At the risk of alienating readers still angry about the religious furor touched off by my Random Thoughts About Fags and Gun Nuts post, I reckon that sending lead down range is an excellent way to celebrate the birth of the Christ child. Failing that, I’m sure that plenty of TTAG’s Armed Intelligentsia have taken – or will take – full advantage of the holiday break to shrug off cubicle-itis for some quality time with your firearms-fancying friends. So . . . what’dja shoot? What’dja buy? What’dja get for Christmas, gun-related?

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121 COMMENTS

  1. Late doe season in MI, I haven’t seen any the last two days but when I had my bow Sunday I seen 7. I have 1 more chance tomorrow morning…

  3. My gift to myself this year, and finished it just in time to put under the tree for myself, is a 408 Cheytac built on a Stiller action, all stuffed into an XLR chassis with a Leupold MK 4 TMR reticle 6-20 optic. Quite literally finished last night. Can’t wait to go shoot. I’d post a pic if I could figure out how.

    • Sounds like a heck of a build. Have fun! And you can always post pics in the forums section.

      BTW, where can you go shoot that thing, and what kind of range can you get? There aren’t too many outdoor ranges near me that allow the bigger calipers, and fewer still that have the distance to take advantage of their capabilies. Public lands are maybe not impossible, but could be a challenge to find the right combination of land owner, open distance, proper backstop and no jeep trails, livestock, hikers, etc. down range….

    • I’m not sure what that means, but did you go with fuel injection or carburetor? Roller cam? MSD ignition? Stick shift or slushbox?

      • It means $$$$$ and quite a large chunk of it resulting in an extremely drool-worthy piece of kit that should be capable of gnat castration at distances most of us don’t even like to walk without a good reason…. I believe it’s also a three on the tree.

  4. I actually shoot very little, I’m primarily a C&R collector; with the exception of a few modern self-defense firearms, virtually every one of my guns is a safe queen; That being the case, I normally don’t ask Santa for anything gun-related 🙂

  5. Thanks to my wife, I got a very unexpected gift of a 1911, to round out my shortlist of “must have” classic firearms

  6. 5.45×39 bolt and barrel kit for my Robinson XCR. There are almost none of them in circulation yet, so I was pretty damn thrilled, I’ve been trying to find one for a while now. Turns out the person who beat me to the one I found was my GF.

  8. Just the breeze with family & friends… unless I should suffer a home intrusion, in which case, the bad guy(s).

  9. Hoping to meet up with my sister-in-law to shoot my dad’s 80’s vintage Colt 1911 style .380 pistol
    inherited from his estate, came with about 10 boxes of 50 round Winchester .380, he paid $10.00 a box from small 5 & Dime store, been out of business for years. We’ll wait until after 1st. of the year to avoid
    tourists. Have a bunch of holiday themed paper dessert papers for targets

  12. Had no plans for shooting til after the holidays. Managed to grab an unscheduled moment the 24th and got my new Mossberg 20 ga. to the range and at least function tested it. I fired maybe 6 rounds then had to run. But it works.

    In January I take my hunters safety class and I can get my license. Looking forward to hunting trips with my son and a couple of others in our circle.

  13. A Henry golden boy in .22 mag.
    This thing is gorgeous. Can’t wait to foul it up and see how it shoots.

  15. After my wife said “sweetheart, why don’t you pick your own “big” present for Christmas,” I found a lovely Glock 29 Gen 4. She said “well, it’s Austrian, that’s very Christmasy.”

    And my mom, who grew up as a young girl in the ’30s with her own 1911, said “A Glock for Christmas? Be careful you don’t shoot your eye out.”

  16. My wife surprised me with a Henry Big Boy .44 Mag! I’ve been wanting one for years, and tried to sell my ’76 Browning A5 Magnum to get one (unsuccessfully). It’s beautiful — wood AND brass! Going to the club this afternoon to warm it up . . .

    • Fantastic. Man, am I jealous. I would love to have one of those.

      At this point I would even settle for an H&R Handi Rifle in .44 Magnum.

