How to upgrade Surefire M951 Weapons Light with a $10-20 LED Reflector

I really like Surefire weapons lights but they can be very expensive.  If you haven’t noticed it, there are some great deals on new in the box Surefire M951 weapons lights on eBay.  Now hear’s the thing – they are new old stock – they have the old Xenon bulbs with them but these things are often unused or lightly used and include the picatinny rail mount and pressure pad.  You can upgrade them to an LED for often less than $20 for both a brighter and longer lasting light.

To find the Surefire M951, the trick I found is to search for one of the many “kit” packages that are for sale.  The light I purchased was a “Surefire M951 Kit02” to be exact.

The M951, and a number of other Surefire lights used the P60 Xenon bulb.  There are a ton of LED upgrades out there and I opted for one from Amazon.  The following text links are to the actual LED reflector I bought off Amazon and used – I just had to remove the external spring (it pulls right off) and put it in my M951.

There are a lot of P60 module offerings on Amazon now and they are all very affordable. I used BestSun and it has worked just fine. Take a look on Amazon [click here] and pick based on the higher/highest sales volumes and score. By the way, I recommend Amazon because you can see the scores, reviews and usually you can return defective merchandise quite easily.

It was incredibly bright!


Surefire sells replacement heads for the M951 but they are pricey – $45 and up.  It held up fine on both a 9mm and 5.56 AR.  It was a fun conversion project and my buddy has it on his AR now.


Again, lots of offerings for P60 drop in modules – be sure to check out Amazon.


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Jeffrey’s M92 with our Bulgarian AK74 Grip in Dark Russian Plum

Jeffrey’s M92 looks pretty slick!  He opted to use our Bulgarian AK-74 grip in Dark Russian Plum and sent in these photos:

 

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What can a custom 21″ HI Sirupati look like?

This HI Sirupati had a 16-17″ blade and was about 21″ overall when it arrived to us with a busted handle so the first step was to boil it and a few others with bad handles and then pry it off:

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I made two new handles by gluing assembled blocks around the tangs of the two Sirupatis.  I didn’t mention it before, but they are twins – both about 21″ long so you can see a before and after shot.  The trick was to form a block made of black paper micarta and black glass reinforced Acraglas epoxy.  I then used my new Esteem grinder to remove the parts of the micarta that didn’t feel like a handle:

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The following photos are of the first completed Sirupati that has an acid etched blade and its custom sheath made from 0.093″ thick Kydex:

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The intent of posting this is to show how a very traditional looking khukuri can look after some modernizing.

What is a Ferrule on Yugo and AK Rifles?

A ferrule is a metal end cap found on some wood grips and handguards to protect the end grain of the wood from being hammered and splitting open.  They were used on different country’s weapons and are usually not interchangeable between countries.  For example, Bulgarian and Yugo ferrules are different.

Near and dear to me are the metal ferrules on Yugoslav / Zastava wood lower handguards.  The following photo shows a M92 lower and the black metal cap is the ferrule.  This ferrule does not fit everything Yugo – just the M70, M85/92, and M77.  The M72 and M76 are unique sizes.

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You have three options when you need a ferrule:  1) Find a used one and this is real hard – try posting in the Marketplace of http://www.akfiles.com and see if they have one.  2) Buy a replica ferrule from us or 3) Simply pry the old ferrule off, put it on the new handguard and the squeeze the tabs shut again with a pair of pliers.

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Note if you are putting it on one of our plastic handguards either just set it on it with the ears closed or glue it in place.  Absolutely do not try to squeeze the ears shut — the little metal divots will not dig into our plastic and you risk snapping the handguard tabs.  Again, either slide it on or glue it in place with something like rubber glue or Goop that you can later remove if you want.  Epoxy works too but it is pretty permanent.

For example, I just slid the ferrule on the M70 bulged handguard in the next photo.

We manufacture ferrules that fit the Yugo/Zastava M70, M77, M85 and M92 lower handguards. Note, they are specific to those models and will not fit other nationalities or models.

Click here to visit our store with the ferrules for sale.


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What the M92 Looks Like After All the Mods

This shows what the M92 looks like today.  I haven’t had time to go to the range yet but the “feel” is fantastic in terms of weight, balance and length. CNC Warrior nailed the folding arm brace.  Wow – how cool it is!

Here is a list of the modifications made:

  1. CNC Warrior Folding Arm Brace
  2. CNC Warrior 4 Piece Brake
  3. CNC Warrior Detent Pin
  4. CNC Warrior Picatinny Rail Scope Mount
  5. Ronin’s Grips M92 Ferrule Cut Handguard Set
  6. Ronin’s Grips Bulgy ARM-9 Pistol Grip
  7. Ronin’s Grips M92 Dust Cover Quick Takedown Pin
  8. Vortex Sparc Red Dot with the Low Mount
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How to Install Ronin’s Grips M92 Handguards

This is another long overdue step by step guide.  We have been selling M92 handguards for over two years and people ask about how to install them so let’s try and take this step by step.

