Publicola

As a refreshing aside, there is something positive to blog about concerning arms.
If you happen to be in the area of Cheyenne Wells, Colorado (about 185 miles south of Denver) on April 25th, 26th, 27th, or any combination thereof there's going to be a .50 caliber/machine gun shoot. The link has some pics from previous shoots. In case you're wondering what exactly occurs it's basically just a get together that's open to the public. It takes place at a shooting range & people with various weapons register in advance & reserve a place on the firing line. The targets shot at include but are not limited to junked out cars w/ or w/o propane tanks in the back & blasting dynamite in 5 gallon buckets. The weapons? It varies but you can count on at least a few .50 bolt action & semi-automatic rifles, ..30 & .50 belt fed machine guns, assault rifles (real ones) submachine guns & machine rifles. I went to the one last year & saw various Browning belt fed machine guns in .30 & .50 caliber, fully automatic AK-47's, M-16's, BAR's, Uzi's Mac-10's, etc.. In fact I saw the cutest little silenced full auto Mac-10: so quiet you could only hear the bolt working as it fired. There was also a few 20mm ( Solothurns & Lahti's) a 25mm Hotchkiss & a 37mm Bofars. There was a mortar that shot bowling balls, & a muzzle loading musket that shot bowling pins. Plenty of historical pieces, from german arms of WW2 to Russian arms of WW2 to US arms of WW2.
The best part is that most people who have reserved spaces on the firing line will rent out a weapon to you. It's usually pay per round & for example the .50's go for around $3 a pop so $20 goes by real quick in a belt fed! But some of the more common calibers they just charge you by the magazine. I think it was around $10 for a 30 round mag of 9mm or 5.56x45 or 7.62x39.
So if you don't have any plans that weekend & always wanted to try out a fully automatic M-16 or an obscure piece like the Russian PPSH then this is the thing for you.
Did I mention the tracer shoot right after dusk on Saturday? Just as it gets dark the firing line opens up with assorted tracers (every 5th or 7th round or so leaves a visible trail) as they shoot at junked cars filled with gasoline & propane at 800 yards or so.

Here's a link for your realplayer of some assorted footage taken at the last shoot.
& here's a link to some more photos of last years shoot.