WTK:can anyone change M3 lense rings?

just wondering if anyone out there has any experience changing out the lense retaining rings on M3 turbo heads , I have 2 the older style without the scalloped edges -which has a vastly superior beam quality in my opinion, and a newer unit that has the cool scalloped edge but the beam is eliptical -extremely so! I called SF they tell me the beam shape is purly an artifact of the current method of production, so can I have my cake and eat it too? anyone have the tools/skill to swap the scalloped ring over to the older head -for a price of course!!

You really mean the KT4 shock-isolated turbohead and the M3?

To my mind these THs have always be the same.
The different beams are a result of different bulbs N2<->MN15
Another beam have the Old THs like the SRTH or T62 but they doesn't fit on a M3.
Greets
Jens

The bezel rings can be swapped, I know milkyspit here on CPF can change them.

BUT...the beam shape itself is a result not of the bezel, but of the filament and reflector relationship. The scalloped bezels WILL have a scalloped outer edge of the spill, but the central beam shape is not affected.

Different lamps will have different hotspot shapes, ie the more round beams of the N2 vs the more elliptical shape of the MN 10,11 or MN 15,16. BUT once again, this is the result of the lamp/reflector, NOT the bezel.

Bill

what tom means is that he has on older model KT-4 with no scolopes just the flat edge, then he has another KT-4 with the newer scoloped version. the older bezel has a GREAT beam, and the newer version has a beam where you can see where the filiment is. we called surefire on this and thet said thet had changed the bezels and becuase of this the beam is a lot more eliptical. so he is wondering if you someone can take the retaning ring off of the older flatter bexel, and take the retaning ring off the newer one and swap them around.

BTW we have tried to swap out the bulbs to no affect.

and Tom you might want to put in your first post that you have a Turbo head not a regular m3 head

I understand what you are saying.

My point is that the bezel itself has NO impact upon the hotspot shape, that is completely and solely determined by the filament length in relationship to the the reflector. Long filaments have long, elliptical hotspots, short filaments have rounder hotspots.

The only way the bezel, (the scalloped part) affects beam is that it will affect the shape of the very outside of the sidespill area, giving it a scalloped edge. It will not affect the hotspot shape at all.

If swapping lamps doesn't affect the beam shape, and they are supposedly the same head except for the bezel, then there is an issue with the reflector. The older reflector may have less (or more) of a standoff (the aluminum post that you put the lamp through), which would affect the hotpsot shape.

Bill

thanks to all who pitched in with info I may try an N2 bulb and see what that does- and benchmade boy for translating my newbie speak !