Surefire mini pro DF initial impressions

**rushca01** · 03-02-23, 07:56

Originally Posted by vicious_cb

Nothing catastrophic but I got one of those AAA Pro-lights for cheap to play around with, even after cranking the bolt down, it eventually went all floppy under recoil. Not cool when your hot spot starts bouncing around during a night shoot. Not a huge deal since you can just crank it down but its just another something you have to baby on your rifle, I could lok-tite it down but then its probably going to seize up in the rain making it pain to remove.

True but Im not exactly dying for a lumens/lux upgrade currently with PLHV2 and OKWs I picked up last Black Friday. I just like redundancy of a duel fuel option, just not willing to go through the hassle.

Was it mounted close to a brake compared to a flash hider or even suppressor. I wonder if that would have an extra concussive force added to it.

**grizzman** · 03-02-23, 21:15

Thanks for the review.

I've heard of the Turbo Scout, but had no idea it's a legitimate performer The fact that it out throws an OKW is a complete departure from....well....every Surefire weaponlight that's come before it. I looked at some retailers, and they all list the CD as being 71,000, so Surefire must have recently upgraded it.

Your PLHv2 delivers 80K lux? Aren't they only rated at 54K? I guess I need to measure mine to see what it'll do.

I just checked candlepowerforums, and didn't see any threads about it. With a price approaching $100 more than an OKW, it's really hard to justify the additional expense.

**vicious_cb** · 03-02-23, 22:10

Originally Posted by Wake27

Interesting, I’ve had at least two DF pros for a few years and never had an issue.

Loc-tite or no? I still have the some of the yellow stuff on threads from the factory but Im not exactly doing anything crazy other than taking it out in the wet.

Originally Posted by rushca01

Was it mounted close to a brake compared to a flash hider or even suppressor. I wonder if that would have an extra concussive force added to it.

Not really, the head sits mostly behind the front of the Warcomp, maybe the 2 side most port holes are somewhat close to the head at the 10:30 - 11 o'clock position but pretty much every light Ive mounted sits at that position.

I get that things will come loose eventually but after only 200 rnds, c'mon.

**Wake27** · 03-02-23, 22:32

Originally Posted by vicious_cb

Loc-tite or no? I still have the some of the yellow stuff on threads from the factory but Im not exactly doing anything crazy other than taking it out in the wet.

Not really, the head sits mostly behind the front of the Warcomp, maybe the 2 side most port holes are somewhat close to the head at the 10:30 - 11 o'clock position but pretty much every light Ive mounted sits at that position.

I get that things will come loose eventually but after only 200 rnds, c'mon.

Nope. There was a recent thread on here about the pro mount where I posted a photo of one of mine, its actually taken more abuse than most of my stiff because it was mounted on the run n gun rifle and got banged around some. I tighten the hell out of them, but they've been solid for me. I do keep the bezel flush with the end of the rail though. The extra barrel shadow is worth the trade off for me in protecting the light and ensuring I can poke my muzzle through something if I need to (VTAC slot mostly).

**WS6** · 03-02-23, 22:54

Originally Posted by grizzman

Thanks for the review.

I've heard of the Turbo Scout, but had no idea it's a legitimate performer The fact that it out throws an OKW is a complete departure from....well....every Surefire weaponlight that's come before it. I looked at some retailers, and they all list the CD as being 71,000, so Surefire must have recently upgraded it.

Your PLHv2 delivers 80K lux? Aren't they only rated at 54K? I guess I need to measure mine to see what it'll do.

I just checked candlepowerforums, and didn't see any threads about it. With a price approaching $100 more than an OKW, it's really hard to justify the additional expense.

My orignal PLHV2 was about 50-60K LUX. This one is the dual fuel, and much later production, and measures what it does. My numbers should be taken as comparative rather than empirical, however, as I am not using an actual lab to generate them.
The entire light is $299 street price and includes the mount (1913 or MLOK), so I find it cheaper than an OKW.

**Wake27** · 03-17-23, 08:12

I didn't get a mini but I now have a full size 640DFT and two X300Ts and have been impressed with all of them. This is my first experience with the lightsaber category as I've typically avoided the other options due to run time, complexity (# of parts to order), lack of CR123 dual fuel, and/or form factor. So with the beams, while slightly less spilly and a defined hard edge on all of them, at the moment, I am happy with the trade off. The way I see it, I can always scan the light left to right to see more of the area surrounding my hotspot but with a legacy light, there's nothing I can do to gain distance with my light.

So in essence, its a small trade off in the left to right visibility for a significant gain in the near to far visibility. Keep in mind these are all larping in the house impressions which is why its not even worth its own thread.

**vicious_cb** · 08-16-23, 16:37

Now that I have experience with all 3 of the lights in question.

Tightest beam goes as follows: SF 340DF followed by the OKW then the PLHv2. The 340DF and OKW are very similar in beam pattern with the 340DF being a bit more intense and the peripheral edge of the light ends just a bit sooner than the OKW. Honestly you would have to run the lights side by side to notice the difference they are so close.

Then of course the PLHv2 is the most floody, no surprise there but what is surprising is the impressive amount of throw PLHv2 has compared to the higher candela 340DF and OKW, it very much keeps up with the other 2.

No issues with the pro mount so far.

**WS6** · 08-16-23, 20:03

Originally Posted by Wake27

I didn't get a mini but I now have a full size 640DFT and two X300Ts and have been impressed with all of them. This is my first experience with the lightsaber category as I've typically avoided the other options due to run time, complexity (# of parts to order), lack of CR123 dual fuel, and/or form factor. So with the beams, while slightly less spilly and a defined hard edge on all of them, at the moment, I am happy with the trade off. The way I see it, I can always scan the light left to right to see more of the area surrounding my hotspot but with a legacy light, there's nothing I can do to gain distance with my light.

So in essence, its a small trade off in the left to right visibility for a significant gain in the near to far visibility. Keep in mind these are all larping in the house impressions which is why its not even worth its own thread.

The REIN Micro 3.0 will be dual fuel, and is arriving soon.