The party's over. Last Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot

[hso]

https://m.facebook.com/knobcreekgunrange/photos/a.362589440428437/4205039916183351/?type=3&source=44

KCR posted this October will be the last Shoot.

The range and store will continue, but one of the favorite firearms events in the country ends this fall.

 

[George P]

Couldn't find where the FB page WHY. Owners getting old; grew too big for the venue, something else?

 

[John_R]

Old age, according to the picture of the announcement. No one younger to step up and take over? That’s the sad part.

 

[AlexanderA]

Couldn't find where the FB page WHY. Owners getting old; grew too big for the venue, something else?

Yes, it appears that the owners were getting tired. But liability insurance was probably a bigger issue. And the high cost of ammo made wasting thousands of rounds problematic for the old timers who had permanent slots on the firing line.

I've been to Knob Creek three times, primarily for the unique gun show in the Pole Barn. In fact, from my perspective, the firing next door was an annoyance. You couldn't talk or make deals while the firing was going on. Rain in the Spring and dust in the Fall didn't make matters better.

I would be even happier to go if the gun show continued, but the shooting was eliminated.

 

[sequins]

Take new people with you to the range! Don't hide your love of the sport, own guns proudly and spread the gospel. It's sad as a younger guy to never see anyone my age at the range. I think a lot of it is the expense Unfortunately

 

[AK Hunter]

I will miss this shoot & show I have many good memory's of the good times we have had there.
I actually like the gun show more than the machine gun shoot because of all the things to see, that this is the only place you can see them all at one place.
They will have to lock me up to keep me from being there. LOL

 

[AlexanderA]

It's sad as a younger guy to never see anyone my age at the range.

The way this works at Knob Creek is that there are a number of "slots" (places) on the main firing line. These are reserved, year to year, by the same people. (So naturally these are oldsters.) For a new person to get a slot on the main firing line, someone has to die or quit the hobby. Now, there's another, less formal range on another part of the property, where you can bring your own gun or even rent one. But this is not as well known.

 

[Speedo66]

I went once, gotta say it was fun. I rented a few guns to shoot, amazing, but your money doesn't go very far at the prices they were getting to shoot a magazine's worth.

The tumultuous ending was almost more than my ears could take, but where else are you going to see just about every sub and full sized machine gun ever made going at once, including tracked vehicles with .50's. The targets down range included appliances and old vehicles.

The market place was fantastic, with what I thought were good prices. It was so big, attempting to return to a spot where you'd seen something was difficult, hard to find again.

Sorry to see it go, but to be honest, once was enough for me.

 

[lightman]

I have never been and always wanted to go. A neighbor goes pretty often but I'm just not up to the walking anymore. Still sad to see it end.

 

[Riomouse911]

Take new people with you to the range! Don't hide your love of the sport, own guns proudly and spread the gospel. It's sad as a younger guy to never see anyone my age at the range. I think a lot of it is the expense Unfortunately

The indoor range I frequent is close to two local colleges. I see lots of 20-somethings in there, guys going in a group of friends and boyfriend/girlfriend couples (there were two couples in there last Friday.)

I gave a couple of 5-bullseye targets to a grandfather teaching his grandson to shoot in the bay next to me, the target he was using didn’t have much for a new shooter to focus sights on ( they had a mono color vital zone silhouette).

I’m glad to see them there, they’re the future of the sport and tradition and hopefully lifelong future 2A voters .

Keep it up .

Stay safe.

 

[hso]

But this is not as well known.

Anyone that's been going to the Shoot should know about the rental range if you get beyond the pole barn. I first discovered it about 30 years ago. As to the folks on the main line, if you ask politely and you pay for the ammo I've never encountered anyone on the line that would flat turn you down.

 

[WestKentucky]

Anyone that's been going to the Shoot should know about the rental range if you get beyond the pole barn. I first discovered it about 30 years ago. As to the folks on the main line, if you ask politely and you pay for the ammo I've never encountered anyone on the line that would flat turn you down.

I did once. I tried hard to get behind the GE Mini. No dice. Guy had apparently just got it out of jail and was ready to really wring it out.

 

[AlexanderA]

The Minigun was the most annoying of all, in terms of putting the kibosh on dealings in the Pole Barn. You couldn't hear yourself think, when that thing was going off.

And you would wonder about the sanity of someone who would blow off that much expensive ammunition. Might as well make a bonfire with dollar bills.

Yeah, I know -- it's his money and everyone has a right to make a fool of himself.

 

[Ranger99]

JMHO- I wouldn't necessarily say that an
advertised machine gun shoot was in any
way bothersome or foolish.
After all, it is a machine gun shooting event.
To me that's like going into a nudie bar and
complaining about the women's uncovered
private parts.
There's several shooting activities that I
don't care for in any way, but I don't
participate or attend, so I don't let what
they do bother me

 

[Slamfire]

There are a lot more shooters than Match Directors.

 

[hso]

I reached out to Kenny and he says 50 years of effort was enough for him and family.

I sure hope someone or a group takes on the responsibility to keep it going.

So, he got old and it is just too much work instead of all the conspiracy theories.

 

[SilentStalker]

Take new people with you to the range! Don't hide your love of the sport, own guns proudly and spread the gospel. It's sad as a younger guy to never see anyone my age at the range. I think a lot of it is the expense Unfortunately

I agree, we should be doing that but it’s hard to get people on board to do that when the government has seemingly made Gun owners enemy number 1.