Ninth Stage

Knob Creek that is, shootin’ irons, machine guns.

We left home last Friday (the 13th) morning for the semiannual Machine Gun Shoot. Leaving Gallatin at 5:30 AM early we were parked in the lot by 9:00.

Exiting the truck in the parking lot I felt a sudden urge to laugh. The roar of all those guns going off at the same time filled the air with a sound like freedom. We trudged on up the road, payed our fees and walked into a cloud of smoke from powder and burning cars.

The firing line was completely full and overflowing on the both sides. Near the entry some guys had flamethrowers set up for rent. Next in line was some kind of medium sized muzzle loading coastal cannon that boomed and spewed a huge cloud of white smoke. Next in line was a minigun in 5.56 I think. We heard it buzz a few times and finally had a chance to watch it run. One of the guys watching emailed me a video and I put it up on YouTube. 30 feet of ammo in 10 seconds:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/v/iqA3nFphg10[/video]

The rest of the line was populated with all sorts of pintle mounted weapons. Ma Dueces were common. I’d really need to have someone with Tam’s knowledge with me to identify most of the weapons.

Near the far end of the line was a small breech loading cannon on a wheeled carriage. It occasionally launched a solid tracer round making for a good show. I’m guessing that it started around 800 fps or so, comparing the apparent velocity to .45 ACP tracer rounds from a Thompson.

A couple photos courtesy my neighbor who remembered his camera. A flamethrower in action:

Pintle row:

A man was injured later that day but I only learned of it from A-C-E. I’m guessing it happened somwhere near where the above photo was taken, probably a little more to the right.

A shooting accident at Knob Creek Gun Range sent a Virginia man to the hospital Friday with shrapnel wounds after his anti-aircraft machine gun misfired.

The man, Allen Hayes, was among about 2,000 people at Knob Creek Gun Range’s bi-annual machine gun shoot and military gun show Friday when his 20 mm Oerlikon misfired because a round was not all the way in the chamber, said Kenny Sumner, manager of the gun range.

Shrapnel ripped through his right hip area. He was in fair condition Sunday at University Hospital, officials there said.

Not strictly a “shooting accident” rather an accident while shooting. Anyway I hope he does real well with no lasting damage .