I'm setting up my SBR (12" .300 Blackout) for home defense duty, and it needs a light. I've played with weapon lights up to 500 lumens, and that's just too much. Yeah, I can light up the entire house, but then I'm blind until I turn the light on again. I think between 60 and 120 is the sweet spot unless you can convince me otherwise. It's enough to tell whether the person standing in the living room is someone who's supposed to be there.

I also prefer to use AA batteries whenever possible. They're everywhere, and easy to get. I've never seen a CR123 battery in any local store, and the CR2 batteries are $19.99 at Walgreens. If my batteries die, I don't want to be waiting for Amazon to deliver new batteries before I can use my weapon light.

I've got plenty of 1" scope rings laying around. Is there a light out there that isn't blindingly (to the guy behind the rifle!) bright, uses AA batteries, has an LED lamp, and isn't cheap crap that'll die the first time I shoot the gun?

I have good luck with tlr1s and tlr-hl and inforce Wml. But they all take cr123 batteries. I can get them almost as cheap as AA

Streamlight ProTac RM-1 puts out 350 lumens w/a single CR123 *or* 150 lumens w/a single AA (dual-fuel).
Tomac

Surefire makes the Scout in a AA model now. Stream light makes a Polytach Rail mount 1 & 2 that are AA or CR123.

Thanks! Just what I was looking for.

No love for the Surefire G2LED? Forgive me for not comprehending the thread title. The G2 is a CR123, not AA

Insight (EOTech) WL1-aa weapon light.  QD rail mount.  150 lumen.  Momentary on, full on, or strobe.  Duty grade.  Not cheap at almost $300.  Only 3.5 ounces.  Runs on two AA batteries. Getting hard to find but worth it.  Mine's about four years old and has had no problems.  Just right for indoor HD use. Some models have rear tailcap button.  Mine came with a pressure switch.

http://www.brownells.com/shooting-accessories/flashlights-accessories/gun-mounted-flashlights/wl1-aa-weapon-lights-prod45198.aspx

Just fyi, not all companies use the same term "CR123" for the battery. They can list it as "DL123" and are found more in the "specialty" batteries, right next to the camera battery section. Might be a good place to look. I have a 6pk or CR123's I bought at Walmart and that is where I found them.

My local Wally World has 123s in the sporting goods department in the glass cabinet with the shooting supplies.

SureFire 123A have a 10 year self life and batteries can be bought on eBay 12 for under 19.00 manufactured in 2016. The biggest downside to running AA batteries is the run time and output. The WL1-AA run time is 90 minutes from Lithium batteries, but not at full power. A SureFire 6P or G2 LED is @ 80 lumens and can be bought for @ 50.00 If you want a very steady output with a super long run time look into using a Malkoff P61ll with either of those lights mentioned or a Elzetta flashlight. Most LED flashlights can withstand recoil because there is no filament to break, but buying a flashlight with a front and rear spring will help from the batteries from beating itself to death. For HD or duty use I'd only use SureFire, Malkoff, or Elzetta. Insight and some Streamlight are built well, but the features and activation of the SureFire is more deliberate.