• Mossberg Owners is in the process of upgrading the software. Please bear with us while we transition to the new look and new upgraded software.

Homemade tiny Shockwave light

sixbennetts

.270 WIN
I always HATE, HATE, HATED having my shotgun getting hung up on things. Trees, bushes, doorframes, even my own gear. Drove me crazy! So, I built my own light that won't.

First, I had to find a flat magazine cap that fit the 590 Shockwave. Here's my thread about it:

http://mossbergowners.com/forum/index.php?threads/mossberg-magazine-cap-options.18960/#post-266544

Took a little filing on the end of the magazine tube to get it to fully seat, but it works. This gave me a flat surface to work with. Now, to find a tiny light.

Obviously, I searched ebay, Amazon, Wish, etc for small lights. I quickly realized that most were designed around either AA or AAA batteries, which immediately made them all too long. And you can forget about coin batteries, right? But then I remembered a small combination laser/flashlight a friend bought on ebay that uses a cr123a battery! Imagine cutting an AA battery in half like a tootsie roll. They're small, and rechargeable!

The rechargeable feature turned a corner for me. See, I have 4 sons, all grown now. They're outdoorsman like me. I remember seeing them plug in these little black headband lights, so I asked them to bring a few over for me to look at. And then my son Dan said,

"These are OK, dad, but nowhere NEAR as tough and small as our mountain bike lights".

Now, I've seen some hellacious videos of my sons downhilling here in the Adirondacks. I've been in combat, and some of their gopro vids made me pucker!! And their lights still work! Theirs are all so beat up, you can't even see what brand they are. My son's use them in the rain and snow, too. Crazy, like dad!

They are tiny.
They are light.
They are even rechargeable!
AND. THEY. ARE. TOUGH!

BINGO!

They come in all shapes and sizes, are specifically designed to take a beating, and have lots of mounting options. I should be able to find a small round one that I can attach to my magazine cap.

So, I bought 10 different ones! They're in shipping now. I'll report back when I've played with them enough to get some ideas. If I were to build one from scratch, it would have these features:

1. Uses a single cr123a battery, layed over on it's side to make it short.
2. Rechargeable.
3. Click the lense to turn it on.
4. Machined aluminum housing.

Here's the 1st one, a $17 rechargeable bike headlight and taillight set:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Bike-Ligh...Taillight-Smart-Bicycle-Phone-Mount/895362929

It's an aluminum light that screws into an aluminum base, that pops into a rubber housing.

I'll let the pics speak for the rest, but it came out great, is tough, waterproof, light, and rechargeable.

PicsArt_03-22-02.58.47.jpg PicsArt_03-22-02.56.52.jpg PicsArt_03-22-02.55.50.jpg PicsArt_03-22-02.53.47.jpg PicsArt_03-22-02.52.49.jpg PicsArt_03-22-02.46.59.jpg PicsArt_03-22-02.44.12.jpg PicsArt_03-22-02.42.54.jpg PicsArt_03-22-02.37.00.jpg PicsArt_03-22-02.29.46.jpg
 
OK, I gotta say that's really cool.

How did you attach it to the mag cap?
 
That's really handy!

I've been thinking about getting a flashlight for my Shockwave, but kept getting turned off by the size and limited mounting options which tended to detract from the maneuverability of the Shockwave.

Now if only somebody would make something like this and sell it so that less handy, able-bodied, or just plain lazy like me could simply buy one then attach it with ease.
 
Wow. This is brilliant. Please patent and market this so I can buy one!

Aw, it's so easy it's not even funny. The metal work will take 10 minutes if you're careful, and the epoxy work another 10. The parts are so cheap, just make one. If you fail, toss it and try again.

That's part of the fun of the Shockwave. Modifying it.

PicsArt_06-07-02.31.14.jpg
 
Back
Top