LEDs vs. shotgun recoil

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Lost Time

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Does anyone have any real-world experience as to how a P-60 drop-in is going to fair being mounted a 12-gauge shotgun?

I'm trying to decide what to mount on my Mossberg home-defense shotgun, and have narrowed it down to a couple setups. I excluded the Surefire Forend simply because I don't like the "feel" and relative bulkiness of it.

I've got a Q5 drop-in coming from ebay, now I'm just trying to decide what to put it in. I'm leaning toward a G3, so I'll have the option of adding cell-extenders and playing with different bulb/battery combinations. Since it will see VERY little constant use, and will mostly reside next to the bed waiting for an opportunity to be used (that hopefully will never come), runtime is not really an issue. I'm strictly looking for durability.

I'd love to be able to use a P-91 in it, but I'm fairly sure the filament won't stand the recoil. Granted, I could remove the light when taking the gun to the range, but I'd rather practice with it the way it sits. Also, I'd like to be sure the bulb will continue to work after the first round, and again, I seriously doubt the filament will hold-up.

So........sorry for the ramble, but does anyone know "for sure" that an LED will stand up against 12-gauge recoil for any decent amount of time? And is there anyone out there running an incan bulb in a shotgun (without an isolated bezel) that has been fired, and feels secure in it?
 
I have not tried an led on my set up but I have many rounds on a p91 la.
I shoot 2 3/4 slugs & 3 1/2 00 buckshot in mine with no problems.
I use a tailcap with a flexible pressure switch.
Your mmv but i've had no issues with my light mounted under the barrell, about 2 inches from the muzzle. I should say that mine only has a little target shooting done to it , mostly hunting probably got 75 rounds thru it with this set up.
Hog
 
That's really interesting..........Pretty much everything I've read suggests that using an incan bulb w/o an isolated bezel would spell blown bulb. I guess that should tell you something about what you read on the internet.

Not that it should make much difference, but how do you have it mounted? Just a standard 1" ring mounted to the barrel?

I keep 2-3/4" 00 buck loaded in it, and don't really anticipate using anything different. I just didn't want to be experimenting with $25 bulbs if I didn't have to.........

Also, what kind of pressure tape are you using, and with what results? I was looking at the Tacstar pressure switch, there don't seem to be too many options out there.
 
It will also depend on how well the drop-in was built. The eBay drop-in might break(No way of knowing until you test it). Also, many of them are available on Dealextreme for a lower price(along with many of the lower priced Cree and Seoul lights on eBay).

The G2 might be a bad idea because the heat from the LED would have no place to go(the polymer body) and extended running might burn out the LED or significantly lower its life.

Not sure about mounting or the pressure switch.

:welcome:
 
I have several customers that are using Xenon lights mounted to shotguns and they all are performing well.
 
Thanks for the welcome!!

I'm not worried about the heat generated by the Q5, the only time it'll be getting used is in quick flashes to see what's in the next room. God forbid I actually need to use it, I suspect both me and my target will be dealing with temporary blindness from the muzzle flash anyway.

I have lots of other lights handy for extended use, this one is truly for momentary flashes, or 5-sec bursts.

I agree alot of it will have do with the build quality of the LED unit itself, but I guess I was just looking to see if anyone else raised their hand saying they have had a failure. I'll learn more from, "yeah, my led broke" than, "nah, still running strong".

Based on Hog's experience, I'm actually tempted to try running a P-91 until she lets go.
 
I've posted this before...

In the course of shooting competitively and taking shotgun and three gun classes over a period of four years I've always used a Remington 870 with either a Surefire 6P or a Streamlight Scorpion attached. In many hundreds of rounds, neither has caused a moment of concern. Both are bone stock.

With that experience noted, my impression would be that an LED type light would be at least as shock resistant; perhaps more.
 
If your using it to clear rooms don't screw around with an unknown dropin from Ebay. Get a Malkoff M60L and throw it in a 6p or get a Surefire weapon light and throw the Malkoff in there. The spill from the Malkoff M60L is just about ideal for lighting up a room. Good even spill. Bright hotspot. And I'd advise getting the L version (lower lumen output) still enough light to blind your subject but less of a hotspot to blind you on a white wall. I have been clearing rooms for 20 years.
 
I replaced the front grip on my Remington 870 with a Surefire 618 as soon as I got it home. My wife and I put at least a hundred rounds through it (mostly #4 buck and some slugs) before I swapped the P60 out for a P61. That was in use for several years, and at least a thousand rounds.

