rifle mounted torch

[17hmr]

quick question,how have you got your torch mounted? i have mounted mine to the bottom of the barrel, but in the gun shop today picking up new mounts the bloke behind the counter seems to think it will throw out the harmonics of the barrel? what do you guys reckon?

[fenring]

I prefer mine on the scope.

[RayG]

I always scope mount the torch,the guns are always too nose heavy for me with a barrel mount.

[Ned Kelly]

G'day All,
absolutely it will alter the harmonics and the point off impact - your zero will be out. When i was in the ARES, we were told the point of impact would be lower with a bayonet fitted to the old SLR L1A1.

Why go to all the trouble of bedding and free floating a barrel to improve the harmonics and make the rifle shoot, only to later hang a torch off it?

Go scope mounted, preferably between the two scope rings or at least right up next to the front ring for greatest support. If it is too far foward, you may find the zero will change anyway because of the extra weight on the scope body. And get the most powerful torch in the lighest package, then check you zero's afterwards.

I remember doing the math some time back and around 0.001" deflection on a 22" barrel equals around 0.150" change in bullet strike at 100yds. Same with a drooping scope me thinks. I remember altering my parallax (front objective AO) on my BR scopes and while looking through the scope, you could see the slightest movement was moving the crosshairs all over the place, so a heavy scope mounted torch will probably do much the same.

Fenring, have you noticed zero changes with your set up?

Food for thought.................

Cheerio Ned

[fenring]

Ned, so far as small game and predator shooting, I haven't noticed any change in zero with a torch mounted on the scope - even the large Solarforce Pro-1. Mine is mounted right next to the front ring and rings are a solid alloy Weaver style.

[frakka]

......When i was in the ARES, we were told the point of impact would be lower with a bayonet fitted to the old SLR L1A1......

When I was in the cadets the bayonet certainly lowered the point of impact as us skinny kids could hardly lift the 303 in the first place

[RayG]

I hang a Sea lion hunter on the 6-24 scope on my .22 Rapid A/R with no obvious change change in zero...........likewise on my .22 Anschutz with the 4-16 scope..no probs.

[Ned Kelly]

G'Day all,
thanks for the feed back! I'm sure there are plenty of readers who do too.
Cheerio Ned

[johnty]

hi guys

just an update on my sea lion torch..... just after i got it i ordered and received a mount from wolf eyes.... it was the dodgiest crappiest thing i have ever bought... the clapped out trying to mount it for the first time and i wasn't rough either...

anyway six months later now and i decided to make my own... i am a cnc mill turn machinist by trade so its a piece of cake.... but instead i made it outa wood at dads place.... thought it might be the best material to protect my scope but still be light and strong enough to grip my scope... it works awesome...

the main reason for the post is that the torch is awesome but the the aspherical lense does not shine out straight from the torch.... this makes in insanely hard to get the torch light pointing where the crosshairs are point... heap of electrical tape to scew the torch in the mount.. (before anyone asks, the two holes for the mount are 100% parallel.

just thought i would share, curios to know if anyone elses lense points in diff direction from torch body.

cheers guys
Johnty

[Dr G]

My sea lion is slightly off but I attributed it to the dodgy mounts. As it is it isnt out enough to be a problem at the ranges I shoot with it.

Dr G

[Rabbitz]

You need a special torch to hunt a Sea Lion?

Most of the ones I have seen just seem to lay around all day, so wouldn't be easier during the day?

[fenring]

Mine is as straight as a die.

[RayG]

I had a similar problem with my SEA LION,the lens mounted on the front of the LED was loose which let the unit move slightly now and again. Screwed the lens back up tight on the LED body,problem solved.

[cj7hawk]

Just on this matter - I've noticed that most torches try for "Lumens" and "Eye Visible" at 1x zoom - I haven't yet seen a torch that is truly optimised for night shooting with a high zoom riflescope.

A 6x riflescope has a typical optical field of view of around 3 degrees. And an 18x has a FOV of around 1x. This flashlight I've been working on has a FOV of around 2 degrees or is optimised for a 12x riflescope.

Have a quick look at these images. Distance to back fence > 130m ( Measured with a laser rangefinder ) Sorry they are blurry. I was in a rush and didn't set up a tripod and with such long zoom and so little light, it's not only difficult to take a pic, but the camera has trouble focussing.

But I can see clearly where the flashlight goes and I have seen it clearly out past 200m before. It looks like a "white laser" with the beam clearly visible at night and is way too bright to stare into at 80m ( Maybe further, that's all I tried - it's diffused enough to be safe and blink reflex takes care of the rest. ) - It's just 100 lumens and runs a long time on just 3x AA batteries. The back end is a normal cheap $20 flashlight that is slightly "modified" but otherwise electronically untouched. The front is an ex-military collimation lens that sends the beam a long, long way. I am looking for low-cost commercial spec lens to do the same at the moment and also working on making up a mount so it can be adjusted for windage and elevation ( because at 2 degrees, you can't just attach it to the barrel or rail and expect it to be naturally boresighted )

Camera is a casio digital with ISO1600 and it's pretty dark and I have the optical zoom cranked up to 20x, but the back fence is not visible to the eye at all without the flashlight. With the flashlight...

Well, here are the images. The beam itself is actually square and the right element is critical to the outcome...

Without the flashlight. Fence is completely dark. Some street light splashes on the trees at the front ( about 90m away ) and lights them up.

With the flashlight. Fence is clearly visible. Very bright and you'd see a lot of detail there if I could hold the ^%*%^% camera and torch and take a picture at the same time.

Same camera settings for both pictures... I've been wondering if there's a market for a decent flashlight and to be honest, it's been a backburner project - so much so that I usually leave it all disassembled - the torch is the one I use around the house too! LoL!. Besides, the guy who normally does my machining is still getting his shed set up and my lathe skills are kind of shoddy... Also, as you all probably know, I usually use Night Vision for shooting and have more than enough IR illumination to go well over 500m.

But I'd be interested in some opinions and thoughts based on the image - and on the idea of concentrating the beam to go further and within the middle of the scope rather than being spread out and lost over distance... With the right optics, I reckon I could get it to go well over 300m... Though you'd need a decent zoom scope to go with it. Not bad for less than 100 lumens I reckon. But 100 lumens is more than enough if you can get most of it on the target.

Regards
David.

[kjd]

Looks great mate but how awesome would it be with 2 or 300 lumens.

A problem I find with these lights is that it is easy to spot eyeshine but not easy to see fur. I like to see fur and won't take a shot until I at least can see a silhouette but I'd rather see the animal in its entirety. I like your way of thinking though!