Posted: 8/12/2011 12:22:52 PM EDT
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I bought an UTL for my HK USP back in the mid-90's when they first came out. It's still working fine, and I lke the shape of it, and how flush it mounts on the pistol.
But compared to my Surefire X300, it's so much less bright, and doesn't have a very even light beam (dark spots in the beam output). I know there are a lot of aftermarket LED heads and bulbs for the Surefire series. Does anyone make a brigher or more even bulb or lense for the ULT? I'd just as soon keep the body and upgrade the light output, compared to plunking down the cash for a GG&G adapter, then having another pistol waiting in line for my one X300. Thanks, |
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I bought an UTL for my HK USP back in the mid-90's when they first came out. It's still working fine, and I lke the shape of it, and how flush it mounts on the pistol. But compared to my Surefire X300, it's so much less bright, and doesn't have a very even light beam (dark spots in the beam output). I know there are a lot of aftermarket LED heads and bulbs for the Surefire series. Does anyone make a brigher or more even bulb or lense for the ULT? I'd just as soon keep the body and upgrade the light output, compared to plunking down the cash for a GG&G adapter, then having another pistol waiting in line for my one X300. Thanks, I got tired for waiting for the place I ordered from to get the GG&G in stock, so I bought another (much cheaper) one elsewhere and it works great. $12.99 if I recall. |
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Guess this is misleading then...
http://www.insighttechgearstore.com/mseries-bezel.html |
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(fixed link) Is there an LED upgrade bulb for the M3? Looks like the bulb is the same as the UTL. ETA: Google search says there is an LED upgrade for the M3/M6.... anyone feel like taking the plunge for $50-$60? |
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Anyone have a source for those LED bulbs? I use the UTL on duty and it would be great to upgrade.
Doc ETA: I did a little searching, http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_20/484828_ANy_bulb_upgrades_for_the_Insight_M3_.html4 and http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_20/484828_ANy_bulb_upgrades_for_the_Insight_M3_.html http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=74551 http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_2_142/201793_Insight_Technology_M3_LED_Bezel_Upgrade__available_.html |
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Just a follow up ... I contacted Kevin at brightflashlights.com and he verified that the LED replacement he sells does indeed work with the M2 UTL.
email: [email protected] www.BrightFlashlights.com Phone: (352) 732-2156 from 11am-8:00pm EST (Mon. - Fri. & until 5pm Sat.) I will post pictures and a review when I get it in. Doc |
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Just a follow up ... I contacted Kevin at brightflashlights.com and he verified that the LED replacement he sells does indeed work with the M2 UTL. email: [email protected] www.BrightFlashlights.com Phone: (352) 732-2156 from 11am-8:00pm EST (Mon. - Fri. & until 5pm Sat.) I will post pictures and a review when I get it in. Doc I will be waiting patiently for this review. Is there any way you could post before/after shots when you do the review? Thanks! |
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Alright gents, here we go...
My background with the UTL : I have been carrying a USP on duty for five years, always with the UTL attached. I've used it in numerous operational instances, from vehicle takedowns to building clearing to suspect apprehensions. I've always noted that guys with a X300 seem to drown out the UTL, and it makes sense. At only a 90 lumen output and incandescent bulb, it has not kept up to the modern light trend. I have a Surefire LED rifle light and at 200 lumens it lights up the world. I've definitely been looking for an improvement. After reading this thread I did a little searching and came across Kevin at www.brightflashlights.com [email protected], Phone: (352) 732-2156 from 11am-8:00pm EST (Mon. - Fri. &until 4pm Sat.). I dropped Kevin a line and asked him if the conversion he had would work with the UTL. Most of the upgrades I had seen were marketed towards the Insight pistol lights such as the X2, X2L, M3, M3x, and M6, M6x. Kevin verified that the upgrade he had would work with the UTL. I ordered one and it was here 3 days later. I was happily surprised to find that the kit that he sent was the actual Insight upgrade kit. The specs list this conversion to be rated at 125 lumens. It comes with a new bezel and the new emitter, seen here: 
The directions say to insert the emitter with the word "RAIL" on the circuit board up towards where the light attaches to the rail. In the UTL, it's actually angled at 45 degrees, but the RAIL still has to be up. I attempted to put the new bezel on and ran into my only issue, caused by my own dumbass self. When you go to screw the new bezel on, make sure that you push it towards the body of the UTL until it won't move any longer. It will give you some resistance, but once it pushes over the O-ring it will then engage the threads. Make sure the new bezel is flat and not angled one way or another. Since the bezel is made of aluminum it is slightly thicker than the original one and will push against the UTL frame slightly. The threads are also much sharper and if you do not "jump" over the O-ring you will end up slicing it in half..... 
