Old School KL3 Head?

[cmaylodm]

I found one of the old-school, finned out KL3 heads at the gun shop today while I was shopping for a pistol. Is it worth the $70 they want for it? I have never seen such a radical looking head for a Surefire before, and it seems like they might be rare. Are there any cool mods for this head, other than the obvious Seoul swap if its a LuxIII in there?

Even if it's not a great find, I am still happy to find a place that stocks more flashlights than maglites and the like. Here is a picture of their cabinet:

The KL3 head is on the bottom shelf, to the left of center. Right in the center is some sort of Surefire laser, which I have never heard of or seen before.

 

[DaFABRICATA]

I suggest gripping up those square bodied A2's if ya can. The KL3 is OK, but not exactly pretty IMO.

Oh and I have one of those lasers...my Streamlight TLR-2 is WAY brighter

 

[cmaylodm]

Perhaps I can talk them down a bit on the square bodied A2, as the price tag on it says $195...

 

[Illum]

yep, thats what KL3s looked like back in 2003, before the KL4 came out it was the brightest in its class. the body of the KL3 is slightly elongated I presume to increase the area of the body to compensate of the areas machined out. If you filled in the space between the fins you should find familiarity with other KL series:thumbsup:

Size15s will tell you what the Laser is, its history, yadda yadda yadda.
He's the surefire Guru on the forum

 

[Size15's]

My post vanished... so this is a quick replacement.

Originally SureFire was a brand of Flashlights made by Laser Products.
Laser Products made Laser Sights as the primary business. The SureFire brand of flashlights and WeaponLights brand so popular that it was decided to change the company from Laser Products to SureFire.

There are two main Laser Sight models:

L72 Visible Red Laser Sight
L75 Infrared Laser Sight

I could explain a bit about what makes SureFire's Laser Sights special (and expensive).

Now-a-days the L72 and L75 screw into the MH90 Millennium Series Universal WeaponLight Housing Body. Powered by two-SF123A inserted backwards.

Al

 

[USM0083]

I would say it's not worth it at that price. Maybe for half that price. It has excellent heatsinking and would be a very good host for a newer LED.

I've got one I bought around 2003. It's not that bright, but puts out a very nice and floody beam. Great for indoors.

Here it is on a old 6Z.

 

[Illum]

I think one unfortunate aspect of surefires is its ability to retain price value years after its creation or sell, if kept unshelled/unopened/new in box the monetary value could remain relatively equal to the initial buying price long after it left the market...

the surefire 6, E1-GM, etc for example.

I can see where the dealer's price is coming from from an observer's standpoint after being on the forum. Haggling 10% may be possible but negotiating down to half the price would probably be impossible

USM0083, keep in mind the KL3 was made before the luxV and way before CREE ever stepped in the doorway. It'll do for a luxIII light then, but now its just a collection piece

 

[Windscale]

I do not think it is worth that much now. It was in its haydays. It is a first generation KL3 with a 1 Watt Lux and well heatsinked. It can no longer be considered bright by today's standards. However, I still use it as a backup light on a 6P body running on 1x17670. It is solidly built and gives respectable runtime. These KL3s are now old stocks, or more exactly, dead stocks. Only buyers who do not know much about lights will buy them at this price. Or, a 50%, or even higher, discount may be a fair price.

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

I have one of those old KL3 and as stock it was AWFUL !

I sent it off to Chop a couple years back and it got a nice white LUXIII and a LOP reflector and is awful nice this way.

Might be time to see who could R2 it.....

 

[MrSmith]

I recently sold a newer (3 Watt) version of the KL3 for $40 incl. shipping on the CPF MP and i would say that the older 1 Watt version is worth even less.
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=175428