AR Sponsor
Posted: 1/22/2003 3:57:29 PM EDT
|
I just bought a new preban Benelli M1 S90, and would like to add a tac light. I'm looking at the Surefire (I already have one on my Rem 870), and the Insight M3/M6. Any thoughts/comparisons between the two products? Thanks! |
|
We T&E'd one of the early Insight lights; it wasn't quite what we were looking for and we did not really like the mounting systems, although I understand that they have changed those since then. Insight lights are significantly cheaper, which is a plus. We use mostly older Surefires. The do break pretty frequently, and lots of little problems crop up. In particular, the subgun and rifle lights seem to have trouble with the springs that contact the batteries; apparently repeated recoil, especially full-auto, can compress these and make for intermittent contact, which is bad. There is an "operator-level" fix that one of our guys came up with. Stick a small ball of aluminum foil in the spring. It works, and all of our folks carry a strip of foil in their long gun cases. The reason we are still using old Surefires is that no matter how broken they get, Surefire keeps fixing them. The normal turn-around seems to be about 2 weeks, and I have no complaints about customer service. They even completely replace a shotgun forend light for us with a brand-new newer model. The newer Surefires appear to much more durable, but they are pricey. We will probably buy some in the near future. Maybe increased competition from Insight will bring the prices down a bit, but I am not holding my breath. |
|
I'll give SureFire the edge on design and durability. But not everybody needs a $300-$500 weapons mounted light. That's all fine and nice if you have DOD/Agency budgets, but the rest of us have to make choices. For my Glock, the M3 beats the SureFire in design. It's smaller and lighter and holds up on this weapon. I don't want an additional 2" on my Glock. For my AR, I bought another M3 because the M500/M900 are big bucks that I don't have to spend on lights. For that money, I can carry a spare M3 (what was the quote about one light/two lights?). So far, both M3's have held up very nicely. |
|
I have the Insight Tec M3 on my Glock23, AR carbine and my Benelli M1 Tac shotgun. The M3 held up well on my Glock and AR. I've tested the durability with the light on while firing at the range. After the second round fired in the Benelli the bulb filiment in that M3 broke. I plan to replace it with a Surefire. |
|
I own both, as a matter of fact, I have 2 M3 for both my Glock 9s and 45s, and sevral old and new style Surefire light for both my shotguns and AR, and always have a 6P with me and 9P in my cars for years. First off, I personnel prefered 9V light for long weapons, other than 6V lights like the M3, thats the reason why the M3 belongs to the pistols. Second, I have the both Surefire and M3 failed on my M1S90 when shooting full power buck and slug loads when I was attending tactical shotgun classes (in the same class). The shurefire housing cracked, and the M3 bulb and battery springs broke. I also have a M900 failed one week before I attend 556 at Gunsite (with Pat Rogers), which I wind up send ing back to Surefire for repair and wind up going thru 556 with an older Surefire light. Since my M900 was one of the first generation, Surefire upgraded my internal circuit and my battery cap to one that have the cutoff switch. Construction wise, I felt the M3 is not as tough as the Surefires, especially with the spring loaded latch in the back of the light, but have yet seen one fail. Just my 2 cents. leungken |
|
If you go with the surefire make sure you get the correct model there are 2 versions for the preban m1. The m1's came with 2 diameter mag tubes if my memory serves me correctly. Also b warned that adding 2 much weight on the m1 could make it malfunction. Hope this helps. NoKarma |
|
Quoted: Also b warned that adding 2 much weight on the m1 could make it malfunction. Hope this helps. NoKarma That's a good point--hadn't thought of that. Maybe I'll leave my Benelli as-is. Especially since I'd like to run it with Fed Tactical loads. I've already got an 870 with a SurdFire mounted. I'll keep that for my "night time visitor" greeting tool. |
AR Sponsor