Frustration with Surefire

[Olon]

I have an old-style surefire forend light for my Remington 870 12 ga. It's got a pressure pad so the light turns on when you grip the gun and it uses an incandescent bulb. Well, in early January I came home from a long stint of work travel. Took my 870 out of the safe, loaded it up and checked the forend light. It wouldn't turn on. Dang. Must've forgot to unscrew it before leaving. Replaced the batteries and still a no. I took out a multimeter and a little piece of primary wire and within a few minutes I determined that the switch had gone bad (continuity at all contact points, light worked when "hot-wired," etc.). Sent it in to surefire for repair.

They got it back to me last week. The CS rep said all they did was replace the bulb (even though the bulb was perfectly fine when it was in my possession). Put batteries in, and it worked once more. Put it on the gun, checked it a few hours later and once again the light was not working. With the pad depressed and the tube screwed all the way in, the light would not turn on. I did the same checks as last time and I was able to once again get the light working by putting batteries in the tube and connecting the negative terminal of the battery to the threads with a wire. They just sent me a shipping label, so I won't have to pay for it this time at least. Hopefully they can fix it this time and I sure hope it doesn't take another 6 weeks!

I need to find another cheap forend in the meantime and possibly a different forend light going forward. This has not been a confidence-inspiring experience.

 

[CopperFouling]

What you are encountering is quite disappointing. Especially considering the price that Surefire charges for those, it's not unreasonable to expect that Surefire would have tested it more thoroughly or that Surefire would have fixed in in a few weeks as opposed to six weeks. I hope you receive it back quicker than that with an actual fix. Be sure to update the thread and let us know what happens.

 

[Olon]

What you are encountering is quite disappointing. Especially considering the price that Surefire charges for those, it's not unreasonable to expect that Surefire would have tested it more thoroughly or that Surefire would have fixed in in a few weeks as opposed to six weeks. I hope you receive it back quicker than that with an actual fix. Be sure to update the thread and let us know what happens.

Yeah tell me about it. I'll definitely post here again once I get it back.

 

[cslinger]

I have an older Surefire foreend for one of my 870s and it still works fine. That said....

On another 870 I have a MagPul foreend with a Scout light attached and FAR prefer this. It is not as bulky and allows for attaching or anything. Pop a piece of picatinny on and throw a TLR-1 or X300 or... or..... a good mount and a good handheld weapon light. Point is the Magpul foreend works great and a little part of me is looking for an excuse to do the same with the Surefire foreend gun.

 

[cslinger]

As an aside I have an 870 set up very similarly. What happened to speed feed stocks??? I love the one I have on mine but it seems they are out of business.

 

[Olon]

As an aside I have an 870 set up very similarly. What happened to speed feed stocks??? I love the one I have on mine but it seems they are out of business.

Yes I searched long and hard for this one. They've gone the way of hens teeth!