      Better let us know how it shoots. Now, if you could only find reasonably priced ammunition. Enjoy!

  17. Don’t sweat anybody shooting at Santa. Last I heard he had a fighter escort and NORAD was doing overwatch.

  19. My PTR-91 A3S arrived last week, safely ahead of Kalifornia’s long-gun shutdown. My boys took me to the range Saturday for some sighting-in time, just enough to get it on the paper at 100yds. I’m pretty sure there’s some wooden furniture under the tree but we haven’t gotten to that step yet in the Christmas morning festivities.

  20. My wife told Santa I couldn’t have a new Tavor for Christmas so he left her one. Hoping she’ll let me try it out this afternoon.

  21. My awesome girlfriend got me a Sig 226 reverse two-tone steel frame chambered in .40 S&W with some 15 rd metgar mags, and some G-10 VZ grips…. I think I just might marry this girl. I got her an M&P .40c

    • If your girlfriend:
      (a) knew firearms in depth enough to choose that present,
      (b) knew you in depth enough to know you would want it, and
      (c) was willing to pay the big bucks to purchase it for you, then
      YOU DARN WELL BETTER MARRY THAT WOMAN!

      How could you possibly do any better?!?!?!?

      • Yup. That’s a keeper. God bless gun-lovin’ wimmins. Or at the very least, gun-accommodating wimmins.

  22. Well, Merry Christmas and good tidings to all of the Armed Intelligentsia. The outdoor ranges at Harvard Sportsman’s Club are closed today to give the neighbors a break. Considering that it’s a breezy 18 degrees out, that’s probably just as well.

    Santa brought my daughter two 375 round boxes of CCI Mini-Mags for her 10/22 takedown and the Sig 226 conversion (@ 10.66 cents / round that’s not horrid, considering that Chris Dumm mentioned earlier the 15 cents/round price point seems to be the going rate in many parts). I got a couple of boxes of .38 SPL FMJ to add to the larder. My 9 year old niece got a junior compound bow and is very anxious to learn archery with my daughter, so this presents a great opportunity to get her to the range for some archery and to introduce her to the shooting sports with our .22’s.

  23. I didn’t get anything for Christmas this year but a $50 gift card, which is better than last year when I got nothing at all.

    I couldn’t afford to go shooting lately, either. That’s all well and good, though. I still have everything I need, and my family.

  25. Christmas $ + my gun fund means post-Christmas toy shopping! Over the break I get to help my oldest earn his rifle shooting merit badge, so he will be perfecting his gun cleaning technique and reducing his 5 shot group. I get to shoot with my boy and someone other than me gets to smell like Ballistol. Sounds like a gift to me…

  28. I wanted to go shooting, but everything is either closed or a terrible place to shoot (both yesterday and today).
    Farago, (or anyone) know a good place or range in the Austin area that ISN’T Eagle Peak to go on Christmas day?

  29. Smith & Wesson M&P 40c with a 9mm conversion barrel, extra Mags for both calibers, a Sneaky Pete holster, and a big ol cannon gun safe to hold it and and all its new friends.

    • Just remember that if the nose looks as if “you could even say it glows” then you have to bury it with honors, rather than turning it into filets and sausage. Tradition.

  32. Sipping–not shooting–some Black Maple Hill bourbon today. Then hopefully shooting some mallards with the ol’ Mossberg the rest of the week…here’s to hoping the skies are filled tomorrow morning.

  33. I bought myself an EoTech XPS2-0 with the Cabelas gift cards and factory rebates. This is my first expensive optic purchase.

  35. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, to ALL! May the bullets be plentiful and cheap in price! Or your aim improved overnight!

  36. Got a build your own Kentucky long rifle kit from the lady, and bought an AR lower parts kit for myself. Will be building two rifles on opposite ends of american military history concurrently this winter.

