Rayovac Sportsman Incan Mod

I have a Rayovac Sportsman 7D that I don't use all that much, it seems like it should have a great throw with the huge lens but my mag mods with a 3853 out throw it.
I have tried running it with 7D alkalines and a Mag 6 cell bulb and it burns out the bulb in a few hours, I only have 6 D NIMH cells and run the light like that but it is kind of underwhelming.

There are two ideas I am thinking of:

1) Steal the reflector/lens from a 1MCP spotlight and see if it fits, run an H3 bulb or install a bipin socket. If it fits, I will need to install a better switch for the H3.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002CYZCU0/?tag=cpf0b6-20

I will need to measure the resistance of the host for a high current bulb like this.


2) Sealed beam, PAR36 bulb. There were talks about this from other members in the past but I don't know if it went anywhere.

How much headroom is there for overdrive in PAR bulbs? If i use the following, would it run OK or poof on 7.2 volts? The 100 hour life brings back flashbacks to poofing 5761s.
https://www.bulbamerica.com/products/platinum-4515-30w-6-4v-par36-spotlamp-light-bulb

I realize the light is an antique and these mods may not be reversable but I want to make it a wow light for throw that my mags cant match.

3) Get one more D nIMH cell and run the 3853H, but I dont know of sources for high-temp lens, reflector, or bulb holder.

Well it looks like we are going to try #1. Sorry for the photo quality, I didnt have my DSLR with me at this time.

I removed the existing lens and reflector. The current setup is the battery contacts the PR bulb and the switch contacts the reflector.



The donor is a 4V 15W H3 bulb, reflector, and lens from an old Gander Mountain spotlight. We are going to run this with 4 D Cells. I used electrical tape to tape the wire onto the top cell for testing, this will be more permanent if this works.



We need a jumper wire from the switch to the - terminal on the H3 bulb, as this reflector is different and the brass from the switch can't reach it.



The lens and reflector are about 1/16" too large to fit in the bezel so we are going to tape it to the outside of the bezel. I will either grind down the bezel or make a screw-on bezel similar to a pipe clamp to hold it on.



Test beamshots from the backyard. This is around 4x the brightness of stock with great throw and spill. Ceiling bounce tests put it at roughly a ROP low. After running for 10 minutes, both the tailcap and switch were getting warm, so this light will definately need resistance mods.





Next step would be 6x NIMH and a 35W or 55W H3 bulb, mounting the bezel permanently, and using thicker jumper wires. I will also need to mod the switch and tailcap, or at least start with Deoxit. I dont know if anyone has ever modded one of these for high current yet.