Courtesy Chris Dumm for The Truth About Guns

 

It’s about That Time again: the trick-or-treaters came and went, the clocks have fallen back by an hour and it’s getting colder than a witch’s teat after the sun goes down. When you hear Bruce Springsteen belting out “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town” yet again, you know that the Winter Solstice Celebration Of Your Choice™ season is upon us once more. What are you going to get the shooters on your Christmas list? I’ve got a few suggestions . . .

AR500 Steel Targets

Nothing rings in the holidays better than a carillon of bullets hitting hardened steel targets. Depending on your friends’ shooting habits, you can spend $40 for a set of knock-down pistol targets or about $200 for a rifle-proof gong that resets itself after you nail it from 600 yards. (Hint: that will save your buddies a sh**load of time checking their targets…)

Steel targets ain’t exactly cheap, but you don’t have to spend Old King Cole’s ransom to equip your shooting buddies with targets they can use for decades.

Rechargeable LED Flashlights

Image courtesy www.dealsergeant.com

Every home-defense gun should have a high-intensity light near it. But those lights can eat CR-123 lithium batteries like Mentos. CR-123s are remarkable for their energy density and long shelf life, but they’re also notorious for their short run times in the brightest torches — and for being stupidly expensive if you have to buy them at your LGS or hardware store.

LED torches that use 18650 batteries are gifts that keep on giving saving, because those lithium cells have nearly the same energy density as CR-123s, and can be reused hundreds of times. Search eBay for ‘18650 Cree’ and you’ll be overwhelmed with deals that typically include the light, some 18650 batteries, and a charger. And all for about the same price as a pack of disposable CR-123s.

Make sure your selection has a 1″ body diameter, so it can fit in standard weapon mounts, if desired.

Stripped AR Lower Receivers

Image courtesy New Frontier Armory

Now that Black Rifle Friday has come and gone, many retailers’ shelves have been stripped bare of stripped AR lowers. If you can still find them for less than $100, they make slightly pricey (and rather lumpy) stocking stuffers for the Modern Sporting Rifle crowd.

Stripped lower receivers are considered ‘firearms’ by the ATFE, so remember to comply with state and federal laws governing firearms transfers. And they might not make the best gifts for the starving college students on your list, because they’ll have to spend $400 (and upwards) to turn your Yuletide bit of cheer into an actual working rifle.

 

22 COMMENTS

  1. Ammo. More ammo. Even more ammo.

    You can’t go wrong with a few nicely wrapped bricks of .22LR. Or a case of it.

    Hey, nothing says “Happy non-denominational Holidays” like 5,000 rounds of someone’s favorite .22LR ammo. Or even a few boxes of the cheap stuff for plinking.

    • I love the idea of a brick of .22LR as a Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza gift. It’s affordable and EVERYONE on my list has a .22 something that shoots.

    • Ok!! You do know tho that we are required to check out his escort to make sure everything is in top notch working order. Would really hate to get him a gift that didn’t work or would cause him to “Uneccessarily Injure His Robertness”!!
      Btw: thanks for the new link on the S&P sets, sent that one to my GF also!!

  2. I’m still asking for the TDI Law Enforcement knife that was on last year’s TTAG list.

    Happy shooting, dv

  3. Ammunition and cleaning supplies are on my Christmas list.
    Hope the wife is happy with her new SA XD-9 Subcompact
    because that is what Santa is bring her plus a few spare magazines
    in her stocking.

  4. Ammo’s probably the only thing that I would get someone with guns, or ask for myself. Everything else I want is so specific it would be less of a gift and more like asking a loved one to run an errand.

    Gift Cards to Cabelas or your favored website are always good too.

  5. The eBay Rechargeable LED Flashlights are either from China or Hong Kong. Good luck with those. You can get rechargable 18650 batteries online here and just swap CR123 batteries for the 18650 batteries.

  6. Here are my recommendations:

    1. Ammo
    2. Ammo
    3. Ammo
    4. Ammo can full of ammo
    5. Ammo
    6. Ammo
    7. 2013 Magpul Calendar (I never got the girls&guns thing, but holy cow!)

    • Damn nice chess set!! Well I hope my GF has saved up some extra money!! Just added that to my wish list too!! Heh heh heh!!!!
      Glad it isn’t real ammo, next thing would be the story of a fatal shooting with a 9mm chess piece!!!

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