Centurion C3 dillema

So I somewhat recently picked up an excellent condition Centurion C3 HA on here. Great light, in great shape and even has a good P91 lamp in it. A little torn on what to do with it, though. So lets here it!

1. Keep it stock for collectors sake
2. Malkoff M91 (could use 2x or 3x li-ion cells)
3. Malkoff M61 (could use 2x li-ion or 3x primaries)
4. custom DIY single emitter P60 build
5. custom DIY triple or quad emitter P60 build


My only real stipulation is that it has to be as reliable as it was from the factory... which given the short battery and bulb life isn't setting the bar extremely high all things considered. The Malkoff M61 is probably the lowest investment cost, but I would love to have something like a guppy driver which would allow me to switch between a couple mode groups depending on applications.

You can google pflexpro up. He has lots to offer in regards to p60. I have a few of his products, some p60. Top notch. No complaints at all. Best choice.

I've always had a tough time with the 3 cell Surefires. I have a few and messed around with LED / Li Ion options but never found anything I was really crazy about. If I had a bored one I'd try 2 - 18500s and a Malkoff but even then the battery capacity is barely more than a single 18650.

For 16mm batteries your only options are really 3 - 16340s or 1 - 16650 with a dummy cell. I'd only go with Li Ions unless you want to be spending a fortune on CR123s. The issue with the 16340s is they don't have much capacity. 3 of them have the same capacity as a 16650. So, really a 16650 and a dummy cell are the way to go. Unless you really like the light though you'd be much better off with a 2 cell Surefire and a 16650 or better yet a bored Surefire and a single 18650.

My vote is to keep it as a collector piece. That's what I've done with all my 3 cell Surefires.

I have several C3 / G3 / 9P / etc, but use them more often as 2xAA hosts than other formats.

I have a number of G2/6P options which are used frequently (pistol/bedstand light, turn out helmet light, gloveboxes, etc). This one is just so cool; to me it has way more character than the G2/6P formats. Guess its not a necessity per say, but just brainstorming the best way to increase its usefulness to me.

The M31 2 - AA suggestion by Archie sounds interesting. I would like to try one of those because I have a ton of AA rechargeables and AAs from work.

M31W and some eneloop pro's.

It'll look similar to stock with years of "bulb" life and decent runtime with the 'pro' cells.

The M31W sounds pretty cool! Do you happen to know if there are AA adapter sleeves out there to keep everything tight?

Yes, Oveready makes one, although it is fairly expensive

A friend of mine suggested wire loom from an auto parts store.
I've yet to try it though. But it sounds like a grand idea.

There's an M31w in the wts section too.

You can run a quality drop-in like a Nailbender (Customlites) or Malkoff with a single 16650 or 17670. You can also run (2) 17500's in a 3-cell light if the drop-in will support up to 9V.

Always loved 3-cell Surefires. Back in the incan days, it was an overwhelming amount of light. Very reassuring to have one with you.
These days it's not necessary to have to use three primary batteries to get a decent amount of light, but I still get nostalgic enough to use then.
My bedside light is a classic Surefire M3, Nailbender D36 low-voltage module, a single 16650 with a spacer.
(in the middle: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?439875-3-cell-Love)

Now if you want to ramp it up, get ahold of a C-to-M adaptor that you can screw onto the C3 body to run Millennium-series compatible heads. You can plop one of the newer Lumens Factory Seraph M heads on it and make a pretty decent blaster. You'll need more juice for that, 2 li-ions (17500's) or bore the body and you can run 2 18500's.

Along the lines of the above post; I too have some affinity & nostalgia for the classic three-cell SF's.

Even though the 2x17500 / 2x18500 configurations ended up losing the capacity race to the 18650's, my idea of the perfect backup light is the 3xCR123 SF - in part due to CR123's delivering wattage more efficiently at lower current draws. My calculation back in the day was that for running a Malkoff M60, each CR123 in a stack of three would gain 10% in effective capacity, compared to a stack of two.

That, and the 3-cell SF's can always use 2xAA in a pinch. :thumbsup:

Thread topic has been solved; picked up a m31w from the marketplace and its exactly what I was looking for!

Buck91 said:

Thread topic has been solved; picked up a m31w from the marketplace and its exactly what I was looking for!

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I think that was the right choice. Of all the options, this one will be the most similar to the stock performance in terms of output and beam tint. Accomplishing that with a simple pair of eneloops is a marvel, at least that's how I would have seen it back in the day when I was toting my C3 centurion on night shift. I also have profoundly nostalgic feelings about the C3. I sold it years ago and have regretted it painfully.

I have a SureFire 9P modded with one of Gene Malkoff's early Production LED drop-ins. Easily one of my best lights. Toss in 3 primaries or two rechargeable 18500s. Absolutely fantastic. You never go wrong taking the Malkoff route.

The M31W is a great choice with 2 x AA, but don't let anyone drop 3 x 123 in it! Poof isn't pretty. I have my C3 set up with a Makloff M61NL. It's bright enough for medium distance work and will run for 8 hours on a fresh set of 3 x 123s. My next favorite setup is the Malkoff M61NLL, runs forever and will run on two AA in a pinch. Both are OK with 9V.

mbw_151 said:

The M31W is a great choice with 2 x AA, but don't let anyone drop 3 x 123 in it! Poof isn't pretty. I have my C3 set up with a Makloff M61NL. It's bright enough for medium distance work and will run for 8 hours on a fresh set of 3 x 123s. My next favorite setup is the Malkoff M61NLL, runs forever and will run on two AA in a pinch. Both are OK with 9V.

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Yeah, poof would suck. I rolled two 5x7 index cards into the battery tube and now the AA's fit perfectly AND they are in/out easily. No rattle + CR123's wont fit