Field report: Solarforce M9 Led torch

[Branxhunter]

I posted about my recent purchase of a couple of Solarforce LED torches:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18460

Missed asked for a review so here it is.

I have set the two torches (M6 and M9) up in QD rings so they are quick to mount onto a rifle when needed.

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I have been using the M9 to have a quick look around the lambing ewes at night, as from the back yard fence I can see the paddocks the ewes are in. If I see a "customer" it gets attached to the .22-250 for a quick walk. At the moment the green grass is fairly short, although the crop next door is up around 100-150mm.

Over the last week I have seen foxes on four separate occasions. At distances of 250m+ the eyes are very easy to see, but the body is too indistinct for shooting.

Last night I had shots at two foxes - the first one was paced out at 149 strides (I'm 6'4", so stride length is approaching 1m) and was easy to see the body in the Zeiss conquest set on 10x. It was standing in the neighbours crop, and a rest over a pile of logs resulted in one dead dog fox.

Initially I couldn't find the fox in the crop and thought I had missed, so looking around picked up some eyes down the slope towards the creek. With no rest I sat down and braced the rifle over my knees for a shot. I could only just pick out the outline of the fox body - really the shot was probably a bit ambitious. While the shot felt OK when I headed down to where I thought it might be I didn't find anything. The spot where I was expecting it would be paced out to around 200-250m.

One thing I noticed is that at the shot the view through the scope was obscured by a great white cloud of propellant combustion gases. It was quite cold and still last night, and this might be less of an issue with warmer weather, a little more breeze, or a smaller cartridge.

The torch needs recharging after between 2 and 4 nights looking around, depending on how long I am using it each night. It doesn't fade off in intensity but goes a bit "fluttery" for a second or two in the minutes before it cuts out altogether. I do spend most of the time looking on full intensity, and using the 2 lower intensities would prolong battery life. Based on what I have seen eye shine is easy to pick up on the lower intensities within usable shooting distance.

The thrown beam is not the tightly focused square of light you see with some LED torches. It does have a hotspot surrounded by a reasonable amount of spill which is useful for providing some peripheral vision.

So there you go. There are likely to be Led torches that throw a bit further but for the money I am happy with this one.

Marcus

[sometime shooter]

Excellent might just have to go that way, I had a mate stay and he has some cheap torch's. Shot a fox with my 243 and as you say sight picture gets obscured by muzzle blast and gas's leaving the barrel. Thought I had missed the fox, as Austin Powers says "I lost my mojo man" I have not been hitting much since friday (scope was out which doesn't help) Anyway checking the stock yesterday resulted in 1 dead fox with a big chunk out of the top of it's head, body was in a dip so the light's were shinning over the top. Which means need a torch to throw a shooting light out to 200 sounds like the M9 will do this.

[curan]

Thanks for the write up Marcus. That was a good read.......

cheers, curan.

[Camel]

Good onya Marcus, we need a few more blokes writing up some reports on their new gear. It would be useless me getting one of those torches, I aint the walking type.

[B4408]

Thanks for the review, have been following your other thread and waiting for this. I have the M3 which is good to 125m. Looks like the M9 will be on the shopping list, sounds good for upto 250m or is 200m more realistic.

Regards
Bruce

[MISSED]

Great review Marcus thank you for taking the time.

Just a couple of questions,
What is the M9 like as a general use torch and does it have enough spill to find downed game in the paddock at night.?

What type of batteries are you running. ?

[Branxhunter]

Thanks for the review, have been following your other thread and waiting for this. I have the M3 which is good to 125m. Looks like the M9 will be on the shopping list, sounds good for upto 250m or is 200m more realistic.

Regards
Bruce

My guess is 200m will be OK, 250m would be more dependant on factors like size and quality of scope, contrast of fox fur color against background, length and density of grass etc. hopefully I will get the chance to give more field verified feedback.

Marcus

[Branxhunter]

Ok, took the two torches out tonight to capture some photos for you all.

Here is the M9:

The closest stumps are probably 90m away, while the ones in the background are approx 200m away:

This cockatoo was in a tree at around 80m away:

Cockatoo in tree at around 80m

My 100m target block, which is a big slab of Cyprus trunk. I am about 90m from it here, as it was standing at the fence so that it wasn't in the photo foreground and potentially flaring the photo:

100m target block

My 200m target block is the small white blob just to the left of top centre of the hotspot - it looks like another tuft of grass in the photo. The 250m target block is at the top right edge of the hotspot - you probably won't pick it here but I could see it in the field:

Marcus

[Branxhunter]

These hares were at about 70-80m away, spotted with the M9.

Just to the right of the target block:

Top centre of the hotspot:

Marcus

[Branxhunter]

The M6 for comparison:

Cockatoo in tree:

Cockatoo in tree

100m target block (from around 90m):

Marcus

[sometime shooter]

outstanding yeah reckon I'll get one of those, that should fit the bill nicely. Great to see the photo's of it's performance

[aushunter]

I have had my M9 for about a year now, i use it 50% of the time as my main torch, the other 50% i use an Lc-xml2 in a L2P body, can't fault either light. I find the M9 can be used as a backup spotlight when need be. The light will throw to around 400m but shooting distance is about 200m.

[trevort]

thanks for that

[MISSED]

Fantastic that is exactly what I need

[sometime shooter]

Me too had a mate come down over the weekend who buys the cheap ones and we went out monday night, shot a fox at somewhere between 100 to 150 but could only see the eyes not the outline of the fox. That M9 is gonna be the way to go.