Stock of Surefire's updated gun light has been scarce since its initial production run earlier this year, but the company has just shipped a batch of the brighter X300U-A Ultra weapon lights.
The 170 Lumen X300 was originally conceived as a pistol mounted light, but carbine shooters found the compact light worked well on cramped carbine fore ends. Evidence of how well it works at the 12 o'clock position is shown above on a Daniel Defense MK12.
The update to 500 lumens brings more reach in the same package and makes it even better suited for working longer distance problems that may be encountered when using a carbine.
It's not all Christmas trees and candy canes, though. The increase in brightness decreases the runtime from the X300's 2.5 hours down to 1.5 hours on the X300U-A. Considering that you'll only be using a weapon light for moments at a time, 1.5 hours is plenty of use and a worthy trade off if your application calls for a brighter light. It would be nice to see a dual mode (for a lower setting) on a light this bright, but I can understand Surefire's desire to keep the operation of a weapon light simple.
The light is compatible with DG remote pistol switches and pressure pad switches. But, as I've gotten used to it, I've found the ergos of the included push/rocker switch work very well without the added cost or complexity of remote switches.
At $299 MSRP, the Ultra costs a few bucks more than the original, but not really enough to influence a buying decision. If you're after raw power, more than twice the light of the original X300 — and well more than competing compact WML lights — then your next weapon light might be back in stock. More info at Surefire.com
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