And the race is on! 300 lumen XC1-B. Same form factor as far as I can tell, but a new user interface. Toggle for momentary on, toggle quickly for constant on. This is probably the biggest improvement for the light. I still think it needs a deeper reflector though.
Ambidextrous switching provides both momentary- and constant-on activation options. Momentary-on activation is achieved by placing your support hand thumb on top of either of the two rear downward-activated switches and pushing down. The XC1-B will stay in momentary mode for as long as either toggle switch is depressed and held in the on position beyond a fraction of a second. Constant-on activation is achieved by quickly tapping either one of the momentary switches. To turn off the constant on mode, quickly touch and release either toggle switch. It can also be achieved by using your support hand to push the center crossbar switch from left to right.
Glad to see they boosted the output, I hope they also played with the reflector to get more of a distinct hotspot. Sounds like the controls are improved, but the crappy mount remains the same? I switched to an APLc after going through two XC1s… I’m not in love with the APLc either but it has been reliable and I’m not exactly itching to go back to Surefire at this point.
The bezel is metal, as is the cross-bolt and the portion of the mount that the cross-bolt threads into. The body and paddles are some kind of reinforced polymer, which has been improved since the previous generations of Inforce lights. I will say that so far mine has been much more durable than the XC1s I’ve had the displeasure of owning previously, but I haven’t beaten the piss out of it, either… Just 3-4 months of daily carry and 800 or so rounds down the pipe so far.
I’ve gone through 3 of them so far, after you turn them on (either with the button or physically holding the momentary) they just flicker and go out. And the metal mount on one of mine actually broke off as i was unscrewing it right after getting it back from surefire…
Hmm, my sample size of one XC1 200 lumen model has been fine, maybe 2K rounds in 18 months through my EDC G19 Gen4.
Thinking about picking up a B model and putting the original on my training Glock. APLc looks good but I really don’t want to switch for no good reason (holsters, etc).
Change for Change sake annoys me. But I understand users who had issues with an item. That always sucks but the one SF issue I had was self induced (broke the mount on a X300U) they sent me free replacement parts in a week.
I just received my XC1B and initial impressions are the momentary vs constant setup is better than expected.
Basically, to turn it on constant with the paddles, press and release - honestly it’s more like a tap - if hold it even a smidge more and it’s temp light. All of my normal momentary activation muscle memory gets me momentary. The manual says more than 1/10th of a second gets you temp and that seems accurate.
Not as nice as a dedicated method like the X300 setup, but not as bad as the Inforce WML temp, where you had to hold if for like a second to be temp.
Might get some rounds down range tomorrow, we’ll how the Weather holds.
Went to the range today to shoot some of the Glocks - a troublesome G43 which fortunately is all good now, and two G19 Gen 4s (my EDC and backup/training guns). I moved the original XC1 to the backup (bumped off an original X300) and put the XC1B on the EDC.
Didn’t put as many rounds as I would have liked through it, only 90 per G19 and 150 through the G43.
Before each string of fire, I put the XC1B on constant via the paddle switches - it stayed on every time, to include some rapid fire drills. I imagined that would be the easiest way to get it to flicker, as opposes to the hard cross bolt constant switch (for lack of a better term). But it stayed on the entire time, no flicker or turning off.
I aim to shoot it more often until I get to at least 1K rounds through it, but so far, so good.
Been raining every day I have wanted to shoot more, but I did get a quick session yesterday breaking in some G19X magazines and a different G19. The G19.4 with the XC1B only 76 rounds, half Wolf half 147+P HST. Zero issues, as one would expect with that and lots of holster time.
