Dont bother with Terralux unless all you want is a flooder. Ive got dozens of D cell Mags I have experimented with just about every drop in for them you can imagine or find. The best one by a mile is the 700+ OTF lumen Malkoff XML2 drop in. I have all the Malkoff D cell Mag drop ins. The 275 lumen one kinda is meh. The 300 lumen one is oddly out standing I believe its an XPG2 emitter. Despite being down on lumens the 300 lumen unit throws extremely well.
Now, youve got a 6D Mag. The 300 lumen unit is designed for up to 9 volts so youre good on either alkalines or NiMH's. Run time is hours long at full power. Now if you really want the most out of your 6D Mag the 700+ OTF lumen unit is what you want. BUT it is designed for a max 6 volts so you will need 2 dummy cells which are easily available on evil bay in one form or another. The 700 lumen unit is a beast. Installation is simple as hell. You will need to either cut off the cam tube at the end of the plastic reflector yourself or buy one of Malkoffs pre cut reflectors in order for the unit to fit.
I bought a black 4 D cell incan Mag back around 1996 thinking it was the end all light I would need as a then flashlight newbie. Boy was I disappointed. I was a truck driver at the time working long hours into the night and really needed a good light. I changed the bulb out to a higher out put incan bulb from WM that helped but the light ended up in a closet and forgotten about for several years. Nearly a decade later I discovered CPF. I still did not have the light I had envisioned back in the day. I discovered and learned how far lights had come with LED's.
After thoroughly perusing the entire forum I was greatly pleased to see what members were doing with their D cell Mags which is when the Malkoff name kept popping up. Did more research and placed the order. The 700 lumen unit is 80 bucks the 300 lumen unit is 40. At the same time I bought a bunch of aluminum Mag reflectors from I think it was some online Chinese retailer cannot remember the name. All the reflectors had removable cams. Some were perfectly smooth a couple had light orange peel texture a couple were heavy orange peel texture.
As soon as my Malkoff unit arrived I got the big old black 4D Mag out the closet and got to work. Correctly installing the unit took about 10 minutes. I had gone all out for this project and had procured about a dozen UCL glass AR Mag lenses. The quality of the AR and the glass itself was outstanding Deal Extreme is where I think I got them from. I started out replacing the plastic reflector with a smooth aluminum one.
The difference in out put the Malkoff made was astonishing. I swear throw doubled through sheer out put alone. I power the light off of 4x11000mah Powerex D NiMH's. There was a problem though. The light still had the nasty beam artifacts of a stock incan Mag. I switched the smooth aluminum reflector with a medium orange peel aluminum reflector and the change was like magic the beam is now artifact free and despite the orange peel NOT diffuse.
The light lives in my car and I swear must hit 80 thousand candela. The corrected artifact free beam is massive in diameter and very well defined. The throw to flood feature is still there but is pretty much useless. The flood beam is better but compared to say a variable focus big Coast it is awful. Have my head set for cleanest beam profile. Hot spot is defined with a pleasing corona. I have run the light for over 4 hours with zero step down.
Ive tried 2 Mag "Superbulbs" made by a member here one standard one de domed. They just dont compare to the Malkoff at all. Tried all the little 200+ lumen LED replacement for incans there are. Most suck. The Terralux unit has a huge diffuse beam that while bright is nowhere near claimed output. The Malkoffs are just on a higher level.
You want your 6D to be a beast? Go Malkoff, do indeed get a couple orange peel reflectors from DE. I know 80 bucks is a lot to spend on upgrading a simple Mag but it is more than worth it. Build quality of the Malkoff drop ins cannot be beat. Heat sinking of the units is incredible. I paid roughly 20 bucks for my black 4 D Mag 20 years ago and have invested (batteries, reflector, AR glass) jut under $200 in all. Worth it? Hell yes. Its the only light I have I can use as a baton, the out put and run times are for real esp with NiMH cells. Have a piece of newpaper shoved up my lights tube to prevent battery rattle. The lens glass was expensive. Thick very well made optical quality glass with a higher quality "green sheen" AR coating on both sides.
The Chinese made aluminum reflectors fit perfectly. Went through 3 or 4 different reflectors before ending up trying the MOP reflector last. The difference in beam profile quality is amazing vs standard smooth. My Terralux conversion just sits and collects dust as do my Superbulbs and many cheap LED drop ins. Good luck...
