POTD: A Close Look At The SAS MP5 Weaponlight
Remember that iconic photo of Margaret Thatcher and the SAS just after they successfully rescued the hostages in the Iranian embassy back in the 80s?
Their MP5s had weaponlights mounted on the HK claw mount. Many people, myself included assumed they were Maglites. And while they may have used Maglites, here is one that blows that idea out of the water.
Take a close look at the photo above. Notice something interesting about it? It has a tape switch. While this makes perfect sense, I had no idea that tape switch technology was used back then.
As you can see below, the claw mount is your standard HK Mount.
This is where it gets really interesting for us flashlight nerds. Look at the laser engraving at the bottom. It says “LASER PRODUCTS Fountain Valley, CA”. For those who don’t know, LASER PRODUCTS is what SureFire used to call themselves back in the 80s. Also look at what is in front of the light mount, the light has what looks like a sliding on/off switch. So definitely not a maglite.
Would you believe it is a Streamlight?
The weaponlight can use rechargeable batteries or regular D-Cell batteries.
The fact that it can use rechargeable batteries is actually important for this setup. The tape switch is not hardwired into the flashlight. Rather it is wired up to the Laser Products mount. The recharging ports of the Streamlight interface with the Laser Products mount and the tape switch is able to remote activate the light.
Looks like the Streamlight was ahead of its time as weaponlight. It has constant or momentary activation.
Thanks to Godwin L. for sharing these photos and indulging my questions about this very interesting weapon light system.
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Now this is cool, What's the provenance of this set up? Is it original or a repro, those SAS MP5s saw heavy training use.
This setup appears to be post-Princes Gate. Those used at the siege had longer tubes with cutouts left and right for the SL-20's switch housing (so that it could be mounted left or right). We have one in the collection at the NFC. There's a clear shot here; http://www.crw-airsoft.com/... - the later type is seen here - http://www.crw-airsoft.com/...