Accessories – Page 3 – The Gun Rack

It can be hard to find the perfect gift for someone. It can be harder if they’re into shooting and you’re not – harder still if you don’t have a firearms licence and can’t legally purchase the things they would like. However, there are a few go-to things you can consider, and they won’t break the bank either.

Things made out of ammo that aren’t ammo

Shooters like things that go bang. However, the next best things might be something that looks like it goes bang. However, not all mementos are created equal. Ask any golfer, and they’ll tell you every year they get terrible golf-club or golf-ball shaped items to bury in a draw somewhere. Every now and then they get something that’s actually kind of cool. It’s pretty similar for hunters.

It's hard to find a cooler bottle opener than this .50 cal case from Gunworks. — It’s hard to find a cooler bottle opener than this .50 cal case from Gunworks.

A barbecue lighter shaped like a shotgun may not get someone’s juices flowing, but a bottle opener made out of a .50 cal. case with a 750 gr A-MAX projectile seated in it might just get the right reaction. Yeah – 750 grains – that’s four to five times the average .308 projectile weight. My wife and I got one for my father-in-law last Christmas – and I liked it so much I got myself one too. The brass is obviously softer than bottle caps and will mark after use, but hey, it looks so freakin cool. You can get them from Gunworks in Christchurch, and because it’s not live ammo it can be sent anywhere. They have other options too.

Another cool ammo-looking option can be cuff links. These can be done poorly or very well, so be selective. The imitation 12-gauge cuff links my wife got me are not only well made, but look pretty damn good too.

A magazine subscription

If you’re significant other or best friend has a hunting magazine lying around but they don’t have a subscription to it, that could be a great option. Look for the subscription page and photocopy or scan it, or find the magazine’s website. It’ll be pretty obvious if you tear out the page…

Make sure to take a picture of the product code so you can find what you need at the store.

While everything and anything can be found on the internet, gun magazines are a great way for shooters to enhance their knowledge of local shooting spots, new equipment or competition results.

Reloading supplies

Well, you can’t buy ammunition for your partner if you don’t have a licence, but if they reload, you can buy them everything they need to make their own. You’ll still need to have ID, as primers and powder are explosives.

How do you know what to get? Go over to their shooting bench and see what’s running low. Make sure to take a picture of the item or the product code to show the guys at the gun store. Also, make sure to shop around. When you’re spending near a hundred bucks on projectiles or a box of primers, looking at different websites or stores can save you around 10 per cent.

Projectiles running low? Gift idea right there.

The purpose of the knife

As long as you buy this knife for the purpose for which it was designed, you should be happy. This is not your main skinning knife or an 18th birthday present – it’s a functional backup knife with some pretty cool features.

Firstly, this knife comes in two designs. There’s the drop point blade in a bead-blasted, stainless finish. There’s also the modified Tanto-style, which has more of a tactical look, and a black oxide finish. The blade itself is 440C stainless steel. This type of stainless steel is very common in knife-making and features a very high carbon content and corrosion resistance.

It’s a full-tang design, which means optimal strength. The blade and zytel handle are both skeletonised, which may be to reduce weight, etc, but realistically I think is just because it looks cool. The thumb ramp and finger guard are both notched for better grip. The overall length of the knife is 170 mm, with a 75 mm blade. Including the sheath, the length comes to 195 mm – it’s a pretty compact unit.

This knife comes with a plastic sheath that is meant to be hung around the neck or attached to a backpack. My particular knife didn’t come with the ball chain I see advertised on other sites, but I didn’t pay much for it, so I can’t really complain. The sheath has two small holes to loop the chain through so that you can attach it to your pack, or as mentioned before, hang it from your neck.

The nearly indestructible plastic sheath also features an emergency whistle, which is a great thing to have if you’re hunting or climbing and the darkness or weather rolls in quicker than expected. The sheath also has a very positive lock, keeping the knife in place, even when it’s hanging upside down.

Although designed and marketed by S&W, the knife is produced in China. Worried about quality? Well, there’s not much that could go wrong with this simple, no-frills design. The only negative thing I have to say about this cheap and well-made knife is that it is not as sharp as I would have expected. Of course, this is easily remedied with a bit of sharpening – which is not unusual with a new knife.

Overall, for the $10.50 it cost me on Trademe, plus the $5 overnight courier to my work, I’m very pleased with this knife, and it will be going on my backpack before the next time I head out.

If you’d like to know where you can get one of these (aside from a quick Google search), leave a comment and I’ll give you the name of the Trademe trader I bought mine off – he (or she) seems to have plenty more.