November 16, 2012
By Handguns Online Staff
Gun guys are just as crazy about the holidays as anyone else. But while most folks are having sugarplum hallucinations, our Winter Wonderland involves a little more brass and the smell of burning gunpowder. So for the designated shooter in your family, we've rounded up our top gift suggestions guaranteed to get your little gun nut all excited to hit the range right away.
ATI FX American Tactical Imports is bringing in two new FX45s: the Titan Lightweight (shown) and Fatboy Lightweight. These Philippine-built 1911s feature alloy frames and ambi thumb safeties. The Titan has an OAL of 6.75 inches and weighs just 28 ounces; it has drift-adjustable sights, a target trigger and comes with a seven-round magazine. The Fatboy is a high-cap gun of the same length and basic configuration and comes with a 10- or 12-round mag.
Price: Titan Lightweight, $588; Fatboy Lightweight, $700
Blackhawk! Bedside and Day Planner The
Blackhawk! Bedside holsters provides easy but secure access to your handgun. The mounting platform slips between mattress and box spring, and the holster pocket will fit virtually any pistol or revolver. The Day Planner is available in large and small/medium and is designed to conceal not only guns but also spare mags. Double zipper provides quick access.
Price: Bedside, $35; Day Planner, $70
Blackhawk! Women's Duty/Tactical Wear Blackhawk! clothing is designed specifically to meet the unique needs of female police, military and shooting enthusiasts, with an emphasis on storage, functionality and comfort. The two pieces shown are the Lightweight Tactical Shirt (5.1-ounce cotton poly/cotton blend) and Lightweight Tactical Pants (6.5-ounce poly/cotton blend), both of which are treated with water repellent. But there's a lot more, from tactical clothing such as these pieces to women's casual/sportswear.
Price: Shirt, $57; Pants, $65
Buffer Technologies Glock Gen4 Mag Well Here's a great way to speed up your reloads for a duty or concealed-carry Gen4 without adding a whole lot of weight. This new beveled magazine well from
Buffer Technologies , made of injection-molded high intensity nylon — weighs only 0.7 ounce. Fits without frame modification. It locks into place with just the turn of a hex-head wrench and won't slip or move.
Price: $30
Crimson Trace Railmaster Crimson Trace Rail Master This new 100-lumen weapon light from
Crimson Trace is designed to fit any gun with a Picatinny rail thanks to four interchangeable inserts that also allow you to fine-tune the position of the light for easiest activation. Operates on a single CR2 lithium and has a two-hour run time.
Price: $139
CrossBreed OWB Crossbreed's OWB mag carriers have been redesigned for better concealment and easier access to the mags. The new version has a cut-down backer, forward rake and offers more magazine to grab, and its high-ride style keeps them well concealed. Models available for a huge variety of pistols.
Price: $36
Impact Sport Pro Impact Sport Pro I've been wearing
Impact Sport Pro electronic muffs for several years and love them. Now comes an updated version, one that amplifies low-level sound more than four times while providing a noise reduction rating of 30 for protection. The four-hour automatic shut-off saves the AAA batteries. The muffs also feature an external jack that allows you to connect to smartphones, MP3 players and similar devices.
Price: $100
MTM Concealed-Carry Case Have all your CCW gear together and ready to go with this lockable, inconspicuous case from
MTM Case-Gard . The gun stores in top of the foam-padded box, while ammo, holster, cleaning supplies and accessories go underneath. The case has double padlock tab and a tongue-and-groove O-ring seal for water resistance. Plus, it has molded-in ridges for stacking.
Price: $22
Nosler Reloading Guide No. 7 The techs in Bend, Ore., have cooked up the latest update to the well-respected
Nosler reloading manual. It features data for more than 120 rifle and handgun cartridges, tips for beginners, details on bullet construction, and energy and drop tables. It's 864 pages of must-have information.
Price: $27
Otis O12 Otis has added to its established line of gun cleaning solvents with three new biodegradable products: O12-CU Copper Remover, O12-GP General Purpose Blend and O12-Carbon Remover. The entire line is safe on all gunmetals, is ammonia free and available in 16-, 8-, 4- and 2-ounce sizes.
Price: $11.99-$28.99
Remington 1911 R1 Enhanced Threaded Big Green continues to grow its
1911 R1 family , this time with a threaded-barrel version of the Enhanced for those who want the option of sticking a can on the end of their pistols. The new pistol has taller two-dot sights to accommodate suppressors, in addition to a stainless steel match-grade barrel, black anodized aluminum trigger and checkered grips. Gun ships with thread protector installed.
Price: [imo-slideshow gallery=27],040
Viridian CTL The green-laser folks at
Viridian have come up with a nifty weapon light they're billing as the world's smallest weapon-mounted tactical light. The Viridian CTL fits any railed any handgun, including subcompacts, without overhang. One thing about the CTL that's not small is the power output: 100 lumens of white light and 140 lumens of strobe. The programmable light is housed in a hard-anodized aluminum body and works with TacLoc holsters that turn the light on and off while drawing and reholstering.
Price: $169
Viridian/Galco King Tuk Viridian is offering a special version of the popular King Tuk holster from
Galco that features ECR technology, which automatically turns Viridian C series products off and on when holstering and drawing respectively. The King Tuk is an IWB holster that features a Kydex holster pocket and leather backing for sure draws and comfy wear. Initial fits are for Glocks, with S&W M&P and Springfield XD versions to come.
Price: $79
Crimson Trace XD(S) Laserguard Springfield's XD(S) is a slim, trim auto, and the new
Crimson Trace Laserguard designed for it is a perfect fit because it doesn't add any width or bulk to the gun — although it does change the holster profile. Easily installed, the unit secures around the trigger guard and is instinctively activated when you have a firing grip on the gun. Laserguard's are factory pre-sighted at 50 feet but are also fully adjustable. Runs on a 1/3N battery.
Price: $219
Streamlight ProTac HL Streamlight's first lithium-powered flashlight really brings it with 600 lumens and 16,000 candela peak beam intensity for a powerful but focused light beam. It's programmable to suit your needs as well: high/strobe/low (factory setting); high only or low/high. Run time is an hour and a quarter on high, 18 hours on low and 2.5 hours of continuous strobe. The ProTac HL is tailcap-operated, waterproof and shockproof.
Price: $130
War Dog Safe Featuring an innovative, stackable drawer design,
War Dog safes are ideal for installing under a bed, in the rear of an SUV, or stacking in the closet. Sophisticated electronic locks are hardened drill-plate protected. Weight, 185 pounds; exterior dimensions are 46.50 wide by 20.25 deep by 6.75 inches high. This is our most expensive gift suggestion listed, but when it comes to preserving heirlooms and protecting family, how much is too much?
Price: [imo-slideshow gallery=27],250 (Classic)
Smith & Wesson M&P Shield The
Smith & Wesson M&P Shield is an addition to the M&P line and fills a significant niche. Available in 9mm and .40 S&W, it's a single-stack, polymer-frame handgun built to the ultra-durable standards of the Military & Police line and designed to be carried day in and day out by people who will abuse it and then expect it to perform on demand. It is less than one inch wide and weighs in at 19 ounces. Sights are white-dot front and rear; the firing mechanism is striker-fired, and the trigger sports mild enhancements to S&W's standard M&P line of pistols, offering a quite usable 6.5-pound pull. The grip angle is a natural-feeling 18 degrees — a number settled on after engineers spent an inordinate amount of time studying human anatomy. Such a luxury would have made the grip bulkier, and proved a worthwhile jettison in order to achieve the fantastic slender feel of the Shield.
Price: $449-$469
