When will the CR123 die (or when can we kill it)?

[ScotchMan]

With regards to the rechargeable 123As, I have a Olight Baldr light/laser combo mounted on my HK45, and found that with the rechargeables in it, the light and laser would turn off about every 10-15 rounds on average. It wouldn't immediately turn back on but after doing things like opening the battery compartment and closing it again, I could bring it back to life. The same setup would stay on forever off a gun, so it seems like the .45's recoil was causing an issue.

The same light worked fine with the non-rechargeable 123As that came with the light. So in this case it seems like the rechargeables didn't like recoil.

Strangely, the same batteries in a Olight Valkyrie (light only, otherwise the same), work fine and I've never had the issue where it turns off while mounted to the .45.

So two takeaways, first make sure you test whatever setup you want to run (as always), and second, at least for me, I probably won't invest in any more Olight products (I've had other issues as well that are not related to the battery).

[Duelist]

Vendor recommendations?

Im not quite a big enough flashlight geek to have chased that rabbit down its hole, but the guys on http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/ in the Custom/Modified forum do that sort of thing, and it’s fun to read about what can be done.

[Blades]

With regards to the rechargeable 123As, I have a Olight Baldr light/laser combo mounted on my HK45, and found that with the rechargeables in it, the light and laser would turn off about every 10-15 rounds on average. It wouldn't immediately turn back on but after doing things like opening the battery compartment and closing it again, I could bring it back to life. The same setup would stay on forever off a gun, so it seems like the .45's recoil was causing an issue.

The same light worked fine with the non-rechargeable 123As that came with the light. So in this case it seems like the rechargeables didn't like recoil.

Strangely, the same batteries in a Olight Valkyrie (light only, otherwise the same), work fine and I've never had the issue where it turns off while mounted to the .45.

So two takeaways, first make sure you test whatever setup you want to run (as always), and second, at least for me, I probably won't invest in any more Olight products (I've had other issues as well that are not related to the battery).

Rechargeables can be shorter. I've had issues with a 123a rechargeable in flashlights that don't have two springs. Sometimes you can stretch the spring to make it work but not sure I'd trust it for a weapon light.