Non-Letter Serial C Cell Lights

I made a post earlier about Non-Letter Serial D cell lights and the differences between these earlier lights and the later, 1992+, lights that are almost an entirely different light. That post can be found here. Well, I've been saying for sometime I would do a similar post for C cells and here it is.

C cell lights haven't sold as well as D cells and I've done some early history on them here along with sales numbers to back this up. C cells started in 1981 after Mag Instrument was in business for 2 years. Maglite didn't modernize the C cells until 2003. More than 10 years after Mag modernized the D cells. So, what changed and why?

Shown in the above pic are a 2C letter serial (top) from around 2013 and a non-letter serial 3C from around 1988 (bottom). The leading digit, 3, specifies the cell size in the non-letter and the leading C and 2 in the letter serial specifies the cell type and number of cells. The rest of the digits specify the number of the light in the production sequence. All lights started at number 1 and worked their way up. So, the earliest 3 cell light would be 30000001. The non-letter light is serial 30279664 so it is the 279,664th 3C cell light produced. This numbering carried over in 2003 and did not reset when the letter serials came out. Mag Instrument will actually tell you the date a light was produced based on this serial number although I have a Quick Dating Guide that will give you a rough idea without having to go through Mag. Older lights did not differentiate between the cell type in the serial. Newer LED lights will also have other letters on the prefix side as well.

The main update was to the switch. From 1981 until 2003 Mag Instrument used a retaining ring switch which was a sized down version of their D cell light. The retaining ring is very thin and as such it could never be changed over to plastic like the D cells. This resulted in more difficult maintenance as the retaining ring gets stuck when dirt or corrosion get into it. The ring also results in higher production costs as the aluminum is more expensive to produce than the plastic. The new style switches use a snap ring instead of a retaining ring which also results in less machining and a lower production cost. Shown below is a 1981 to 2003 switch on the left and a 2003+ switch on the right with the retaining clip removed from the barrel.

The secondary update was the relocation of the o-ring from the head to the barrel. Early C cells had the o-ring located in the head. This was troublesome as the o-ring would wear when the light was focused as it past over the threads. This would cause water to get inside the light. I believe this was an oversight during the original design and was rectified after numerous service center complaints during the run of the C cells up until 2003. Shown below is an example of the o-ring placement on a 1981 to 2003 light on the right and a 2003+ light on the left.

Unlike the D cell lights the addition of the panther logo did not signify any design changes. Maglite simply started using the bezel in 1992 when the D cells change over and has used that same bezel ever since. 1992 to 1995 bezels will have a TM next to the Panther as the trademark was still pending and 1996+ lights will have an R with a circle next to the panther. Bezels, lenses, and reflectors always interchanged between C and D cells. The only way to tell the new and old lights apart is from the serial number.

All parts will interchange between old and new lights with the exception of the heads and switches. A new style head will go on an old light but because no seals exist the light will not be waterproof. Old style heads won't even thread on to new style lights. The switches, with the exception of the retaining ring vs. clip, are identical but Maglite doesn't sell retaining rings or clips by themselves so you'll likely have to buy a new switch instead of interchanging them.

I should also mention that the barrels are marginally thicker on the new lights by just about a tenth of an inch or so. A lot of the early C cells I've seen are dented so I'm guessing the aluminum extrusion thickness was increased just slightly when the changeover happened to increase durability. This is the opposite of D cell lights which saw both outside and inside diameter reduced. This is because C cell lights were always extruded whereas D cell lights were originally made from aluminum pipe.  

Also in 2003 5C and 6C lights were discontinued. Only a very small handful of the last 5Cs and 6Cs had letter serials. I did a post about these here but basically they were such slow sellers that they were discontinued. Like other discontinued lights they are popular among collectors and often sell for 2 or 3 times their original price. 

As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.