X300U fail and Surefire let me down.

[Tricks]

I have always had Streamlight TLR-1 HL. Some friends and shooting buddies gave me a bad time telling me the TLR is not as good as the X300U. So after taking a lot of crap I got a X300U-B. Two days after I got the light I pulled it out of my duty holster and set it on a shelf to change clothing. To make a long story short my G17 with the X300U-B on it, got knocked off the shelf and fell on to the floor (concert) and the light fell off the gun. After picking up the gun and the light, it was clear the center screw had broke.

I called Surefire told them what happened. They told me they would replace the screw for no cost to me. They got my address and info, then they let me down one more time informing me it would be 4-6 week to get me the part if it was in stock.


I know the X300 is a good light and has a good track recorded. I plan on fixing
the light and giving it another try.

Has anyone hear had a similar problem?

Please don’t think I’m bashing on Surefire or trying to say brand X is better. I just was let down that one fall form about 4-5 feet was all it took to brake it. I really think it was just a bad screw, but want to now if it’s a known problem.

 

[treehopr]

I have an X300U with a Larue mount that I was using for a carbine light, leaving it attached in my rifle soft case. Somehow the battery compartment latch snapped off (the plastic piece held in by a roll pin on top of the light body), I contacted Surefire via telephone and had the same experience as you. That was almost a month ago and I'm still waiting for the part to come in the mail

 

[Chris Taylor]

There are a couple things at play here...

This is a crazy time of year for the industry. Between the holidays, production cycles/downtime, and SHOT right around the corner, shit's hectic.

Add in that most inventory of small parts is allocated to production, and EOY inventory, and it's not always as simple as sending the secretary back to the stock room to bag up a part. Especially with a large corp like SF.

Also, and not trying to be a dick here so don't take it that way, we all gotten used to instantaneous satisfaction and overnight shipping with tracking numbers. That works in many instances, but not always, especially on the manufacturing side.

 

[Tricks]

I understand with the holidays and all, I was not going to get my part tomorrow. I was more let down with it barking in the first, and wanted to know if the screw braking is something a lot of people are seeing.

 

[nate89]

I saw the OPs light, and it was an unfortunate parts breakage. I have one on my carry gun and one on an AR, both have been fine for me.

 

[treehopr]

There are a couple things at play here...

This is a crazy time of year for the industry. Between the holidays, production cycles/downtime, and SHOT right around the corner, shit's hectic.

Add in that most inventory of small parts is allocated to production, and EOY inventory, and it's not always as simple as sending the secretary back to the stock room to bag up a part. Especially with a large corp like SF.

Also, and not trying to be a dick here so don't take it that way, we all gotten used to instantaneous satisfaction and overnight shipping with tracking numbers. That works in many instances, but not always, especially on the manufacturing side.

Spoke to Surefire today, original call was put in on December 1st- Surefire does shut down the last two weeks of the calendar year to do end of year inventory. When I asked for an ETA on when this small plastic part from their $240 flashlight would ship, I was told to expect it by mid to end of January since the repair center is so backed up.

To answer your points, manufacturing and sales go hand in hand. If this wasn't a warranty issue and I paid for the part out of pocket, would it be acceptable for a 6-8 week delay? I've worked at manufacturing companies and it can be as simple as the secretary (or customer service rep) walking back to the warehouse and going to the mail room. That's an internal process, whether it gets billed direct to the customer or back to an internal cost center. I don't expect free overnight shipping (as I got from Verizon when my iPhone died over the holidays) and I understand end of year inventory, but having a great warranty isn't that helpful if the stuff breaks and it takes this long to remedy it. This is with them sending a replacement part, I can only imagine how much longer it would take if something had broken that required me to send the actual flashlight in.

 

[Bourneshooter]

Start of Dec I went to use my X-300U-A and it wouldn't turn on. New batteries, still wouldn't turn on. Swapped tail caps with some others I had, still no luck. Called SF and was on hold for ever. Got a call back about 2 hours later. Rep emailed me my RMA/Shipping info. Had a fixed light back in 1.5 weeks from the day of the phone call.

 

[Tricks]

As of today no part.

 

[treehopr]

I finally received the battery latch on Saturday- shipped in an envelope via 1st class mail

Total response time was December 1st to January 16th from start to finish.

 

[OldRunner/CSAT Neighbor]

Tree IMO even w/ the shutdown that seems to be a tad excessive but short of having a spare X series (been a 2 is 1 believer since the 90s) what else can a fella do?

 

[treehopr]

Tree IMO even w/ the shutdown that seems to be a tad excessive but short of having a spare X series (been a 2 is 1 believer since the 90s) what else can a fella do?

