All I want for Christmas from Sinclair International
If you were asked to pick out an item under $100.00 from the Sinclair catalog as a gift for a friend or yourself, what would you choose? I asked that question to some of the staff members at Sinclair and Brownells to see what they would choose. True to form, a few of the staff turned to many of our signature tools.
Pete Brownell (President – Brownells, Inc.)
Sinclair Cleaning rod cases – My old ones are beat up and I like my cleaning stuff to be – clean!
A new Boyt 46” AR-15 gun case – it’s a great case and I just got a couple more AR’s.
Hornady tumbler – my old one (not a Hornady) is slowing down and I am reloading a lot more these days.
A Sinclair Cartridge box – because these are pretty neat.
Matt Harris (Machinist – Sinclair Manufacturing)
A Lyman Turbo Case Tumbler I don’t have one, but I use it all the time here at work.
Sinclair Concentricity Gauge If I didn’t work here, they would both make an excellent Christmas gift for me.
Larry Caston (Sinclair Manufacturing)
I would pick the RCBS competition full length die set for the 223 Remington @ $93.85. After using this type of die set on other calibers, the seating die is one of the best for speed and to produce high quality loaded rounds.
Pat Reagin (Sinclair Manufacturing)
For Christmas I would want one of our Benchrest Travel Cases. I have one of our old RT-25 windage rests and there is really no good way to pick it up to transport it from my van to a shooting bench. The travel case will hold my rest as well as my Protektor rear bag, bolt holster and shooting towel.
Bob Blaine (Sinclair Reloading Technician)
After thinking about this one, I finally settled for a MTM Dry Box. I have found this to be the most useful box that I use personally. I am on crutches full-time and it is easy for me to carry by using the sling strap that comes with it so that I can run the sticks easily. I use it as my range loading gear box and it carries everything that I need to load at the range for load development. It has enough extra room left over in the top tray to carry the tools that I use for working with my guns in the fields.
Phil Hoham (Sinclair Reloading Technician)
The best present you could give a shooter for under $100.00 is the Wilson case trimmer kit @ $69.75 along with the Sinclair trimmer platform @ $23.50. The Wilson trimmers are the best rifle case bench trimmers on the market. That is why all the techs at Sinclair own and use them. The design is timeless and the function is very simple and fast with no collets and pilots to mess with. The trimmer case holders support the whole case so you get a square trimmed case mouth every time. The trimmer platform is just the icing on the cake! It makes your trimmer a “free standing” unit that you can use anywhere. I personally use mine on a TV tray so I can trim cases and watch the History channel! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a great New Year!
Ron Dague (Sinclair Reloading Technician)
I think the Wilson/Sinclair trimmer @ $69.75 and a case holder would make an excellent gift for the reloader wanting to upgrade his trimming operation, especially for rifle cartridges.
A lot of customers really like our Sinclair Case Neck Sorting Tool with dial indicator @ $79.95. This would make a great gift for anyone that reloads a lot.
Geoff Esterline (Sinclair Marketing)
I think the Sinclair Priming Tool would make a great Christmas gift. Each one is hand assembled with careful attention paid to fit and function. I enjoy using the tool; it enables outstanding leverage, yet maintains a great “feel” when seating your primers. It features hardened pins and pushrods and is machined from stainless steel and high grade aluminum. I have traveled a lot of miles with my gear to shoot competitive benchrest and I am pretty rough on my equipment. Our priming tool is built like a tank though and has withstood the journey and the punishment. It will last a shooter’s lifetime.
Editor’s Note: The Sinclair Priming Tool is a little over the $100 threshold; Geoff just gets a little carried away when he talks about the Sinclair Priming Tool.
Pete Petros (Sinclair Call Center Supervisor)
Whether you reload or shoot factory ammunition for competition or hunting, the Sinclair Concentricity Gauge is an excellent gift idea for the shooter on your list. By measuring loaded rounds one easily will be able to easily determine bullet run-out. I use one every time I load for competition to sort and eliminate those with excessive run-out to maximize the accuracy of my long-range rounds. Also, they are great to measure the neck on fired brass to check for potential problems with your rifle chamber.
Dave Bennetts (Brownell’s Gunsmith Technician)
My #1 choice would be a new Boyt Varmint gun case. Most guys will spend a lot of money for their rifles, and haul them around in a beat up old case with a broken zipper.
My 2nd choice is a range bag. How many people haul their stuff to the range in a box?
Jason Carrico (Brownell’s Supply Chain Manager)
A Sinclair cleaning cradle for my sporter rifle or AR would be my gift choice. It is affordable and very handy. I have a universal MTM cradle right now so I never considered spending money on one but would certainly use it a lot if I received one as a gift.
Bill Gravatt (President – Sinclair International)
I would like a Wilson Stainless Steel Micrometer Bullet Seater for my 6.5/284. Using a hand style bullet seater in my Sinclair arbor press is almost second nature to me since I have done it so long. I just really like this method of bullet seating, very relaxing after a hard day of work. Wait a minute, I am privileged to work in the shooting industry – there are not any hard days at work!
I also would like a couple of boxes of Berger 30 caliber, 155.5 gr. Fullbore bullets or Sierra 30 caliber, 155 gr. Palma bullets. Both of these bullets shoot extremely well in my Palma rifle built by Dwight Scott.
After I read through the input from everyone, I started to get the feeling from some of them that they were really expecting me to get them these items for Christmas. Well guys, there is always hope. Maybe it’s not too late to take back the lava lamps.