Rocky Mountain Chapter
Mystery Writers of America
RMMWA Field Trip to the 2008 Fort Morgan Machine Gun Shoot and Military Vehicle Show
Mario Acevedo, chapter VP, and Christine Goff, chapter webmaster, were unfortunately the only takers for the RMMWA field trip to Ft. Morgan, but they lived to report it was amazing. Mario had been before, along with his sons, so they led Christine, her husband, Wes, and her two daughters, Danielle and Addie, from booth to booth making sure we saw everything.
We fired guns—big guns. Christine's latest book-in-progress is set in the Middle East, so she was especially interested in shooting an AK47 and an Uzi. She got to shoot both!
Highlights of the day included watching a 50 cal. cannon being shot, watching Danielle shoot the "Bowling Ball" cannon in an attempt to hit a vehicle target with a bowling ball, watching Addie shoot the ParaSaw, watching those at the firing line explode a case of dynamite after lunch, and the grass fire—which a smoker walking a small white dog started, not the shooters!
Here are some pictures with commentary.
Here's Chris holding the M4, the newest rifle issued to our troops overseas. They let me aim it, look through it, but I wasn't allowed to fire it. The soldier stood guard behind me!
Here's Chris actually firing an AK47. Notice the kickback (and the ejecting shell on the right side of the photo). My shoulder was sore for a day, but it was worth it. The gun master told me that the kickback is why you always see people hugging the stock against their sides and shooting a spray from the hip.
This is Danielle possing with the Uzi.—think car show model. While Mario sent in his photos, Wes has yet to download and send in the others. This gun was easy and fun to shoot. Scary how easy and fun!
And here's Addie firing the ParaSaw. This little machine gun had quite a kick. It fed a belt of ammo, and Addie had a blast firing it. Note the dust rising in the distance. She was intent on hitting her target.
The last thing we did was have Mario's sons and Christine's daughters shoot a 45 cal. semi-automatic handgun, just to show them how powerful a weapon a handgun can be. Fun AND educational! There's another gun shoot in May in Cheyenne Wells, or there's always next year when RMMWA makes the second annual road trip to the machine gun shoot in Ft. Morgan!
