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Knob Creek Spring 2006 Review
This would be my son and my first trip to Knob Creek Range (KCR) and Machinegun shoot, located in West Point Kentucky about 30-40 mins from Louisville. Forgive me if I bounce around a little. Im writing this as I remember it
Our road trip took us about 7 hours to complete, from Windsor Ont, through, Michigan, Ohio and finally into Kentucky. Trip was very nice, light traffic, scenic and very straightforward..
As we got off of KY 841 (Highway) we asked for the directions to KCR and was told to turn left on Highway 44 and drive toward the smoke. Which we could see from several miles always.
As we approached the road leading to the range, it was obvious that there was already a lot of people there, on Friday at 1pm as cars and trucks lined both sides of the road.
A short drive to the range, across a bumpy one lane bridge, and we arrived in paradise. There were several military vehicles, a vendor selling authentic restored Hummers, one which had a M2 Browning BMG simulator out the roof turret.
A little further down a German encampment, complete with Anti Aircraft mounted MG 42, motorcycle w/sidecar, and a very nice display of other firearms and different memorabilia. Further down yet a fully camod semi tractor selling Mules a type of small motorized transport for hauling ammunition and such.. There were several of them driving around all weekend..
We were directed to the camping area.. Military trucks and equipment were everywhere. A fuel tanker was on hand to re-fuel a Cayuse OH-6A Helicopter that was providing from what I heard were really good rides around the range and so forth
The sound of machinegun fire was everywhere we went,, and pretty constant.. We could hear it long before we even arrived at the road leading to the range . Hearing protection of some sort is an Absolute Must have anywhere near the range. You would put on just past the checkpoint leading to the range, and basically kept on until you left or there was a cease fire. Admission to the show was $10US Children were $4.00US.
A good amount of people were walking around with firearms that were checked at the gate and zip tied open. M16s AR-15s were very popular.. HKs AKs M14s were also popular, and just a general variety of really nice firearms walking around.. I seen one guy carrying a Mac10 in a shoulder rig.
The first thing that you see when you came to the range was the flame thrower rental and refuelling station for the throwers.. There seemed to be 4 or 5 of them there for rent, at $195 a crack. I was talking with one of the owners, and he explained to me that they fired Napalm out of them, which was still commercially available and still widely used,, even in the civilian world.. Most people I talked to said that it was very expensive to shoot, and had gone up drastically from earlier years,, which seems to be around $65.00USD per tank.
The sound of machinegun fire was deafening, the constant thump, thump, thump of the 50 BMG drew your attention further down the range. Several 50s were going when I arrived, one of the loudest was a short barrelled M2 the called Little Fat Boy. Basically a sawed off 50 cal with about 2 of barrel past the heat shroud.
I rented it for my son who is 12, without him knowing.. I said get up to the gate, hes going to call your name He asked why. I laughed and told him to quite asking questions. A few minutes before he was ready to go I told him he was shooting.. He asked what he was shooting and I told him The Ma Deuce! You could see his excitement and a Big smile came to his face.
He was quickly led to the M2 .50 BMG while one of the range hands taped the experience for him from overhead with our camcorder. He had a Huge smile on his face afterwards and said That was Awesome then gave me a hug and said Thank You!
That was Great seeing him shoot that big ole .50.
Then Came the Buzz of the GE mini guns, sounding more like a rather large concrete hammer drills than a firearm. Its sound was unmistakable and Everyone was drawn to it..
It was for rent at $650USD for 1040 rounds I believe. Value was around $300,000
When they fired it, it literally cut a trench in the dirt, as it bounced 20lb propane cylinders around like a rubber ball. From the rooftop you could see trenches cut into the dirt.
The ammunition that was expended over the course of the weekend was mind boggling . The min guns alone must have accounted for several hundred thousands round, and Easily created the largest piles of empty brass and linkage at the range..
Ammo was used up by the skid.. Literally! It was being fired as if, the person with the most ammo at the end,, Lost! Like it was going bad, and they had to get rid of it Millions of rounds were probably fired this weekend.
When we arrived at the range there were several cars on fire, a large shed, two burning boats, a semi trailer, washers ,dryers, stoves, fridges, water heaters , 45 gallon drums and propane cylinders littered the range. Off to the side was a stack of cars and boats, and an assortment of other everyday common items, including a childs Little Tykes play kitchen. It was all shot to hell by the end of the weekend. A semi trailer was on hand and loaded with what wasnt worth shooting any more.
