]The Streamlight Rail Mount 1 and 2 are alternatives to Surefire's higher priced Scout lights.
They take the same mounts as the SF (So if you like KAC, Magpul, Gear Sector, Haley, whatever, it will bolt right up.)
They are VERY SIMILAR SIZE to the Surefire lights.
They are advertised as brighter than the Surefire lights.
I purchased the Rail Mount 1 light, to compare to my Surefire M300C, 300 lumen light. The Streamlight RM1 is rated at 350 lumens, vs. the SF's 300.
First, let's start with appearance and what comes in the box. The SF and SL both come in similarly equipped boxes, and for all the world look like comparable products. The Streamlight arrives in "High/Strobe" mode, but the programmable light allows you to change this to High only, or High low. It is EXTREMELY unlikely that this will ever cause a problem, and I have beat the snot out of a ProTac 1L that has the same programming, as has Frank Proctor, for several years. Frank's light lives right next to his muzzle device, and has done just fine. Likewise, I touched base with a few friends of mine who run the Streamlight Rail Mount lights, and they likewise report no issues with the 10-tap programmable system, or the light in general.
Now let's get to the construction. Both the SF and the SL offer glass AR coated lenses that are properly tempered. I did not destroy either, and I presume both are sufficient for the task.
Moving back a bit, the Surefire head is "one unit", while the Streamlight head actually comes apart. I took it down far enough to get to the TIR optic, which I PRESUME is a polycarbonate or acrylic affair. Last I checked, Surefire uses CoC, which is better in every single way. I won't bore you with the chemical details, but...it's mo better. It's also very expensive. That said, this falls under "moot point" territory, as if you get any kind of chemical incursion where EITHER are, the giblets are toast anyways. That said, one slightly agitating thing about the Streamlight is that the TIR optic is held in place with a plastic ring, which threads up against it, and is then butted up against by the head of the light body when the bezel is screwed down. For whatever reason, this arrangement causes the SLIGHTEST rattle in my light. Also, the TIR optic is ever EVER so slightly chipped on the edge. These are non-functional quibbles, but quibbles nonetheless. They do not disappoint me, or cause me in any way to doubt the durability of the light.
Moving back further, we get to the LED itself. People have stated that they think both LED's are XPG-2's. Wash. However, I find the Surefire's tint is skewed more toward the yellow/green spectrum EVER so slightly and is probably 5300-5500K, while the Streamlights appears to be a pretty neutral 5700-6000K white. I am pretty darn good at judging tint, but everyone's eyes are different. I've been playing with lights and LED's and tint binning for almost a decade, though, so I'd bet I'm pretty close on the temperature.
The hotspot of the Streamlight is roughly half the size of the surefire at the exact center, but has a similar corona as the surefire's hotspot, if that makes sense. Think of the SL as a Light MOD choke and the SF as an IM choke. The Surefire reaching further out in the beam toward the edges, say, what illuminates the CORNERS of a room, has a sharply delineated spill. The SL simple "is". Both are very similar and entirely adequate for room clearing. I have not taken them outside yet, as it's daylight out, but the SL looks like it will throw significantly further, which is pretty darn impressive!
Moving back further we get to the driver. I cannot assess the driver in either light, but I can tell that I do not think either are "potted" with any thermal epoxies, and they both seem to heat-sink just fine, anyway. However, the Streamlite will function on a AA batter! That's right. A AA! For you international folks, or....survivalists...this is pretty cool! It puts out a rated 150 lumens on a AA, and that looks about right to my eyes when I tried it! The method by which this works is further back, and we are getting there...by the way, it has a 4.5 hour run-time on a AA Lithium!
Anyway, moving further, we get to the body. The mounting affairs are IDENTICAL on the Surefire and SL, although the rail mount that came with my SL SUCKED! It was undersized or something and a real pain in the arse. If I were to run the factory mount, and planned on ever removing it, I would hate life. I had to PRY it onto and off of the rail.I removed it and replaced it with a spare OEM Surefire mount for the rest of this evaluation.
I do not know if SL uses Type II or Type III anodizing, but the anodizing used looks very uniform and dark. I have seen Type II and Type III's that look like this. I can't tell which it is in all fairness.
Moving further inward, we come to where the battery lives. The Surefire battery is inserted by removing the head of the light, and is physically blocked from reaching the tail-cap spring by the body of the light's machining. The SL is opposite, the battery being placed in from the rear. The internals are such that the fatter CR123 battery is inserted to a normal depth, and works as expected. However, when the thinner AA is inserted, it penetrates (haha!) into a sleeve which holds it secure (no rattles!) and compresses the contact spring further, allowing it to physically fit like it was made for it (it was...). All-in-all, it's a GENIUS! design, but I do wish SL had used slightly stronger springs on the head-side of the light. The spring on the tail-cap is stout!
To that end, I did test both lights VERY abusively for "flicker" under recoil. Attached are the videos (slow motion) of both.
Moving further back to the tail switch, we see that the Streamlight has less "protection" around it. I personally like this, as I have always found the Surefire tailcap guard a bit...overzealous. Both click with authority, although the SL a bit less so. If you're snobbish about such things, I am sure you will form a preference for one or the other, but I do not have one, except to say I like the less obtrusive "guard" of the SL product.
I tried to hit the points that you won't find in other online reviews.
Surefire M300(300 lumen) flicker test - YouTube
Streamlight Rail Mount 1, flicker/recoil test - YouTube
Click the links for script of what is going on in the videos.
So...which one would I pick, if I were on a budget? Streamlight. Without a doubt! Spend the extra hundo on ammo and food and taking your girl out to a good supper or something.
Money no object? Man, that gets tough. The "dual fuel" is pretty cool, especially if you travel, ESPECIALLY out of the US. The beam is a better tint on the Streamlight, and I feel that it is significantly "punchier" in throw. However, Surefire is a pretty darn proven option in the weapon-light world, and the Streamlight is made in *Donald Trump voice* CHYNA. Honestly? I might just pick the Streamlight. They are in hard use in many professions because they meet certain environmental spec for work around sensitive chemicals, and a lot of people swear by 'em. Frank Proctor hasn't killed his yet, and I know a few other shooters who have put some serious time on Streamlight products...including these (MrGunsnGear has 3,000 rounds of 300BLK on his...) and they have no issues, either. I reached out to some guys who supply the /mil, military sales directors of one company (I won't list it, because I did not ask if he could be quoted), and he seemed to have a real "time will tell, but noone has broken one that I know of yet..." attitude. Honestly? I really really really want to like the Streamlight. It makes mo and mo betta light, and is the same size, and can use AA batteries (and AAA, so I hear as a rumor, if you wrap tape around it to fatten it up or something, but hey, this is the forum for that...).
So what's going on MY rifle? I honestly don't know yet. It depends on what I see when the sun goes down and I head-to-head them in the dark!
*Both lights, with battery, with their mounts OFF, weigh 3.3oz on my scale.
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Originally Posted by Inebriated
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