Back again with another Maglite mod! This one is nothing new, it’s just your classic shortened Mini Mag. After seeing a bunch of people do these, I figured I’d give it a go. I had a Mini Mag with a failing switch assembly and figured that for the cost of a new assembly I could just buy a tail switch for the Maglite and then bore out the head to fit a P60 drop-in and use a dual-fuel driver. I went with a de-domed 4000K 519a for the emitter and an AA/14500 Convoy driver.
I hacksawed the barrel roughly to where I figured one AA sized cell would reach the driver, gave a little space for safety, and then JB Welded it in place. I’ve seen people shorten Mag barrels by reducing the OD of a section behind the threads and fitting it to a reciprocally reduced ID section of the barrel. Maybe some day I’ll tackle that!
Anyway, I found this neat switch for the AA Mini Mag on eBay and liked the look of it better than the NiteIze units. I’ve used those before and something just doesn’t feel right to me. Not a big fan of the button.
I bored the inside of the head with a grinding bit on a dremel and did test fits before JB Welding things together. I used a TIR optic, but it’s mostly just a placeholder until I get a proper fitting one. This one is wrapped in teflon tape to fit it snug and it seems okay for now.
There’s a bit of a gap left between the negative end of the cell and the tail switch spring but it’s easily remedied by using some neodymium magnets for now. At some point I’ll make a proper spacer. I did this so I could experiment with different P60 drop-ins. Some drivers I could use have springs soldered to their contact point and those fill the gap perfectly. Also, this extra room allows for some variance between the length of 14500s and AA/Eneloops.
For my current set up I like running it on a 14500 over an Eneloop for a couple of reasons. Mainly, it feels like there’s a greater distinction between modes. The low mode’s 1% brightness is perfect for me at night. I have a 6month old and navigating bedrooms while he sleeps without waking him is crucial. Also if his pacifier falls out and he’s fussing this is great for searching his crib without waking him. The rest of the modes are nice, it feels truly like a low-medium-high-turbo set up. Using an Eneloop, the modes past low feel pretty similar. Also the low mode causes the coil to make some noise and I’m just not a fan of that. Using a 1.5V Zepath cell doesn’t have this issue, but I still prefer the 14500.
I’d love to try this again with a different color Maglite just for some variety. The only problem is this switch only comes in black and I don’t particularly like the color combos that would result. A short blue Maglite would be pretty slick. I have some ideas though, I’d like to try making a DIY switch assembly. If I do that some day I’ll make sure to post it.
Thanks for reading!
by CarryHunt