The shed burned to the ground.. The semi trailer was Very much on fire, as well had one of its Wheels shot off by an 80 mm anti tank artillery cannon.
After spending an hour at the main range, we went for a quick walk through the barn some 2-3-400 tables of everything,, and I do mean Everything youve even seen, dreamt of, seen in books or Wished you owned If Youve heard of it and they built it,, it was either there or somewhere on the 6000 acre property.. On Friday there was a Sterling subgun stolen from one of the tables, I heard later that they caught the person. Saturday an M60 was stolen, last report I heard was that it wasnt found.. Most security was armed that I could see.
Down on the lower range, there was a subgun match range,, kind of like IPSC but with subguns.. A little further down was the rental range, and further yet was the jungle walk range. We looked around quickly and went back to the barn..
We met several people at the show that we knew, mostly the guys from Busse Combat Knives.. Great bunch of people, Awesome blades.. A couple Busse-Philes Slash customers of mine, we stood around and shot the $hit. As well as Mike Sastre from River city Sheaths who is always super friendly and ready for a laugh, someone I consider a friend.( The Travel Wrench is Sweet Mike ! )
By 1pm on Saturday we were Burned out and headed back to the van for a bite to eat and a lay down The constant buzzing of the camping area by the Cayuse OH-6A helicopter prevented any type of sleep.
By 3-4 oclock it was time to head back down to the range to get ready for the night shoot We quickly bought a few things in the barn.. Several sets of coffee stain camo,, a couple of knives, lock pick set, travel wrench and some other odds and ends.. Then it was up to the roof of the range to get a seat for the evening show.. By 4 oclock it was standing room only,,and it was kind of a drag as my son couldnt see.. Then a seat opened up in the last row of the bleacher seats.. My son grabbed it as I stood in behind.. One opened up in front of him, and now I had his seat.. Awesome!!
After several hours of sitting the evening show started.. They started off by everyone standing and singing the national anthem. Then the Cayuse helicopter hovered over the range. The door gunner shot at some Tannerite bottles, however it didnt go off. The helicopter shoot was auctioned off for $850 and the other for well over $1000. Neither one managed to hit the explosives.
As it became dark the tracers started to flow like water.. We could literally feel the shock from the many explosions and heat from the gasoline as they went up into mushroom clouds. The crowd went Nutz!!! The smell of gunpowder hung in the air,, even though the wind was blowing away from the range. Muzzle flash from the estimated hundred or so guns could be seen. The mini guns, 50s and the other guns lit up the range and sky with trasers. Small fires were burning in the woods.. Tracers were burning in the dirt, up the hills and even in the trees.. Para flares were popped every so often and slowly drifted back to earth, down range was Utter chaos. The min guns looks like lasers as they fired solid strings of red tracers down ranger The only way to explain it is it is it looked like a small scales attack over Baghdad, as so many of has seen the pictures. It was Frigging Awesome .
After the show, we grabbed a bite to eat,, looked around a little, however things were winding down, so we went back to the van..
As we walked back down to the camping area we heard several explosions in the near distance, which someone told me later was probably someone playing with dynamite..
Two Kentucky state troopers were already on site to control any disorderly conduct, which there was none of.
The people at this show were friendly, the show was Very well organized, controlled, and put together. A young couple with their daughter have made the trip many times, had several friends at the show who their daughter played with, and showed my son and I great southern hospitality and were kind enough to share their campfire with us,, even inviting us to dinner several times. Great people that were fun to hang around with, and simply loved to talk about guns, no matter what they were, and were machinegun owners themselves. They owned several model 1919s I believe (GPMGs to us Canadians). I look forward to meeting them again. Thanks Wayne and Dana if you are reading this.. Many people had told me that a lot of these people they considered family. Conversations with complete strangers were easily done. Everyone was Extremely friendly and eager to answer questions of just chat about anything.
I asked several people if I could take a picture of my son with their weapons, and they were more than happy to let us take as many pictures as I wanted..
Sunday we were up around 9:30. The sound of machineguns could already be heard from the campground. Our friends we met as well as a lot of others were already leaving or had left.. I was told that the range would be somewhat less hectic on Sunday, Awesome,, good time to go rent some machine guns then !
