How is that range? I've been looking for an outdoor range that allows machine guns. Choices seem slim now that best of the west is gone.
I enjoy the Firing Line and think its a good value for the cost. Is it perfect....no....but again every NFA/Machinegun friendly range I have shot at in the Austin area over the past 20+ years has always had some limitations. Even BOTW (other than the first year or two of operations when it was the wild west) you could only shoot full auto in the tac bays and it was caliber limited as the only rifle caliber allowed in the tac bays at BOTW was 5.56x45. The wait for a tac bay at BOTW on a weekend could also stretch hours, which is time I don't have.
The Firing Line's main full auto shooting limitation is that full auto fire needs to be done inside the tac bays and within ~25 yards of the berm. The tac bays are ~35 yards deep so by the time you pull your truck in, set up a table/tent, etc. you are pretty close to 25 yards from the berm anyway. I get why they have this rule as they are concerned about rounds going over the berm and full auto is a high liability activity and you are shooting in the direction of I-35 which is about 2.5 miles as the crow flies from the range. So if a rifle round escaped at the right angle it could get to the highway not to mention houses and other businesses between the range and the highway. Targets are primarily limited to paper, clays, and approved steel targets. No tannerite or shooting up an old appliance or anything like that.
Some of the folks I shoot with at the Firing Line also have memberships at the nice indoor "Range at Austin" as well.
However, myself and the main couple of guys I primarily shoot with are also all builders to varying degrees. We like to build new sear hosts, suppressors, use chronos, dial in rate of fire with shot timers, etc. and also BS while we are there. Indoor ranges are just not really conducive to that type of test and troubleshooting activity where you are taking guns apart, making changes/mods, retesting, chatting about problems/solutions, etc. I can also go at any time and never have to wait for a bay as there is pretty much always one available to use by yourself or the folks you meet up with.
The other downsides are that the traditional rifle range is limited in distance at ~125 yards, the range is all uncovered so you will need to bring your own pop up tent in the summer months, and if its super wet and rainy it can also get a bit muddy (but the owners have done a lot of work to improve drainage and put down crushed stone)
Given the distance limitations, I mainly shoot subgun and handheld rifle machineguns (M16s, etc) there and leave the bigger belt fed or 50 bmg guns for another range I have a membership a couple hours away that is more conducive to those types of larger caliber guns.
There are a limited number of outdoor ranges left that allow full auto around the Austin area. Copperhead creek does but you have to rent an RO at $50 an hour (on top of the range fees) to shoot full auto and they have some ammo limitations as well. There is also Onion Creek Gun Club but the range is much smaller (just a couple small 20ish yard tac bays) and it membership rate is ~$1000 per year.
It would be great if there was still a Hill Country Rifle Range or a BOTW (like when the first opened) where you pay a couple bucks to shoot whatever you want but all of those places have been slowly shut down over the years.
I’ll send you an email.
