SUREFIRE M3T revival

[Crabboy]

Hey yall,
when I first bought this light in 2007. It was about $300. I thought it was the most awesome thing and it was bright for it's time. After purchasing bulbs over and over again. I have gotten tired of it and I just set it on the shelf. I am considering looking for an upgrade and I realize that malkoff devices sells a drop in. Has anyone had any experiences with these droppings for my type of light? I know this is a dated flashlight but it's kind of like that first girlfriend experience. I still see that they are being sold online or old inventory that was found in a closet somewhere. But I don't want to get rid of it even though I don't use it because of the lightbulb issue. So I'm trying to revive it begin an upgrade to it. Any suggestions or experiences with this relic?

 

[nbp]

Hello and welcome! I have moved this thread to a discussion subforum since you are looking more for suggestions at this time. If you decide to buy a specific part you may open a new thread in the WTB area. Enjoy!

 

[kelmo]

Welcome to CPF Crabboy!

Malkoff Devices has some nice retrofits. The M91 head makes for a compact flashlight. I got the flood version. It is a wall of light!

kelmo

 

[Crabboy]

I am considering the flood light version. I read the specs on that it's 1000 lm but 900 continuous or so. I may be off on the specs but I am definitely considering that version. Anything to revive an old flame😉🔥

 

[WarriorOfLight]

In the past Malkoff made a Dropin / Tower Module named MD60 for the M3T, M4 and M6. I have a MD60. It is well made, and gives the M6 (same head as M3T) a new life. There may be two disadvantages. The light color is cool, and might be greenish. That was a big discussion if I remember correctly.
Since some time I use Tad Customs Xenon bulbs bis Bi Pin adapter due to the fact the MD60 is kind of cool, and original bulbs not easy to get or extremely expensive.

Actually I only know Lumens factory making LED modules for the M Series Turbo Head:
https://www.lumensfactory.com/en/product_detail.php?pid=309

They also offer compatible xenon bulbs. Btw. the Lumensfactory suff is really great.

 

[thermal guy]

Always wanted a M3T and when I did get one I must admit was not all that impressed. It's a great light with a fantastic build but as far as throw and output my streamlight TL3 has 90% of the M3. Two different animals yes but I really thought the M3 would just stomp the hell out of my streamlight but it doesn't. That being said before there gone forever try and get a setup from tads customs. That what I use and it's nice. The malkoff units you can get are nice but they totally ruin the look of the M3.

 

[sjmack]

Where can a Tads Customs setup be purchased?

 

[Crabboy]

I tried googling and it wasn't that easy. It's in Japanese! So enlighten us with your knowledge 🙏

 

[thermal guy]

Only stuff he has left is on eBay. If he's all out there's always lumens factory. High output longer runtimes then stock and you maintain the looks of the light.

 

[Crabboy]

So its Cyber Monday tomorrow 2021. I am hoping to catch a deal on Malkoff drop-ins.
Still deciding on the M61- M91- M91T. Wish there was a video comparison and there isnt anything.

 

[thermal guy]

There's a ton of information on here about them. Is this for your M3T? Or for something else.

 

[ampdude]

I'm a bit surprised you've been through many bulbs with your M3 Turbo. I've used Surefire incans extensively over the years and have had very few bulbs burn out on me. Most of the ones that did failed within the first ten minutes or had other issues going on. Good thing MN10's are one of the most abundant Surefire bulbs out there and still very cheap. The early pink base MN11's did have a bit of a bad rep for failing early.

 

[Roger Sully]

Lumens factory makes quite a few options to upgrade the M3T. You can go with a drop in or just swap out the whole head!

 

[sween1911]

Hey Crabboy,

I tried the Lumens Factory Tower module (XP-L) in an M3T (actually just my M3 with the Millennium turbohead... same thing) and didn't find it as bright as other options. The big reflector of that turbohead wrings the most from an incandescent bulb but doesn't do much for an LED IMHO and not worth the weight. Trying to find an LED tower to put in a turbohead to make the same jump that turboheads did for the incans 10+ years ago doesn't give the same bang for the buck.

That being said, in my opinion, the biggest bang for the buck with off-the-shelf components in an M3 is a LumensFactory Mini-Turbohead.
https://www.lumensfactory.com/en/product_detail.php?pid=241

I had an older XM-L2 version and found it bright and handy and keeping more in-line with the M3's original purpose. The black one looks awesome on an M3 body. The current version is a very bright XHP50.2, so depending on your needs you might want to post a WTB for an older version. And it screws apart and you can swap out the modules.

... and I agree with Thermal Guy that the new Malkoff heads, while I'm sure the quality is rock-solid and dependable, it ruins the old-school Surefire aesthetics.

 

[ampdude]

Always wanted a M3T and when I did get one I must admit was not all that impressed. It's a great light with a fantastic build but as far as throw and output my streamlight TL3 has 90% of the M3. Two different animals yes but I really thought the M3 would just stomp the hell out of my streamlight but it doesn't. That being said before there gone forever try and get a setup from tads customs. That what I use and it's nice. The malkoff units you can get are nice but they totally ruin the look of the M3.

Is your TL3 the LED version? I do not have a Streamlight TL LED version so I cannot speak for it's throw and output.

If it's the incan version when you adjust the focus it tends to pull out the bi-pin bulb. Just something to look out for. I had two that were like this at one point.

 

[scaredofthedark]

Maybe OP is gone but just to chime in I purchased the malkoff m91T for my M3 head last year. I was not too impressed with the color temp or the output compared to a nailbender p60 drop in I had. I run it on a M6 body with a ph-d regulated battery pack, because a 2x17500LiIon battery protection circuit cuts off after a 5 seconds of runtime. Probably won't have that problem with 3xcr123 but I like rechargeables.

I suggest trying the lumens factory LED tower bulbs? I'm not too impressed with the malkoff so I didn't find the 150 dollar was worth the output.

 

[michaex]

@scaredofthedark could you post a photo of m91t inside M head? Does it fit well or did you need to do any "adjustments"? Thanks!

 

[scaredofthedark]

@scaredofthedark could you post a photo of m91t inside M head? Does it fit well or did you need to do any "adjustments"? T

I should've clarified the m91t replaced the m3 head.
It has it own head and adapter inside to secure the drop in. The build quality is nice. I'm just not a fan of the output.

 

[michaex]

I should've clarified the m91t replaced the m3 head.
It has it own head and adapter inside to secure the drop in. The build quality is nice. I'm just not a fan of the output.

Thank you! You got me really curious there
If it was only possible to keep the stock head!

 

[scaredofthedark]

Thank you! You got me really curious there
If it was only possible to keep the stock head!

It makes for an interesting shape lol.
Here is an Incandescent a2 for reference

If You want to keep the factory m3 head or m3t I think only option would be the lumens factory LED tower.

Lumens Factory

lumensfactory.com