Product: XML Gunlight
Reviewer: Air Gunner Magazine
Original review (.pdf)

NEW KIDS ON THE LAMP – Never heard of NightSearcher? Neither had the editor… until now

A phone call from a very polite lady, recently, introduced me to yet another brand of lamping systems: NightSearcher. A quick look at their website showed me that they make all kinds of lighting for many situations, plus they have a dedicated rifle lamp that they wanted to be reviewed. Of course, I was happy to help. The XML Gunlight is unlike anything I have seen before and has clearly been well thought out and field tested. It carries its rechargeable Li-Ion battery inside the lamp housing, which means half a kilo high above the centreline of your rifle’s bore, so you know it’s there. However, it also means fewer cables to get pulled out at the very worst moment when you’re out hunting.

The ‘flawless’ reflector creates a clean beam with a noticeable hot-spot at the centre, which is exactly what most hunters want with enough spill light peripherally to pick up those rabbits you haven’t seen yet out to the sides. The mounting system is exactly like the one I developed years ago. It uses a conventional scope ring that mounts to your scope’s body upside down, offering a Weaver/Picatinny female base to the matching base block fitted to the lamp’s housing.

This is fool and bomb-proof, and right up my street. Hunting at night is tricky enough without fiddly-diddly mounting systems to contend with. It clamps the lamp on with a thumb wheel, thus eliminating the need for tools to fit and remove it.

Lots of lumens

Claimed output is 1000 limens, so I put it up against some lamps I know and trust, to get a feeling for the performance. It has just one power setting, which is unusual, so it’s full throttle or nothing. A small pocket torch is needed to back this up, and luckily, NightSearcher make those as well, an interesting model on which I’ll report at a later date. The beam was powerful and uniform, appearing perhaps even brighter than the 1000 lumens promised. No air gunner will ever need more power than this. The weight of the lamp on top of the scope was noticeable, but I’ve used far heavier lamps with no problems.

There are four clip-on filters in orange, red, blue and green included for those who believe that animals can’t see those colours. It’s quite an expensive kit put beside some of the more well-known lamping brands, but it does offer good build quality and a powerful beam. I liked it and, in my opinion, it’s worth finding your nearest dealer and having a good look.