In the run-up to the Crimson Trace Midnight 3-Gun, I came to the realization that I needed more light on my rifle than my TLR-1 could provide. I was going to be shooting at targets 50 to 100 yards away in the pitch black of an Oregon night, and 160 lumens wasn’t cutting the mustard. And when I think “flashlight” the first thing that usually comes to mind is “Surefire.” After a few minutes of browsing I came across the Fury, and 2 business days later it was on my gun.
When I’m on duty on the ambulance, I always carry my Surefire E2D LED Defender. I scammed Surefire out of it years ago and it has worked flawlessly ever since. The dual output gave me the ability to light up an accident scene with the “high” setting and then switch to the “low” setting to check patients’ pupils without blinding them. Plus the strike bezel has come in handy more than once for an, ahem, “expedient extrication” from motor vehicles. And despite the wear and tear and beating the crap out of it, the thing still works. Which is why “flashlight” = “Surefire” in my mind, and I was expecting the same kind of performance from the Fury.
When it arrived, the very first thing I noticed was that the settings were reversed. On the Defender, it defaults to “high” and then a quick powercycle brings it to the “low” setting. With the Fury, the low setting comes first and for good reason: the “high” setting is blindingly bright. It easily lights up my entire living room as if it were broad daylight — then again, my living room is tiny.
The Fury is about the same length as my old flashlight, which means its small enough to fit in a pocket. But the bell around the LED is MASSIVE by comparison, and when you realize that this thing is putting out 500 lumens of light you understand why. Even though the bell is much larger, it still mounts easily to a firearm. And despite the slightly larger size, it doesn’t seem to have gained much weight compared to the Defender — it clocks in at a svelte 5.7 ounces.
The body is a standard 1 inch tube, meaning any mounting option you want is pretty easily accomplished. Anything from re-purposed scope rings to special built mounts (like this one) works just fine keeping the light attached to your gat. And once mounted, turning it on and off via the tail switch is still a pretty simple procedure. If you’re not happy with the tailswitch you can even install a pressure strip that lets you activate the flashlight that way.
But how well does it actually work on a gun, in the dark? Well…
In that first video, the first round connects with a pepper popper about 50 yards away. The second video shows it lighting up an array of paper targets also 50 yards away.
So, in short, it works and it works REALLY well.
Care and feeding of the Fury is also pretty simple. It takes two CR123 batteries, which are now widely available at your local HEB or grocery store and pretty damn cheap. Which is good, because on full power it chugs through both of those in an hour and a half of continuous use. Low power gets you about two days worth of continuous light though, for those who don’t have massive stockpiles of batteries.
What you have here, then, is the perfect weapon light for your rifle. Its light enough to not throw off the balance of the gun, bright enough to positively ID targets out to the 100 yard mark (confirmed thanks to some testing with a 10 inch plate at Tyler’s ranch int he middle of the night), economical enough to be run continuously all night but with the ability to be just massively bright when you feel the need.
Surefire P2X Fury
Length: 5.40″
Output: 15 / 500 lumens
Runtime: 46 / 1.5 hours
Batteries: 2x CR123
Weight: 5.7 oz.
Price: $155 MSRP ($109 street)
Ratings (out of five):
Usability: * * * * *
Amazingly bright when you need it, but bright enough when you don’t.
Ergonomics: * * * *
By itself it just feels right in the hand, and in a mount on a rifle it works pretty well. A pressure switch in the box would have brought it up to a five star rating.
Accessories: * * * *
It doesn’t take ALL of the doo-dads that Surefire offer, and the 1.37″ bezel makes it difficult to find other aftermarket parts, but the 1″ tube lets it fit just about every flashlight mount out there.
Reliability: * * * * *
Its solidly built with a tough-as-nails finish.
Overall Rating: * * * * *
The best weapon light you can buy, for the money.