I am looking for a decent torch to replace my Maglight, which has seen better days. Primarily I want it to fix to my shootgun for taking snap shots at foxes at night. Anything with a duration of 45 minutes or more would do.

The maglight was very robust but was heavy and the quality of then beam was poor ie not very even. I notice a range of so called tactical lights out there now and I am wondering if they are worth the cost?

Regards

Peter

Pete, you need look no further than this website:

www.surefire.com

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Streamlight also makes a high quality light.

I have used both the Surefire & Streamlihgt, both good products. You will probably have better luck finding a mount of some tyoe w/ the Surefire.

I have both surefire and streamlight. The surefire is much more rugged and you can find mounts for them.

Another very good light are the Pelican lights, extremely durable and bright for the size. Used by many search and rescue teams.

I don't know if a SureFire light will last 45 minutes, better take along a few spare batteries. It'll be plenty bright and is great for tracking (augment a lesser light) at night, blood shows up more red(ish) instead of shiny near-black.

I went through batteries pretty fast with mine, gave it to a friend (former) and used the money I saved on batteries to buy a new Chev pickup.

What about a good old Mag light ??

If you have voltage limitations, the Streamlight stinger is 75,000 cp. I believe it is the brightest 6v on the market.

See www.brightguy.com

I have both Streamlight and Surefire lights in the same size - (Two 1.5v lithium cells).

They both last 60 minutes on a set of batteries and are about the same brightness.

Here's a website with some good prices on lights and batteries (I bought all of mine here):

http://www.botachtactical.com/flashlights2.html

Rick.

Pete

I have a couple of the pelican lights. They are marketed over here by Peliproducts.

http://www.peli-products.co.uk/

The Steathlite replaced my minimaglite and it is small and very powerful for it's size. Perfect for carcass finding at last light. It would also do well under a shotgun with a bit of black bodge tape.

The Black Knight M10 replaced my 3 D cell maglight. It is a much superior product (and twice the price also!)

Surefire!!! They make a special battery for use in weapon-mounted lights that sounds like what you are looking for.

Between the different cars/trucks/etc we must have 6 or 7 of the 2 battery models and I keep a 3-battery model in my shooting kit plus I got one of the "turbo" heads for Christmas that is really nifty...in the half-mode it throws a beam of light that needs to be seen to be believed.

PeteE,are you talking about leaving the light on for 45min's? if so your best bet is the Mag-Lite try the C-cell to save weight.If you are talking about on/off jump shooting I can suggest the SureFire 9P,puts out more light,dosen't last as long as the 6P.Is it possible to use a varmit red light in Wales? They seem to work better and don't scare the animals as much as the brite white light.

Pete,

I use the Surfire too, and they have a flock of variations. You can also get a tail piece for the light that allows your hand on the fore end of the gun to control the light. You don't need to have it on all the time.

jim dodd

Pete E: I use the Lightforce night lighting system - I have both the Rifle mounted system (I use this when Huning alone a night) and the hand held models. They have rechargeable batteries and rheostat controls for the intensity of the light beam. This system has worked well for me and I have used them a lot over the last 7 years or so. Good luck with whichever you choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Thank guys....

Having talked to a couple of people locally, I am beinging to wonder if i need a really bright torch or rather one which offers a more even spread of light such as you get from the newer multi LED torches. Cabelas has a 19 LED model I would like to try, but its a twist bezel unit which is not really convienent for what i am thinking.

With regards the Surefire, we have a dealer here in town so i will take a look at these more closely. I had a look at there website but did not find it that easy to navigate due to the sheer number of models and the various accessories.

For an added complication the light need to go on a SxS shotgun, so possibly gaffer tape is the answer as suggested!

Dave,

I envisage that the light would only be on for very short periods and any calling/distance work would be with a standard handheld lamp which I already have. We do use filters over here but I find on my lamp, the red filter which is purpose designed for it cuts the light output down a little too much at times. As a compromise which seems to work well, i use an orange filter and i have had pretty good success with it...

VarmintGuy,

The LightForce range and Lazerlites are the two generic rifle lamps here in the UK; I have the latter which I use on my .223 for foxing. I was actually looking for a small self contained system for snap shooting foxes from a hide over a bait. The rifle lamps are good, they tend to ruin the balance of your rifle/shotgun and also it would be good to get away from belt mounted battery packs and cords ect.

I've found that when the beam starts getting fuzzy on a mag light replacing the bulb often sharpens it back up. I've noticed that the filament will warp to one side and that is what causes the beam to drift.