  37. Got a Lyman reloading manual.

    Gonna take the family shooting:
    FNH FNX-45
    Sig Sauer P938
    Beretta 92FS (miss my 92G :[)
    Springfield XD-S .45
    Arsenal SAM7SF
    Winchester semi-auto .22 (can’t remember the model offhand…)
    M&P 22
    Glock 23 (my dad’s)

      • Thanks! Really happy with all of them, keeps the shooting fun for my wife and people we take with us.

        Just gotta get some ammo for my .32 Special Winchester 94 and an AR platform to fiddle with and I’ll be set for a while : ].

  39. Colt LE6920MP-B. Still a few days until delivery, but that will be like a second Christmas morning! First trip to the range will be like a third Christmas morning!

  40. From my sweetie, I got a Sneaky Pete’s OWB holster in very sharp looking leather. IWB is great with jeans and t-shirt or polo shirt, because the quick access is still there. With suit pants or other slacks with a tucked-in shirt, IWB is 3+ second presentation affair, and that’s in practice conditions. The Sneaky Pete allows me to carry my G26 outside in what looks like a nice cell phone or iPad mini case, which many in my circles do carry. So I’ll blend right in.

    For my sweetheart, I gave her an IWB holster and matching extra mag pouch, both in pink, of course, from the Holster Store, for the Sig P250 full size in .45ACP she had bought for herself. Plus a spare mag. I also gave her the Aged Brown Leather Satchel concealed carry bag from Concealed Carrie (cute name, huh?)

    Finally, for my 20 year old college student niece and new firearms freedom enthusiast: an NRA membership.

    • Sneaky Pete does wonderful work, though I would stay away from their extra mag holders; mine came right off the belt with the mag.

  41. I got a CBRPS kit for my 10/22. I’ve been working on the trigger to get it smoother. A fun project for me!

  43. Joe Grine and I toured a gun factory yesterday and shot the hell out of their rifles. Best. Christmas. Eve. Ever.

    Look for a short post in a day or two, and another one from Joe later on.

  44. I bought a beautiful original Mosin 2 days before Christmas.

    I also got dad several boxes of ammo and a new owb paddle holster for the pf9 I got him last year.

    Sadly the “horrible boating accident of ’13” has ruined x-mas for us both.

  45. My license giving me the privilege of owning a firearm in the Peoples Democratic Republic of Massachusetts.

    • Cats do love boxes… My dumbass cat sat in a printer paper box for hours today, even after my stepson put the lid on it. Should’ve got the cat a helmet and crayons, cuz he’s definitely retarded.

  48. I picked up an old High Standard Double-Nine to plink around and have some fun with, while the SO got a new Ruger SR9c.

    Need to return to the range to test out the double nine again – first time out it didn’t strike hard enough in double-action, so I disassembled, cleaned, and oiled it (not as difficult as everyone made it out to be). Hoping it does better, though there are still areas I can smooth and springs to lighten.

  49. Hornady Lock n Load AP reloading press. I’m going to load up some .308, 6.8 SPC, .30-06, .45-70, .40 Smith, and .338 Lapua if’n it’ll fit. It’s gonna take awhile since the only powder I have is a Reloader 10X and my 6.8 dies are RCBS or Lee. Any I don’t have any primers. And I need some good calipers to check COAL. And a scale. And hardware to bolt the damn thing to the table in the mancave…

  50. Got a Burris Fullfield II 2-7 scope for my AR from the parents, and my girlfriend got me a swinging, auto-reset .22 steel target. Also went to the Reno gun show last weekend and found a brick of .22! That was Christmas come early!

  51. Mother in law got a kimber 1911 crimson such or another.

    Brother and sister in law are considering a pistol purchase so I’m going to let them shoot my xd(m)

    Mostly taking others to go shoot. Way more fun that way.

  52. Let’s see… Actual shooting? I went to a range yesterday, as a frigid front blew in, to dump two mags in honor of Gospodin Kalashnikov.

