rick12string
Caught in the Crossfire
I'd like to see that post when you find it. Your right 6P is a good light too. Don't they make one with the Nitrolon body also?
New Toys, Finally
- Thread starter bballbaby
- Start date
I'd like to see that post when you find it. Your right 6P is a good light too. Don't they make one with the Nitrolon body also?
Never mind that it's got a 12 lb trigger. No need for a safety when you gotta squeeze that hard! No chance of any accidental trigger squeeze with that one.
Anyone have any recommmendations for lightening up that trigger? The XD i believe as a 5.5 lb trigger. Certainly don't need to get the sigma down to that, but anything less than 12 lbs would be nice. As it is, you gotta squeeze so hard you cna't help but have a lot of movement. TO hit dead center on a body target, i have to aim over the left shoulder...'course, i only shot about 50 rounds through it to figure that out. I'm sure i could improve that somewhat, but myh point is that you gotta squeeze that trigger real damn hard. Can it be lightened for a relatively low fee? say under $50
Mitch
BOM 2/09-Keeper BOTtLe
Here is the write up I made for my buds after the cops and robbbers party.
What you need to know about Flashlights
LED vs. Incandescent
Although, incandescent lights still are tops for spotlighting at longer distances, for just about everything else, LEDs have caught up with and far surpassed these systems. Top advantages of LED are lots of light, great run times, no more burnt out bulbs and lights that can run different levels of brightness.
Power Source
There are three main ways to power a light, rechargeable batteries, alkaline batteries and Lithium batteries. Rechargeable batteries are only good if you are a cop or security guard and will be burning the light a lot on a daily basis. If you want to know about these ask for the run down.
Alkaline- your typical AA, C and D cells do not produce high flows of current so they are limited as to how powerful of a light they can run, have medium capacity so they have shorter run times than other lights of the same size and most importantly self discharge so that if you leave a light sitting in your glove box for a long time the fresh batteries may be dead when you need them. The only real advantage to these is you can get them anywhere.
Lithium batteries have good current, good capacity and most important will still have 80% of their original capacity after ten years of storage. Down side is they are expensive if you buy from retail stores, although can be had via the internet for 1-2 bucks each.
Switch
There are two common types of switches, the Twist Momentary and Clickie. If your only need is to be able to turn the light on or off, either will do fine. If you want to use the light with a firearm for self-defense, a momentary switch is a huge help. The common twist/momentary is a button that if you press will light until you let go on the tail cap. If you twist the tail cap it will turn the light on constant until you untwist it. On some of the twist momentary lights if you unscrew the tail cap more than a full turn, it disables the momentary switch so you dont accidently turn on your light while in storage.
Modes
Lights are either single mode meaning its on or off with one power setting, or multi-mode so you can have low medium high etc. Usually you switch between modes by tapping the same switch that turns it on and off. So first time you press the switch you may get low, then med, then high.
Multi modes are great for extending battery life, you may get a huge amount of light with a one hour run time like on a single mode light, but when you dont need lots of light, its nice to have the low setting that will run for 60+ hours on the same set of batteries. Down side to multi-mode is that if you are using the light with a firearm for self defense, its bad if you each time you hit the switch you get a different level of light. For defensive work you always want full blast. Some lights with multi-mode have worked out special switches so you can have the best of both worlds.
My Recommendations
All of the lights I mention here use a LED and Lithium CR123 batteries. There are specialized needs for lights other than what I have here, but they come in after you own a few on this list.
Best Everyday Carry light- Fenix P2D Cree LE costs about 60 bucks. Its tiny, not much bigger than a tube of chap stick. It has a clickie switch with multi-mode and runs on one CR123. It has one tail switch, but you have to unscrew the bezel a half turn to get the low settings, so its still good for defense. It runs an hour on the 180 lumen high setting (dam bright) and for days on low.
Best Small Light- Surefire 6P with a high output LED drop in module costs about 75 bucks. Its about double the size of the Fenix but a smaller light wouldnt fill the hand well and this out performs the Fenix. It has a twist/momentary with lock out single mode and runs on two CR123s. Buy the cheapest Surefire you can find, used on eBay is great and then order a drop in module for about another 20 bucks. You want the all metal 6P, dont be tempted by the plastic G2 series. You need the metal to conduct heat away from the lamp and the plastic one doesnt do that well. Youll get over an hour run time with a blazing 250+ lumens. The reflector is larger than on the Fenix so the light is better focused and will do a much better job at long distances. This is a great all around set up.
Second best Small Light- Chinese Surefire 6P knockoff with a high output LED can be had for about 30 bucks. Its about the same size as the Surefire, but not as high of quality. It has a clickie switch; you can get single mode or multi-mode for about the same price and runs on two CR123s. The switch and multi-mode on this one doesnt play nice, so if you get multi-mode it will not be a good light for defense with a firearm. You get these off of eBay from the same people that sell the drop in modules youd put in your Surefire. Run times and light output is identical, but the light isnt as rugged, you have a switch more likely to fail and get a clickie rather than momentary for defense. If defense isnt a concern, this one is a good choice and half the price or a backup/spare for the car.
