# Outdoors > Gear and Equipment >  Spotlight

## DanS

Done a bit of reading on previous threads which seem a tad outdated so thought I would ask again,

Situation is I need a new spotlight, something that is good out to around 500m on the right night, will be run on 12V batteries, and the ability to mount onto my rifle is a must. 
So the question is what is the go, was looking at the big light forces, 

Any advice is appreciated 
Cheers
Dan

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## mudgripz

Maxtoch.

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## Pengy

+1

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## veitnamcam

> +1


+2

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## Markgibsonr25

+3

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## MassiveAttack

I have a couple of lightforces converted to HID that I don't use any more if you wanted to go that way.  Heavier than a maxtoch but brighter, it depends on what your intended use is as to what suits better.

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## timattalon

I went the Maxtoch. Both the M24 and the SN2X. Man I was impressed. Batteries (spares) are much easier to carry than the gel cells too.

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## DanS

Cheers guys, ill take your advice, next question which one and where do i get it from quickly ?

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## Danny

> I have a couple of lightforces converted to HID that I don't use any more if you wanted to go that way.  Heavier than a maxtoch but brighter, it depends on what your intended use is as to what suits better.


Sounds good being HID they wouldn't draw as much, how long would you expect off the smaller potable 12V battery's?

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## gadgetman

> Sounds good being HID they wouldn't draw as much, how long would you expect off the smaller potable 12V battery's?


Roughly a 35W HID will be dragging 3-3.5A, so divide your battery Ah rating by that. So a typical 7Ah battery in good nick will give up to 2 hours. But generally the more frequently you take the voltage of the battery low the shorter the battery life will be.

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## DanS

Need something that will pick up deer out to 500m , so whatever would suit best for that

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## veitnamcam

> Need something that will pick up deer out to 500m , so whatever would suit best for that


If 90% of your lamping is from a vehicle I would recommend the biggest non HID lightforce,on a good night I can see and identify sex, deer out to 8-900 yards in the open(in conjunction with good glass).
HID are brighter and use less power but the colour is bad for picking animals from background (Identify target beyond all doubt) and some led are really bad for picking out eyes great but cant pick the animals body from the background.

The Maxtoch dedomed work very very well as a walk around option but best to talk to the likes of mudgrips and gadgetman as there is led and led and the colors can vari massively.

led lenser were all the rage a few years back but they are very expensive and there color just does not work, picks up eyes for miles but cant see anything to shoot till very close.

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## DanS

Nah wont be from a vehicle mostly, sweet ill wait and see what the boys reckon when they see the thread cheers

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## DanS

Just confirming before I purchase this is the right Maxtoch ? 
Aliexpress.com : Buy MAXTOCH Sniper M24 Dedomed U3 LED 1250lm, AR Lens, Copper LED Base, Long Shooting Distance Hunt Flashlight from Reliable led drop suppliers on EST GROUP Co., Ltd | Alibaba Group

Also is there a mount you can get to chuck them on top of your scope ? 

Cheers 
Dan

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## StrikerNZ

That looks like the right Maxtoch, you might be stretching a bit to I.D. out to 500, although I've never really taken much notice of the extreme range mine is capable of.. Had no problems shooting to 200 or so (about as far as I'm happy shooting at night), and spotting roos out to 300+ in scrubby tussock country

I use a mount like this - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Scope...383454411.html (Wasn't this exact one, just the first I could find)

Rock solid on a suppressed 223, assume it should handle extra recoil alright. Takes 20 seconds to attach or remove and holds the light nice and high in case you have tall turrets or a wide objective. Works fine on any size tube..

