Starting a thread to share experiences and recommendations on weapon mounted lights, with particular interest in high lumen and candela. For detailed information on lumens vs candela vs lux, please do some quick google-fu.
I recently picked up a couple of new WML intended for use with pistols. The Streamlight TLR7A and Surefire X300 Turbo. I have a few X300 Ultras for a couple of ARs and pistols, we well as a few X300 (prior to Ultra). I think the "regular" X300s are 180-200 lumen range. I've had them on my longtime go-to HD pistols. Long story short, for HD, I will be updating to the Streamlight TLR7A. More on that below.
I haven't been able to test the X300 Ultra against the Turbo outside my condo. However, I can already tell the differences in flood vs focused beam/throw. There are a number of excellent videos where folks did outdoor testing, but the camera doesn't pick up as much as the human eye does, so I always want to test for myself. I'll be sure to test next time I go camping at my friend's ranch property, which has large open spaces with stuff like trees, animals, etc to test lighting ID-ability at night/low light. Overall, I think the Turbo would be a good combo with one of my ARs. As well as maybe switching the M600DF on to a high candela light, or one with a better balance of high lumen/flood and high(er) candela.
For my condo, I like the features of the Streamlight TLRA. It's 500 lumens and I think something like 1000-1500 candela (not much). However, it's an improvement over the regular X300s. I also like that the TLR7A is more compact front to back dimension than the X300s, for various reasons. One of the more recent considerations is for CCW, where the TLR7A lens is about flush with the end of the barrel of a Glock 19, and slightly back from the end of the barrel for a Glock 17. The lenses of the X300's get covered with carbon quickly with just dozens of rounds fired. I'm not particularly concerned from a "real use" perspective, but just something I've noticed over years of shooting with the X300.