Once you have the bezel flat then start slowly screwing it down until it stops. This will also seat the LED emitter flush against the UTL body. Do not start screwing the bezel on when you can still see the O-ring, like this : 
Overall, I'm very happy with this upgrade. There are several disadvantages that incandescent bulbs have versus LEDs: 1. Heat - Incandescent lights tend to get hotter faster, especially when left on for a long period of time 2. Battery life - LED's have a much longer life as they do not consume as much power 3. Resilience - LED's do not have bulbs or filaments to break 4. Throw - this may be opinion on my part, but the LED lights always seem to have a wider throw, giving you more of an idea of your environment 5. "Hot spot" - Incandescent lights tend to have a focus point, where LED's are providing the same amount of light to all points of the reflector. On this particular conversion, the new bezel is aluminum and is much tougher construction. I don't feel as if a strike with the pistol would run as much of a risk of damaging the light. The added weight of the new bezel will also assist slightly in keeping the muzzle down during recoil. Even though I mention it here, that weight is negligible. I will throw the UTL's on the scale one night and get hard numbers, but I would guess it is only a few grams of difference. 
I ran a few tests in my living room to give you an idea of the difference. The range here is about 6-10 feet, and the ceiling photos are about 6 feet. The first photo is the LED, the second is the incandescent. Notice the corners of the image and what you can see - the writing on the cardboard box under my cabinet, for instance. What you can't tell in these photos is that the incandescent light is much more "yellow" and the LED is a very bright white. My digital camera just washes out the color and adjusts the white balance when it is dark. 
I also took the unit to our regular SWAT training and shot about 250 rounds through the gun with the UTL installed. I did not have any issues operating the light and it has worked just fine since that time. I will keep this thread update if anything changes. Overall for the price, I think this is a fantastic upgrade to these old lights. I have hundreds of dollars invested in holsters and UTL's, so moving to a whole new platform is not ideal. I love the easy-off and easy-on of the UTL, and it makes going from on duty in a Safariland holster to off duty in a IWB easy as pie. Then when I go to sleep at night, the UTL goes back on before it rests on the night stand. 
Doc |
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Awesome review pal, that was well worth the wait to say the least. After such an in depth review on your part, my only question is how much it costs?
Your pics illustrate very nicely the fact that irregardless of lumen power, the LED light is just exponentially cleaner than the "yellowish" incandescent light and that alone is perhaps worth the upgrade. Having those extra lumens and then the much more robust aluminum bezel makes this upgrade seem to be a real no brainier for any owner of a UTL. I too really like the UTL on my USPc for just the reasons you mentioned for sticking with it as long as you have. It locks up so tight, all the while mounting and dismounting with super ease. Again, great review and hopefully lot's of folks will take advantage of this now since you removed the Guinea pig status around it and cleared the path for others to follow 
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Yep yep ... I would find a vendor and see what they are going to charge ya. I hesitate to throw out prices as they may change, yadda yadda yadda.
I really do feel like these are a great upgrade to the UTL to keep them useful. You can find the UTL bodies cheap around the net or in places where LE departments have traded them in. Not to mention, talk a guy down because the bezel is cracked or sooty, or the lamp is dead. 
One other side benny I might mention about LEDs vs Incandescent for the workin' boys .... LED will punch right through heavy window tint on cars, where incandescent will not. Tint is made to reflect sun (yellow to red) light and incandescent are mainly in that spectrum. LED is more to the white/blue side of the spectrum, and goes right through. I found this out through training and it has held true in the many times I've had to point a gun at someone in a car at night.