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## DanS

Thanks mate , yeh will just be looking for eyes out that far and then closing the gap to ID etc. Just found this thread for mounting in case anyone needs it. http://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co.n...r-rifle-22656/

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## TeRei

> That looks like the right Maxtoch, you might be stretching a bit to I.D. out to 500, although I've never really taken much notice of the extreme range mine is capable of.. Had no problems shooting to 200 or so (about as far as I'm happy shooting at night), and spotting roos out to 300+ in scrubby tussock country
> 
> I use a mount like this - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Scope...383454411.html (Wasn't this exact one, just the first I could find)
> 
> Rock solid on a suppressed 223, assume it should handle extra recoil alright. Takes 20 seconds to attach or remove and holds the light nice and high in case you have tall turrets or a wide objective. Works fine on any size tube..


Sunday night picking out deer easily to 550m with Maxtoch 2X. Know it because we ranged it and lost a 200plus Jap last roar on the same ridge at last light.

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## DanS

Couldn't find the 2x mate ? Is it a different light or just a change of bulb or ?

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## possum_shooter

I think the 2x is out of stock but they are bringing out a lighter model that has a shit load more grunt by the sound of it.  May be a few months away yet.
Gadget or Mud should be able to give you the low down

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## gonetropo

i repair one hell of a lot of spotlights. although HID lights are energy efficient the current used in the first few seconds of ignition are very high. so if your battery is a bit down it wont fire up the tube even though it has enough current to run it. also quite a few of them do not like vehicle voltages which can be around 14.5 volts. the inverters just die with that voltage. i have a few scope mound HID's in the garage if you are interested and probably a halogen too.
send me a pm if you are interested

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## TeRei

Light force are putting out on the NZ market the portable Enforcer which you can have a big battery attached to it for portability and no wires.

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## mudgripz

I did some tests a while back comparing a lightforce with HID conversion unit (China) against the Maxtoch 2X TeRei mentions. Result: Lightforce HID modded unit about 235,000 lux, and Maxtoch dedomed model 2X 290,000-300,000. This equates to 970m maximum range and 1080m for the Maxtoch 2X (down to equivalent of full moonlight on target). Some of the big new HIDs are alot more powerful but the Maxtoch LEDs are up with some HIDs now.

The Maxtoch M24 mentioned above runs at around 220,000 lux or 940m. Range finder tests for this model type showed max for big animal bodies (not eyes) to round about 450-500m in perfect conditions - naked eye. 2X is further.

But....if you can be patient gadgetman and I and some other kiwi boys are just completing the specs with Maxtoch for a new very high performance model. It is a lightweight model 2X and runs at a huge 370,000 lux. Runs on just two 18650 batts, and can be used both scope mounted or as handheld spottie at just 308 gms. We have tested this in the field and it is an absolute beauty - good light on hills a kilometer away and stumping power in the 0-400m normal shooting range. All the spare batts you need for a nite shooting fit into your shirt pocket. 

We have another high performance model too that may come out - 300,000+ lux from the smaller Maxtoch M24.  Gadget and I modded both od these lights considerably from the original prototypes and we have them where we want them. Production details should be clear in couple of weeks.

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## gonetropo

if you are in christchurch i have a couple of HID scope mounted lights, will swap for venison. pm me if interested

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## DanS

> I did some tests a while back comparing a lightforce with HID conversion unit (China) against the Maxtoch 2X TeRei mentions. Result: Lightforce HID modded unit about 235,000 lux, and Maxtoch dedomed model 2X 290,000-300,000. This equates to 970m maximum range and 1080m for the Maxtoch 2X (down to equivalent of full moonlight on target). Some of the big new HIDs are alot more powerful but the Maxtoch LEDs are up with some HIDs now.
> 
> The Maxtoch M24 mentioned above runs at around 220,000 lux or 940m. Range finder tests for this model type showed max for big animal bodies (not eyes) to round about 450-500m in perfect conditions - naked eye. 2X is further.
> 
> But....if you can be patient gadgetman and I and some other kiwi boys are just completing the specs with Maxtoch for a new very high performance model. It is a lightweight model 2X and runs at a huge 370,000 lux. Runs on just two 18650 batts, and can be used both scope mounted or as handheld spottie at just 308 gms. We have tested this in the field and it is an absolute beauty - good light on hills a kilometer away and stumping power in the 0-400m normal shooting range. All the spare batts you need for a nite shooting fit into your shirt pocket. 
> 
> We have another high performance model too that may come out - 300,000+ lux from the smaller Maxtoch M24.  Gadget and I modded both od these lights considerably from the original prototypes and we have them where we want them. Production details should be clear in couple of weeks.


