LaRue thanked everyone for coming, said they were expecting 1200 or so to show up - so many, they had to change their plans regarding things like shooting contests and drawings. Said MagPul had sent along a lot of "freebies" and everyone would probably get a P-Mag or something. Guy described the setup, mentioned that some military guys from an "unspecified" service were there "unofficially" and would stage a door breeching demonstration. He made kind of a big deal that they were unofficial and and their uniforms were "sanitized" and asked everyone not to ask them questions about what unit they were from. (Saw some guys in camo BDU's walking around - I don't know if they were the ones LaRue was talking about, but a couple of them looked a little . . . pudgy . . . to be spec ops types.) No idea what time the demos were supposed to go off.
So, on to the ranges. Several ranges were in use, with several rifles to try. Sounds good - but the wait in each line was at least an hour . . . for an opportunity to shoot five rounds. Want to try another one of the rifles? Get back in line. (Had a chance to shoot one AR with a red dot sight. Had to hold off the target to the left in order to hit.)
Good thing is, they had folks in 4-wheelers driving around, passing out soda and water.
Food was brisket or sausage in a tortilla wrap, with chips and drink. Not a terrible line here. And it was all free.
Vendor tent line was about 2x - 3x LONGER than the shooting bay lines. I stood there for about 15 minutes, and realized that at less than 1 foot per minute, I'd be in that line for at least 2 hours. For some sort of undefined "freebie" . . . maybe? Nope, not me. Talked to another guy there who actually wanted to buy some iron sights - but for a 10% (?) discount, he wasn't going to wait in line for a couple of hours. We figured 9 out of 10 people in the vendor tent line were just looking for freebies for their kids or somethng.
Took another look around - the lines were getting longer.
LaRue then came around and said that the half-hourly door prize drawings were changed - they'd have one round at 2:00 and another at 4:00. I looked around at the crowd, figured the chances of my number being drawn, factored in the chances of winning something actually worthwhile . . . and joined the line of cars leaving around 12:15 PM.
Bottom line: I think LaRue had the best of intentions, but he wasn't prepared for the size of the response.
IF they have this again next year, and IF I go, I'll make a beeline for the vendor's tent first thing.
I have to say that from what I could see, the crowd was extraordinarily well behaved - no rudeness, pushing, shoving, or people cutting in; even with the annoyingly long lines, everyone I saw was behaving in a far more civil manner than the crowds of latter-day hippies you sometimes see lining up for a concert. (Armed society, polite society?)
Facility itself was large - couple of skeet fields, several tactical bays, and the only opportunity for genuinely LONG range shooting that I've seen in a long time - I had my Leupold RX-1000 laser rangefinder, and from behind the firing line couldn't get a reading off the most distant target berm, putting it out at least1000 yards. The range is about 40 road miles - just over an hour - from my home, a fairly easy drive . . . and after I find out what their public shooting policies are, I plan to go out there on my own. Now that Hill Country Rifle Range (aka Crazy Richard's) is shut down, the only nearby alternative is Red's in Oak Hill - 100 yards maximum - or Eagle Peak, where they won't let you shoot FMJ from your rifle. So the opening of this "Best of the West" facility may be a good opportunity to shoot the rust out of the barrel on some of my rifles.