Doc |
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I did the same upgrade as the previous poster. I can't say enough good things about it. If you have a UTL, throw you old bezel and bulb away and get the above mentioned upgrade.
Bright Flashights is as always, a great outfit to work with. The price for the upgrade was excellent, shipping was super fast, and communcation was excellent. The actual upgrade is like having a X300 in a UTL body. It's much brighter, with no dim spots, and a nice white light that really makes things stand out. I actually prefer the UTL over the X300 for my HK anyway, as I like the finger switch on the the UTL better. Now I have a similar brightness with the same matched UTL/HK look, at a fraction of the price. Again, if you have a UTL, get this upgrade. It's wonderful. |
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I'm glad that Insight finally decided to do this. I love my USPs but hate the UTL because of the X300.
I'm going to call Kevin tomorrow and order at least one LED upgrade and, if the price is right, another UTL and an upgrade for it. Thanks for sharing your experience. |
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Yep yep ... I would find a vendor and see what they are going to charge ya. I hesitate to throw out prices as they may change, yadda yadda yadda. I really do feel like these are a great upgrade to the UTL to keep them useful. You can find the UTL bodies cheap around the net or in places where LE departments have traded them in. Not to mention, talk a guy down because the bezel is cracked or sooty, or the lamp is dead.
One other side benny I might mention about LEDs vs Incandescent for the workin' boys .... LED will punch right through heavy window tint on cars, where incandescent will not. Tint is made to reflect sun (yellow to red) light and incandescent are mainly in that spectrum. LED is more to the white/blue side of the spectrum, and goes right through. I found this out through training and it has held true in the many times I've had to point a gun at someone in a car at night.
Doc Do you have a source for these used UTL bodies? A buddy is looking for one and I'm sure he'd buy a body then do the LED...he's an electrical engineer. Possibly PM me if it's a small source? |
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Quoted:
Yep yep ... I would find a vendor and see what they are going to charge ya. I hesitate to throw out prices as they may change, yadda yadda yadda. I really do feel like these are a great upgrade to the UTL to keep them useful. You can find the UTL bodies cheap around the net or in places where LE departments have traded them in. Not to mention, talk a guy down because the bezel is cracked or sooty, or the lamp is dead.
One other side benny I might mention about LEDs vs Incandescent for the workin' boys .... LED will punch right through heavy window tint on cars, where incandescent will not. Tint is made to reflect sun (yellow to red) light and incandescent are mainly in that spectrum. LED is more to the white/blue side of the spectrum, and goes right through. I found this out through training and it has held true in the many times I've had to point a gun at someone in a car at night.
Doc Do you have a source for these used UTL bodies? A buddy is looking for one and I'm sure he'd buy a body then do the LED...he's an electrical engineer. Possibly PM me if it's a small source? I bought mine from GT Distributors in Austin, TX. I believe they are at www.gtdist.com . I'm not sure if they still have any left... they were police trade-ins. Doc |
| Got a UTL on the way...probably get ahold of Cal at BrightFlashlights next week to get the LED upgrade. I know I've always felt this way but I think it's ridiculous how much Surfire charges for their USP mounts. I love the X300's I have/had but $300 to $350 to mount one to a USP is ridiculous. Yes I know GG&G's mount is $40 to $50...but you're still close to $300 if you buy everything new. |
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Eh, I changed my mind. I'd rather go with X series lights on all my pistol so the manual of arms is same for each. I'm going to buy 2 X300s and another rail adapter then put my UTL up for sale here.
I'm glad that Insight finally decided to do this. I love my USPs but hate the UTL because of the X300. I'm going to call Kevin tomorrow and order at least one LED upgrade and, if the price is right, another UTL and an upgrade for it. Thanks for sharing your experience. |
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How much does this conversion cost? http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_7_148/919760_Factory_Insight_LED_conv__modules_for_the_Insight___Streamlight_M3__M6__M3X__M6X__M2_UTL__X2_and_X2L.html Well worth the price. It's a whole new light. |
