Maglight switch - Why?

The switch in a stock Mag is a long lasting work horse.
But it's a big horse and the best use for it seems to be to modify it for momentary contact.

Whay hasn't somebody dumped the whole thing to gain space and put a momentary contact in the hole?
It appears that a 3D could be a 4D with the switch out of the way and a 4D could be ??? ( six 3800 sub C are about 261 mm and four D's are 240...)

On a side note, my old 3D has a metal plate that is screwed into the body with the light stalk sticking through it. I've not seen it referenced anyplace.
Is that plate still in the newer ones?

On my current Mag85 project I've machined an entirely new switch holder from Delrin. I'm not using a momentary switch, but rather a clickie. A momentary would be an easy swap though... but I like the clickie.

The advantage of building the switch housing from scratch is that you can incorporate the AA cell adapter or at least change the internal length of the light to accomodate various batteries. Also easier to put the bulb/LED where you want it. Plus you minimize places for electrical resistance... stock Mag has plenty of them. With a regular parts-store switch you are simply soldering short lengths of wire from battery to switch to bulb socket.

There is also someone here that sells a clickie tail cap for a D sized mag. With that you can completely remove the stock switch allowing a shorter light or more batteries.

Mike Painter said:

Whay hasn't somebody dumped the whole thing to gain space and put a momentary contact in the hole?
It appears that a 3D could be a 4D with the switch out of the way and a 4D could be ??? ( six 3800 sub C are about 261 mm and four D's are 240...)

Click to expand...

been done! enjoy!
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=95591