Best House Light- A light that you keep by your bed can be a bit bigger as you dont need to carry it, although any of the above lights will work well. But, if you want something a bit better you have several options. If its greater flood of light you want for clearing the house and yard, then you can have lots more for a price. The good ones in this category will put out twice the light of the Surefire 6P but now youre talking about flashlights that cost more than 100 bucks. Ive got a Lumapower DX-1 P7 next to my bed and it puts out about 600 lumens in a wide very white wall of light.
Now to keep perspective, the lights that our soldiers carried into WWII put out about 20 lumens. The top of the line law enforcement light of the 1980s was the Surefire 6p with its standard 65 Lumen incandescent bulb. The best LEDs on the market only a few years ago in that size were pushing about 150 lumens and were mind blowing. And the minimum I think you need to do a good job clearing a house is probably about 80-100 lumens, so all of these are great options. More does have advantages especially if the other guy has to try to aim his handgun into the sun.
If you are only going to get one light, get the Fenix and carry it and keep a spare battery or two in both your house and your car. If youre willing to buy another put something of the 6P variety next to your bed, and ideally if you have two in the house one for each of you although you can easily go cheaper on the second as with clearing the person in front does most all the lighting. As far as a light being a tool, these are a perfect size, balance and feel. Beyond this youre well past basic needs and if you are trying to improve your chances in a defensive situation, you would be far better off spending your money on training or range time with your firearm.
Gale now you need to get yourself a good holster and a sturdy belt. After getting my belt last week it makes a world of difference. Hell even with the belt undone, my pants button undone and just my zipper up the gun is till supported by the stiffness of the belt. Peeing is always fun with a fully loaded G23.
I love my 229. With the choice of 3 interchangable barrels, it is fun to pop off some 9mm shells, but i keep the .357 barrel in it with a clip ready to go for the house. That way it stops when it needs to.
Mitch
BOM 2/09-Keeper BOTtLe
These don't have a momentary switch, I'm not a fan of any laser you can't blink on and off as you need it.
Mitch
BOM 2/09-Keeper BOTtLe
Start with a high polish and just get it smooth. That is on the heavy side, but as long as her hand fits the weapon and she can manage it, you are OK. Also, heavy trigger dosn't equal less accurate, for may beginner shooters it forces them not to jerk the trigger and may help.
rick12string
Caught in the Crossfire
Great post Mitch. I've just got a couple of questions. Im well aware of the differences between the LED lights and incandescent and the LEDs have come a long way since I got my first Surefire. I wasnt aware that the heat dissipation would be a big issue between the Nitrolon and aluminum bodies. I went with the G2Z and put the P61 lamp in it for the 120 lumens (more heat, lol) as opposed to the Z2 because if you wanted to use the Rogers-Surefire grip you would avoid the potential noise of the aluminum body possibly tapping on the side of the gun. Not a big issue but my thinking at the time.
Have you found the heat dissipation between the two to be that much of a concern? I have not had any problems but I would like to know I you have experienced any issues with this. The more info the better for future reference.
Also, what lamp module are you using to get 250 lumens out of the P6? I thought only 65 or 120 was available for the P6 in the incandescent lamps and the 120 only gives you about 20 minutes run time. The LED lamp assemblies or conversion heads for the P6 as far as I know only go up to 100 lumens but that sucker will run 5 hrs. Is there one that Im missing?
rick12string
Caught in the Crossfire
That sucks. I didn't know that. That adds to the giving away your position problem. I wouldn't want one without a momentary switch as I wouldn't use a flashlight without one for tactical purposes. Scratch Lasermax.
Makes 2 of us. They do look gorgeous, though!
Mitch
BOM 2/09-Keeper BOTtLe
First off, sorry for the thread jack, I'll try to keep this short.
Heat on an incan is not issue other than it gets hot to hold, in your case with the P61 no issues. Heat with a LED is different, if the LED gets too hot it can be damaged and even die on you, so high proformance LED's like the Cree Q5's and R2's that put out all that light need a good heat sink to disipate the heat. Surefire started putting metal heads on the G2's for this reason to work with their LED drop in. If yours has a metal head you will probably be fine with any drop in used for 10 minutes non stop.
As far as drop ins best one made IMO is the Malkoffdevices.com M60 it has a solid brass heat sink so even with your G2 you'd have to run it for a very long time non stop to have a problem. You can get Q5 and R2 drop ins from HongKong off Ebad that are almost as bright, have almost as nice a beam patern and will run for almost as long for half the price or less. Don't get too caught up on the lumens rating for these things it takes a 20% increase in light before the human eye can even notice the difference.
hdroadglide
BoM x 2, BoY 2011
interesting, i just looked at the xd40 yesterday. it had the extended mag and it felt REALLY nice in my large hand.
I"m gonna go with a shoulder holster gig...the one that has the gun on one side and 2 clips on the other. I'll also pick up a belt holster and probably a thigh holster for shits and giggles. Goin to another gun show just after the first of the year and they have everything at those things! So much fun. I'll probably be unloading a few more smokes to pay for it all though.
Thanks for the great info Mitch. I am now considering the purchase of a sidearm. There have been several random home invasions over the last couple of weeks in our area. Appleton used to be the nice safe city to live in, but times are changing. More gangs, more psyho's, and add that with a bad economy, these times are getting a lot worse.
This is one thread that I will be visiting more often in the future.
This is one thread that I will be visiting more often in the future.