If you were looking at a rifle in a staging area back in 2004, you weren't seeing the sleek, 1,500-lumen powerhouses we have today. Not even close. You were looking at heavy, heat-sinked chunks of aluminum that sucked batteries dry in twenty minutes and turned yellow if you looked at them funny. The 2004 GWOT weapon lights era was a weird, transitional moment where high-speed tech was basically just a fancy lightbulb duct-taped to a rail.
It was chunky.
Honestly, the "Global War on Terror" aesthetic of the mid-2000s is defined by a specific kind of clunkiness. We were moving away from the old-school Maglites hose-clamped to handguards and moving toward purpose-built illumination. But "purpose-built" in 2004 meant something very different than it does now. We are talking about the reign of the incandescent bulb.
The incandescent struggle was real
The SureFire M951 and M961 were the kings of the hill. If you had one, you were doing okay. These things used the P60 or P61 lamp assemblies. They threw a warm, yellowish light that looked great in a backyard but struggled to punch through the "photonic barriers" we talk about so much today.
Think about the specs. A standard M951 Millennium Universal Weapon Light was pushing maybe 65 lumens. That sounds like a joke. Your iPhone flashlight is probably brighter than the most elite tactical gear from twenty years ago. If you "upgraded" to the P61 ultra-high-output bulb, you got 120 lumens, but your battery life dropped to a measly 20 minutes. You basically had to carry a rucksack full of CR123A batteries just to make it through a single night op.
The heat was also a nightmare. Those bulbs got hot enough to melt plastic if you weren't careful.
And then there was the shock-isolation issue. In 2004, if you dropped your rifle or even just fired a long string of 5.56, there was a very real chance the tungsten filament in your bulb would just... snap. Boom. You’re in a dark room in Fallujah with a useless piece of metal on your gun. SureFire tried to fix this with those massive, rubber-bumpered "shock isolation" bezels that made the lights look like giant mushrooms. It worked, mostly, but it added so much bulk.
What we got wrong about the PEQ-2 and the M3X
While SureFire owned the "white light" market, Insight Technology was holding down the laser and polymer side of things. The AN/PEQ-2A was the standard for IR. It was huge. It took up almost the entire top rail of an M4 carbine.
People often confuse the PEQ-2 with the later PEQ-15, but in 2004, the "T-Box" was the vibe. Alongside it, you often saw the Insight M3X Tactical Illuminator. This was a polymer-bodied light that was supposed to be lighter and more "modular." It was the issued light for the M4 Accessory Kit (SOPMOD Block I).
💡 You might also like: Finding the Apple Store Naples Florida USA: Waterside Shops or Bust
But here’s the thing: the M3X was kind of flimsy.
The plastic clips that held it to the rail were notorious for snapping. If you bumped it against a door frame, there was a 50/50 chance you’d see your light skittering across the floor. It was a classic example of early-2000s tech trying to be lightweight before the materials were really ready for the abuse of a combat zone.
The "Tape Switch" spaghetti mess
Managing 2004 GWOT weapon lights meant managing wires. Cable management wasn't a "thing" yet. There were no sleek M-LOK wire guides or integrated tailcaps.
You had two options:
- Use the "Constant On" clicky switch and hope you didn't accidentally white-light your buddies.
- Run a pressure pad (tape switch) and secure it with a mountain of zip ties or—more commonly—strips of inner tube.
The "Ranger Band" (a sliced-up bicycle inner tube) became the unofficial mascot of the era. You’d see these thick black rubber bands holding pressure switches onto Knights Armament (KAC) rail covers because the adhesive on the back of the switches would melt off in the Iraqi heat. It created this very specific, cluttered look that clone builders today spend hundreds of dollars trying to replicate with "period correct" surplus parts.
Why 65 lumens actually worked (Sorta)
You might wonder how anyone cleared a house with 65 lumens. The truth is that the environment played a role. Most of these urban environments were pitch black. There was no street lighting. In total darkness, 65 lumens feels a lot brighter than it does in a suburban neighborhood with LED streetlights.