    On the anniversary of Newtown, the pusbag in chief pissed me off enough that I went and bought the CZ-75 compact I had had my eyes on for a month and a half. One of the employees at the store has apparently adopted one as *his* carry weapon (his is the decocker type, with a totally different model number–CZ’s model numbering scheme shouldn’t be dignified with the name “scheme,” it’s even worse than Glock’s, because with Glock you can at least know why the heck they are doing it) So now I am hearing jealous grumblings from my full-size. I hope the two CZs don’t get into a gunfight over me.

    Today I am going to go spread some Christmas cheer; I’ll be visiting a friend who I can best cheer up by surrounding him with weapons for a couple of hours.

    • Great idea.

      One of these days I want to see the fastest rate of fire I can generate with a semi-auto. I imagine I should be able to squeeze the trigger to launch at least four rounds per second … although I may be wildly inaccurate at that rate.

  54. I am hoping to put some .44 Magnum down range out of a BIG revolver … and hopefully toward the appropriate deer for the late season. (I’ve taken deer with a compound bow, crossbow, shotgun, rifle, and muzzleloader but not with a revolver yet.) Depending on where I hunt, I might also bring along a long gun in case any long shots present themselves.

    I am also hoping to work up a good powder load for the muzzleloader to shoot inexpensive .45 caliber 240 grain lead bullets. I hope those will be as accurate as the .50 caliber 295 grain copper jacketed bullets — the most accurate rifle/bullet combination that I have ever shot!

  55. Nothing firearms-related for Christmas. My family is less than appreciative of the hobby, so I don’t bother asking for anything.

    I am hoping to make some range time later this week. Gonna be cold as balls though. There are no indoor ranges nearby.

  57. Sun Devil .308 stripped lower, all the Magpul goodies to finish it out, and my wife topped it all off with a Geiselle SSA-E. Now that the lower is done I have to decide what to do with the upper. I am open to suggestions…

  58. My 8 year old son got a Red Ryder, so I got out the one I got 25 Christmases ago and we shot them off the back porch until we both got too cold.

    • Cherish every single second of that time together, my friend. No doubt there will be many more just like it between you two, and some day, you, him, and his son sharing that same experience. Still, they’re each precious and irreplaceable. God bless you, Josh, and Merry Christmas!

    • Much like my Christmas, if you substitute in some old Renault Cognac and sip it slowly. As usual we entertained my mother, three brothers and their SO’s, son and SO, but peace was enjoyed by all because they knew, each and everyone, that burglars simply wouldn’t stand a chance if they disturbed us. Still, I think they all come here for the food and good booze.

      I do cherish the spirit of the season. For me it is about giving, about the dancing flames from the fireplace, family, the wife’s cooking, a complete absence of the profit motive, and a chance to forget about guns, because, well, there’s already enough of them about the place, and there’s a 2nd Amendment. Still.

  61. No shooting for me until January 11 when the range reopens. To kick off the new shooting year there are two .22 shoots and the next week is a 400 metre telescopic sight match.

    Until then the family is heading over to the grandparent’s place for some beach time (summer down-under).

  62. Wifey surprised me (big time) with a Browning BL-22 (Grade 2) with a Maple stock. It’s GORGEOUS. It’s my first real PRETTY gun.

    Got my 9 year old daughter her first firearm, a Ruger American Rimfire (compact).

    Merry Gun-mas. And, to all a good sight (picture).

  63. If the weather holds, I’ll be taking a day trip to my favorite little piece of National Forest land over the weekend. I made a pair of speedloaders for my son for Christmas, so we’ll test those out on our Henry rifles.

    Might be taking a couple of complete newbies along too — they said they’d be interested and didn’t need any prompting from me, so hopefully they’ll follow through. Should be fun (although my wallet and my dwindling ammo stash might say otherwise).

  64. New ear defenders from my lovely wife; targets, Hoppe’s #9, & a gun cleaning mat from the offspring, and I treated myself to a new CZ452 Ultra Lux 22LR. if it doesn’t snow tomorrow, could be a trip to Harvard Sportsmen’s Club to try it out…!

    • I predict you will LOVE the 452 lux. I have several CZ rimfires including a 452 lux and couldn’t be more pleased with them or recommend them more.

