Torches and their modification

limulus

Well-Known Member
For some time now Ive been seeing folk talking about various torches and pros and cons of them (and the cost!!)

If you want a torch thats good for shooting out to 250yds and good for 'eyes' out to 400yds for less than £25 read on......

Buy a cree 501b torch from evilbay....while you're at it get a red led one too. (about £6 for the white and £8 for the red led version)
Dont be tempted to buy apparently brighter torches such as an xlm5 or t6.
There is a gent on pigeonwatch called daveg that sells aspherical lens called an ahorton lens (£13 perfect, £8 slight seconds) buy a couple, one for each torch.
When your evilbay torches arrive (you did order batteries and a charger too didnt you?) unscrew the top and unscrew the retaining 'washer' that holds the torch front glass in place and remove the glass.
Forgot to add, you need to cut the reflector down by about 6mm and blacken the reflector with a gem marker.
pop the ahorton lens in its place and screw the retaining washer back in about a 1/4 of the way.
turn on the torch and while holding it upright and see if you can clearly make out the configuration of the led on the ceiling. If you can, good, glue the glass in place with a smear or araldite. If not adjust the retaining washer up/down until the led is clear on the ceiling then glue the lens in.
You can buy a fancy drop in thats made of copper instead of the one that comes with the torch but Ive had no overheating issues with mine and the torches are so cheap its easy to keep a couple in stock if one does burn out and just replace the lens part.
The white torch will give a good beam out to at least 250yds and the red is good for 200yds (I reckon a lot further for both but I'm being conservative here)

If you wish you can get an extension tube for a second battery to give several hours continuous use and a flying pressure switch for having one mounted on your rifle, both items only a few pounds.

Red AND green led torch

Batteries (cheaper are available from HK)

Standard torch and other inserts

Remote pressure switch
 
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Had a look on evilbay for cree 501b and it comes up with alot of ultrafire torches a couple of which are described as having a Q5 LED (300LM) is this the one you mean? The majority are T6 (1000LM)

If possible Please can you PM me a link to the right one in both white and red.

Thanks

Rick
 
Hi Limulus

I'm after a Red led torch with a single mode (on off) with lot's of power.
Could you or anyone point me in the right direction ?
Cheers
 
first post edited

I should add I was out with a gent from here the other night with a nightmaster 800 and there was little difference between the two.
 
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Yep, thats DaveG.
He makes a very good drop in which dissipates the heat from the led faster.
Ive never had a problem with the standard insert though.
 
Top man my mate has the NM800 with red pill so will be interesting to compare once I get this sorted,

Cheers Tony
I have a night master and a 501 that I converted some time ago, the 501 dose not even compare with the night master when a red LED is fitted, yes you get more range out of 501 converted so now I have put a ir LED in and use it on night vision to good effect and works out a lot cheaper than the night master.
photo-21.JPG
 
HA ha, Hi guys, a belated hello to you all.
I wrote out a nice big post in a reply to a quote that contained a link - so it got blocked because I don't have five posts on here - and all the content disappeared. :doh:

As you can see I have not been really busy in here, but I am quite active in four shooting forums already. I'm also known as 'some bloke' on some forums. I don't do any stalking so I'd feel a bit cheeky coming here to flog a few upgrades for the 501b torch. I have always liked the tiny lightweight pocket rocket because of it's versatility in being able to swap LED colours in a cold dark field with no tools needed.

In times to come I think torches will get even smaller. It would be very easy for me to jump into bigger torch builds but I truly find the 501B does all I need from any rimfire - and that is the most potent combo I generally use apart from a 17REM I bought to deal with one issue because Leic's wouldn't condition a HMR or WMR barrel to my Quad for fox.

I don't know the forum policy so I won't post up a photo of my upgrades because it also shows the prices, but I think a few members have the photo they could PM anyone wanting to see what's available. In a nutshell, if you have a 501B with a flat glass lens and standard reflector then it is seriously up-gradable so you can bring it back to use even if it's just for spotting eyeshine. I don't make these for a living - it's just a pass time that will hopefully pay for the lathe and tooling up.


My 501B's usually live on the rifles - someone has put a photo up but I wont because I might lose this text again. :-|

I can PM a photo to anyone who contacts me vis PM - and I will see if I can subscribe to this thread.

Cheers, Dave.
 
Cheers Tony - about time I started posting here as well I s'pose. :lol:

Now I have five posts I can hopefully show how much I rate the 501B - and this was before I even thought about making upgrades for them instead of anyone having to import them:




I don't like to point the rfile around for spotting so I always have a red one in my pocket that is not quite as bright as the one I'm going to positively I/D my quarry and immediate surroundings with and take the shot. Also a white one for gutting bunnies and general stuff with.
 
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Any worthwhile upgrades to be had for my Tiablo A10-G? As in a green or red cree so there is no need to use a filter?

Clearly this is not an £8 torch so ......................................

Cheers

K
 
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