Some of us have the need to hang a full-size weapon light (think SureFire X300, Streamlight TLR-1 or similar) on a compact or a duty-size pistol. Most of us, however, don’t. For the rest of us, a compact light will more than do the job on our everyday carry or home defense gun.
Sure, you can tote a bigger, heavier unit that cranks out 1300+ lumens, but there’s something to be said for a more compact, lighter-weight package that, in the case of the NITECORE NPL25 GL, will not only generate 900 lumens of light-em-up power, but also gives you the added capability of a green laser as well.
For size comparison purposes, here you see the NPL25 GL mounted on an FN 509 Midsize Tactical. It’s ideal on a compact of full-size pistol, but if you’re toting something smaller like a 365, Hellcat, or similar, you’ll want something smaller.
NITECORE has a handy list of lots of pistol models it says are compatible with the NPL25.
The NITECORE NPL25 GL has a great mounting system. Most similar weapon lights come with a handful of different keys or plates that let you adapt it to mount on standard Picatinny rails, GLOCK rails, SIG rails. Not this one.
The NPL25 has a sliding plate that can adapt to the rail slot on a wide range of guns. There’s a sprung button on the left side of the light that moves that toothed bar up, releasing the plate. You then slide it to the position you need and release the button to lock it in place. Easy peasy with no plates to hold onto and (inevitably) lose in about 36 hours.
On a pistol like the FN (above) that has a standard Pic rail, you can a few options as to placement of the sliding plate. On a gun like the G19 (below) with just one slot, it’s easy to adjust and mount it right where you need it. NITECORE ships the NPL25 with a small “Picatinny rail adapter” piece that screws into the two holes you see above, but I mounted the light without a problem without the adapter.
The NPL25 GL is powered by a rechargeable Li-ion battery that’s rated to run for 1.5 hours of continuous use. Rechargeable pistol lights are hardly new, but some designs require you to either bring the gun and light to the charging cord or dismount the light to do that. Not everyone wants to have a pistol sitting around while the light is charging.
NITECORE gets around that by making the battery removable. You can leave the light mounted to your pistol (it’s been dismounted in the pic above, but that’s not necessary) while charging the battery in your kitchen, on your nightstand, wherever.
FYI, the magnetic cord that charges the NPL25 isn’t a standard USB type cord. Sadly, it’s proprietary, so you’ll need to hang onto it.
A series of four LEDs on the right side of the light tell you the leval of the charge the light has remaining.
The NPL25 GL lets you use just the light, just the green laser, or both at the same time. And yes, a green laser is the better option. The human eye is far more sensitive to green light so a green laser just works better in far more lighting situations.
You can switch through the options by holding one rocker switch down while the unit is on and pressing the other to get toggle through the three modes.
But wait. You want to know, is 900 lumens enough? In almost any situation, it certainly is. The corner of the yard in the photo above is 30 yards away and the NPL25’s white light does a very nice job of illuminating things. The unit is both a high and a low setting (low on the left above, high on the right). You toggle between the two with a quick double-tap on one of the rocker switches when the light is on. The pics make both settings look more similar than they do to the naked eye.
The low setting is listed as only 120 lumens, but it still does a good job. Full blast, as you can see, really lights up the yard. NITECORE rates the beam throw distance at 216 meters (I assume that’s at the full 900 lumens level). That sounds like a lot and I could only test it out to about 125 yards, but it did the job nicely at that distance.
Nitecore’s done a good job of designing all the features into the NPL25 GL that most of us need and they’ve done it at a very affordable price level. This is a great option, particularly for a bedside home defense gun.
Specifications: NITECORE NPL25 GL Weapon Light and Laser
Output: 900 lumens
Beam Distance: 216 meters
Battery: Rechargeable Li-ion
Battery Life: 1.5 hours
Size: 2.44″ x 1.30″ x 1.26″
Weight: 2.6 ounces
Made In: China
Price: about $120 retail