Impact Weapons Components Thorntail Adaptive Light Mount Review
You might keep in mind that I announced the light that is essential and distinctive bracket To come down the pike in quite a while – the patent-pending Thorntail. The Thorntail is a JV between Force Recon veteran Travis Haley of Haley Strategic Partners and Impact Weapons Components. This is among the most expected rifle accessories around, and I’m fortunate to be the first one to have them on hand for review. The marketplace has lacked a mild mount like this for a long, long time. The only thing that came close to offering the same performance of the Impact Weapons Components Thorntail Adaptive Light Mount.
On the other hand, the SMC is limited to use only on particular forms of handguards like the Magpul MOE Handguards. It did not take a long time for Haley Strategic Partners and IWC to find the need to be similar bracket which works with Picatinny rails.
Some weapon configurations allow only limited space to mount probably the most indispensable items on any rifle – the weapon light. The placement of the weapon light dictates where the shooter has to put their service hand on the rifle. The service hand should be placed in a location which allows easy access and operation of the light. This can become problematic on weapons with short rails like AR-15s and M4 carbines with the 7&Prime, carbine length gas system as well as the 9&Prime, midlength gas system. Additionally, it may be a problem with AK in some configurations and almost any weapon with rails which are too short.
Shooters know that a lot of recoil control is truly just about leverage. You should be capable of controlling the rifle in a manner that reduces movement in the muzzle out of shot to shot. The capability to set your hand closer to the muzzle can enhance leverage which consequently enhances shot to shot speed. When the rifle recoils, it needs to move straight back in a line that’s opposite of the trajectory of the bullet, and that runs back through your shoulder. On the other hand, the form of your shoulder, and also the way the buttstock engages the shoulder, produces a hinge which converts that straight movement into muzzle lift.
Think of what occurs whenever you close and open a door. You do not catch the door near the hinges. You catch the handle which is placed on the other side of the doorway, far from the hinges. This maximizes grip and makes it easy to close and open the door. Similarly, you would like to be capable of holding your rifle as far is sensible from the shoulder to maximize leverage. In case your light dictates in which you have to place your hands along with your rail is short, you’ll have to set your hand in a manner that you’re not able to make the most of your leverage.
The Solution. The Thorntail Light Holder allows shooters to expand the light inches beyond the end of their hand’s guard rail. This frees space on the railing and promotes optimum hand placement. Your light Rail space which has been taken up by your mount and light before is gripping surface useful for your hands. It’s that simple. It accomplishes this with an ingenious design. The Thorntail consists of 2 components. There’s a bit which serves as a rail grabber and 3.5&Prime, extension bit. The extension is tapped and drilled on either side, so the rail grabber component is mounted on each side of the extension that makes the Thorntail completely ambidextrous.
It could be mounted on each side of a rail for a total of 8 positions on a normal four rail handguard. This is fantastic for consumers that are stuck with rails. As an example, if your police department problems AR-15s with the carbine span gas system and 7&Prime, railings this is the perfect solution. The issue that is present M4 carbines is also stuck with 7&Prime, rails for the most part. If you aren’t stuck with a 7&Prime, carbine railroad, you’ll love the Thorntail. I’m using it on LaRue 9.0 rail to push my light far enough forward to mimic the light position on an 11-12&Prime, rail.
I like to run my hands out as close to the muzzle as possible, and the Thorntail allows me to get the feel and performance of a 12&Prime, rail on a weight 9&Prime, rail. In Use. I analyzed the Thorntail by mounting it on two different weapon configurations – an AR-15 with a 9&Prime span rail along with an AK-47 with an Ultimak gas tube. Installation was instinctive, although the flash light rings could be a bit difficult to deal with, I managed to get them mounted without any problems. If you cannot figure it out simply by looking at it, then I bet you probably have difficulties loading your magazines, too.
The Thorntail works flawlessly on a rail of 9 with a grip. My initial concern was that the mount would be brittle since it does extend out the light from the railing. I grabbed the Surefire G2L bezel which was mounted on my length carbine and tried to pull it in each direction, and it did not budge, bend, or loosen. It might take a lot of drive, or even a very, very hard hit at harm the Thorntail and this sort of drive would probably harm other portions of the rifle at the same time. After testing the Thorntail, I’ve no worries about its durability.
Like some other IWC goods, the Thorntail is a CNC Machined from Billet 606T6 Aluminum and black type III Mil-Spec Anodized for longevity. The Thorntail is shaped very well for the manner that it’ll be used. Most users will use this mount to put their light so that it drops directly in front of their thumb in the strong, fashion traction that is forward that is the thumb. There’s a small horizontal place directly behind the lighting is makes an indicator point for your thumb. This indicator point serves as a visual reminder that your hand is in the right position to be capable to easily attain your weapon lighting.
I’m going to place a bit of traction tape on this flat to make it easier to feel with my thumb. This mount is especially well suited to the Ultimak railed gas tubes such as AKs. Among the best characteristics of the Ultimak railings are how low they sit that allows your to co-witness your sights with Aimpoint. If you mount a light mount on the Ultimak railing in front of your Aimpoint, it may obscure your view during the optic. The Thorntail is quite low profile along with the rail grabber portion can’t even be seen throughout the Aimpoint.
It’s the perfect light mount for Ultimak railed gas tubes. As I mentioned previously, I found that the Thorntail enabled me to get the same grip that I have on a 12&Prime, railing, but on a 9&Prime, railing. This configuration weighs railing, Prime & over the usual 12, but provides the majority of the same function. I found this to be a rather ergonomic mount. It holds the light at close to the rifle and forwards of the railing which allows the tail fin to fall right under the thumb. After the mount is position correctly, operating the lighting is effortless. Compare this to a typical light mount where the lighting is put in such a manner that you frequently have to stretch your thumb back from the perpendicular grasp to get at the change. The Thorntail is a big improvement these situations.
Additionally, To the ergonomic concerns, the Thorntail reduces the shadowing caused by the barrel of a weapon. With a light mount, you could have to shadow from both the barrel and front sight tower. The Thorntail permits the light to clear the tower of view before, so the shadow is significantly reduced. When used on a 9&Prime, rail, the bezel of the light is merely 2.5-3.5&Prime, from the muzzle. This almost Eliminate the shadow of the barrel from the beam of the weapon light. The angled flat place behind the light serves as an index point on your thumb.
I attempted the Thorntail with Surefire M600 Scout and Surefire G2L. It worked flawlessly with equally, and there are additional flash light rings which permit the use of the majority of the best weapon lights available on the market such as the Surefire E and C series lights and the Streamlight PolyTac. There’s also a version of the functions which will work with the Surefire Millennium series lighting. Shooters will find that lights which use the flash light rings such as the Surefire G2L may be pushed further forward than people with fixed mounts such as the Surefire Scout lights as they may be slipped far forward in their rings.
Conclusion. It’s my opinion that this isn’t merely a distinctive product. It’s an essential product which was missing in the industry. It permits the shooter to put their hands closer to the muzzle end of the weapon to control the recoil and solve the issues which have been plaguing short handguards for so long as they’ve been around. The Thorntail blurs the distinction between railings and rails. It signifies a functional and ergonomic improvement to the way weapon lights have been mounted. I couldn’t be happier with the way this bracket functions. The Thorntail is available for pre-order on the Impact Weapons Components website. Note: The finished Thorntail mounts will comprise the HSP emblem, maybe not the IWC logo as shown. Disclosure: These mounts have been offered to me for review, at no charge, for whom I’m an independent product rep., by IWC.