2X for off hand practice. Both lights were very easy to mount however in this scenario the pistol light was a bit quicker. You can see in the pictures below that I was able to attach both lights without removing the light mount itself.
I’ve been using this light mount for just over a month now and I really like it. It keeps the light mounted at a 45 degree angle and tucked in nice and close but out in front of the handguard to allow for more space to put your hands or other accessories. Its also very lightweight. The best part about it is that it actually does what it supposed to do which is help you have to buy less stuff. In fact, if you don’t have a handheld light you can even buy the Radial Universal light mount package without the Light Ring to save yourself even more money.
Suffice it to say this is seriously one of the best all around light mounts I’ve had the pleasure of using. The Pro’s for this light mount are numerous. I could only find one Con and that’s the ease if installing the bar itself. However if you have a diploma, even if its from Kindergarten, you should be more than capable of figuring it out. I think the only reason its even a Con is that I’ve grown accustomed to how easy some of the other IWC mounts install. Check out the final installed pics below.
For more information or to buy your own Radial Universal light mount head on over to ImpactWeaponsComponents.com.
Don’t forget you can use the code “AR15NEWS” checkout to save 5% off your order.