It’s nearly Christmas and you are a terrible procrastinator … but, fortunately your friends and family love firearms! Here are some ideas for gifts for different types of firearm owners.
The Seldom Shoots
Register them for a local match or range day that you will attend with them. Arrange any required gear and ammo and maybe make it a gift basket with a coupon for the range day.
The AR Builder
Upgrades for ARs are about the easiest thing to find, but don’t get lost! Here are some items every AR owner should have:
- A drop-in trigger. It will increase their enjoyment while shooting.
- Picatinny rail add-ons, like grips, flashlight holers, QD sling attachment points
- A new buttstock, that either is a good fit for their size or the purpose for which they own the gun
- A bipod and mounting solution
- A rear bag so they can shoot more comfortably
- A new muzzle device, suited to their goals (recoil minimizing, flash-hider, etc.)
- Magazine coupler
- Sling with QD attachments
- Oversize magazine release button
A new hand guard that is suited to their purpose (slimmer, more attachment options, long range)
The Pistol Junkie
While pistols and the optional gadgets vary by make and model, there are a few things that are easy to buy if you can get just a few details about the pistol owned by the person you are buying for.
- Ammo. Without this, there is no fun to be had!
- Set of grip/skateboard tape for their specific model of firearm
- New front sight with fiber optic, tritium, etc
- Magazine base pads or extended base pads.
- Holster suited for their method of concealed carry or competition
- Small pistol vault to store their gun in an easily accessible location
The Reloader
While people who reload do have very specific needs, there are a few things they can always use more of.
- Primers—find out the type they normally use and get hunting at stores and online! They are gold to reloaders.
- Loading block to hold cases (either specific to their caliber or ones that are semi-universal)
- Reloading manual
- New reloading dies for a caliber they are going to start shooting
- A stool that’s the perfect height for their reloading bench
- Anti-fatigue mat for their reloading room
- Overhead LED lights to help them see what they are working on
- Gift cards for Midway, Brownells, Midsouth, Powder Valley or any other place they shop
- Storage cases for ammo in their caliber
- Brass cleaning supplies
- New brass tumbler, dryer, or sorter
- New tumbling media
- New caliper for measuring case length
The Long Range Shooter
Long range shooting requires some very specific items to play their game.
- Shooting bags. There are large, extra-large, sticky, shmedium, small squeeze bags…you cna never have enough bags if you shoot long range or PRS.
- Tripod
- Bipod
- Range card holder to attach to your rifle
- Dry fire tools
- Extra-long gun case (You’ll want to look for at least 50” or base it off measurements of the gun.)
- Long range shooting and reloading books
I come from a large family, and the one thing that can make buying for a gun enthusiast fun is that you can get your siblings or friends to all be a part of putting together just the right mix of upgrades for the gun nut in your life. The possibilities are only limited by your understanding of what they need to enjoy their firearms.