Sounds wicked man , any time frame ?

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## mudgripz

Maxtoch just making some switch mods we've recommended but we should know production plan within say 2-3 weeks.

To give you an idea of price/power/performance, the bigger Led Lenser P17.2 costs about $246NZ, weighs 773gms (too heavy for scope mount), produces 50k lux, and has max range of 450 meters.  

By comparison this new lightweight 2X Maxtoch ex factory will likely cost just$130NZ delivered, weigh less than half the P17.2 at 308 gms, will produce about 7x the output at 370k lux, with max range of 1.2 kilometers.

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## 7mmsaum

Sounds seriously good

Do you have any pics ?

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## mudgripz

New lightweight 2X looks exactly same as present Maxtoch M24 Sniper, but 1cm longer and with bigger 68mm instead of 63mm head.

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## DanS

Cant wait sounds like a plan Cheers

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## Marty Henry

What about backscatter, atmospheric conditions control how far you can see  surely? I cant see the point in lugging an anti aircraft spotlight round and only being able to clearly identify a target to 200 m. Then theres the bloody moths it attracts. I run a ksn barrel mounted on a 22 and 223 in perfection conditions can id a hares body at 200 m normally 150, and would rarely shoot even that far because its like looking down a tunnel of smoke most nights. I have hunted with a guy with an hid spotlight brilliant amount of light but the only way the shooter could get a clear sight picture was to run 7-8 metres out the side to get away from the backscatter.

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## Friwi

Just a question regarding those maxtoch lights: is there a setting for low level light, to use when walking around and for saving a bit the batteries ?

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## StrikerNZ

Yep, they have a high, medium and low mode. Half press on the switch to cycle, or just flick off-then-on within a second or two. 

If you leave it off longer than 5 or 10 seconds it will remember what mode was active when you switched it off..

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## gadgetman

> What about backscatter, atmospheric conditions control how far you can see  surely? I cant see the point in lugging an anti aircraft spotlight round and only being able to clearly identify a target to 200 m. Then theres the bloody moths it attracts. I run a ksn barrel mounted on a 22 and 223 in perfection conditions can id a hares body at 200 m normally 150, and would rarely shoot even that far because its like looking down a tunnel of smoke most nights. I have hunted with a guy with an hid spotlight brilliant amount of light but the only way the shooter could get a clear sight picture was to run 7-8 metres out the side to get away from the backscatter.


From memory I could read ear tags on cattle at 400m with an older de-domed Maxtoch mounted on my scope. De-domed they have a yellower light that seems to reflect less off particulate matter in the air and gives better definition.

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## Marty Henry

That makes sense, longer wavelengths penetrate better in fog etc, most leds are blueish so shorter.

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## mudgripz

Yep blueish tint washes out colour - not so good for target definition downrange. The dedomed Maxtochs have a tint very similar to my old school halogen lights.

No optical problems shooting close to light - we use them scope mounted etc or as handhelds.  

Also the Maxtochs are not zoom head pencil beam lights - we did not want that. Instead we chose good beam balance. They have very strong centre hot spot which gives long range, but led type which also gives alot of spill, allowing you to scan whole paddocks in a few seconds.

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## TeRei

> From memory I could read ear tags on cattle at 400m with an older de-domed Maxtoch mounted on my scope. De-domed they have a yellower light that seems to reflect less off particulate matter in the air and gives better definition.


Cattle or deer?

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## gadgetman

> Cattle or deer?


Sshhh! It was my little Marlin 980 22lr and just pulling off some Dundee shots.

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