AR Sponsor
Posted: 10/3/2010 1:51:56 PM EDT
| I'm looking at outfitting some extra ARs of mine with some solarforce L2s with the CREE R2 5 mode. Anyone have any luck or experience with this setup? Nothing came up on a search. Thanks. |
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Good hosts, great LED's (Cree). You just have to watch out for the driver failing after a hard hit. I've had several lights made in China fail after a drop. Replaced the driver with a Sandwich Shoppe SOB and no problems. My Surefire M500A now has a Cree LED and an SOB driver in it. My work light is a Surefire L5 modded to accept P60 pills, and the pill that's been in it for a long time has an SOB 917 board. It has hit the concrete hard dozens of times and it keeps on ticking.
There is one Chinese driver I trust a lot. It's the 7135 based single mode boards. I've had one of those drivers in a light I use a lot and it has held up well. I also like to pot the driver with Arctic Alumina epoxy when building a P60 pill. That helps the driver run cooler and makes them more shock resistant too. I think it's a good idea to have a backup light on a gun. The Government Carbine sitting next to my bed has the M500 and a Tiablo A9 in an Elzetta mount. |
| I bought an L2M with the LC-1 Cree R2 1 Mode drop-in for my nightstand light. I really like it so far. Really bright and affordable. I took it out to my backyard and shined it on some trees about 50yds away and they were lit up fairly well. I think I'm going to buy another one with some accessories (tail switch and mount) and put it on my AR15. This will be my first weapon light so I feel that I can play around with this light to see what works for me. After I find what I like I can do the research and spend the $$$ for something better. |
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I have several Solarforce lights, L2M's, and L2R's. I have a single mode L2M on the AR I used at a class this weekend, works well and is very bright. I've not had any issues from recoil, etc... though I'm not using one on anything bigger than 5.56. I like them and my experience is that they do everything I need a light to do. |
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Solarforce is among the few, good, Surefire clones.
The 5 mode (Low/Medium/High/SOS/Strobe) is a bit much. I get my Solarforce items from Sbflashlights.com. They offer $0.01 shipping to the lower 48 states and 5% off if you use the discount code SBCPF at checkout. The L2's are bored to take 18650's so there might be a bit of rattle with standard CR-123A's, which are 16mm in diameter. I think that the L2P is an even better body, but it is designed to take a 18700 Li-Ion battery. Be sure to pare up the right drop-in with the batteries you intend to use. |
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I have several Solarforce lights - they are good lights. They even make weapon mounts and pressure switched for them (I order straight from this vendor in Hong Kong - I've ordered stuff from them 6 or 7 times now: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/INTERNATIONAL-TRADING-COMPANY My fav weapon light is the Eagletac T20C2 Mk II. 300 actual out the front lumens for 1.7 hours, and 60 lumens for 13 hours. I find that the 60 lumens is good enough for most uses, and I like that the light would last at least an entire night if need be. It has other modes, but those stay hidden unless ya really want them. You can also order a weapon pressure switch separate if ya want one. Here is my Solarforce collection:  |
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I have two so far, but won't use the 2-cell version for a weaponlight. They are slightly oversized internally to accept the 18650 rechargables, so the CR123's wobble. I don't think wobbly batteries would be good under recoil.
The one cell version I have is as bright as my TLR-1, and it doesn't wobble. Still, I use weaponlights on weapons, but Solarforce is a great handheld. I buy all my Solarforce stuff from Lighthound.com |
| I just ordered two hosts from Lighthound. I just got a Surefire 6P to use on my carbine from LA Police Gear on clearance... after handling it for a little bit I wanted a few more for general use. I wasn't looking forward to spending $50+ each on more flashlights, then I found these Solorforce threads. Planning on using them as nightstand and car lights. |
| Thanks guys. I ended up picking up a L2 and L2P one in .08 - 4.2V and 4.2 - 8.4V. Both are actually better than I thought. The 4.2 - 8.4V (cr123) is a bit brighter and I don't get much rattle, the little I have could be fixed with some tape or a battery mag. However I am really impressed with the 18650 setup. I plan on using these around the house and in my truck and then the CR123 setup on the ARs. I wanna pick up the Masterpiece after reading this: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=243264 For a little under a $100 I don't see how you could go wrong. |
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Quoted:
Thanks guys. I ended up picking up a L2 and L2P one in .08 - 4.2V and 4.2 - 8.4V. Both are actually better than I thought. The 4.2 - 8.4V (cr123) is a bit brighter and I don't get much rattle, the little I have could be fixed with some tape or a battery mag. However I am really impressed with the 18650 setup. I plan on using these around the house and in my truck and then the CR123 setup on the ARs. I wanna pick up the Masterpiece after reading this: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=243264 For a little under a $100 I don't see how you could go wrong. Here is another light for about a 100 bucks you can't go wrong with. It seems to be pretty popular over at candlepower and is a hell of a thrower: http://www.dereelight.com/dbsv2.htm |
| I have the Solar Force /Luma Force L2 light mounted on my rifle at all times. After 500 rounds it still works fine. Haven't had any issues with it thus far. I have the single CR123 Mini version on my pistol. For the price I think theyre pretty good, there's a vendor that sells it at the local gun shows here and the prices are pretty good. I paid $40 for my L2. |
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Quoted:
Thanks guys. I ended up picking up a L2 and L2P one in .08 - 4.2V and 4.2 - 8.4V. Both are actually better than I thought. The 4.2 - 8.4V (cr123) is a bit brighter and I don't get much rattle, the little I have could be fixed with some tape or a battery mag. However I am really impressed with the 18650 setup. I plan on using these around the house and in my truck and then the CR123 setup on the ARs. I wanna pick up the Masterpiece after reading this: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=243264 For a little under a $100 I don't see how you could go wrong. After my experience with Solarforce, the Masterpiece is VERY high on my list as well. |
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