I'm looking for something brighter than my Malkoff M61

[maddy345]

I'm looking for a brighter drop in than my Malkoff M61 that I have in my Surefire M951. I'm planning to do some night time hog hunting and the M61 just isn't bright enough.

Doing research it looks like a lot of the Cree drop ins won't work in the M951 due to the diameter.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a 500+ lumen drop in to replace the Malkoff?

Here is a pic of my setup

 

[Timothybil]

Lumens Factory sells a M-series mini-turbohead that I think is about 900 lumens. It looks like you would have room for a little larger head in your setup.

 

[RI Chevy]

Welcome to the forum! :welcome:

Why not try a Malkoff M91A? It is an XM-L with higher output than the M61.

 

[FPSRelic]

Welcome to the forum! :welcome:

Why not try a Malkoff M91A? It is an XM-L with higher output than the M61.

2 things. The m91a puts out lots of lumens, but has a floody beam profile. I would expect with that setup that he's going to want throw over flood. Secondly, the M91a is designed for 3 cell lights, and I think that setup is a 2 cell one?

I would suggest either the m60 or the m61sho if throw is what the op is after, and he wants to stick with malkoff. The m60 has the throwy beam profile with better battery life, whereas the m61sho has more spill, and uses brute force to get its beam out there. 30 minutes battery life though.

Alternatively if he only wants to stick with drop ins, I have found a Nailbender XML drop in with a smooth reflector has good results. Otherwise, replacing the head as others have suggested would be the way to go.

 

[Grizzman]

The M951 isn't a great platform for extreme performance drop-ins due to the mediocre thermal path from engine to bezel. I just tried inserting Nailbender and Vinh drop-ins into my M951, but neither fit. While it may have been possible to force the head to fully tighten with the Vinh, I'm not sure the drop-in would have survived.

It is possible to buy an extension to turn the M951 from a 2-Cell light into a 3 cell light. I've got one, but can't recall the name. This would allow for longer run time from the M61 SHO, which is likely your best drop-in choice with the standard head.

Grizz

 

[Chodes]

I don't know anything about rifle mounts and parts!

I do know Malkoff dropins are rated for rifle recoil.
I also know that a Malkoff M60, rated at less lumens than an M61, will throw light further.
An M60 may satisfy you. Malkoff no longer sells them, available a few other places.

An M61 is made to have a nice beam. The reflector has an orange peel texture to smooth out the beam.
M60 uses an optic, while also designed to have a nice beam, the LED is physically smaller and that is the main reason it throws further.

I think you need to work out distance required. 200-300 Lumens may be plenty if it throws far enough.
An M91 is rated (conservatively) at 700 Lumens. 1 minutes use and you would understand this is a "room sweeper" or "backyard lighter".
I doubt it would be useful for you as FPSrelic pointed out.

I believe if you asked Nailbender or Vinhnguyen54 for a potted dropin (few dollars extra - coats electronics in epoxy) it would be OK for rifle use, easy to find both members sales thread in B/S/T forum and ask.

A Malkoff Hound Dog is rated around 1000 Lumens and ballpark has similar throw to M60 (with a whole lot more spill light)
Don't know if even possible to rifle mount, example given to point out Lumens rating will be very little help in determining suitable dropin.

 

[TEEJ]

By bright, do you mean how bright the target looks, so its enough light to aim/shoot, which is normally referred to as lux, or, do you mean lumens, where the light could for example be spread out over a wide area, so you can see context and search better, etc?

The cd of a light tells you how bright the target will be, the lumens doesn't unless you also know the hot spot's beam angle and do some math, etc.

So, at what range do you need to shoot at (In say meters for example), and is your scope lighted or natural, and, how wide an area did you need to light up at a time at that range?