RARE MAGLITES

[sween1911]

Rightmost was made in April of 1980 and it's the original design. The switch cover will be the large old style, and there are other differences I don't think get talked about much. Original reflectors from that series have a much steeper pitch to the cam. Many are also black plastic rather than blue, although they may be 100% silvered so it's hard to see. The tailcap spring should also be fat, or barrel shaped with a smaller contact tip winding.

You weren't kidding, this reflector is cool looking. Definitely different than the standard Mag reflector. And the head has that same dished out shelf that my 1983 3D does.

 

[dc38]

Rightmost was made in April of 1980 and it's the original design. The switch cover will be the large old style, and there are other differences I don't think get talked about much. Original reflectors from that series have a much steeper pitch to the cam. Many are also black plastic rather than blue, although they may be 100% silvered so it's hard to see. The tailcap spring should also be fat, or barrel shaped with a smaller contact tip winding.

And the overall construction is much, much more robust.

 

[sween1911]

@ABTOMAT I'm puzzled, my light has the 1/4" gap at the focus ring, "PATEN PENDING", large switch button, long grip section. It should be 1979 per Jason's website, BUT the serial is in the 19000's which seems to date it 1980 like you said. Hmmmmm.

Edit: Sent Mag the serial and they confirmed a born-on date of April of 1980!

 

[ABTOMAT]

@ABTOMAT I'm puzzled, my light has the 1/4" gap at the focus ring, "PATEN PENDING", large switch button, long grip section. It should be 1979 per Jason's website, BUT the serial is in the 19000's which seems to date it 1980 like you said. Hmmmmm.

Some people call them "1979" models but it's more like "began in 1979." The first-year design ran until about June of 1980 when they redesigned the switch. Numerically, more were made in 1980 as best I can tell.

 

[ABTOMAT]

Following up something I've been trying to find positive info on for years. There's debate over where non-blue (many black, some silver, possibly others) Vari-Beam Mags actually came from, with popular sources saying they were bodged together by dealers. There are so many out there that seemed like a reach to me. Finally found pics (not my light) of a black one in the original box. Where the factory "20x00" (or 30x00 for C-cell lights) model number is printed on the box, this one has a label with "21x00 BLACK" pasted over it. Unless dealers were putting an lot of effort into the subterfuge I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this was a less-common factory offering.