# Fulton MX991/U Mag bulb'd



## bykfixer (Apr 28, 2016)

Another classic light. This time a "Vietnam era" Fulton angle head light. 

This one goes out to all who served in that awful era when our government was too worried about political BS and did not GIVE A DAM about all those brave soldiers fighting THEIR war.

Thank you for your service. 

As a lad Vietnam was on tv at 6:30 while we ate supper and my pop would pound the dinner table shouting "liar!" at whatever garbage was spewing from the mouth of Walter Kronkite. He'd shout things like "our boys are being killed and this fool is calling them murders!" and stuff like that.

Meanwhile the guy with the vette down the street was never the same, the guy 2 blocks away was killed by friendly fire and my brother was on the list to be drafted. He got a letter one day...same day Nixon said "ENOUGH!" Phew, that was close. 
Not long after that ole Walter was focusing on Nixon himself and dinner time was fairly enjoyable. 

A moment of silence please for all the fallen, mamed and missing...



Ok...the Fulton;





The upgrade to the fabled TL-122 A to D series of WW II was the MX99/U. They were made largely by Fulton. But a company called GT Price made some. From what I've read soldiers prefered the GT Price beam. 

At one point Fulton came up with a switch guard which was simply a pair of raised areas beside the switch that prevented accidental acivation of the on/momentary switch system. The 991




See the rails?

This is a (for the time) a good, watertight light that used rubber gaskets. Today we call them o-rings.




Double o-ring here. 




Tailcap used a gasket.

Speaking of tailcap, it is a split system that used one part to hold a spare bulb and the other to house filters. Filter colors and quantities apparently varied as time moved forward going from a red, blue, and white to a kit of 5 which included a map reader diffuser and a spare clear. 




Spare bulb compartment




Spare lens storage area arrived empty. I'll get some at some point. Fulton still makes some.

The one I got was in pretty dawg gone good shape. I'd say not much combat (if any) was seen with this one. Either that or the soldier kept it as well as his weapon. 



Inside never saw a leaking DA40. (We call them D cells today)




Looks like new inside. Nearly new outside.




Minor nicks here n there.




The nail hook looks like it was never used.




The lens showed some scratches, but they are minor like it was dusty and a PO used a tshirt to dry wipe it.
I'll polish the reflector at some point for max output.





The belt clip shows it has been used, but well cared for. 


Well after a bit of getting to know this light and doing some reading about it the time came to see just how well it works. This light was built to be a thrower. And I suppose at the time it did that well.
But instead of wasting the 1965-67 bulb just to be bummed I threw in a Mag White Star.




Glad I did. USA! USA!




Awe yeah! Glad I did.




At about 100' it aint bad.




My "halt who goes there" pic behind the neighbors garage about 125' away.

These things are a pretty cool piece of history that are still being made today...and _they_ said the 6P was the benchmark...

Again, thanks for looking.


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## swampgator (May 8, 2016)

I have both lights. A Fulton and a G.T. Price.
As I recall they were in a wire bin and you just grabbed one. I guess it was luck of the draw as to which brand you got. 
As for the condition being so good on your light, I'm suspecting its owner kept it as an inspection item and probably had a "working" light for field use. I know I did.
As for the lens filters, we used the white filter for morning PT runs in low light. The red was the most often used. It was the lens for night use as red light didn't screw up your night vision.
The diffuser and blue lens never got used, at least by me. 

A few years back someone posted a mod wherein they ROP'd the old angle head using 2 18650s (if my memory is still correct). I never did a ROP but one did using 2 18500s and a Mag 6D bulb.


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## bykfixer (May 8, 2016)

^^ thanks for the info.
I was getting visuals as I read your words.
"YOUR LENS IS SCRATCHED MAGGOT!! GIVE ME 25!!!"
And I gather you were over there? 
If so... (saluting) thank you!! 
We in my home were rooting for you guys. We knew the press was lying. Even as a little kid I knew the press was not to be trusted. And our leaders shoulda been SHOT for the way they mis-handled the deal. 

(Folks may have noticed this is not my usual light hearted style thread here. I still get man tears welling up remembering soldiers returning home being spat on and called awful names)

I talked with the VP of sales at Fulton recently and he mentioned the US armed services still uses these. Same bulb and all. But the Marines get their LED version for it's weight reduction. The LED setup is 2D to aa adapters and an LED module that fastens just like an incan. 
I have filter kits and the LED upgrade kit on the way. 

In regards to modifying, I may at some point do a 2x 18500 lifepo with a 4 cell bulb, but in a newer one. This particular one will stay close to stock. I say close because it will be a lab rat for a few different 2 cell bulbs along the way. 

It's surprising when I carry it how many folks comment "Nam light! Cool".


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## bykfixer (May 10, 2016)

A filter kit ends up being a repair kit.




Now includes an orange filter.

The LED upgrade kit:












I tried the kit in a Duracell, a Mag and an old Cub Scout light and it sure was nice. 
In the Mag a Krypton keeper is required as the bi-pin conversion keeper opening is too narrow.

But in the Fulton, it was a wee bit brighter than the Mag White Star I had in it.




This little module is about as bright as your TerraLUX, NiteIze or Dorcy drop in. 
But the beam and tint are seriously better. I was impressed at the difference. Pure White, pure circle with a nice blend of spot to spill in all but the old Cub Scout light with about 25% reflective coating missing. 
The LED kit is worth the $17 for the emitter alone.


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## swampgator (May 23, 2016)

Just saw this.
No, I wasn't over there. I'm a post DS veteran and did my time from 91-95.


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## bykfixer (Jun 9, 2016)

So I had 'heard' there was a MX-991/U and a MX-991\U. Curiosity caused me to write to Fulton to ask about the history of the slash mark with the Fulton version of this light.

The response was "Huh? Really? I been here 30 years and never saw one."






I wonder if at the time Fulton stamped the civilian one different as a way to show it was a civilian model at a glance.

But upon inspection the only difference other than a smoother switch in the military version, was the slash between the 1 and U...and the absence of 'US' above the rotated 90° differently model number.


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