Handgun flash lights

[emilianoksa]

I have a cheap Chinese clone of an x300. 

I have never used it for skirmishing. In fact I have only ever used it as a torch for finding things like springs and other little bits that have ended up flying away and disappearing on the floor. So it has been used for a minute or two for that purpose, and I have noticed that it gets pretty hot.

Is this normal, or is it only the cheap clones that behave this way? If I were skirmishing with it attached to a pistol I would only turn it on

for a few seconds before making a shot. For short periods it wouldn't heat up, but what about for longer?

It isn't going to burn me or anything, but most of my pistols have plastic frames, and I am wondering if it will damage them. 

 

[Guest]

Olight’s, RS Pistol lights, get incredibly hot with no issues

 

[emilianoksa]

Thanks.

 

[Rogerborg]

If it's like my really cheap clone, it's a 5V LED being over-driven at 7.4V (more like 8V+) by the two batteries in series.  Bright, but toasty.  Not an issue in practice though (I mean, other than LED failure, but how much do we really use these things?)

 

[emilianoksa]

I know that modern polymers can probably deal with the sort of temperatures they produce.

But what if we are talking about a TM Glock with an ABS frame?

 

[Madhouse]

Personally, I tend not to use a weapon light for long periods of time so there's less chance of the build up of heat. It may be that using it as a torch to find stuff is not representative of using it in a game - play a game with it and see how warm it gets.

I carry a torch for illumination duties, which can be handy at diverting fire and eliminating enemy hidey-holes if you leave it somewhere.