How to Move Streamlight TLR Weapon Light To Another Pistol If you Lost Your Keys

Years ago, I found out that cheap lights are not something to put on a firearm for self-defense. They simply are not reliable enough. I’ve also found that Streamlight weapons lights hold up plus are backed by top notch support. For pistols, I have a number of the TLR series weapons lights and found them to be solid. With that said, we do need to address the topic of the post – if you install the light on one pistol, how do you move it to another?

How do the TLR lights secure to a weapon?

First off, the TLR design is modular built around an adjustable clamp and then different “key” inserts that allow the TLR to fit a variety of weapons. When you purchase a TLR, it comes with keys to fit:

“1913” – Mil-Std-1913 Picatinny rails
“GL” – Glock rails as well as Tuger KP345 and SR-9
“TSW/99” – Smith & Wesson and TSW/99, Post 2004 Walther 99 Full size
“90two – Beretta 92

There are some other keys and adapters depending on the TLR model you buy – click here for Streamlight’s brief compatibility list.

When you buy a TLR, you must insert the proper key to get it to fit the rail on your weapon. While they were intended for pistols, I’ve used them on a variety of rifles and shotguns over the years as I move lights from weapon to weapon. The key shown above has the “GL” code which means it the one for interfacing with the rail on Glock pistols assuming the pistol model both has a rail and is large enough to hold the particular model of light. For example, you can run the above TLR-1 on a full size Glock 34 but will stick out past the end on a 17. Some people don’t care but I prefer a TLR-4 for a 17 as the TLR-4 is shorter and ends flush with the bottom of the receiver.

Ok, but what if I want to move the light to another weapon?

So, this brings us to the main point – can you move a TLR from one platform to another? The short answer is absolutely – you remove the retaining screw and replace the key with the appropriate one for the new pistol.

And there’s the rub – what if you’ve lost or “temporarily misplaced” your bag of keys? Folks, that is what happened to me. I could not find any of my keys and needed to change the TLR-1 from Glock to 1913 to fit my new TRP Operator. Here’s the good news – you can buy just the keys. Streamlight realized there would be people like us and sell kits that have the keys, the screw, small nut and even a the hex key needed to do the job. The kit does depend on the model of TLR you have so make sure they match the light and the weapon you want to move to.

Streamlight Kit 69175 fits the TLR-1 and TLR-2. The 69176 kit is specifically for TLR-3 and TLR-4 models.

Here’s my 6″ TRP Operator, the TLR-1 and the replacement key set 69175.

You can find the two key kits very readily both on Amazon and on eBay:

Conclusion

I really like the TLR lights and hope this post helps you out if you need to move your TLR but can’t find your keys.

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