Will rifle recoil damage a decent light like Fenix or 4Sevens?

[Mr Bigglow]

I bought the scope secondhand but was told the warranty would not have been good anyway. Of course I could have lied, darn it.

 

[icecube]

I use a Streamlight TLR-1 on a Midwest Industries FSB mount. It keeps the light forward and unobtrusive, allowing you to keep your nondominate hand as far forward as possible (or as comfortable: high power shooters will know about the difference between a carbine length and a rifle length gas system with a shooting sling. Mine's a midlength.)

Two 123as, 3W Luxeon LED, no problems.

An AR15 in 5.56 has a large recoil velocity, but low recoil energy. It's not really something to worry about. A well-designed LED flashlight should be able to take 300 Win Mag (moderate recoil velocity, heavy recoil energy).

...and because there aren't any pictures yet in this thread...

Oh, and the first case I heard of a soldier mounting a weaponlight dated back to a German soldier captured in a trench back in WW1 with a flashlight taped to his 7.92mm (x57 or 8mm Austrian?) Mauser. I doubt they had shock insulated bezels back then

 

[DisrupTer911]

ya never know...ze germans were very crafty back then

 

[chanjyj]

ya never know...ze germans were very crafty back then

lol... I wonder how much light actually came out of it.
Icecube, do you have the source of the information about the German soldier?

 

[killforfood]

An AR15 in 5.56 has a large recoil velocity, but low recoil energy. It's not really something to worry about. A well-designed LED flashlight should be able to take 300 Win Mag (moderate recoil velocity, heavy recoil energy).

Icecube,
You've got this arse backwards. Recoil velocity and recoil energy go hand in hand and are kind of redundant. Recoil velocity increases as recoil energy increases. Most folks just skip the velocity and go with ft. lbs. of recoil energy. It's a function of bullet weight vs velocity and weight of the gun. I don't know the exact math but assuming that both rifles weigh the same and have the same muzzle velocity (entirely possible with these examples) you would then throw the bullet weight into the equation to determine free recoil. The average AR15 bullet is 55 grains and the average 300 Win Mag is 180 grains. Without a doubt the 300 grain bullet will cause the rifle to recoil with more velocity than a 55 grain bullet could.
Sorry if I busted your chops, the rest of the post was good. Dig the Spike's Multi Cal lower:thumbsup:.

 

[Mr Bigglow]

OK my full and drawnout thoughts are as follows: it's one thing to tape a light on your rifle or shotgun or whatever and fire it a few times, then take it off. Farmers have been doing this to protect their chickens for a century or more. The light will work at least once.

Nowadays with modern rails and special mounts it's possible, and even desirable, to attach almost any light and leave it there permanently. That's a very different propositon and if the owner puts hundreds or thousands of target rounds through the firearm, the light is going to take a pounding, and exactly the same very focused pounding, shot after shot. Not every light is going to put up with that and still work in a combat situation.

Another concern I have is that if the gun is being fired repeatedly with the light on, a multimode light would switch through the modes as the gun was being fired. The sort of situation where repeated shots are necessary is stressful enough as it is.

If I was mounting a weaponlight permanently I would therefore buy a specifically made and dedicated light.

 

[uh60james]

If I was mounting a weaponlight permanently I would therefore buy a specifically made and dedicated light.

My thoughts exactly. If you are just plunking around it will be fine to just strap a light on but now the possibility of damaging it is very real. If this is for use in a combat situation get a light specifically designed for it so it won't fail on you when you need it most.

 

[CSSA]

I have a Surefire weapon light that is part of a Surefire forearm on a Benelli M1 Super 90 combat shotgun. It originally came with 2 cr123 batteries in a sleeve, but when they were drained I thought I'd replace them with a pair of cr123 batteries. It works, but after you've shot a box or two of shells the batteries are dented from the recoil.

 

[Mr Bigglow]

I have a Surefire weapon light that is part of a Surefire forearm on a Benelli M1 Super 90 combat shotgun. It originally came with 2 cr123 batteries in a sleeve, but when they were drained I thought I'd replace them with a pair of cr123 batteries. It works, but after you've shot a box or two of shells the batteries are dented from the recoil.

That's interesting- I wonder what would happen if you were to shrink-tube them together in the way I remember, as in a previous post? No matter what, if you're in the US I'll bet SF customer service would offer some good advice, if only not to worry....

 

[LukeA]

I've shot plenty of ARs and I was never aware they had any recoil

SF sells pairs of 123As shrink-wrapped together.

 

[themandylion]

Recoil better not damage a Fenix or 4Sevens!

I have a "cheap" Tac-Star Weapons Light System 2000 with a "T6" tactical light. I would rate Fenix or 4Sevens to be apparently superior in quality to the T6, which is itself not bad. The T6 has survived 12 gauge rounds on a Mossberg 500 and 5.56mm rounds on a rifle with no damage. The T6 uses CR123s.

I hope 4Sevens is just doing a "CYA" because if they know for a fact that recoil will damage their products, I'll have to "reevaluate" using their products.

 

[ebow86]

I've shot plenty of ARs and I was never aware they had any recoil

SF sells pairs of 123As shrink-wrapped together.

Really? I thought those things were discontinued a long time ago.