Sorry for the delayed down range review. Got these done last week and had to go out of town....
Took the new X400V-IRc to the range with a set of TNV-14's and shot around 150 rounds with my Glock 17. The unit held up flawlessly and the IR laser held zero at 25 yards and in. (Yes at handgun ranges since it's designed tp go on a handgun
).
The unit as advertised has a 850nm .7mW IR laser which I new from the get go was going to be bright for handgun work with smaller targets. I had asked for a .2mW or at least a low power setting from the get go talking with SF. This is the sweet spot IMHO for handgun IR lasers. The unit also comes with a twist head Vis White and 120mW IR illuminator when used tames the .7mW IR laser to a perfect shoot dot and I mean perfect with no bloom, halo etc. Of course the pics below do not show this aspect as the camera itself washes away the dot.
- IR Laser, range itself of the .7mW laser is like most other C1's out there reaching 400 yards.
- IR Illuminator, like the V1 has a true effective range out to 150 yards with great spill for CQB work as well.
- White Light has a range of 75 yards to 100 yards.
Spec Sheet
Here are some down range pics at 25 yards with the far birm at 100.
X400 IR .7mW laser as seen through a TNV 14 at far birm (Of course actual pics look MUCH better real time)
With IR Lum
On target at 25 yards (Target did not show this much bloom, typical camera inadequacies) **See Conclusions below when I talk about this IR bloom**
On target with IR Lum (Could not see the dramatic improvement of the laser dot with no bloom, no halo etc. due to the camera). About as perfect as you can get
Gear load out for testing
As for the switch modes, I could talk five hundred words, but here is a snapshot of the manual depicting the modes.
I REALLY like what SF did here and place a faint LED light when the IR laser is active. It is located when your behind the gun, you can see it well, but only from the shooter perspective
As mentioned, I shot approx 150 rounds of 9mm with no lose of zero with the IR laser. The manual mentions after 50 rounds, the laser sight may need to be re-zeroed as the adjustment apparatus may settle into position. I found no such settling as my 10 - 25 yards of rapid test firing held center mass 3-6" hits throughout my testing.
Conclusions
The unit itself is built with typical Surefire quality and tested with 1000's of rounds down range long before it reaches the consumer market along with a typical test program involving some of the best trigger pullers out there. Users with the past handgun X units will find switch familiarity but now with the addition of the Class 1 IR laser switch. Speaking of this .7mW laser brings me to my feelings of the power level. Most of the users out there have probably used a Class 1 .7mw laser and know it's effective range out to 400 yards. Using it CQB at 25 yards and in notice a donut bloom/halo from modern Gen 3 systems. While shooting a very small target, this may be of issue for some hunters out there who want to use this for racoons etc. when not using active IR Lum. But for defense of human size targets, this bloom is not an show stopping issue and center mass zones are achievable. Now incorporating the on-board 120mW IR illuminator, a perfect match with the .7mW laser is achieved, and I mean a perfect dot contrast for placement on the smallest and largest targets with light or dark backgrounds.
Surefire latest IR line of lights is sure to be a big hit with many. I would hope for a future model with hi/lo settings that would really take this unit to the next level. This unit should be hitting the dealers shelves this week if not already.
Vic
Took the new X400V-IRc to the range with a set of TNV-14's and shot around 150 rounds with my Glock 17. The unit held up flawlessly and the IR laser held zero at 25 yards and in. (Yes at handgun ranges since it's designed tp go on a handgun
The unit as advertised has a 850nm .7mW IR laser which I new from the get go was going to be bright for handgun work with smaller targets. I had asked for a .2mW or at least a low power setting from the get go talking with SF. This is the sweet spot IMHO for handgun IR lasers. The unit also comes with a twist head Vis White and 120mW IR illuminator when used tames the .7mW IR laser to a perfect shoot dot and I mean perfect with no bloom, halo etc. Of course the pics below do not show this aspect as the camera itself washes away the dot.
- IR Laser, range itself of the .7mW laser is like most other C1's out there reaching 400 yards.
- IR Illuminator, like the V1 has a true effective range out to 150 yards with great spill for CQB work as well.
- White Light has a range of 75 yards to 100 yards.
Spec Sheet
Here are some down range pics at 25 yards with the far birm at 100.
X400 IR .7mW laser as seen through a TNV 14 at far birm (Of course actual pics look MUCH better real time)
With IR Lum
On target at 25 yards (Target did not show this much bloom, typical camera inadequacies) **See Conclusions below when I talk about this IR bloom**
On target with IR Lum (Could not see the dramatic improvement of the laser dot with no bloom, no halo etc. due to the camera). About as perfect as you can get
Gear load out for testing
As for the switch modes, I could talk five hundred words, but here is a snapshot of the manual depicting the modes.
I REALLY like what SF did here and place a faint LED light when the IR laser is active. It is located when your behind the gun, you can see it well, but only from the shooter perspective
As mentioned, I shot approx 150 rounds of 9mm with no lose of zero with the IR laser. The manual mentions after 50 rounds, the laser sight may need to be re-zeroed as the adjustment apparatus may settle into position. I found no such settling as my 10 - 25 yards of rapid test firing held center mass 3-6" hits throughout my testing.
Conclusions
The unit itself is built with typical Surefire quality and tested with 1000's of rounds down range long before it reaches the consumer market along with a typical test program involving some of the best trigger pullers out there. Users with the past handgun X units will find switch familiarity but now with the addition of the Class 1 IR laser switch. Speaking of this .7mW laser brings me to my feelings of the power level. Most of the users out there have probably used a Class 1 .7mw laser and know it's effective range out to 400 yards. Using it CQB at 25 yards and in notice a donut bloom/halo from modern Gen 3 systems. While shooting a very small target, this may be of issue for some hunters out there who want to use this for racoons etc. when not using active IR Lum. But for defense of human size targets, this bloom is not an show stopping issue and center mass zones are achievable. Now incorporating the on-board 120mW IR illuminator, a perfect match with the .7mW laser is achieved, and I mean a perfect dot contrast for placement on the smallest and largest targets with light or dark backgrounds.
Surefire latest IR line of lights is sure to be a big hit with many. I would hope for a future model with hi/lo settings that would really take this unit to the next level. This unit should be hitting the dealers shelves this week if not already.
Vic
