The Roland Special

rudukai13

Pro Internet User
Have both. Both are great lights. If your OWB carrying, get the HL. If you’re IWB, particularly the 19, it’s the 7A all the way. The HL will add length, even on a 17 which is personally uncomfortable for IWB.

Putting compensators on them will also add length. At that point why not go for the brighter but longer light?
 

Stanislao

Regular Member
Thats good to know. Thanks my doods.

A follow up question, I am in the process of building my pistols(g19 and g17) to be a "Roland Special" flavor for increased capability. So for my light selection; I cannot do the Surefire due to budgetary restrictions. With that in mind, does anyone have any recommendations between the Streamlight TLR7A and the TLR1HL? It is between those two. And the use will be both carry on my battle belt as well as conceal carry. And with that said, I already often conceal a full size g17 without issue. So I dont need a tiny pocket blaster. So any input between those two lights to be used on those guns? Thanks
Do the TLR-1 if at all possible. The TLR-7, although the best compact light currently available, doesn't have the candela to justify itself outside of artificial total darkness. As others have mentioned, the TLR-1 is long enough to be a challenge to conceal.

Cloud Defensive is working on a pistol mounted 18350 light that will fit under a G17 slide. Supposedly the light will be available by the end of the year for under three hundred dollars. It might be worth saving up for, though actually details and examples of the light are not yet out. I'm looking forward to the light.
 

rudukai13

Pro Internet User
100% correct. Completely off track. Thanks for bringing it back.

No worries! If it was just a question of which light to get for a standard G17 and G19 I’d absolutely agree, TLR7A for the G19 all the way. Fits flush with the muzzle and avoids getting carbon fouling on the light lens by not extending beyond the end of the barrel. But if you’re adding extra length with other parts anyway, might as well go for the larger light that’s going to offer more light and more durability
 

Camb453

Newbie
well this wil
Since they’ll be going on pistols that already have compensators extending beyond the muzzle of the slide anyway I’d go for the higher lumen TLR1HL over the flush-fitting TLR7. If you’re doing full RS builds on both your G19 and G17 together though I’m not sure what budgetary restriction would also constrain your ability to get Surefires for both builds as well, all those other parts aren’t exactly going to be cheap especially bought in pairs for both pistols
l be a build over time for sure due to budget. But initially i will get only one light that i will swap on guns depending on which i am using at the time. no dual wielding for me.
 
Inspired by the RS, I built my first pistol with a light and comp.
Haven't had an interest in Glocks for a long time but the shape of the frame and the way it points got me back on-board, sort of.
It's not the real thing but pretty cool so far:
Freedom Wolf frame (love the ergonomics)
Brownells RMR slide
True Precision barrel
HS507C ACSS
Agency 417 2 chamber comp
Night Fision Optics Ready Stealth night sights
TLR-1HL (added a filter for indoors to dim it a bit)
Lone Wolf small parts

Thanks to the folks here, I was able to understand how to tune the recoil spring to work with the comp.

Next, will be another barrel in 356 TSW since I've always wanted to play with that cartridge.
 

Smith

Regular Member
Interesting, how so? Malfunctions? I would've expected the G34 to be less finicky compared to the smaller G19. How does the G17 compare?
 
This may have already been answers but is there a specific list of internal mods for a RS I.e. trigger springs, plunger spring, firing pin and so on?
 

Smith

Regular Member
Any opinions on what the "current" Roland Special configuration is? There seem to be more comps than ever, new lights have come out, and I believe the magwell from the original one isn't sold any more. What dot do you put on it?

I don't have strong opinions since I haven't tried it, but I'm really liking the idea of a low-maintenance closed emitter. So maybe an ACRO2? I do like my PL350. On comps, I'm clueless - what's the most reliable and/or best performing comp? Are there certain ones more for CCW/duty use than competition? Change the recoil spring?
 

JLL2013

Regular Member
Original internal mods were zero, all stock internals.

There are a lot of duty guns (glocks) that look like Roland Specials now. Some have Delta Points, some have ACRO's, lights are all Surefire, magwells vary, but KKM comps and barrels continue to be a standard both in muzzle rise reduction and accuracy.

 

Pat Tarrant

Custom testicles
Staff member
Moderator
Original internal mods were zero, all stock internals.

There are a lot of duty guns (glocks) that look like Roland Specials now. Some have Delta Points, some have ACRO's, lights are all Surefire, magwells vary, but KKM comps and barrels continue to be a standard both in muzzle rise reduction and accuracy.

This. The original, per Chuck, had zero internal mods. It was also fed nothing but NATO spec ammo, so it had energy to spare. When people started building their own amd used different ammo types, they ran into different issues. You can either use full power nato loads or experiment to find something that works consistently. At the least, I'd recommend picking a single (or at least a couple very similar) loads and not deviate from the recipe once a reliable spring and ammo combination is found.
 

Smith

Regular Member
Original internal mods were zero, all stock internals.

There are a lot of duty guns (glocks) that look like Roland Specials now. Some have Delta Points, some have ACRO's, lights are all Surefire, magwells vary, but KKM comps and barrels continue to be a standard both in muzzle rise reduction and accuracy.

Thanks for the link, great test! I wish there was an update, since a lot of new comps have come out since 2018. The Parker Mountain Machine barrel + comp combo seems popular:
 
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