Sold/Expired bulb substitution

is there a substitute bulb I can use to replace the lamp in a rechargeable maglight? I tried some automotive lamps but they either wouldnt light or burn very dim (low voltage?)....

What voltage is your Maglight? I'll bet it's probably not 12 like a car. If it's a Magcharger, a Welch Allyn 1160 is a popular, brighter replacement.

iirc The Welch Allyn 1160 bulb is a really good drop in replacement for the MagCharger. Give the nice folks at Light Edge a call, they carry a full line of bulbs and other Mag accessories and are knowledgeable about performance increases. There are several threads here on CPF about bulb upgrades for the MagCharger. Also, Fivemega sells several upgrade components for it, such as a cammed reflector and extension tubes to run different battery configurations, that can be found in group buys and passarounds. Spend some time with the search function and you will find many references to MC upgrades. There are several stages of modification that can be done, from mild to wild. Good luck on your quest. Have fun!