There was almost no line up at the rental range.. We looked over the prices and decided what we wanted to shoot..
My son wanted to shoot the Mac 10 or Uzi, but I said Theres something better His first gun there was the M16. He ripped off a 30 round mag while I video taped from only feet away.. Then it was my turn to shoot.. I rented the M60.. and blasted away at an old dryer only 20 yards away and then at a Very shot up fibreglass boat..
Next rental for my son was the Glock 18. Full auto pistol with a 30 round stick mag sticking out of the bottom.. Several short bursts and a long one and it was gone.. Very fast gun to shoot
I also shot the Glock 18, just simply Wicked I then fired a USAS12 full auto shotgun with a 25 round drum magazine.. That thing was a Trip to shoot,, and Very hard to control..
The last gun my son fired was a M16 with a .22 kit.. He shot two 30 round mags out of it, and laughed like hell afterwards
All in all the trip was somewhat expensive, the rentals being the lions share of the money spent,, but in my honest to goodness opinion Worth Absolutely Every last penny I spent.
A father and son road trip that no matter what else happens in my sons life, he will always remember his first trip with his dad to Kentucky and the Knob Creek Machinegun shoot.
Better than Sex he says!! LOL
Over the course of the weekend I seen entire families shoot machineguns, old men, possibly WWII vets, Vietnam vets (Met several of them), older ladies, young women, girls boys, and the youngest a boy about 4-5 years old shooting a 30 cal belt fed,, standing on a box. One young girl no more than 7, you could tell she had shot before was rattling away on her fathers .50 BMG.. She carefully fired short bursts,, looked down the barrel,, adjusted the tripod, and ripped the hell out of an old dryer,, then moved onto something else.. A seasoned machinegun shooter at the age of 6 or 7.
If you guys ever get a chance to go.. Even if its a long trip for you,, take the time to do it,, it is an experience that cannot be found Anywhere else in North America,, or the world for that matter.. The largest machinegun shoot this side of Iraq!
You can find more info about the Knob Creek shoot here:
www.machinegunshoot.com
BTW I will try to post some pictures as soon as I get them back.
Eric E. Noeldechen
On/Scene Tactical
This would be my son and my first trip to Knob Creek Range (KCR) and Machinegun shoot, located in West Point Kentucky about 30-40 mins from Louisville. Forgive me if I bounce around a little. Im writing this as I remember it
Our road trip took us about 7 hours to complete, from Windsor Ont, through, Michigan, Ohio and finally into Kentucky. Trip was very nice, light traffic, scenic and very straightforward..
As we got off of KY 841 (Highway) we asked for the directions to KCR and was told to turn left on Highway 44 and drive toward the smoke. Which we could see from several miles always.
As we approached the road leading to the range, it was obvious that there was already a lot of people there, on Friday at 1pm as cars and trucks lined both sides of the road.
A short drive to the range, across a bumpy one lane bridge, and we arrived in paradise. There were several military vehicles, a vendor selling authentic restored Hummers, one which had a M2 Browning BMG simulator out the roof turret.
A little further down a German encampment, complete with Anti Aircraft mounted MG 42, motorcycle w/sidecar, and a very nice display of other firearms and different memorabilia. Further down yet a fully camod semi tractor selling Mules a type of small motorized transport for hauling ammunition and such.. There were several of them driving around all weekend..
We were directed to the camping area.. Military trucks and equipment were everywhere. A fuel tanker was on hand to re-fuel a Cayuse OH-6A Helicopter that was providing from what I heard were really good rides around the range and so forth
The sound of machinegun fire was everywhere we went,, and pretty constant.. We could hear it long before we even arrived at the road leading to the range . Hearing protection of some sort is an Absolute Must have anywhere near the range. You would put on just past the checkpoint leading to the range, and basically kept on until you left or there was a cease fire. Admission to the show was $10US Children were $4.00US.
A good amount of people were walking around with firearms that were checked at the gate and zip tied open. M16s AR-15s were very popular.. HKs AKs M14s were also popular, and just a general variety of really nice firearms walking around.. I seen one guy carrying a Mac10 in a shoulder rig.