SAFETY STEP – MAKE SURE THE WEAPON IS UNLOADED.  NEVER ASSUME THAT IT IS – VERIFY IT IS UNLOADED BEFORE YOU BEGIN WORK.

1.  Open the dust cover so the gas tube can be removed.

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2.  Take a look at the upper portion.  The gas tube cover is actually a semi circle held in a groove formed by sheet metal.  To remove the cover, secure the forged metal end of the tube (NOT THE SHEET METAL END OR IT WILL BEND) in a vise or use an open end wrench.  Turn the cover 180 degrees until it faces the opposite way and it will come right out of the retainer.

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3.  See the metal clip in the gas tube cover?  You will want to move that clip to our gas tube cover as it helps secure it in place.

 

 

 

 

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4.  Next, look at the lower handguard.  In the front of the guard on the left side you will see a small lever that needs to be rotated inward.  Once that is done, the handguard retainer can be slid forward.

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4.  The lower handguard is then pulled forward and down to be removed.

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5.  I am asked regularly about what a ferrule is.  Folks, that black metal cap on the end of the lower is a ferrule.  It protects the end grain of the wood from being split open.  We sell a handguard that can use a ferrule if you like the looks of it plus we sell a version that does not need the ferrule.  It is entirely up to you.  I sometimes use the ferrule to accent whatever color handguard I am working with – for example, Dark Olive Drab to Dark Russian Plum.

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6.  This only applies if you buy one of our handguards that uses the ferrule – you can use your existing ferrule by using a screwdriver to bend the tabs open on the receiver stub and then working the ferrule backward and off the wood lower handguard.  You can then glue it to our’s or even leave it loose.

 

 

 

 

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7.  When you install our lower handguard, you reverse the above steps.  We sell optional shims in case you need to tighten the fit.  The example shim here is a special orange material we tested and now we use a special hard black rubber.  You can buy our shims or make your own.  In either case, your goal is to add just enough material to get the retaining lever to turn down firmly and lock up the lower handguard.  Because AKs can vary, you may find that you need to either add or subtract material so take a careful look at your lower retainer and decide which way you need to move before you go sanding, cutting, filing, etc.

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So that’s about it.  The following are photos of the M92 with the new ferrule cut handguards installed.

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If you’d like to learn more or order our handguards, please visit our online store’s Yugo handguard section at:  http://shop.roninsgrips.com/Yugoslavian_c14.htm

 

Note, the following is a video a fellow did showing how he removes and installs M92 handguards in general.  I think this might help some of you who want to see the steps in more detail:


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Installing the CNC Warrior Picatinny Rail Scope Mount for the M92 PAP Pistol

Another great accessory for the Yugo M92 or M85 PAP is the slick picatinny rail kit that CNC Warrior sells.  This thing is a breeze to install and is the best means I have seen for adding an optic to the M92. Because the screws are inserted from the rail side, it is superior to other products that require the screws to come in from underneath the dust cover and risk being hit by the bolt carrier.

All you need is the pistol, a drill and some cutting oil to do the installation.

SAFETY STEP – MAKE SURE THE WEAPON IS UNLOADED.  NEVER ASSUME THAT IT IS – VERIFY IT IS UNLOADED BEFORE YOU BEGIN WORK.

1.  This is the top thick hinge of the M85/M92 dust cover.  See the faint circles?  Those are the spot welds and they are very hard!  Do not drill into them!  The new CNC Warrior mount has four holes and you only need to use two of them.  The reason there is four is so you can pick the best two that get you around/away from the spot welds.  Please note that my rail is only silver because it was a brand new design and they hadn’t applied a finish yet.  If you order one, you will get a black rail!

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2.  Here you can see my fancy high tech tools.  My Ryobi drill, Tap Magic cutting oil to lubricate the drills and the taps.  Note, you will need to buy a tap handle if you do not have one.  Do not take the short cut of trying to start the tap with a regular socket or open end wrench.  You really want the tap to be firmly held so you can tap the threads at a right angle to the surface of the hinge.  Also, see that little black cylinder?  That is a drill guide that you put into the hole you select to guide the drill bit to the right place on the hinge.  Be sure to use the cutting oil!

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3.  As an aside, I blasted the mount and then sprayed on flat black Molyresin and baked it.  You’d never know it came to me unfinished.

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By the way, pictured above is a cheap Harbor Freight air brush.  I used to buy a bunch of them at a time and then throw them away when they hard problems.  I now use a Paasche H series air brush and am much happier with it.

4.  After you clean up the chips and are ready to do the final screwing of the mount, be sure to apply Blue Loctite so it does not come loose.

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That’s it!  The mount is solid and it holds my Vortex Sparc red dot just great.  Note our quick takedown pin to make it easy to remove the cover and get the optic out of the way.

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10/27/18 Note:  Vortex discontinued the Sparc red dot.  They sell a great 2 MOA red dot called the Crossfire that I really like.

 

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