Introduction and a few newbie questions

Hello from Alaska

I joined the forum last year after my son (a forum member) gave me a Malkoff drop-in for my old SF 6Z.

I have basically been lurking and reading and trying to soak it all up. I have been having my son ask my questions and order parts for me but it is time to say hello and ask my own questions.

I also have an M3 and an M900A on my AR-15. They seem pretty weak after using my 6Z with the Malkoff. I did a search and found a few options for increased output.

I looked at the Lumens HO-M3 and EO-M3 lamps but would rather go LED if possible.

I saw this thread https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/234953 and it really peaked my interest.

Would one of these drop-ins be a good idea in a weapon light like my M900A?

If so, would you recommend running it with primaries or 2 17500s? I am not in the military or law enforcement, but would still be concerned about running a weapon light on rechargeable cells. This may be totally a non-issue.

Which of these would be best in the M3 and would it be a good idea to bore it out to use 18500s instead of 17500s?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Michael
Chugiak Alaska

:welcome:

Good questions Dad!
I would not run any light especially a weapon light that I couldn't run primaries if I needed to. I would stay LED. Surefire incans rarely fail but I have never been impressed with any others.

You have now arrived at the darkside!

Zachary

Hello,

I do suggest you ask Nailbender, he will be %100 honest with what he's got for you and what will or won't work for your application.
Lumensfactory xenon drop-ins are nice, but good call going for led's for superior run-time (and multi-mode options). Rechargables sound good, and regarding tundratrader's comment, tell Nailbender what you're after and he'll let you know what driver (and thus what input voltage) choices you have. For example, it's possible you run it on 2x rechargables but it could still take 3 primary if required (it won't be required, I'm just addressing tundratrader's concern)

re: bore it out - well, you could also buy just a bored body tube. Also when it arrives you could sell your unbored tube. My personal recommendation - think about long-term ease of use and how to minimize the number of different battery forms. Do you want an M2 tube instead? The worst situation is to have a bunch of the wrong type of battery, so think if you'd like to load up on cells and you'd like to take a few lights out camping for the weekend, the best scenario is that all lights are 18650 and you take 18650 + rc123's on your trip. you can grab any of your lights and as long as you get enough battery, your light could use the primary or rechargable cells. If you start getting onto 'this light can use these two batteries' and that light can use these other ones, it becomes less fun. So if you get an 18650 format light later, can it still run the 17500 cell?
Don't think about this too hard, but as you're starting out its just a comment about how you'll want to shape your options as you go along

Linger said:

Hello,

I do suggest you ask Nailbender, he will be %100 honest with what he's got for you and what will or won't work for your application.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I will do that.

I actually have one of his SST-50 drop-ins on the way for a bored out 6P from ElectronGuru.

Michael