Also, the "warm" throw of incandescent bulbs didn't wash out colors the way some early, cheap LEDs did. You could actually see the difference between a brown jacket and a red one.
However, the moment you encountered a "photonic barrier"—like a car’s headlights or even a bright flashlight from an opponent—the 2004 GWOT weapon lights would just fail. They didn't have the "candela" (the intensity of the beam) to punch through. You were basically blinded by anyone with a newer flashlight or a porch light.
📖 Related: The Truth About Every Casio Piano Keyboard 88 Keys: Why Pros Actually Use Them
The transition to LED (The KL3 head)
Toward the end of 2004 and into 2005, we started seeing the first serious LED conversions. SureFire released the KL3 LED head. It was a massive deal because it meant your "bulb" wouldn't break if you dropped the gun.
But the early LEDs were... purple.
Seriously. They had this weird, cool-blue or violet tint that made everything look like a CSI crime scene. They weren't necessarily brighter than the incandescent bulbs, but they lasted forever on a set of batteries. It was the beginning of the end for the "warm glow" era.
The Collector’s Market and "Cloning"
If you’re trying to build a period-correct 2004-era rifle today, you’re going to spend a lot of time on eBay and specialized forums like AR15.com or r/MilitaryARClones.
Prices for "salt" (well-used) SureFire M951s have skyrocketed. Ten years ago, you could find them in surplus bins for $50. Now? You might pay $200 for a beat-up unit with a scratched lens. People want that specific look. They want the "fat" bezel and the ribbed body.
But a word of advice for collectors: if you actually plan on using the light, buy a Malkoff Devices LED drop-in. It keeps the 2004 look but gives you modern reliability and brightness. Just don't tell the "purists" who think a weapon light isn't authentic unless it risks blowing a filament every time you drop the bolt.
Real-world performance vs. Nostalgia
There’s a lot of nostalgia for the "SOPMOD Block I" era. We see the photos of early SOF guys in DCU (3-color desert) uniforms with these massive lights and think it looks cool. And it does. It looks "salty" and professional.
But from a purely technical standpoint, 2004 was the "awkward teenage years" of weapon lights. We had moved past the 1990s "primitive" stage but hadn't yet reached the "efficient" stage of the 2010s. It was an era of compromise. You traded weight for reliability. You traded battery life for brightness.
👉 See also: iPhone 15 size in inches: What Apple’s Specs Don't Tell You About the Feel
Actionable insights for the modern enthusiast
If you're looking to dive into the world of mid-2000s tactical illumination, here is how you handle it without wasting money.
First, identify your goal. Are you building a "clone" for the wall, or a rifle you actually want to shoot? If it's a clone, hunt for the original SureFire M951 with the LU60 lamp module. Look for the "fat" shock-isolated bezel—that's the hallmark of the 2004 look. Avoid the newer "thinner" bezels that came out later.
Second, check the tailcaps. Most surplus lights come with the XM00 tailcap, which has both a plug for a tape switch and a push button. These are highly desirable but prone to failure in the plug-in port. Test it immediately.
Third, look at the mounting hardware. The original M49 thumb-screw mount is the "correct" 2004 look. It’s heavy and sticks out, but that’s the point. If you want something slightly more "high speed" for that era, look for the ARMS #17 lever mount, which was the premium upgrade at the time.
Finally, understand that you are buying 20-year-old electronics. The seals are likely dry. The O-rings might be cracked. Before you put batteries in a "new-to-you" surplus light, give it a light coat of silicone grease on the threads and check the gaskets.
The 2004 GWOT weapon lights represent a turning point in how we fight at night. They were imperfect, bulky, and dim by today’s standards, but they were the tools that proved white light wasn't just an accessory—it was a necessity. They paved the way for the 1,000-lumen Scouts we take for granted today.
Keep your batteries fresh and your tape switches zip-tied tight. That's the 2004 way.