Should I mod my new Cree E2L with a reflector?

I recently purchased a Cree E2L, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that the head had no Loctite on it, none whatsoever, I can easily remove the bezel from the light and inspect the Cree on it's miniboard

I have a couple spare McR20-S reflectors kicking around, I know they're optomized for Seoul emitters, but I can't help but wonder how different the E2L would be with a reflector

that said, I do actually like the TIR optic on the Cree E2L, it has a very "reflectory" beam profile, but I am curious as to how different it would be with a reflector instead, I'm really more of a reflector kinda' guy

however, due to the un-loctited head, I have the optic dialed in precisely where I want it, and I did put some blue loctite in to prevent focus shifts, yes I could always pull the head apart, mock up the reflector, if I like it, I can permanently mount the reflector in the head, if I don't, I can easily return it to stock form

Hmm, decisions, decisions....

Optic pros;
very throwy hotspot, very efficient use of the "45 lumen" LED
nice "reflectory" beam profile

Optic cons;
sidespill dimmer than I'd like to see
I prefer flood over throw

I think that you should stick with the surefire E2L optic, otherwise I think it would be worth the extra money for a McR 20 XR reflector so you actually get the right focal length and will give you a nicer beam with sidespill that i think will be the same or more than the TIR.

Yes do it, then show me photo's!

MacTech,
I'm thinking about doing this mod. I like this flashlight but for mine the KX2 head is glued so I'm wondering if it is worth to risk to broke something if the result is not far better. I moded a KL1 with a SSCP4 LED and a reflector and I'm very happy of the improvement of the beam.
Does the McR20 fits the head ? Did you tried just putting the reflector and hanging it with Scotch tape (head open) and then watching at the beam ?
Thanks, Regards,

Just adding my wishes ...
If the mod of the KX2 head is close to the mod of a KL1 head, here is what I hope :

The areas under the two curves are the same (same amount of lumens) but more throw for long distances and more spill for short distances.
I'm just dreaming ...

I just tried it, and was unimpressed, the reflector (McR20-S) gave an almost identical beam profile as the TIR, with the following three differences;

1; the dark ring around the hotspot became much more pronounced

2; the hotspot decreased in size by over half, and intensity dropped a small amount

3; the spill became marginally brighter

4; the spill doubled in size

I was actually underwhelmed with the reflector performance, SureFire definitely designed a great TIR for the KX series heads the KX TIR out-reflectored an actual reflector, Bravo!

Thanks for you feedback, MacTech !
Regards,

Thanks for taking the time to contribute your experimentation. I hope your E2L didn't mind.