I have a spare legitimate unity Hot button that I’d like to use on a knock off Surefire for a range toy.

What’s the consensus on brand?

OPP-OPTICS has M300/600Vs that use “SF” plugs, also
Somogear but are a little more expensive. Anyone have any experience with these things?

eBay 300s here that I found.

The look good in the pics. Just wonder how well the light will hold up under recoil.

22lr will probably be fine.

Yea I wonder that too. Going on an AP5K, so it’s pretty soft but a tad more than rimfire

I've had a knockoff M600 scout on my AP5 for about 700 rounds, no problem.

I also have of of the vamp ones, I think it was branded Wadson, but I figure they're probably all about the same regardless of branding.  It works fine, but because of how it does the rotating bezel and off center LEDs, the output isn't great in white.  IR is strong but floody.

They do not have the same threads on the head or tailcap as real SF, so don't plan to use real parts other than mounts.  The real pressure pads do work though.

Good to know. Looks like the company is Wadsn, typical Chinese air soft items.

Wadsn.com

I got a SOTAC X300V for the sole purpose of carrying a suppressed 9mm pistol in a T-Rex Ragnarock SD holster (retention is based on the light) - wasn't paying 3-4 hundy for that purpose. No exact round count, but it's a good bit - light works fine.

The Vampire head with either the Pro or rail mount body make good helmet or admin lights too.

SOTAC makes the best ones, IMHO.

Stay away from the KIJI heads as they are a bit anemic.

Good to go, thanks all for the recommendations

I would be very interested in a range report of one of the Vampire clones, and comparison to a real Vampire.

Personally I have been pretty disappointed with Chinese lights. I bought a Wasdn that is not compatible with most mounts, or some tailcaps, and the head threads are different as well.

Recently bought a Sotac version of the Zbolt Crane/clicky tailcap. Felt great but you cannot rotate the crane port like on the real thing, and when screwing it into the above Wasdn light the crane port is on the same side as the mount, making it unusable. When using it on a Surefire the light is just on constantly, so unusable. Also neither this tailcap nor a DS00 clone have half press for momentary.

Maybe my expectations are just too high in expecting them to perform like or interface with the real thing?

Probably the last sentence - they can be pretty decent when used "as is" or with their accessories - but complicated setups with US stuff can disappoint. With Goonbeam and the newest Streamlight, I wouldn't even bother with clones in that category anyway.

@mickdondson I don’t disagree with you.  The only benefit these clones offer is ir & white light in 1 unit.  I don’t know of any other budget options that offer that.

Agree. I do have two Odin IRs that are nice (White is just under 50K Candela, IR is all flood)  - but they aren't made anymore.

Might as well go right to the source.... AliExpress.

@wagonwheel1 supposedly the American defense research ones are fully potted & the aliexpress ones aren’t.  The MFG says they’ve been tested on thousands of rounds…. I’d throw some money to battlefield armory if we could get them to mount some of these up and just see how they do.

Have a link? I may have to look into these.

Probably this:
https://americandefenseresearch.com/products/potted-sotac-sf-scout-mini-m340v?variant=48730001506590

Yeah I mean Mick is not far off; the clones is what they is; if you use them with their own housings, mounts, etc, they work ok on secondary rifles.  The only thing I change is to upgrade the m-lok hardware, which sometime requires slight modifications (reaming out mounting holes for larger bolt heads).  Other than that, I don't mix n match because the threads are usually so different.  SOME airsoft stuff will mate with US stuff, but most won't.  I usually order with the newer "pro" style mounts, which make them customizable for use with LAMs.  This can be important because the outside diameters are sometimes different from SF.   And I like to use One Hundred Concepts light caps, which require slightly more room.  With a little Loctite the pivot points stay just as tight as SF.  

I will usually use the UT switches with them, since most airsoft ones are sorta manky, but improving, especially Somo Gear.

@wagonwheel1 this was what I was looking at

https://americandefenseresearch.com/products/potted-sotac-sf-scout-mini-m340v?variant=48730001506590

I've got a few of these knockoff scout lights. They make great helmet lights and I have one on my AR pistol next to the flash hider. Its lasted 3-400 rounds and it's the non potted version. The only downside is the dead spot in the middle of the light when using IR.