The first thing that you see when you came to the range was the flame thrower rental and refuelling station for the throwers.. There seemed to be 4 or 5 of them there for rent, at $195 a crack. I was talking with one of the owners, and he explained to me that they fired Napalm out of them, which was still commercially available and still widely used,, even in the civilian world.. Most people I talked to said that it was very expensive to shoot, and had gone up drastically from earlier years,, which seems to be around $65.00USD per tank.
The sound of machinegun fire was deafening, the constant thump, thump, thump of the 50 BMG drew your attention further down the range. Several 50s were going when I arrived, one of the loudest was a short barrelled M2 the called Little Fat Boy. Basically a sawed off 50 cal with about 2 of barrel past the heat shroud.
I rented it for my son who is 12, without him knowing.. I said get up to the gate, hes going to call your name He asked why. I laughed and told him to quite asking questions. A few minutes before he was ready to go I told him he was shooting.. He asked what he was shooting and I told him The Ma Deuce! You could see his excitement and a Big smile came to his face.
He was quickly led to the M2 .50 BMG while one of the range hands taped the experience for him from overhead with our camcorder. He had a Huge smile on his face afterwards and said That was Awesome then gave me a hug and said Thank You!
That was Great seeing him shoot that big ole .50.
Then Came the Buzz of the GE mini guns, sounding more like a rather large concrete hammer drills than a firearm. Its sound was unmistakable and Everyone was drawn to it..
It was for rent at $650USD for 1040 rounds I believe. Value was around $300,000
When they fired it, it literally cut a trench in the dirt, as it bounced 20lb propane cylinders around like a rubber ball. From the rooftop you could see trenches cut into the dirt.
The ammunition that was expended over the course of the weekend was mind boggling . The min guns alone must have accounted for several hundred thousands round, and Easily created the largest piles of empty brass and linkage at the range..
Ammo was used up by the skid.. Literally! It was being fired as if, the person with the most ammo at the end,, Lost! Like it was going bad, and they had to get rid of it Millions of rounds were probably fired this weekend.
When we arrived at the range there were several cars on fire, a large shed, two burning boats, a semi trailer, washers ,dryers, stoves, fridges, water heaters , 45 gallon drums and propane cylinders littered the range. Off to the side was a stack of cars and boats, and an assortment of other everyday common items, including a childs Little Tykes play kitchen. It was all shot to hell by the end of the weekend. A semi trailer was on hand and loaded with what wasnt worth shooting any more.
The shed burned to the ground.. The semi trailer was Very much on fire, as well had one of its Wheels shot off by an 80 mm anti tank artillery cannon.
After spending an hour at the main range, we went for a quick walk through the barn some 2-3-400 tables of everything,, and I do mean Everything youve even seen, dreamt of, seen in books or Wished you owned If Youve heard of it and they built it,, it was either there or somewhere on the 6000 acre property.. On Friday there was a Sterling subgun stolen from one of the tables, I heard later that they caught the person. Saturday an M60 was stolen, last report I heard was that it wasnt found.. Most security was armed that I could see.
Down on the lower range, there was a subgun match range,, kind of like IPSC but with subguns.. A little further down was the rental range, and further yet was the jungle walk range. We looked around quickly and went back to the barn..
We met several people at the show that we knew, mostly the guys from Busse Combat Knives.. Great bunch of people, Awesome blades.. A couple Busse-Philes Slash customers of mine, we stood around and shot the $hit. As well as Mike Sastre from River city Sheaths who is always super friendly and ready for a laugh, someone I consider a friend.( The Travel Wrench is Sweet Mike ! )
By 1pm on Saturday we were Burned out and headed back to the van for a bite to eat and a lay down The constant buzzing of the camping area by the Cayuse OH-6A helicopter prevented any type of sleep.
By 3-4 oclock it was time to head back down to the range to get ready for the night shoot We quickly bought a few things in the barn.. Several sets of coffee stain camo,, a couple of knives, lock pick set, travel wrench and some other odds and ends.. Then it was up to the roof of the range to get a seat for the evening show.. By 4 oclock it was standing room only,,and it was kind of a drag as my son couldnt see.. Then a seat opened up in the last row of the bleacher seats.. My son grabbed it as I stood in behind.. One opened up in front of him, and now I had his seat.. Awesome!!
After several hours of sitting the evening show started.. They started off by everyone standing and singing the national anthem. Then the Cayuse helicopter hovered over the range. The door gunner shot at some Tannerite bottles, however it didnt go off. The helicopter shoot was auctioned off for $850 and the other for well over $1000. Neither one managed to hit the explosives.
