Surefire 618FA or 918FA

Quoted: Hmm....How about a tritium front-dot/ghostring instead? Relative advantages/disadvantages over a tac light? (Although would having both be the most optimal?) Probably should have included this in the original post. Just now thought of it.

No illuminated sight can take the place of a "white light" source, for what should be fairly obvious reasons. Some will say there is no need to positively ID a target inside your own home, but that is not necessarily the case. Actions have consequences, and just because you may be legally justified in pulling the trigger does not mean it is something you want to do unless absolutely necessary. What are you going to do if you hear someone screwing with your vehicle outside at 3AM? What if the guy stumbling around your den is your drunk neighbor who simply walked in through your unlocked front door? (I worked a call where this happened once...the apartment resident was about 1 second away from lighting the guy up with her revolver when she decided to take a covered position and turn on the overhead light. The guy had put his key in the doorknob / lock and turned it. it opened, so he thought he was in his apartment two doors down! No jury would have convicted her of a crime, but she was very happy she had not shot him.)

I like ghost ring sights on a tactical shotgun, but I firmly believe a good light is much more valuable. The pump shotgun almost requires a dedicated light, and while I acknowledge the expense of the SureFire fore ends, I have set up shotguns with other light mounts for friends and none of them came close to the utility of a dedicated fore end IMO. If the price is prohibitive, the light you have is better than the fore end you don't, no doubt about that, but if you can afford it, get the fore end...you will be happy you did.

Quoted: Quoted: I like ghost ring sights on a tactical shotgun, but I firmly believe a good light is much more valuable. The pump shotgun almost requires a dedicated light, and while I acknowledge the expense of the SureFire fore ends, I have set up shotguns with other light mounts for friends and none of them came close to the utility of a dedicated fore end IMO. If the price is prohibitive, the light you have is better than the fore end you don't, no doubt about that, but if you can afford it, get the fore end...you will be happy you did. Thanks ikor, and I hear ya' liability and ethics-wise. It's worth my hard-earned dough to get what will enable me to do-the-right-thing as well as cover-my-tush. One point my feeble gray matter had considered from a tactical stand-point though: does the obvious revealing of my position by using a tac light then make ME a target (versus the safety of darkness that the tritium set-up would provide)?

Certainly it can, but everything is a tradeoff. It can also temporarily blind an intruder while allowing you a better view of him (or them). If shots have been fired, or the issue is some sort of home invasion by the entire chapter of Hell's Angels, blah, blah, then the situation has changed into a free-for-all firefight. I will not say "never" because that is a very long time, but I would guess that most here are as likely to win the lottery as to experience such an incident.

The truth is that you will have that shotty in your hands many, many times when you don't need to shoot than when you do. The light will be useful for some circumstances and will not for others. Nothing wrong with a tritum front sight at all...I just don't see the issue as "either / or", and if I could only get one at a time, the light, IMO, should be the first addition.

Quoted: Has anyone here ever heard of a Surefire Knockoff for an 870, the company's name has/had the word "Laser" in it, that's all I remember, but it was nearly identical to one of the older style 618's.    For the life of me I can't remember the name but I want to do a bit of research on them.

"Laser Products" was the original name for what is now SureFire. Same company, older product.