Yeah, up until recently I had 3 X300U's and an X300- since sold off the X300 and one of the X300U to pay for two Streamlight TLR1- HL's

The X300U that's in the Larue mount will most likely get sold or traded as well, probably get a dedicated Scout Fury WML to replace it.

 

[OldRunner/CSAT Neighbor]

Yeah, up until recently I had 3 X300U's and an X300- since sold off the X300 and one of the X300U to pay for two Streamlight TLR1- HL's

The X300U that's in the Larue mount will most likely get sold or traded as well, probably get a dedicated Scout Fury WML to replace it.

Tree did you mean a dedicated Fury above or a Scout?

For my usage I have 2 EAG Fury P3Xs & an R1 Lawman. Gave an EAG Fury P2X to my daughter but may sell the R1 here & replace it w/ a P1R Peacekeeper. That said I first need to determine the beam pattern on the P1R as the Furys spill is what I prefer.

 

[treehopr]

The Scout Fury, I've tried the EAG Furys but the beam doesn't have the throw that I need. I've only tried the 500 lumen one so the 1000 lumen version may solve that problem but I also don't want that big of a light on the carbine.

A buddy of mine and I did some shooting last year at night at steel targets roughly 45 yards away, once the targets stopped being white, we had a real hard time discriminating what was the target and what was the brown dirt behind it with the 500 lumen EAG Fury

As much as I hate to pay for a Scout Fury Ultra or whatever its called, it is designed from the start as a dedicated weapon mounted light for carbines. Seems like any attempt at a cheaper alternative or workaround is still sub-optimal in my experience.

My thoughts are that having two TLR-1 HL's gives me a back up for both the pistol light and for the long gun light if it goes down and needs to be repaired. I was hoping to do that with the X300U but the battery latch breaking leaves me lacking in confidence that the back up light won't break as well.

 

[Default.mp3]

The newer M600P Scout Furies are rated for 600 lumens (old ones were 500, IIRC); however, they will have a similar spill pattern to the handheld Fury, although I believe they have some ruggedization that makes them more suitable for WML use. The M600U Scout Ultras are still rated only for 500 lumens, but have a tighter beam, with less spill, but more throw.

 

[Mike F]

I have always had Streamlight TLR-1 HL. Some friends and shooting buddies gave me a bad time telling me the TLR is not as good as the X300U. So after taking a lot of crap I got a X300U-B. Two days after I got the light I pulled it out of my duty holster and set it on a shelf to change clothing. To make a long story short my G17 with the X300U-B on it, got knocked off the shelf and fell on to the floor (concert) and the light fell off the gun. After picking up the gun and the light, it was clear the center screw had broke.

I called Surefire told them what happened. They told me they would replace the screw for no cost to me. They got my address and info, then they let me down one more time informing me it would be 4-6 week to get me the part if it was in stock.


I know the X300 is a good light and has a good track recorded. I plan on fixing
the light and giving it another try.

Has anyone hear had a similar problem?

Please don’t think I’m bashing on Surefire or trying to say brand X is better. I just was let down that one fall form about 4-5 feet was all it took to brake it. I really think it was just a bad screw, but want to now if it’s a known problem.

The battery door latch on my x300 ultra mounted to my rifle broke this week. I think it probably happened getting in or out of a vehicle and having my rifle get jostled around.

I'll be contacting SureFire to get it fixed.

 

[Tricks]

I called Surefire and asked them if the parts for my light shipped. After being on hold for a while they told me it would be 2-3 weeks before I saw the part.

 

[Mike F]

I called Surefire and asked them if the parts for my light shipped. After being on hold for a while they told me it would be 2-3 weeks before I saw the part.

I got the same response after being on hold about an hour.

 

[treehopr]

FWIW, I've had better luck calling them as soon as they "open" @8AM pacific time

 

[nate89]

I have found the same to be the case. I have been calling quite a few companies the past few weeks setting up orders for range rental guns, and calling earlier in the morning has been the difference between either sitting on hold or getting right with someone.

 

[Jeremy Stafford]

For those that have had issues on long guns, the 200 and 300 series of WML were not designed to be run on long guns. The plastic battery covers and switches are meant to be partially shielded by the trigger guard of a pistol. If you talk to the engineers at SF, the Scout Lights are meant to be deployed on long guns. If you insist on running the light outside of it's design parameters, I'd recommend a Unity Tactical EXO. Personally, I run scouts where they were designed to go and U-Boats where they were designed to go and haven't had any issues. As far as SF customer service goes, they are generally amongst the best in the business, but they can't ship what they don't have. Disclaimer here... I work for the Surefire Institute. Technically a separate entity, but still.