Very sorry to hear that. I feel ya' man! I recently discovered that I'd lost the second of my two 3-cell AA Minimag conversions (Tacstar extension tube setup / Al reflector / bulb) from the old days. I also say the second because the first suffered a similar fate several years ago. This one had Duracells in it, and had not been sitting idle that long - 'only' a few months, but as you know it doesn't take long.
I found I wasn't able to chamber my AA Eneloops in those two old lights (the factory tube section or the matching extension) due to insufficient ID, and that's the ONLY reason alkalines were in this one in the first place. That last part seems strange, since I could swear I used very early NiMH cells in them back in the day, but the current Eneloops must be fatter (and I also assume the modern Minimag tubes are larger ID - although I don't have one to check). You'd likely be aware of that (apparent) ID change, but I wasn't until fairly recently. Anyway, it was particularly disappointing since I was determned not to let it claim the second one, but still ended up screwing up anyway.
I'm sure this doesn't make you feel any better, but you're also not alone (FWIW