All posts tagged CR123 Batteries

Streamlight Profession Series 2L

I have been looking to replaced my Streamlight Scorpion flashlight for some time now, but I didn’t really have a clue from where to start.   I see so many flashlights being sold as CCW lights, but I really can’t justify spending $100 or more on something that is easy to loose.   I’d rather tote a $40 flashlight that is just a bright, but I know where it is at all times and it doesn’t disappear.   You’re reading from a guy that has lost gear inside a few tactical vests before because it’s just too easy to do.

I walked into a local gun shop and checked out a few Streamlights and the reason I have stuck with this brand is because I’ve never had a real reason to go to anyone else.  Streamlight flashlights don’t burn a whole in your pocket and the Profession Tactical series has a strobe that I find fun to use on guests as well as use it for CCW.  The prices are reasonable and I didn’t have a very good experience with a Surefire G2 that I first mounted on an M4 Carbine.

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Your aging eyes and target acquisitions

Eotech sightsI recently got off the phone with a customer that told me we shipped him the wrong scope and the reticle he has on his optic was green and not amber.   We took out several of the optics we had to see if Trijicon might have come out with a new scope reticle and we discovered that they had not.   We did a quick quality control to see if something freeky happened and came to the conclusion that the customer was wrong.  The thing that people don’t understand with red dots, Eotechs, night sights ect are that it’s really about contrast.   You don’t need night sights during the day because it’s already light, you need night sights in low light or total darkness, but depending on how long the light is, you might want brighter imagery.   There are always issues when moving from indoors to outdoor with a scope right and thats why varying power on a rifle or shotgun sight is a good idea.

I rarely adjust the settings on my Eotech 512 but I have plenty of friends that told me they had them on full brightness when they were outside in the desert.  I recently did a comparison between Eotech sights and the new Trijicon SRS sight and fell right back in love with my Eotech.  Considering all of the changes I have seen in the Surefire and Streamlight flashlights where the candle power is up about 85% which is a huge leap forward.   Solar panels and battery storage is way up and I expect to see something very new in these regards with Eotech sights.  I am a big fan of the EXPS sights and the red dot and 65 MOA dot get picked up by my eyes very well.  I don’t see this changing anytime soon for my primary CQC optics.

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Are Eotech sights out dated?

eotech sightsWe have had a ton of people stop in our store and ask us if we sell Aimpoint but unfortunately the distributor that we use to deal with no longer is carrying them.  If we wanted to be a direct dealer for them, we’d probable not get product for another 6 months or more considering the craze that is going on in  the Country.   Aimpoints are probable the best price combat durable red dot optics but I am not a big fan of them.  My eyes tend to track the Eotech sights or a Circle dot reticle like the TA44 from Trijicon better than a red dot.   Lasers and Red dots seem to race around on targets and they also can obscure targets depending on the size of the dots.  Trijicon does  have a 1.75 MOA dot that is very nice but there are still some issues with that optic that I recently have found at fault.

After all of these optics are tested out, many of our customers still go back to the Eotech sights.  Primarily because they are zero magnification and you can keep both eyes  open when using Eotech sights which is very important if  there are close quarters engagements which statistically occurs for Law Enforcement.   I have been running the Eotech 512 for about 8yrs and only a battery contact came loose on it.  I do have the Gen 2 Magnifier on it but I could probable be better off if I was running the Eotech 516 or the EXPS2-0 which have the buttons on the left side which is what you have to think about if you are thinking about adding on the Magnifier later on.

 

 

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Eotech sights, Aimpoints, and the Trijicon SRS sights and rail space

eotech sightsThere was a good add on a Trijicon facebook page promoting the Trijicon SRS sight and it was mostly about rail space.  That is an issue that I personally have run into because I put several things on my LWRC M6A1 rifle that I started to run out of room when i tried to put a pressure switch on it.  I started out with a vertical foregrip and it worked well with the my Streamlight Scorpion flashlight but after I fell in love with the Magpul angled foregrip I ran into issues trying to activate the flashlight.   I’m still not sure what I’m going to do but once I get the new XPS sights in from Eotech i’m going to retire my Eotech 512 just based on rail space.

Run time is important but there are differences between military applications and Law Enforcement applications.  There have been big changes in the industry and now that solar/battery optics are are on the market we’ll see what the next generation of Eotech sights are going to produce.   The Eotech magnifier is a very good idea for someone that already has an Eotech device and wants to make it a medium range optic.  The side battery switch is something I also really like because it makes it easier to get to if you already have a magnifier and rear sight.

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Weapon mounted lights, handguns, shotguns and Carbines

streamlight flashlights I’m looking at all of the new lights that are coming out in 2013 and I can’t believe the changes that are taking place.  We had a customer that recently told us they picked up a 500 lumen Streamlight flashlight from another dealer and mounted it on their new M4 rifle.  At first I was thinking it would probable be a $500 flashlight and it turned out it was an $80 Streamlight flashlight.  I seriously don’t understand how the heck people can justify some of the flashlights that Surefire and some others have made and I think their is going to be a blood bath in the industry when these new and improved versions of lights hit the market.  I remember the Surefire G2 being a staple for AR15 rifles but not anymore.

I never had much interest in the Streamlight TLR-1S flashlight because I’m not a police officer and and don’t need to carry a large auto on daily patrols.   We have a clear out of the older models of Streamlight flashlights for sale in our Broomall, Pennsylvania showroom so stop in if you want to get some really good deals.  There are still customers that want to smaller Micro-stream AA battery flashlights because they are small and compact and are very EMT and Paramedic friendly.  There are a few guys that run car repair shops and also use various flashlights just so they can in and see the hard to reach stuff.

