Can you have lost the plot if you were scrolling on your phone the entire time anyway? I don’t think so, and I think that’s what’s guided the invention of the Hyskore J-Frame Tactical LED Light. To be fair, I’m not one to criticize adding new tech ot old guns. I have a snubby with a red dot, but if you’re gonna strap modern doo-dads on guns, I need them to work well.
The Hyskore J-frame Tactical LED Light is not just a light for J-frames but an entire replacement grip with integrated controls. Pop the classic, likely low-profile grips off your S&W and toss these bad boys on, and now you get an integrated weapon light.
As a man who respects the occasional abomination, I can say I like the idea. Maybe not for a J-frame, but being able to add a light to a revolver without a rail is kinda neat. In this case, it’s neat, but it doesn’t work all that well.
The Hyskore Light and Modern Problems
Revolvers aren’t exactly accessory-heavy guns or modular guns by any means. A few have tried, like the S&W TRR8, the Taurus 856 Defender, and Chiappa Rhino, but accessories on revolvers aren’t mainstream by any means. Especially on the J-frame.
Hyskore’s core concept isn’t bad. How can we add a weapon-mounted light to a revolver without permanent or expensive modifications? Well, Hyskore’s solution is to build the light and control into the grip, one of the few parts that’s easy to swap around on a revolver.
To me, a weapon-mounted light isn’t a necessity for daily carry. It’s nice to have, but I’m still going to have my flashlight on hand. For home defense, I’m a big advocate of a weapon light. However, if I’m using a j-frame for home defense, I’m pretty comfortable pairing it with a handheld light.
Still, the Hyskore J-frame light was affordable, and I figured, heck, let’s give it a try.
Start With the Grip
The grips contain the battery, controls, and some of the electronics to make the entire setup work. The CR123A battery goes into the bottom of the grips. This requires space, and that extra space results in full-sized revolver grips. Big grips eat into the gun’s concealability.
The entire setup, with the battery, weighs 4.2 ounces total. That’s not heavy, but it does add a fair bit of weight to a platform meant to be lightweight. My 432UC weighs 16 ounces, so adding four ounces is significant.
Big grips do make the gun easier to shoot, which is nice, but I can carry a K-frame if I want larger grips. In the center of the grip sits a round button that automatically depresses when you grip the gun, turning the light on.
At the bottom of the grips sits a kill switch. Flip it off, and that button does nothing. It’s great for storage or if you absolutely know you won’t need the light.
The light rides up the grips and sits on the right side of the gun. Poking just over the top. It sits right above the cylinder and alongside the top strap. I purchased this full intending to add it to a 432 I have a red dot sitting on, but the two weren’t copacetic.
Predictably, the light and its placement kill your holster support. It’s too big to shove in a pocket, so I’m left with my MFT Minimalist AIWB rig. Your deep-concealed gun is much less concealable.
The Hyskore As A Light
We are giving up a lot with the Hyskore light in terms of concealability, so is the light worth the trade-off?
No.
That’s the short answer. The long answer is that the Hyskore light is pitiful. Hyskore claims it has over ‘100’ lumens. How much over a hundred? I mean, theoretically, it could be between 101 and a million lumens. I’m leaning more toward 101 lumens.
It’s essentially a penlight. In fact, you’d probably be better off taping one of those keychain pen lights to your barrel. With a duct-taped penlight, your gun would be smaller overall, and you’d still have the same issues with holster fitment.
We have a light to positively identify threats, and the Hyskore light gives you about 10 feet of usable light. The low lumens and candela make it impossible to reflect light and use a baseboard or umbrella method of light casting. The Hyskore light has to be pointed directly at an object to use the light.
The angle of the light seems to illuminate the front sight more than anything else. This creates some barrel shadow, which is hilarious with a 1.87-inch barrel.
The battery life is also pitiful. It’s about half an hour, which is crazy short for such a low-powered light. The Streamlight TLR 7 uses a single CR123 and packs five times the power and lasts an hour.
The more I look at it, the more I think they should just make a bigger light. We have already sacrificed plenty in the concealment department; we might as well get more light out of the package. Hell, make a grip that adds a side-mounted rail, and I can just add whatever light I want.
Then I don’t have to deal with longer grips, just a gun that’s likely twice as wide as it’s supposed to be. However, if it had a rail, I could choose when to attach a light and when not to.
Hyskore Scores Low
I think it’s obvious that this grip light isn’t getting my recommendation. It trades a lot of concealability for hardly any light. It’s always a little silly to make a J-frame larger, especially when something as simple as a handheld light and a little practice go a lot further. For 50 bucks, it entertained me enough to make this article, and the low price point is its only highlight.
A innovative/new way to needlessly hang $#!t on a gun?
Only real frame is an N frame.😉
Try caring when you’re jogging.
oof, that is one ugly gun. and I like nubnose revolvers!
If you absolutely, positively, need a light on a J frame then you actually need a different gun.
Sorry, that’s the reality of the main use-case for a J frame, and that’s by design. Like certain types of knives, the primary design feature here is that people don’t know you have it until they feel its effects. Which is round-about why small fighting knives tend to be double edged but that’s another discussion.
This product is at least 12 years old. Cut it some slack. Might as well do a review of a Glock GTL10 light, or one of the giant 80s Surefire lasers with the external battery pack.
If it’s that old, and they are still selling it, they should have upgraded it when possible. Otherwise, they are defrauding the purchaser.
Heresy! How dare you defy the church of krambit. With that out of the way no argument on the use case of snubbies. Keep it simple and easy to carry. This product would probably do better with a zombie blood splatter finish.
It appears that that device let’s your gun breath while partially submerged. A gun snorkel if you will.
That’s the first thing I thought. They saw a snorkel on a 4×4 and thought, “Hey, that gives me an idea.”
First time I can remember an absolute, unequivocal negative review on here.
Now, the comments about the lights output and battery life are spot on – there are much better ones IF they would fit, revolvers having their special issues.
But saying its bulky, creates holster issues, etc? All lights do that. And, in fact, create an issue where an automatic with a light and a holster designed improperly to house it can create an negligent discharge issue. It is very much an issue across then board with any automatic and light combination, and that leads to how many there are – thousands. You don’t just order a Safariland for duty anymore, its explicitly custom and no stock on the shelf because there really aren’t common combinations. I will be glad to see this fad of lights on guns finally fade away. Is a light worthwhile? Sure – and I thought we fixed it with a separate one when I adopted a Streamlight clipped into my off hand pocket – which I used dozens of times a day when still working. Now? We argue you should NOT use a weapon light to find things you dropped on the floor or to illuminate that risky teen coming home at 2AM. Nobody listens to the common sense of that, its all about “my WML is brighter than yours” yet concealability is thrown out the window and sales of holsters (and their prices) are skyrocketing as we add more to the box of bad choices sitting on the closet floor. Be very careful what you ask for.