Rules and procedures
Not a lot of rules except for the live fire portion:
- Follow all range instructions and commands.
- If you have a question, stop and ask.
- All firing will be static (not on the move) and on the firing line. Be sure you do not move forward or back of the firing line while shooting or handling weapons
- everyone is in charge of safety so anyone can say STOP at any time.
- All weapons should arrive at the range (move from your vehicle to the firing line) in a case.
- Never point guns at anyone, even incidentally when just uncasing; remove weapons from cases at the firing line, muzzle downrange
- Empty weapons may be moved, or carried slung, muzzle down while off the line, but use caution to keep them under control
- We run a cold range. When not on the line and firing (except for holstered handguns) all weapons must be unloaded.
- Loaded handguns are permitted on your body, but only with a holster designed for that handgun. Do not remove the handgun from the holster for any reason (short of defense of self or others) under penalty of ejection from the event, at any time except when on the firing line.
- Weapons other than holstered handguns should remain unloaded and cased, secured in your vehicle, until live fire time.
- No pyro (smoke, flare, etc) without explicit permission. Bring it, but ask before firing and the way this region catches on fire, don't expect to get it. .
- All participants must be 18 years or older and a citizen or legal resident alien of the United States.
- All participants must sign a waiver on entry to the property. These should be sent in advance so you can print and bring with you as well. You cannot participate without a signed waiver on file.
- Violations of the safety rules may result in sanctions up to and including ejection from the event without delay, at the discretion of the event organizers.
Range commands:
- Range Hot or Range Going Hot means we're gonna start shooting; give a moment after this command for anyone not in a safe area to respond
- Cease Fire just means stop shooting without urgency, so we can change shooters, guns, or targets
- Range Safe or Range Clear means no shooting, and No Handling Of Guns. People may be moving downrange and must not be shot
- Stop is a safety halt and means everyone instantly stops everything you are doing, no matter if shooting or not; you may be about to walk into the line of fire
Safety us everyone's job – Safety commands such as Stop can be issued by anyone. If you see an unsafe condition, do not hesitate or ask for someone else to call it, but yell Stop yourself. If you hear Stop, repeat it. If anyone seems to not be noticing it, tap them to assure they got it.
What to Bring
There are no hard and fast requirements, however, there is work and it may be cold or wet, there is shelter guaranteed so you will be expected to bring proper clothing, footwear, sleep system, food and water, and other items to be comfortable during the entire event without outside assistance or burdening the rest of the participants.
Here are other notes for equipment you could bring to make your stay more productive, comfortable, and fun:
- Shelter – such as tent, tarp, hammock, etc. There are several structures on site but they are probably not suitable for staying in, so plan on sleeping in your own shelter, or in your vehicle if you are that type.
- Food – and a way to make it hot, as well as other snacks and drinks. We're not feeding you and town is pretty far away.
- Marker light – For range safety, everyone must have a visible light marker on their back. We will try to bring spares, but if you have a dim marker light or can mount a cyalume to the back of your helmet or LBE, that would help a lot.
- Targets – And target stands, for paper, steel or whatever. Tell us when you register so we can be on the lookout and make plans to transport them to the range as needed.
- Tools – most of all brush hogs, but a chainsaw would be good, pruners and loppers, rakes and shovels, fence mending equipment, and anything else you think might help. There should be no digging, painting, greasing, or construction work unless someone really wants to bring lumber and stabilize the barn or some other structures.
What We Will Provide
- At least one truck, to transport tools, equipment, and you when access is available to work sites. Before driving your truck into the field for work, talk to us.
- Some tools for the work party activities.
- Water, in 5 gal jugs and some dispensers.
- Backup shelter; we have some tarps, so if very rainy or too cold can set those up to provide respite or if your shelter is not up to the task for overnight.
- There is a small (6-8 person when expanded) climate-controlled shelter however it requires service so may not be available as a heated refuge, though of course it still is waterproof.
- If very cold, we may bring other shelters and heaters but for a 1 day event we'd prefer to not take the time to transport, set up, and take down all that.
- Radios, most likely a mix of VHF-low (30-45 mhz) and FRS/GMRS. If you want to bring your own, ask what channels and we'll tell you.
- Targets, tables, lighting and flagging for live fire time. We also will probably bring an unreasonable number of guns as we have a number of things that may be unusual, and you can try them out.
- Night vision and thermal imaging devices, for familiarization, night shooting and on a pretty first-come, random-assignment manner for night movement. There are fewer helmets and other pieces of headgear then NODs so also ask about that if needed, and bring your own if you have a suitable one.