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Eotech holographic sights are they still competing?

If you ask any of the local law enforcement officers in our area, that’s all you’ll hear them talk about.  Most SWAT Teams are still running these optics and the first rule of an optic for them is they must be able to keep both eyes open.   For any optics like the Trijicon ACOGS, they are more of a  liability for a police officer that may be in a hostage situation at 20yds rather than nailing a Taliban soldier at 4oo meters.  There have been many technological improvements to optics and to some people Eotech might be slacking because they are still reliant on batteries, but for short deployments that’s rarely and issue.  I personally run an Eotech 512 AA on my LWRC M6A1 and I have had some wear issues and batteries fail on me.  I had to super glue the contacts back in and recently heard that this was part of the reason the CR123 batteries are being used and they are also going in sideways instead of forward.

The Eotech XPS sights are smaller and lighter compared to the most popular Eotech 512 AA battery and this means something for those that are running various pressure switches or gun sights.   The smaller lighter XPS Eotech sights are running with the CR123 batteries and these batteries will give you more shelf life than the AA batteries and take up less weight.   The only bad thing about the CR123 batteries is they are not that common in gun stores or retail locations and if they are they are usually more expensive.  Buying these in bulk is a good idea, we normally sell them in 12 packs for $23.99.

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Flashlights on a gun or hand held?

I think there is going to be a major change in the way we think of lights being mounted on firearms and in my opinion I wouldn’t spend too much money on firearm lights unless they were for my primary weapon.  It’s good to have more than one firearm available or atleast configured the way you want it for self-defense, but flashlights are getting smaller and more powerful and those bulky lights and expensive mounts are going to be a thing of the past in the next decade.   I suspect that in the next few years there will be pencel thin flashlights mounted on firearms that put out 200 lumens at ease.

I always hated the idea of putting flashlight on a handgun because that meant having to go through the holster testing ordeal all over again.   I have a bunch of Elite Survival holsters coming in soon that will get the job done, but Streamlight Flashlights especially the TLR-1 and the newer TLR version are probable the biggest sellers now.   The cool thing about them is you can put them on handguns and rifles but I wouldn’t blow more than $300 on a weapon mounted light just yet unless, like I said it was for a primary weapon.   If you look at how much LED technology has improved and light gathering technology like solar cells, smaller batteries and smaller lights with larger output are right around the corner.

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Sometimes those small tactical and CCW lights don’t cut it

The Northeast recently got hit by an Earthquake and a Hurricane and several family members have come to our Employees and asked them about some of the flashlights that we sold.   We’ve told them  that the Everyready flashlights that they had 30yrs ago are beyond out dated and the technology in the flashlights has advanced tremendously.  LED technology has so improved flashlights that we are now able to use flashlights for hours that are 5-20x brighter then what we had even 10yrs ago.   One thing has not changed though and it is something to consider if you are keeping extra flashlights around the house for non-tactical reasons.

The size of a flashlight is still very important to the average citizen.   The flashlights that use to hold 2 D batteries are about the size that most people expect to use when they think of flashlights and for older people and younger people the size of the flashlight is really a comfort thing.   People want to be able to grasp the whole thing and if they drop it.   The Streamlight Flashlights that we usually recommend are the Poly Stinger or the Streamlight Strion.  Even though most of our tactical operators are using the Streamlight Scorpion or Polytac on their guns or for CCW, those are not what many of your family members are going to want around.

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Eotech range report on the 512

The newer Eotech gun sights are all being made with the power buttons on the left side and not in the back.  If you have the older models, you’ll probable have some issues like I did with the Eotech Magnifiers.   I had to leave a bit of a gap between mine just so I would be able to get  my hands in between them to turn it off and on.  The way my present M4 Carbine setup is, I can still use the older models, but It should does make it easier to just use your left hand them (if you are right handed) to turn the power up and down.   The magnifiers really make a difference, but its one of those never ending responses  I get about “Couldn’t I just have got an ACOG for that price?”

Sure you could, but you’ll have a lot of trouble using a Trijicon ACOG in short ranges.   If you look at the ranges most engagements take place in, there is almost no need for magnification.   A few friends of mine that were in Iraq said the Trijicon ACOGS they had came in real handy to spot wires from roadside bombs.   The Eotech sights you the widest field of view of any optic I know of and that makes rapid engagements of multiple targets very easy and fast.  Getting the first hits in is more important that how tight your groups were.

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Pressure switches and manual levers

My first experiences with the M4 was with an M4 that had all of the bells and whistles on it that you could possible put there.   The first thing I noticed when I mounted it on my shoulder was that the Eotech holographic sight was canted because the forearm of the firearm was not leveled properly.   The second thing I noticed was that the pressure switch was coming off of the foregrip.   The third thing I noticed about it was the pressure switch didn’t work.   How’s that for a first time experience.   I’ve learned to not point out everything wrong in the world and kindly mentioned that mounting all of the gadgets on the gun properly must have been hard.    The owner mentioned that it worked for him.

I have a nice quad rail on my LWRC M6, but I have still the time or the want to actually put anything on all of the rails.   I have plenty of Streamlight flashlights in my  home because my experiences with them have been slightly better than Surefire flashlights.   I still avoid pressure switches because they snag, can come off and they are another thing that can fail you at the wrong time.   When it comes to handguns flashlights, I do like the TLR-1 up to the TLR-3 which seem to be simple and don’t have reliability issues that more complicated light setups are.

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