A couple of weeks ago I replaced the P61 with a no-name regulated Cree Q5 module from eBay. Last Saturday we put a hundred rounds downrange.

We have yet to experience a bulb failure. All three units worked flawlessly. In principle, I think an LED is less vulnerable to shock than a filament bulb, but at least the Surefires stand up to heavy recoil just fine.

--Bob Q
 
cal..45 said:
120-130 shells fired (including magnum loads) one day with a L2D attached to my benelli m3 with no problems at all.


regards, holger
Click to expand...

cal..45, what mount are you using for your L2D? Trying to figure out a mount for my L2D for my AR-15. Thanks in advance.
 
Surefire makes some lights with special shock mounts (M2, M3, X series) just for this purpose.
 
If your not going with a Surefire dedicated for end do a search on Brownell's web site for

Lite Mount Technologies

These are hands down the best shotgun light mounts made. They will not move at all undr recoil like the barrel bands do.

I just switched over to a 6v PILA GL2 using a Wolf Eyes Q2 drop in and coiled pressure switch on my shotgun. More than enough light and really decent spill.
 
you could also go with a Mesa Tactical picatinny rail. you need the AR adaptor for it to work. but it is one of the best setups hands down.

personally i prefer it over the forend/barrel mounted lights


http://rebel.sandwich.net/LOW_RES/IM000545.JPG

for lefties, this is a godsend... when gripping the shotgun, the flashlights clickie switch is perfectly placed right behind your thumb. extremely efficient
 
Last edited:
boonsht - Funny you should mention the L2D. I actually have a P3D attached to the side of my AK. I just used a standard light ring mount with picatinny base, and used some rubber strips I cut of something as a "collar" to hold the light tightly. Granted the L2D is a tad bit thinner, but the same collar should work.

BigD64 - I'm not using the no-name ebay LED in place of the Malkoff because I'm cheap, the Malkoff's are just hard to come by, and I wanted something to experiment with in the meantime. As soon as he has some more, I'll be first in line with my $. I'm going to play around with different output lamps and see how much wall bounce I get. The initial exit from my bedroom has no walls immediately in front of it. The first wall the light will hit is a good 35' feet away, so I'm looking for some decent output.

With so many people seemingly having good results with P-series bulbs in their shotguns, I'm just going to mount the P91 on there and see what happens. Should it let go, I'll move over to an LED setup and see how that works.

Thanks for everyone's comments and observations, I appreciate it.
 
Lost Time said:
That's really interesting..........Pretty much everything I've read suggests that using an incan bulb w/o an isolated bezel would spell blown bulb. I guess that should tell you something about what you read on the internet.

Not that it should make much difference, but how do you have it mounted? Just a standard 1" ring mounted to the barrel?

I keep 2-3/4" 00 buck loaded in it, and don't really anticipate using anything different. I just didn't want to be experimenting with $25 bulbs if I didn't have to.........

Also, what kind of pressure tape are you using, and with what results? I was looking at the Tacstar pressure switch, there don't seem to be too many options out there.
Click to expand...

Yes mounted direct to the barrell, actually using a modified set of tall scope rings, no base. I am now actually using a homemade SF G4.
It is a G2 with the AN14 extender using 4 primarys with a G&P 12 volt LA, it also has a ucl lens.I cannot remember the exact make of the pressure switch, I do believe it is a Tac Star it has the curly type flex cord velcroed to the forearm pump.I had to play with it a little to get it right, the pressure switch screw on cap has some room which allows the use of 4 batterys. With all that said my rig is for night hunting hogs using a red filter over the light. If your rig will be used for self defense or law enforcement then I do not recomend going homemade or the cheap route.
Buy something made for your application that you have the utmost confidence in, me personally I would go incan, shock isolated, premium switch no cheapies. I know it's more expensive but in a bad moment you cannot put a price on premium quality components that will not fail.
Hog
 
Unfortunately, there don't seem to be many options for a remote tape switch. The surefire assembly is the only one I would consider "highline". The Tacstar would probably be the only "midline", although I've heard you can use the Pentagonlight switch, but I haven't been able to confirm that. Then there are endless amounts of HK parts that can be had for a whopping $7 off ebay, which I'd never consider using.

That really just leaves the Tacstar and the Surefire. I've had good experiences with Tacstar with some of their other products, granted none have been electrical components, but there isn't a whole lot to go wrong there.
 
While not a shotgun, I have fired nearly 900 rounds though one of my 10mm handguns since installing a Streamlight TLR-1 on it. So far - all is well.
 
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