Inforce APL-C Weapon Light Review

Like many others in the firearm community, I enjoy accessorizing my firearms with the latest gadgets. Perhaps almost as much as I love actually getting out and shooting....ok so maybe I definitely enjoy “Kardashian-izing” my guns just as much as I love actually shooting them, but that’s beside the point.

While there are undoubtedly accessories and attachments that are slightly excessive at best and downright gratuitous at worst, I do believe there are attachments that provide a clear and distinct advantage, especially in regards to home and self defense tactics. One of these accessories is the weapon mounted light. (If you haven’t read my article on weapon lights yet, now would be an excellent time to do so.)

My first weapon light I ever mounted on a handgun was a Streamlight TLR-1 HL. The TLR is without a doubt a phenomenal light and one that I would without a moment of hesitation allow my life to depend on.

However, while the Streamlight reigns supreme in brightness, durability and reliability, it lacks in concealability. The TLR is bulky, awkward and adds a considerable amount of weight to the pistol it’s mounted on.

Enter the Inforce APL-C. You can imagine I was thrilled when I was first laid eyes upon the light. It was streamlined, concealable and appeared left and right on various Instagram gunners’ pages. I instantly purchased one for my Smith and Wesson M&P 2.0 9c. However, once I actually got the light mounted on my handgun and began shooting with it, the thrill wore off at a quick rate.

First and foremost before I get into where Inforce fell short, I want to address the positives with these lights and Inforce as a company:

Ergonomics:

The ergonomics on these lights is superb. Inforce did a great job of designing the paddle switches to be easy to manipulate and reach. The paddles are relatively large and your thumbs manage to find them with total ease. Toggling the switches comes naturally and the design of the light allows for easy ambidextrous use. Also, because of switches require direct, inward pressure, I’ve found that the risk of a light A.D. (accidental discharge) is lower. Again I’ve found that to be my personal experience, another user’s mileage may vary.

Concealability:

The APL-C again does do well in this category. The light is constructed of polymer rather than metal so it does save a considerable amount of weight. Also, with the way the light is designed, it fits seamlessly on the weapon. The sides of the light don’t protrude past the sides of the slide. Since I got the the compact version, the length of the light also does not protrude past the length of the barrel, further adding to its concealability. Unlike other mounted pistol lights, which are glaringly obvious as add ons, the APL-C honestly seems to melt naturally into the horizon of the pistol’s profile, as if it were a part of the firearm when it was released from the factory. All in all, due to its lightweight and streamlined design, the APL-C undeniably wins points in the concealability category.

Aesthetics:

Now this category in many ways piggybacks off the previous category of concealability because it’s based off many of the same points. However, I felt strongly enough about it to elaborate further. Now this is obviously solely a matter of personal opinion. But this light does look awesome. It’s streamlined and compact form, clearly designed with concealability in mind, oozes that level of tactical that every gun owner secretly admires whether they’ll admit it or not. Simply put, the light looks cool and in this industry, that matters whether people like it or not.

Customer Service: Now this category isn’t in regards to the Inforce APL-C specifically. However, given my direct experience with Inforce at 2019 TriggrCon, I feel my experience was positive enough to warrant talking about the company overall. I met sales director Steve Giblin at TriggrCon and I was immediately impressed by his humble and genuinely caring attitude. When I addressed some of my concerns that I had with my Inforce products, without missing a beat, he handed me his card and told me to send the products back for repair or replacement. Now that’s a level of customer service that’s becoming more and more rare these days. Inforce is without a doubt a company that cares about its consumers and wants to do right by them and I have to give them credit for that.

With all that being said, let’s talk about some of the downsides of this product and why I cannot in good faith recommend it at this current point in time.

Reliability:

The most important aspect of any piece of tactical gear is its reliability. Ergonomics, comfort and ease of use are also important but the most crucial requirement of any piece of gear is that it works as it’s supposed to when it’s supposed to. This is where the Inforce APL-C falls short.

The light initially worked well, but it wasn’t very long at all, I would presume around 4 or so months, when I began having problems. After shooting with the light several times, I noticed that the light began to flicker intermittently. Not a good sign. Cut to a few months later, the light simply refused to turn on at all at times. It would activate momentarily at full brightness, flicker and shut off. Then on some days, the light would function perfectly fine so I did not believe it could be a battery issue. Simply put, my faith in the light’s ability to provide lumination, especially in a life or death scenario, was severely damaged. Eventually, after about 6-9 months of ownership, with relatively limited use, the light failed to activate at all. I swapped out the battery and it began to work again, for now sans any kind of in depth testing. Which leads me to my next point.

Battery life:

The APL-C’s battery life is disappointing to say the least. Considering that I’ve had my Streamlight TLR-1 HL for several years and I can count one one hand how many times I’ve replaced the batteries, the fact that the APL-C would have a dead battery after 9 months with relatively minimal use is frustrating. Especially when you consider the APL-C’s relatively low lumen output at just 200 lumens.

Price:

Here’s where I feel like Inforce probably dropped the ball the most. Price. The Inforce APL-C retails for around $100 nowadays. Prices have dropped since I purchased mine for about $125. But given the fact that there are options like Streamlight and O-Light for around the same price and that those lights don’t suffer from the same QC issue that Inforce seems to, Inforce’s pricing just seems outrageous. If a company is going to charge Streamlight and O-Light amounts of money for a product, then it’s reasonable that the consumer expect that Inforce deliver Streamlight and O-Light levels of quality and reliability. As of now, it just doesn’t hit the mark. If Inforce was charging between $35-50, I might be more inclined to be more forgiving but considering that its pricing scale is double that, it’s tough to be gracious.

Overall, while I do have high hopes for Inforce as a company, as it stands now, I simply cannot recommend the APL-C as a viable option for a pistol mounted light. Its benefits and high points are simply overridden by its poor reliability, battery life and high cost. I hope that Inforce continues to innovate and improve upon its design as time goes on and can someday redeem itself. But for now, stick with Streamlight, O-Light and Surefire because quite frankly, your life is worth spending the extra money.