There is an old thread on this, like several years old. I decided not to bump it because in those days the Surefire G2 dominated and times have changed. I’m considering a Surefire M600 now, but thought I’d run this past you guys before purchasing.
I’m hoping for a lot of feedback.
I’ve used a Surefire G2 on my carbine since posting in the older thread (about 8 years) but now I’m sure there must be better options.
My criteria:
Bright. As many lumens as practical (notice I didn’t say “possible”).
Durable. I’ve read some reviews on Amazon that make you think some of the “greats” like Streamlight may not always make the quality one might think.
Easy to mount. I struggled with offset mounts and mounts that just didn’t work in the early days. I’m almost of the opinion now that if it’s not a dedicated weapon light with a built-in mount for a 1913 rail then it ain’t worth a crap.
Uses common batteries. CR123A and AA (maybe AAA) are about all I’d consider for a weapon light, not that there are many that don’t use one of those three.
LED. I had to swap out the head on my G2 from incandescent. Of course that was a long time ago and probably not many lights are incandescent anymore.
Momentary AND constant-on click switching are prefereble. Again, I had to swap out Surefire’s twist tailcap on my G2. I doubt I’d have to do that anymore.
So, which lights meet the above criteria? What lights do you have a lot of experience with and would trust your life to?
Which ones are junk?
[ul]
[li]Surefire Scout Light series (M300, M312, M322, M600, M612, M622)[/li][li]Streamlight ProTac series (RM1, RM2, HL-X)[/li][/ul]
That’s pretty much it for lights I would personally trust. Still not sold on the Inforce lights. If you really wanted to do the separate mount and handheld light thing, I guess the Elzettas would be a good competitor to the Surefires.
It’s hard to argue against the Surefire Scout series due to the small size, ruggedness, and mounting/activation options. There are so many configurations. Want maximum throw? M600U. Compact white? M300C. Need IR? M300V and M600V. There are even AA versions now if you don’t like CR123 cells.
On the budget end, the Streamlight Protac Rail Mount 1, 2, and HL-X seem to be pretty decent as well. We’ve sold many hundreds of them and have only had two returned that were defective (one was DOA, the other started flickering randomly). Streamlight replaced both in less than a week. They can use almost any Scout mount, but unfortunately don’t share the same head or tailcap threading. It’s hard to suggest to someone to purchase a Surefire G2X Tactical and a ring mount when the Protac RM1 is around the same price, includes a clicky tailcap and remote switch, and 1913 Picatinny mount.
I have one of the inforce IR/white lights and it drives me nuts with the multi-mode-through-one-button activation. Half the time it’ll stay on when I want momentary, or turn off when I want constant on since it’s based on how long you press/release the button. Grrr.
Like everyone else I also like the M300/600 and they are what they are, which is great. I also have used TRL-1HL’s on a couple of SBRs.
However, here is one more light I wanted to put out there for you because you asked the question and this meets you’re criteria and I have personally used these lights and I do trust them to function when I press the button.
PowerTac . I’ve had 3 of them for 3 years now and never once have they failed or encountered an issue. I take that back. I had slight flickering on one of them, but that was after I literally melted two CR123’s inside the lights. To the point there was visible smoke residue on the inside of the lens., and smoke came out when I unscrewed the cap. I took some denatured alcohol and cleaned the carbon fouling off the contacts and the light ran without flickering and continues to run perfectly. That was two years ago. I own two E5’s and a Warrior. Link to the E5 is below. I know a little bit about them because I wanted to know the lowdown on them when I was considering them as a weapon light. So if by chance you want a more info hit me up. I can send you the pics of the melted/charred plastic battery housing, batteries and the light working. I use them as WML and its my bedside light if I need a light without a gun.
Don’t know much about glass, but Surefire’s website says the scout lights have a “optically coated tempered window”.
I have been using SR RM2’s since they came out. Banged against some doorways, even been hit on the glass by UTM rounds. No breakages yet, knock on wood.
I’ve used VTAC mounts, it comes with a darn good mount, it’s just not high speed low drag. I also used a Unity Tactical ring mount. I just used the mount that came with it. It’s offset and it’s well made to be honest. It just ain’t got the slap yer mammy it’s so cool factor. It’s negative cool, but it just works and works well. Here one mounted on my 14.5. It’s got a tape switch that I think came with it along with extra o-rings and a charger and stuff. Like I said it ain’t pretty. But it’s not gonna come off if you whack it and I’ve whacked that one a few times.
Another vote for Scout lights, as well as for Malkoff clones. Surefire X-series handgun lights mounted at 12 o’clock are nice as well. As far as mounts, I use a M600 in an offset Thorntail on my patrol rifle. The rifle has a 7" inch rail which I am unable to change so this set-up allows me comfortable hand positioning and light activation. On personal rifles I use Scout lights mounted with Arisaka inline mounts.
I have a G2X on one, a 600u on one, use TLR1 or 1HL on various pistols, and a Streamlight RM2 on my shotgun. Also issued a Powertac Warrior.
No issues with any of the Surefires. TLR1 and HL are good to go as well. The RM2 has great output and value but I don’t like the tape switch it comes with. Its very sensitive and will kick on it if gets bumped in the rack. I am going to attempt to splice a surefire SR07 switch into it and do it that way, but you could always go straight clicky tailcap as well. The powertac is an issued light and as much as I wanted to hate it when we got them, it works and keeps working. Zero issues with it, but again it isn’t weapon mounted so take that for what its worth.
Tried to shoot these to you in an email, rather than put more pictures in your post, but for some reason I could not send you the message. But I thought it was worth giving you an idea of what my PowerTac went through and still worked. (I can take the pics off if you want.)
First pic is the plastic sleeve that I pulled out of the light. Then a pic of the batteries, then the light working after new batteries and I cleaned the contacts with a cotton swab & alcohol. The light was mounted on my first 16" Recce build and at that time it had a 12" hand guard, so that’s why all the barrel/FH shadow. So I agree with SoTex, it’s taken literally everything I’ve thrown at it normal banging around and my own screw-up.
I think the Scout Intellibeam is the best that you can buy right now. I got mine as soon as they were available and it wouldn’t activate every now and then. Sent it in and haven’t had the issue since. I was somewhat skeptical about the IB feature but it’s badass. The ONLY two things I wish were different would be if they could make the head the same size as the regular M600U and if they still made them in tan. Both of which are me just nitpicking. It’s not cheap, but paired with a good mount and the switch, I don’t think there is a better setup.
I always like mine at the 9 or 10 o’clock position. I’ve used the Midwest Industries single slot mount that attaches to the front sight base for many years now. A few drops of loctite and it’s rock solid: it has never loosened in over 6,000 rounds and the carbine dropped on a concrete porch. The flashlight itself was jarred loose by dropping the carbine on a concrete slab.
