Surefire 3P Tailcap Question

I had a stock Surefire 3P a while ago and I'm sure the tailcap had 3P inscripted in white next to the Surefire (in white also) on the tailcap. This was written in white on the tailcap:

LASER PRODUCTS FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA.

SURE FIRE 3P




My question is if there is not a 3P inscripted in white next to the Sure Fire (in white) does this mean it is not an original 3P tailcap?

The tailcap I'm questioning is written this way in white:

LASER PRODUCTS FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA.

SURE FIRE

Does Surefire make the old style tailcaps without the 3P or 6P model designations on the tailcap?

If I were to purchase a Surefire 3P without the 3P inscripted on the tailcap would that make it less of a collector piece and therfore worth less money?

I would appreciate any help on this matter.

Thanks.

Mikellen said:

Does Surefire make the old style tailcaps without the 3P or 6P model designations on the tailcap?

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Yes.
Remembering that in the past SureFires didn't have any 'plain panels' on their bodies for laser etching band name, model, serial number etc so the back of the TailCap was used to identify the model.

Mikellen said:

If I were to purchase a Surefire 3P without the 3P inscripted on the tailcap would that make it less of a collector piece and therfore worth less money?

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I suspect that a specific Laser Etching is 'worth' more to a collector than a 'generic' version.
I have no idea whether this translates into an appreciable value different.

Size15's said:

Yes.
Remembering that in the past SureFires didn't have any 'plain panels' on their bodies for laser etching band name, model, serial number etc so the back of the TailCap was used to identify the model.


I suspect that a specific Laser Etching is 'worth' more to a collector than a 'generic' version.
I have no idea whether this translates into an appreciable value different.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your response. I am a little confused about your first statement. You mentioned that the back of the tailcap was used to identify the model of the flashlight but the 3P is not on the back of this tailcap. It has LASER PRODUCTS FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA SURE FIRE in white lettering around the back of the tailcap but no number/letter model designation.

So are there "generic" older style Surefire tailcaps without model designations or can this possibly be a "non" Surefire tailcap?

Sorry for my lack of understanding.

Mikellen said:

So are there "generic" older style Surefire tailcaps without model designations or can this possibly be a "non" Surefire tailcap?

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SureFire (as Laser Products) produced tailcaps both with and without specific model designations on the tailcaps. I think I've got 3Ps with and without the actual "3P" etching. Likewise with Laser Products 6Ps.

I'm sure that your tailcap is genuine, but if you want peace of mind then you could post a picture here and we will be able to tell you if it is genuine.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Tempest

Thanks for your response. I was actually considering on purchasing a 3P that is for sale in the marketPlace.

So do you feel your 3P with the 3P on the tailcap is worth more as a collector's piece compared to your 3P without the 3P on the tailcap?

Mikellen said:

So do you feel your 3P with the 3P on the tailcap is worth more as a collector's piece compared to your 3P without the 3P on the tailcap?

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I've no idea if it would be worth more, really. I haven't noticed a trend in past sales that would suggest one is more valuable than the other. Not that I intend to do so, but if I were to sell my 3Ps I imagine I would price them the same regardless of whether or not they had the 3P designation on the tailcap.

Regards,
Tempest

Yeah sorry what I meant is that SureFire sold lights both with and without the model-specific laser etchings.
I didn't do a very good job of explaining that in the old days the laser etched rear of the TailCap was basically the only place to show the model number.

Thank you Size15's and Tempest UK for your responses. I feel better about the authenticity of the tailcap now.

Yeah you should not be worried. One thing I thought of is the big button vs the small button on the tailcap. old 6P had large rubber tailcap buttons. was this the same for 3Ps?

My 3P from around 1995 says 3P on the tailcap. It also has the big rubber button -- the top hat style with the cross-hatching. My old 6P from around 1990 had the smooth, low dome rubber button.

I have various SF tailcaps that have and don't have any markings for the flashlight model. I have tailcaps marked 6Z, 6R, and 12ZM, for example. I think that all of the tailcaps with no model markings were LOTCs that I bought separately. All of my old 6Ps did not come with a LOTC, so when those hit the market, I swapped out the old tailcaps for the newer ones.