Old Sure Fire 6R upgrade

[Coutel]

Hi everyone
Great forums.

I have an old Sure Fire 6R. I bought this new probably around the mid 90's in Oxford. I do not have the recharging unit or batteries or the extended body, so its basicaly a 6P. I am not sure if its worth spending money and upgrading to an LED or put the cash towards something new.

Its seen a lot of service here and overseas, well worn and is etched with my name. Its not been used for a number of years.
Is it possible to upgrade this to a LED and if so, what lens do I need. I think the lens cap is plastic so probably need glass? What batteries? Maybe useful to get new o rings as well. Can anyone recommend the parts I need and where I can source them here in the UK?

Does this early model Sure Fire have any monetary value?

Thanks

Coutel

 

[akula88]

Welcome to CPF.

For starter, you may like to read this 2-month old thread :
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/v...-worth-keeping-or-modding-or-just-parting-out

 

[lightfooted]

Well yes...and yes. You should keep it and it is worth something though without the extension piece it's basically just a 6P except for the fact that the P60R lamp in it is designed to work with the rechargeable battery that was shipped which really is just 4 (I think) NiCad cells in series. I had a kit myself but it disappeared during a move. The P60R lamp module was designed around the lower voltage of the NiCads so if you swapped out the batteries but not the lamp, you might flash it if the 123As were fresh. Interestingly mine did not. I actually continued to use it with Surefire cells for several years before it was dropped while on and the impact broke the filament.

I'm not sure of a source for upgrades in the UK as I live in the US, however I can recommend highly the 16650 cells from KeepPower as the first upgrade. I use them in my 6P and C2. They are as near as I can tell the precise size of two Surefire 123A lithium cells stacked in series. I have compared them. The cool thing here is that the P60R lamp would be brighter on the 16650 cell than the original P60 lamps as the Li-Ion cells are closer to the 4.8 volts of the NiCad stack than the 6 volts of the twin 123As. Plus the Li-Ion 16650s will have a longer runtime than the old NiCad battery pack.

Malkoff drop-ins are highly recommended by many here although I don't own one myself. Sportac is another well made module. Lumens Factory also makes drop-ins for Surefires as well as Solarforce lights, who used to be a cheaper copy of the general design of the 6P but have waned these last five years or so to the point where I'm not sure if they are still in business. They were based in China but produced good stuff for their prices. I own a few of their lights as well.

Any LED upgrade you manage to find will likely just blow your mind as far as what is possible for these lights. The first upgrade I put in mine was an old Cree XR-E that shot a pencil like beam out to about 200 yards. It was only about 250 lumens...but boy was that an eye opener for me! I still have that drop-in. It still makes me giggle a little when I swap it into a Surefire body and fire it up.

Something I just thought of: Get all of the upgrades you think you might want for it now, while it's still new to you and fun to swap out. I'm not saying that I don't love my Surefires anymore, but rather that now there are so many other lights that do exactly what I want (or near enough) that I no longer have a NEED for my Surefires. Yes they are still useful but now I wish that I had bought a Malkoff and a Sportac when I was still experimenting with the Surefires and using them daily. Nowadays I just can't justify their cost versus another entire light that I could purchase for most of the money of one drop-in. Back in the day I would have spent the money more easily but today I just don't use them enough to really warrant it.

 

[Coutel]

Well yes...and yes. You should keep it and it is worth something though without the extension piece it's basically just a 6P except for the fact that the P60R lamp .

Thanks. The lamp currently fitted is a P61 so I must have changed it out sometime in the past. Have taken note of what you said.

I also used to have a green Surefire tactical edc flashlight with a pocket clip. I cant remember the model but I believe it was designed for SureFire by an old friend of mine Andy Stanford down in Florida. Must be 20 years or so that I bought it after Andy recommended it. I have either misplaced or lost it during one of the many moves I have made!

 

[Dave D]

Check out the Sportac P60 drop-ins on the Flashaholic website.

They are available with single or triple LEDs, with different tints and as single or dual output.

Use a Keeppower 16650 Lithium Ion battery (2500mAh) and you'll get a decent runtime.

Using both of the above will not need any modification to the 6R and will be reversible if you want to put it back to stock in the future.

The fact that your 6R has your name on it probably reduces its value to others.

 

[bykfixer]

^^ what he said

 

[peter yetman]

There's some used Sportac drop ins for sale here...
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?462108-WTS-Eagletac-Sportac-lights

#4 and #5 will fit your Surefire. #4 is a triple, which will give you a floody light with no hotspot. #5 is a single emitter with a reflector, which will give you a more traditional throw beam with a hotspot.
By the look of it they will both run on 3.7v (16650), but maybe check with Max first.


I've bought from Max before and he's quite safe.
P