The Holidays are officially upon us and now you find yourself trying to find the perfect gift for all types of people. So aside from the hassles of trying to shop for say…your mother-in-law, you might find yourself thinking “what do I buy a shooting enthusiast?”
It is not as hard as it may seem, honestly it’s pretty simple. Here are a few items, under $200 that any shooting enthusiast would be delighted to find under the tree.
A New Range Bag or Tactical Backpack!
- Shooters go through range bags like kids go through backpacks! They get dragged around, rained on, stunk up by accidentally leaving a banana inside for 2 weeks…..yeah….true story for another time. So take a look at what the shooter in your life carries and see if they could use a nice new range bag, or maybe an upgrade to the tool box they’ve been lugging around the range.
- Because shooting enthusiasts travel with so much gear, a good quality backpack or bag is always needed. Companies now offer a wide range of bags from heavy duty tactical to more “street” appropriate. These are great for when you want to travel to a shooting competition and keep some of your gear on your person. Now it just looks like a nice bag instead of screaming “hey look at me, I am a LEO/MIL/gun guy or gal with all the MOLLE gear and camo!”
AMMO!!!!
- Ammo, ammo, and wait, did I mention ammo? Seriously, ammo is the food for our precious, hungry firearms, and if your gun is like mine, it has quite the appetite. Find out what type of ammo the shooter in your life uses, and buy it or give them a gift card to their favorite ammo supplier!
- What about those that reload? This opens up a world of possibilities…..that may take a little bit of Christmas
reconnaissance. Reloaders are very particular about what type of powders, primers and bullets they use. This is where the reconnaissance comes in, go into the reloading area and take a picture of the exact products they use, that way you can get exactly that brand and type. If you have a hard time finding what you need or don’t know how to find it, contact someone within the shooting community. They will gladly help you, just be sure to tell them not to ruin the surprise! Finding reloading components is often akin to finding buried treasure, and many of us who expend thousands of rounds, find ourselves in desperate need. If you are not familiar with reloading supplies, you might look at a 1lb container of powder that costs $24 dollars as a small gift. That 24 dollar gift can translate to literally thousands of rounds and can take months to find. Some things are more valuable than money!
Laser Training Tools
- Winter is upon us, and not all of us live in sunny Florida. So when it is way too cold to go outside, laser training pistols and responsive laser
training targets are an effective and fun tool for practice. Aside from being a great tool for dry practice sessions they make a fun game for when you have family and friends over. Instead of playing the same old game of monopoly, or charades…. Why not try playing a game of shoot the cans, or who can get the most bullseyes? It’s a great way to spend time with the family and practice great shooting fundamentals.
Cleaning Supply Kits
- You might be thinking, “really, cleaning supplies…..that sounds as offensive as buying Mom some Windex and paper towels…” but this is not the case. Cleaning your firearms is so much more than labor or work, it’s the tender loving process of keeping your machine running at its finest. So, obviously, you want the very best quality products and tools to do so. Yes, if you are an active competitor shooting two matches a weekend almost every weekend, cleaning can seem a bit more of a chore. But, with quality cleaning products it makes the job much more efficient and less time consuming. There are all types of cleaning products and tools out there and luckily, during the holidays many of these companies offer gift packages filled with all the products your shooting enthusiast would ever need or want.
Gun Related Jewelry
- Sorry boys, unless you want a pretty necklace or some earrings this isn’t for you. You cannot go wrong getting your “gun loving” lady in your life some lovely jewelry. There are many options where crafty individuals have learned to take spent brass casings and turn them into beautiful, handmade pieces of gorgeous jewelry. You can get necklaces, rings, earrings, bracelets, and more! You name the jewelry, there is some craftsman that has created something lovely from what most just leave on the ground.
Stocking Stuffers Under $50 bucks
- Polymer Magazines for any AR15/M4 Style firearms in 10, 20, 30, and 40 round counts.
- Snap Caps, or dummy rounds are great little presents for those that dry practice.
- An NRA, IDPA, USPSA, 3 Gun Nation, or other membership to a firearms related association.
- Patches, stickers, pens and other small items with their favorite company’s logo or name.
- Quality empty chamber indicators are always great little stocking stuffers.
- Small multi-tools have a wide variety of uses and belong in every range bag!
Hopefully this helps you a little while you are on your journey to find a nice little gift for the competitive shooter, or target shooting enthusiast in your life. Happy Holidays and safe shopping!
