We did this back in 2013 I thought I might do another one.....Christmas is right around the corner and you might be struggling with what to get that special someone. You may also need to pad your own x-mas list with some good loot....
Always a good choice is a membership in the National Rifle Association. Fighting for our Second Amendment Rights is just a small part of what the NRA does. Along with your membership you get a 12 issue subscription to your choice of one of three magazines, death & injury insurance, $2,500 firearms loss insurance and valuable discounts. They usually offer some kind of bonus like a free duffel bag or pocket knife.
Sign up here
If the gun nut in your life doesn't have a decent Christmas stocking, you could get them one of these Tactical Stockings....they come in several colors including OD, FDE, Camo, tactical Black and others...Amazon has them for $20 or less
How about a bottle opener made from a 50 BMG cartridge? They have several color choices and you can even have it personally monogrammed. Find them here
How about some gun themed liquor? They have Kalashnikov Vodka......
.......Old Carbine Tequila ........
....and Tommy Gun Vodka
Every sophisticated gun owner needs a set of cuff links....why not some made from his favorite cartridges? The Duke ones are from the special John Wayne Tribute ammo produced by Winchester Western
I found both of these sets on ebay
If your gun nut owns a 1911 pistol (and who doesn't??) they might like a set of custom grip screws from VZ grips, they have more than 20 styles to choose from and they are less than $20!
check them out here
Every gun owner needs a way to transport their rifle to and from the field, there are few better made cases than those made by Red Oxx.
These super duty cases come in 12 colors, in addition Red Oxx is Veteran owned & operated and they make them right here in the USA!
Reactive Targets are a great idea, they are re-usable (which is good for the environment and their wallet) and funner to shoot at than a paper target.
The guys at The Target Man have several to choose from (and they are made in the USA!)
If your gun nut owns a Ruger 10-22 they need one of these tools (and if they don't own a 10-22, you can buy them one!)
The 10-22 Bolt bar makes assembly/disassembly of your 10-22 a snap, these are also made here in America. You can buy them here
Another great gift for the 10-22 owner is a BX-25 x 2, this is two BX-25 magazines stuck together. The Ruger Engineers simply created a new center piece and used the two outside pieces from standard BX-25 mag shells bolted to it. They work great and the Hoplophobes really hate them, so it's a win-win!
MTM Casegard makes this great kit that includes a 50 caliber sized ammo can and as many as 10 100-round ammo boxes. They make them for 9mm (shown), 45 ACP and 223. They are durable, stack-able, lockable, water tight, lighter than the steel ones, come with the caliber labeled on the front and best of all they are made right here in the USA!
How about a USB "thumb drive" disguised as a gun?....just don't take it through airport security....
These gun socks from allen are on my x-mas list every year, they serve two purposes, they protect the rifles and shotguns from getting bumped and scratched when moving guns in and out of the safe and the silicon impregnated material helps to prevent rust and corrosion.
If your gun nut is also a Ruger fan you might consider buying them a Ruger logo door mat, they are made from heavy duty rubber and are sized 24"x36". You can buy them from Shop Ruger.com
Almost every shooter at one time or another needs a rifle or pistol rest to dial in there sights or scopes. This Caldwell Lead Sled is one of the best for the money
If the Lead Sled is a bit too much for your budget Caldwell has more affordable options like the Matrix
Or perhaps shooting bags, that come in Green and Pink
The subject of this post is a U.S. Army Colt 1911 that was born in the summer of 1918 at the Colt Hartford plant, built under U.S. Government contract that began in 1911. The serial # 4799XX puts its birthday sometime in June or July of 1918.
World War I was still being fought in Europe and it is possible (although unlikely) that this gun saw duty in the Great War (in case you slept through history class....the WWI ended on November 11th of 1918).
The 1911 pistols made after May of 1918 and before March of 1919 are often referred to as "Black Army" Colts. This was not a model designation, rather it was a reference to the darker appearing finish. In May of 1918 Colt began skipping the last polishing step in order to increase production during the war. About 325,000 Colt 1911s were made during this time.
Here are some examples of Black Army Colts, note the machined surfaces (lack of polishing)
For comparison, here is a 1914 production M1911, note the difference in the finish (also notice the change in the font.)
This Black Army 1911 shows how the finish did not age well on most of these guns. Prepping of the metal for bluing also saw some step skipping. According to my sources the guns were dipped in hot gasoline and then put into the bluing tanks, the gasoline left some residual oils which may have prevented an evenly blued surface.
Sometime during or just prior to WWII this gun was sent
to the Rock Island Arsenal (this was the U.S. Army Arsenal in Illinois,
not to be confused with the Rock Island Armory, a Filipino made 1911
copy or the Rock Island Auction Co., a private auction company) to be
rebuilt which included the installation of a new slide.
We know this because of the RIA
stamp under the serial number and the fact that the slide has the front 2
inches hardened. The hardening of the metal caused the darker color.
The U.S. Army (and Colt) started to perform this hardening on the slides in 1937 (under a new
contract), this hardening was not present on the guns made before or
during WWI.
The hardening process involved dipping the slides into molten lead and then quenching in oil.
This gun may very well have seen use in the second World War.....
Imagine.....(although not likely) this gun may have been to Europe twice to witness the defeat of the German Army!
Most of these guns, like this one, were refurbished during WWII, this was partly due to the poor finish applied (the final polishing was not the only corner that was cut).
These guns were given a phosphate "parkerized" finish during their time at the arsenals.
Here is how it would have looked when it left the Rock Island Arsenal, note the darker portion at the front of the slide and the parkerized finish.
To summarize, this gun originally was blued with an un-polished surface during WWI, then it was rebuilt with a new slide and parkerized during WWII. At some point after it left the service of the U.S. Army it was painted. The current care taker of the pistol removed the paint
Here are the pictures of this particular gun:
