Black HAIII Surefire 6P?

Hey guys, is there such a thing as a HAIII black Surefire 6P?

I picked this up at a gunshow yesterday. Always got my eyes open for classic SF's and one of the vendors had this in his case with a P60 bulb in it and a red clamp-on filter on it. He tried to tell me it was the infrared filter. I had the real IR before and I'm pretty sure it doesn't transmit any visible light. This one shined bright red. Anyway, I noticed it had that HAIII look to it. I put it next to my old 6P and the difference was clear.







Anyone ever seen one like this? I'm prepared for the possibility of a counterfeit.

JMO but not a true HAIII Surefire. There some pretty big differences in the machining in the photos. And the head is HAII.

mcm308 said:

JMO but not a true HAIII Surefire. There some pretty big differences in the machining in the photos. And the head is HAII.

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Ah yes, forgot to add, I suspect the body is HA. The bezel and tailcap look like regular shiny type II.

Oveready did an HAIII 6P but they also did such over the existing logos, and did it in a way that resembles the factory look, just HAIII and not HAII. Given the difference in the thread anodizing, I'm betting that's a fake.

Could you post a picture of both sides of the body? That would give a better look at the machining - the 6P saw a number of minor revisions over the years. The black thread anodising was standard at a certain point so not in itself indicative of a fake, and some of the other machining differences I can see are normal as well. It looks like a fairly late model but before they changed to the most recent logo.

I can definitely see what the OP is talking about with the body. Would nice to have some more shots of it next to the head and tailcap. And yes, the thread anodizing is normal. I have a gun metal finish 6P sitting next to me that also has the threads at the head end anodized. Was common for all versions of the 6P. I've never heard of a fake 6P like that, or Surefire doing a type III finish 6P-BK and it seems to look legit, so it would be nice to see it in person. Maybe it was one of those strange things where they did a batch of bodies in the wrong finish for some reason? If this is a legit light, that would make it uber rare. Maybe accidentally tossed into a pile of bodies that were meant to be a type III weapon light, or E-series parts and later on someone said, oh well, it still looks like a 6P and packaged it? Or didn't noticed the difference assembling it for packaging. LoL

There is sometimes some variation in black Type II finishes - definitely less than you see in Type III but still. I have a 9P that is much more matte than you would normally expect but it's still Type II - looks a lot like OP's finish.

Tempest UK said:

There is sometimes some variation in black Type II finishes - definitely less than you see in Type III but still. I have a 9P that is much more matte than you would normally expect but it's still Type II - looks a lot like OP's finish.

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Normally type II of any kind looks like it was mechanically polished though. Interesting to know. I see the scrapes on the high edges, and that is a bit abnormal with type III unless it's been dragged around on cement. Type II however can get that way more easily. The only factory type III light I own that is equivalent to this light in parts compatibility is my Emerson C2 which is the only C2 that Surefire ever sold as a factory light in type III black aside from special edition or one "off lights" that I may not know of.

ampdude said:

.... The only factory type III light I own that is equivalent to this light in parts compatibility is my Emerson C2 which is the only C2 that Surefire ever sold as a factory light in type III black aside from special edition or one "off lights" that I may not know of.

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I think I understand what you mean, but you are referring only to specifically the C2 line, correct ?

archimedes said:

I think I understand what you mean, but you are referring only to specifically the C2 line, correct ?

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Yes. And I guess that would include all C's. I'm not aware of any black type III C3 ever made.

Hey guys, I'll try to shoot a few more pics and put them up.

sween1911 said:

is there such a thing as a HAIII black Surefire 6P?

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Depends on thickness of anodizing deposit, anything more than 1 mill considered hard anodize. This may go up to 2.5 mill for clear (no dye) and up to 2 mill for black dyed anodizing.

sween1911 said:

I noticed it had that HAIII look to it. I put it next to my old 6P and the difference was clear.

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You can not tell the difference just by looking.
Measuring the deposit thickness needs special tool.
You can also mechanically try to remove anodizing (by sand paper) to find out approximate hardness.
Matt or shiny surface won't tell anything.
You can have type II anodizing shiny, semi shiny or completely matte.
You can also have type III anodizing shiny, semi shiny or completely matte.

No dye clear grey (OD) 6P

Black type III ExCap

Black type III M*g extension tube

Some images (full-size, beware)

There's a scope ring and a large O-ring around the tailcap of the suspect 6P, that's why it looks weird.

https://i.imgur.com/CduTq3g.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/G3dgzYg.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0krl2Ky.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jVpMUoG.jpg

Thanks for the extra pictures :thumbsup: It's the version/generation I had thought - so nothing about the machining that would give me any authenticity concerns.

As fivemega says, there's simply too much possible variation to identify Type II or Type III on looks alone. The best you can do is compare it to the norm for Type II or Type III finishes used by SureFire - this doesn't look like the usual appearance of either.

My 9P with this finish wasn't intended to leave to factory - I'd suspect your 6P is Type II that shouldn't have passed QC. Interesting piece

sween1911, from the extra pictures you've shown I suspect it really is type III and possibly the result of some sort of manufacturing error or oversight.

I'd suspect your 6P is Type II that shouldn't have passed QC.

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Why do you say that? There's nothing about the body that looks type II.

Just a guess. I understand that's where my 9P came from - parts rejected before laser engraving - due to the finish. I'll try to get a picture up but I don't have it to hand at the moment. It has a similar "grain" to OP's 6P.

Tempest UK said:

Just a guess. I understand that's where my 9P came from - parts rejected before laser engraving - due to the finish. I'll try to get a picture up but I don't have it to hand at the moment. It has a similar "grain" to OP's 6P.

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Thanks for the input. How do you know your 9P body is type II? Is it just the body or all parts?