Originally posted by F150
1- Can you use a single uncut 223 in a surefire 2 battery light ie. e2/c2/d2 ?
Unfortunately, no, the cells in a 223 are side-by-side, and you'll have to get them stacked for use in a light.
The plastic cases aren't hard to peel open, just be careful you don't puncture a cell casing. That might be bad.
Also, make sure the cells have an exterior coating to insulate it from the flashlight's barrel. Some 223s come with a plastic coating, like Vartas. Others, like Duracells, have no coating, leaving the exterior metal of the shell exposed. A quick single layer of thin packing or scotch tape does the trick, but no too thick. Surefire tolerances are pretty tight, and too much tape will prevent the cells from easily dropping in.
1- why the hell are 123s so damn expensive? I feed mine Duracell Ultra DL123 and they run me 10.99 for a 2 pack and I buy 3 2 packs at a time so I can feed my d3 twice.
123s are expensive because people that use one set a year in a camera will pay the price, thinking, "that's not too bad, a whole year out of a battery..." It's what the casual market will bear.
The trick is, now that you have a Surefire that will make good use of them, is to buy in small bulk quantities from either Cheapbatteries.com (12+ of GE-Sanyos brings it down to $2.00 per; Duracells are $5.00 per),or Zreiss.com (2 "cartons" of, or 48 GE-Sanyo 123s brought the price down to $1.69, IIRC).
Don't forget eBay. There are some great deals on 123s on eBay.
Buying 223s can afford better savings. For example, I just went in on a group buy for Duracell 223s that a fella put together. Buying my portion of 25 223s (or 50 123s) came out to $35 after shipping. That's about $0.80 per cell after I separate them.
There is some slight performance increases using Duracell Ultras or especially Surefire's 123s. However, using less expensive batteries in "utility" lights is only logical. I keep SF123s in my "bump in the night" lights, my M2 and M3, and regular batteries in my E1e, E2, and 6p, since I use them so darn much for mundane chores and lighting needs.
I only bought from a drugstore twice, and said that that was enough.
HTH