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Looking For A Rifle Mounted Spotlight


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Lots of options available.

Quality LED torches mount on scopes are very popular and practical. Brand names include WolfEyes, Solarforce, Deerlight, and quite a few others.

Lightforce do rifle mounted 12 volt halogen spotlights that come with scope mounting brackets. Whatever you mount up on your rifle you will still need a separate spotlight to search with as swing a rifle with the light mounted on it to spot with becomes tiresome very quickly.

When spotlighting from my ute I use a scope mounted Lightforce 170 and spot with a handheld Lightforce 240. I've got separate power outlets mounted in the back of the ute for each light and the rifle sits in a rack until we are stationary and I'm ready to take a shot at a fox.

http://www.lightforce.net.au/products/hand-held-spotlights/sl-handheldspotlights

http://www.lightforce.net.au/products/huntsman/rmsmrmsgriflescopeandshotgunmountedspotlights

For walking I use a Wolfeyes SeaLion Hunter LED torch mounted on the scope and a Solarforce M9 on a lanyard around my neck to spot with.

http://wolfeyes.com.au/wolf-eyes-sea-lion-hunter-p-157.html

http://www.solarforceflashlight-sales.com/product_detail.php?t=LF&s=26&id=572

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Gday mate...I use the lightforce pred 9X. I found it to do everything im looking for in a scope mounted light, and have knocked over foxes past 200m with it. It is light, compact, easily removed, takes two seconds with the quick detachable mounts, ive taken it off, slung the rifle over the shoulder and used it as a walking light and have remounted it in the dark with ease when i see something i want to shoot. It has a tight spot and has a remote control button that sticks on the side of your stock as well as an on/off switch at the back off the light. It has two modes, one for spotlighting and one for walking to save battery power. A set of batteries last around two and a half hours per set and are rechargeable. The kit comes with two sets of batteries, charger etc. Downside is that its not cheap, at $350.00, but as i have said it does everything im looking for in a scope mounted light. Well worth considering if your budget allows.

Mounted to the scope.

2014-06-10202707.jpg

Quickly detached

2014-06-10202732.jpg

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As the guys have already said, we're spoilt for choice these days which is a nice change. Prices are starting to come down now but they're still a little high in my opinion. So shop around.
If you're going with a standard torch option, get yourself one of these Aria mounts - best I've come across so far.

light mount full

The torch is a Solarforce jobbie (M9 head from memory - I can check if you're interested in details).

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I'd recommend standard 'torch' looking lights rather than large 'spotlight' lights. With the increasing technology, there is not a massive difference in light output or performance, and when running on rechargeable 18650 batteries they'll last all night (and extra batteries are cheap, so carry spares anyway). They're much lighter lights (haha - I mean they're less heavy) and much more compact.

Also, it's quite possible to be running some really cheap lights and mounts, and still get excellent performance.

A 1200 lumen spotlight torch, 4 rechargeable 18650 batteries (two to use, two spare), battery charger, and mounts could all be had for around $70 - $80 posted. Throw in another medium-output torch or two for hand-held use and another two batteries, and $100 will have you completely set up. Check out Deal Extreme (www.dx.com).

I'm using a setup from Deal Extreme and I'm very happy with the performance for the price I paid.

Having said that, I'm not running it on a large calibre cannon - it's on my .223 rabbit/fox gun, and occasionally underneath the 12 gauge. I'm quite confident that it'll be able to handle some medium calibres anyway, so as long as you're not using a .458 Lott to spotlight bunnies, you should be fine.

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Mines a similar set up to Duncs. I'd second the aria mounts, quick on n off and stay put for repeated shots.

The torch is a derelight, focused beam, not much spill. You,d still want a second handheld torch. you'd soon get sick of waveing the rifle around to spot things.

20140612_151425_zps61f3afc7.jpg

Edited by huntsmart
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There are so many choices available now with so many torches that are up to the task of spotlighting I do like the units that have the option or also supply a rat tail switch

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There are so many choices available now with so many torches that are up to the task of spotlighting I do like the units that have the option or also supply a rat tail switch

The Solarforce ones do. But I think most suppliers do now anyway.

You're right about too many choices!! There are some fantastic torches out there for some amazing prices at both ends of the scale! And the technology is taking leaps and bounds ahead - what you buy today is redundant in 6 months. That doesn't mean it still isn't bloody good though so I've just stuck with solarforce to make it easier for me.

The only thing they're missing in their range is a focusable lense.

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Dunno about the torch but they have both 1" and 30mm scope adapters and they sit the torch reasonably high as you can see in the pics so you'll be fine there. What's the diameter of the torch body?

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Hey duncs, what brand 18650 are you using? I'm gonna get some Panasonics, but does the m9 take the nipple top or flat type?

Oh yeah, I bought the m9 :)

Edited by billygoat-gruff
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