shotgun light

[akodo]

I am looking for an LED flashlight with a 1 " body to mount on a shotgun.

I was seriously thinking of a surefire G2 nitro or the surefire 6P, but I don't know how well either of those stand up to recoil of a 12 gauge.

I saw a big review of lights by member Black Bear, but that did not have any mention of shock resistance.

also, frequently browsing lights for sale, you often see length and weight, but often diameter of body is not included

also also, a bit wondering and interested in how long you can run an LED before heat becomes a real issue. I figure this will vary somewhat from flashlight to flashlight. I've seen charts listing the G2 LED being able to run for 12 hours on a pair of 123B lithium batteries, Obviously brighness at hour 10 is going to be just barely going, and that hour 1 is much more reasonable...but how long can you really run it (or any like it )continually before heat becomes a problem?

 

[jojo200517]

I got a cheap coleman led flashlight from wally world for like ~$35 for my shotgun. I had to pick up some longer screws for my clamp style mount so the body of the light was a bit bigger than what was suppose to fit but I made it work. I have fired several mag 3 inch buckshot loads and slugs with it on there and turned on and the shock hasn't caused any issues.

Pros to the light, its got a nice long range intense spot as well as a decent spread, 110 lumen, and uses 3 standard aaa batteries, seems to last forever on batteries.

Cons are no option for pressure switch replacement for tailcap switch, and its not black so it doesn't match the gun color (its kinda some odd grey color), and I had to buy longer screws at lowes to get it on there.

 

[HJ857]

I have a cheap LED from Home Depot on my Saiga 12. I have around 200 game loads and 75 Slugger rounds with the light installed and it still works like new. FWIW.

I paid around 20 bucks for it. It's silver in color with white and red leds. It uses AAA batteries which is unfortunate, would rather have CR123's but even still it's been a worthwhile risk so far.

I have it mounted in a CAA rail mount, I like this thing a lot, makes for a real decent hand grip.

 

[black bear]

The new Surefire G-2 have a aluminum bezel to ensure that more heat is dispersed and protect the emitter.
The G-2 will put our 80 lumens.

I like better the aftermarket emitters using the R-2 or Q-5 Cree emitters, they put out close to 200 (or 220) lumens.
You can get the aftermarket lamps for around $20 and set them in a Surefire 6P or a new G-2 body.

I haven't run any durability test on how long the modules will go without been affected by the heat (they usually change color of the beam and become weaker).
I just put them in my shotguns or rifles and use them only for shooting a few rounds of practice, to make sure they will take the recoil.

If you do too much shooting the batteries will get deformed by the forces of recoil.

The Fenix TK-11 or the TK-10 also can be mounted in 1" rings of the Weaver style, and Fenix have also a remote tail cap that can be used in both lights.
The Fenixes have a better heat sinking and will be superior to the home grown Surefire, also the modules are of better quality than the aftermaket ones.

The TK-10 uses two 123's, the TK-11 can use two 123's or a 18650 rechargeable lithium Ion battery. I can run the Fenixes for longer without degradation of the beam thanks to the superior heat sinking.



Cheaper than dirt sells an AIMSHOT remote tail cap that works great in the Surefires bodies, and is around $18. (It will not fit the Fenixes)



They also have a 3 way Picatinny rail for shotguns, but I haven't tried it, but their versions for rifles is very good.

Shotgun mount



Rifle mount



Cheers
Black Bear

 

[BRad704]

I understand the point of wanting to know how well a light will hold up to recoil... but would anyone actually need a light constantly ON for 6-12 hours at a time? Even if you are LE or armed-security, you dont want to be walking around pointing your firearm at everything you wish to be able to see...

 

[PandaBearBG]

I have a Surefire G2 I use for work, sometimes when I leave it on accidentally for even 15 minutes, it the forend around the bulb gets HOT, I mean HOT. But if it's mounted the point is moot. That sucker shines across rooms at least 50 yrds! Really powerful but around 6-8 hr mark it gets dim kinda dim, like maybe 25-30 yrds really effective, I only use it maybe total of 20 - 30 min and only really 10 - 30 sec intervals through the night and that last me maybe 2 weeks or so.

Surefire should stand up to heavy shotgun recoil no problem as long as it is mounted solidly. Why the heck would you need to keep your light on for 12 hours?! If you were a LEO or in combat you would be a big ole target, you'd only need it to spot check areas. For the average night hunter (if there are that many night time hunters) you'd probably use a large spot light anyways, and if you really need to see in the dark that long just hit the light switch. Either way your arms and upper body would tire out holding that weapon and keeping it aimed at everything for hours on end anyways....

*** maybe you should check these out
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...unt&ndsp=21&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&start=21&um=1