  66. My lovely wife got me a lowly p238 to go with my old Gold Match, CCO, and 1911-22. I really was surprised, and pleased.

    Merry Christmas, TTAG

  68. Of course it is hkfan. I’m still suprised when a plan comes together – but this year it did! Nitron p238 with hiviz night sights and both size mags.

    A very good Christmas

  69. The wife pulled a surprise on me; after taking her to Red’s (local indoor range) to walk her through the Texas CHL live fire test, she must have noticed me lusting after one of their long guns behind the counter. Lo and behold, she arranged for Santa to drop a gorgeous new Ruger Red Label O/U 12 gauge down the chimney last night! Haven’t had a chance to shoot it yet, but am counting the hours. Glad I married me a Texas gal who is right with the world when it comes to firearms!

  70. I shot nothing today other than bourbon. I did however give my stepson 200 12ga shells, 5 boxes of slugs, 180 clays, and electronic ear pro (The wife and I got him a Remington 870 last Christmas). Then for good measure I ordered new Magpul furniture for my Mossy 500. And more Magpul gear for my AR, plus a Daniel Defense offset light mount and Surefire flashlight. And a couple PMags. And Hornady Critical Defense 45’s. Christmas kicks ass.

  71. No shooting today, but I’m working on a couple AR builds and parts for the lowers are en route. Pretty excited about the Geissele triggers.

    Also made plans to dump 94 rounds of 7.62×39 in the near future in remembrance of Mr. K…. 🙂

  72. Nothing, too cold. Though I will be getting a late birthday and Christmas gift, my first official gun. Currently looking at a Marlin336W in .30-30 or a Weatherby Vanguard Serires 2 in .308.

  74. Went out Christmas morning & shot some 50 grain Vmax reloads in my Stag model 2. It’s now ready to put some big holes in Coyotes this weekend 🙂

  75. Let’s see… It’s been a big year for me buying myself Christmas guns.
    I picked up a Sig 228 with 6 mags, extra wood grips, night sights, and holster for a super low price.
    Next, on black Friday I grabbed a 10/22 tactical takedown, which I have since scooped with a cheap BSA red dot. Also got 2 more of those red dots for a couple other guns.
    Finally, I bought me a Mosin 91/30 to complete my collection of cheap historic Commissar rifles (Already have a couple SKS and a AK). Spruced it up with a rubber butt pad, Weaver rail, and 2-7 scout scope.
    WOO HOO
    Probably spent less than some guys who got one high end gun, but now I look forward to a happy new year of IDPA, plinking, AND high power fun.

  76. That should say commie rifles, not Commissar. #%$&@ spell “correcters” misspelled my correctly speller words.

  78. I shot a 10 Point buck and three Does with my new 12 gauge Sabot reloads I put together with the stuff I bought from Ballistic Products. I can shoot 4 times as much with reload Sabots as I could buying factory ammo. Now to figure out what to do with the gift cards to the big box hunting stores. 22 LR ammo? maybe I would expect to see Santa’s elves first.

  80. The day after Christmas turned out MUCH better. An old friend of the family called and wanted to know if I wanted to take a look at his Ruger collection because he’s selling them off and buying Smith and Wessons.

    I bought…..
    A stainless 2″ barreled GP100 in great shape.

    A stainless 6 1/2″ barreled single six “liberty model” .22lr with pearl grips and adjustable sights in PERFECT condition in box.

    And last but not least(for me), the one Ruger he had that I’ve had my eye on for at least 5 years… A blued new model Blackhawk long barrel chambered in 30 carbine with adjustable sights.

    The best part…. all 3 for $900!

    Add those to the Mosin(earlier post) and I spent most of the night stripping, cleaning and generally enjoying my new toys as well as getting the news from my new girlfriend that she wants to start training to shoot when she gets back from MI visiting her family….

    Merry Christmas to MEEEEEE!

  81. Got a M+M M10 762 and 500 rounds to go with it, also 200 rounds for my AR. Gonna shoot once I get on leave.

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