If you’ve been reading the deluge of press releases over the last two months, you’re already aware of several new, updated, or evolved pistol light options now available from a surprising number of manufacturers. Take a watch and learn about handgun WML choices.
You won’t see anything from the George A. Seely era of “firearm night sights” but you’ll definitely get a look at the latest and greatest options!
New Pistol Lights at SHOT Show 2025
As you’d expect from an overview rundown like this, we’re including several different brands and models. You’ll recognize all the former; some of the latter actually have sub-models and sub-sub-models!
This lineup includes:
- Upgraded Surefire XC
- Streamlight’s TLR-1 HLX
- The TLR-8 and Sub models, also from Streamlight
- The “official” Glock Tactical Light
- Holosun’s DPS-TH (Digital Pistol Sight, Thermal)
- Viridan C5L Microlight and light/laser combos
- Nightstick TWm-3 and TWM-30T
After you’ve completed the video, be sure to check out our guide to selecting the correct WML for your pistol.
Lumens vs. Candelas, What’s the Difference?
A quick note on a couple of terms you heard repeatedly in that video: lumens and candelas. Don’t confuse the two. There is a difference, as you’ll see in the following resourses.
IMTRA Leaning Center describes that difference thusly:
“A lumen is the unit of measure for luminous flux, which is the total amount of visible light emitted from a light source in all directions. By contrast, candela is a unit of measure for luminous intensity, which measures the amount of light emitted in a particular direction. The reason the two units of measure cannot be compared, is because two lights with the same lumen output can have different candela values.”
As 1lumen.com describes it:
“While lumens measure the total brightness of a flashlight, candelas focus on the beam intensity and throw. In simpler terms, lumens are the ‘amount’ of light, whereas candelas emphasize how far that light reaches.”
There’s also multiple ongoing discussions on Reddit about such things: reading there would be well worth your time.