As it became dark the tracers started to flow like water.. We could literally feel the shock from the many explosions and heat from the gasoline as they went up into mushroom clouds. The crowd went Nutz!!! The smell of gunpowder hung in the air,, even though the wind was blowing away from the range. Muzzle flash from the estimated hundred or so guns could be seen. The mini guns, 50s and the other guns lit up the range and sky with trasers. Small fires were burning in the woods.. Tracers were burning in the dirt, up the hills and even in the trees.. Para flares were popped every so often and slowly drifted back to earth, down range was Utter chaos. The min guns looks like lasers as they fired solid strings of red tracers down ranger The only way to explain it is it is it looked like a small scales attack over Baghdad, as so many of has seen the pictures. It was Frigging Awesome .
After the show, we grabbed a bite to eat,, looked around a little, however things were winding down, so we went back to the van..
As we walked back down to the camping area we heard several explosions in the near distance, which someone told me later was probably someone playing with dynamite..
Two Kentucky state troopers were already on site to control any disorderly conduct, which there was none of.
The people at this show were friendly, the show was Very well organized, controlled, and put together. A young couple with their daughter have made the trip many times, had several friends at the show who their daughter played with, and showed my son and I great southern hospitality and were kind enough to share their campfire with us,, even inviting us to dinner several times. Great people that were fun to hang around with, and simply loved to talk about guns, no matter what they were, and were machinegun owners themselves. They owned several model 1919s I believe (GPMGs to us Canadians). I look forward to meeting them again. Thanks Wayne and Dana if you are reading this.. Many people had told me that a lot of these people they considered family. Conversations with complete strangers were easily done. Everyone was Extremely friendly and eager to answer questions of just chat about anything.
I asked several people if I could take a picture of my son with their weapons, and they were more than happy to let us take as many pictures as I wanted..
Sunday we were up around 9:30. The sound of machineguns could already be heard from the campground. Our friends we met as well as a lot of others were already leaving or had left.. I was told that the range would be somewhat less hectic on Sunday, Awesome,, good time to go rent some machine guns then !
There was almost no line up at the rental range.. We looked over the prices and decided what we wanted to shoot..
My son wanted to shoot the Mac 10 or Uzi, but I said Theres something better His first gun there was the M16. He ripped off a 30 round mag while I video taped from only feet away.. Then it was my turn to shoot.. I rented the M60.. and blasted away at an old dryer only 20 yards away and then at a Very shot up fibreglass boat..
Next rental for my son was the Glock 18. Full auto pistol with a 30 round stick mag sticking out of the bottom.. Several short bursts and a long one and it was gone.. Very fast gun to shoot
I also shot the Glock 18, just simply Wicked I then fired a USAS12 full auto shotgun with a 25 round drum magazine.. That thing was a Trip to shoot,, and Very hard to control..
The last gun my son fired was a M16 with a .22 kit.. He shot two 30 round mags out of it, and laughed like hell afterwards
All in all the trip was somewhat expensive, the rentals being the lions share of the money spent,, but in my honest to goodness opinion Worth Absolutely Every last penny I spent.
A father and son road trip that no matter what else happens in my sons life, he will always remember his first trip with his dad to Kentucky and the Knob Creek Machinegun shoot.
Better than Sex he says!! LOL
Over the course of the weekend I seen entire families shoot machineguns, old men, possibly WWII vets, Vietnam vets (Met several of them), older ladies, young women, girls boys, and the youngest a boy about 4-5 years old shooting a 30 cal belt fed,, standing on a box. One young girl no more than 7, you could tell she had shot before was rattling away on her fathers .50 BMG.. She carefully fired short bursts,, looked down the barrel,, adjusted the tripod, and ripped the hell out of an old dryer,, then moved onto something else.. A seasoned machinegun shooter at the age of 6 or 7.
If you guys ever get a chance to go.. Even if its a long trip for you,, take the time to do it,, it is an experience that cannot be found Anywhere else in North America,, or the world for that matter.. The largest machinegun shoot this side of Iraq!
You can find more info about the Knob Creek shoot here:
www.machinegunshoot.com
BTW I will try to post some pictures as soon as I get them back.
Eric E. Noeldechen
On/Scene Tactical
