Lens of old gen Surefire Z46 (M3)

Hi, lately I came across a surefire old generation M3, the Z46 light head on it I think is the 1st or 2nd generation one

[/URL]837408865878451-01 by qw c, 於 Flickr[/IMG]

Unfortunately its lens was overheated and distorted make me a bit hesitated to take it home.

[/URL]837488497253422-01 by qw c, 於 Flickr[/IMG]

I am considering to have the distorted lens to change to a new one, but understand that it's very difficult to take out the lens of some old generation Surefire light heads says D3's. Anyone knows that if this case applies to this M3 Z46 mentioned above? And, if those new third party glass lens for current version of Z46 (says Lumens Factory's) fits the above mentioned Z46?

Thank you!

That photo looks like a early Z32.

Thx for feedback.

It should be another version of Z46 (Laser Products era). Z32 doesn't fit M3.

What's the serial on that light? I have some early M3's like that. I'm not sure when they switched from lexan to pyrex/borofloat lenses. Mine all have a removable lens ring. I have heard some early Z46's are lexan, but I had always thought that wasn't true.

It's a very eary serial number A004xx.

msrider said:

Thx for feedback.

It should be another version of Z46 (Laser Products era). Z32 doesn't fit M3.

Click to expand...

Yes of course your right. Z32 would not fit on a M3. My bad.

Is flashlightlens.com still in operation. Last I looked it looked like there were liquidating a lot of stock.

thermal guy said:

Yes of course your right. Z32 would not fit on a M3. My bad.

Click to expand...

Not your bad. This version of Z46 is quite rare I think, I was also confused at the beginning 😅

msrider said:

Not your bad. This version of Z46 is quite rare I think, I was also confused at the beginning 😅

Click to expand...

My understanding is that some bezels that look like that are lexan windows, and some are heat resistant glass windows. But that's just old knowledge I may be remembering wrong. Yours being a very early serial, lexan shouldn't be a surprise if they transitioned during that time. I don't want to take any of my vintage heads apart to try and figure out the mystery.

That's a very early M3 bezel with the Z32 style snap-in Lexan lens. The light has the crosshair logo on it, so it is a very early example!

I would say a replacement glass or borofloat lens would NOT fit. They're pretty thick if you ever take one apart.

I don't know that you can get the inside pieces out to access the lens without destroying it. The M3 reflector doesn't fit going back through the body.
You'd have to destroy the lens and pull everything out the front, then put it all back and snap a new lens in. Not saying it's impossible. If you got your hands on
a Lexan lens the right dimensions you could probably pull it off.

For a light that age, I'd think it's more valuable leaving it all original. If you want to use it, put the original bezel aside, and get a replacement Z46 with an updated glass lens.

Or instead of a new bezel, I'd suggest the Lumensfactory D36 Mini-Turbohead. It's a pretty good plug and play replacement with great output.
Don't bother trying to match the finish, the black one looks awesome on an M3.

Can be done, but not easily. Thought I remembered some related discussion, here ...

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/v...ses-for-sale&p=4247548&viewfull=1#post4247548

LF got a lot of lenses recently

https://www.lumensfactory.com/en/product.php?cid=34


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