I won't be able to make it.
I hope that everyone has a great time and it continues next year.
Maybe I'll be able to get the time off then.

It'll absolutely continue next year. I believe we are aiming for the 3rd week in May. We got lucky with the weather this year....especially since range construction was going on until last week.

Any details on how the assault hike will be run?

I honestly don't know.

Damn, weather for Sunday isn't looking too good. Weather shows chance of rain at 90% for right now.

Just out of pure curiosity, is any of this going to be under an overhang or pavilion at all?

Is there an address that I can put in my GPS that will get me close? I'm from out of town and trying to make it work for Saturday.

Nope. We don't have any structures. These ranges were built for this event.



Millstone Rd, Monroe, PA 18832

How's cell phone service up there?

Is there going to be an actual gun show?

Lol cell service.

There are some vendors who will be selling things. It won't be huge but it is the first year. Bring money.

I'm here at the Hotel (Best Western).

Who's here?

Me. But I'm tied up doing stuff all night.

I posted in your Towanda thread.

I would head down but I only live 20 minutes away.

Good to hear, I hope it has a great turnout.
Come on guys, a little rain won't hurt ya.

Damn those of you who aren't stuck at work all day today

Hoped to be out early, didn't happen. Next year I'm using vacation (even for my scheduled days off). Tomorrow is a no go too. Stupid responsibilities.

I'm hoping it either doesn't rain hard, or there's a long enough break in the weather to justify me driving 40 minutes down there. With the rain I hope it doesn't keep guys from showing up.



Time will tell.

It's keeping this guy from showing up.  Today was miserable with all the mud, considering the long distances and steep hills you had to climb. Tomorrow will likely be awful.

I understand it's the first year, but they seriously need to do an awful lot differently. I was given wrong information by several employees/volunteers, they displayed quite a lack of respect for my friend who is a disabled vet, and they asked me to leave when I wasn't wearing my sunglasses, even though there were dozens of people who are not shooting that weren't wearing glasses.


There was quite a bit of neat stuff to look at, though.  To bed every single event was sold out.   I would like to have done something other than watch.

Supermoose, I hope you all will accept some constructive criticism as we look to next years event.

I understand first year things will be hairy, and I know much progress was made in a little bit of time but I'll work up a few things that will make for a better event next year.

Good idea. Supermoose was very friendly, helpful, and understanding. There's lots to work on and he understands that. I'm sure observations would be welcome.

A few hiccups and a slow start but man what a great day.  Was good to meet you at the end of the day man, hope to see you next year!

Good to meet you as well. Also met up with scmar.

I plan on being here next year so long as my vacation works out (I'm like 4th in line to pick vacation)

Absolutely. I spent the better part of the day talking to vendors and attendees about their thoughts, opinions, suggestions, etc.

It's the only way we can make the event run better.

As I said, this was the first year and quite honestly, none of us had ever planned an event this large or complex so for every base that we thought was covered, there were others that were not.

Bushylover, as I said yesterday, I'm really sorry about anything that happened. There was an absolute lack of direction from people and that was a problem that seemed to be consistent throughout. I was getting yanked in about 1000 different directions so I was having a tough time staying composed and trying to handle things as they arose. I appreciate you being so cool about everything with me. I do hope you and your friend will be back.

As I hope you got the impression, I'm an easy going, approachable guy and always willing to listen to suggestions, constructive criticism and thoughts.

You guys can shoot me an IM or an email with your thoughts, etc.

He probably won't be back. He can't do all that walking up hills. I probably will next year, if only because it's so close.

Was there yesterday with the vendors, have quite a few thoughts to share if you're open to it.

A few pictures from yesterday. I took these myself, and they're my property. Please do not reuse them without my permission.

What a talented shooter running that Saiga! - (its me)

Overall it was an enjoyable day but a bit frustrating. I hope that it grows and any criticisms of it are constructive but well received by the organizers.

I couldn't believe you got three in the air, and two touching. Holy fast fingers, Batman!

One of my biggest "gripes" (other than my previous post) was that I purposely asked three RO's and a couple of the organizers and they all said they were going to bring in the cars and blow them up at 6.  Everyone said 6:00. So about 4:30 I started heading back up to the MG range, only to find they'd already done it. Very disappointing. I really wanted to see that and get some pictures.

I was happy to meet you guys also. Cant wait to do it again!

Freaking awesome, thanks for posting!

I have no idea who was who. Only person that identified himself as an arfcommer was supermoose.

I was the big bald guy with the huge camera lens.

I was there yesterday, often found at the Alpha Dog Silencer or Kinetic Development booth. I had the grey polo on. I was the Cerakote guy at the Alpha Dog table. The coated guns and can were mine.

Shit, I missed saying hi to you...

It's all good. I'm looking forward to doing it next year, if you guys do it, I'll be getting my own table next year,

What do you mean if? You mean when...

That's me shooting the Thompson!

I didn't know you were an ArfCommer! I kinda thought you were there taking pics FOR the range. Lol

If they're smart, maybe they'll hire me next year!

I used to do weddings, theater work, sports events, etc.  Still got the gear.

You should pick some good ones out, watermark them and submit them to the powers that be (Supermoose), etc. for potential work next year,

Looks like a pretty good time.

I'll have to try to make it out next year.

Did I read somewhere that there is a similar event in Lancaster County in the fall?  Different organizers maybe? Any input appreciated

The law firm I work for hosts that event. That is much smaller and less complex. No manufacturers attend that, just smaller FFLs who rent MGs, people who own them that rent their own and people who come to shoot their own.

Thanks, any dates yet?

Just so you know, the cars were never blown up. I arrived on the range thinking the same thing (that I missed it).

Apparently everyone got too happy with the tracers, set the cars on fire and the guys who were going to blow them up determined it was a potential safety hazard and abandoned the plan to blow them up due to safety concerns.

We'll have to stash an extra car next year to destroy.

Here are some pictures from the event. Photo credits to: Dave

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64363855@N02/albums/72157667640976441

SuperMoose,

I want to add my two cents here. I was at the shoot on Saturday with 2 friends.  
We were the guys you spoke to on the phone several weeks ago( you actually spoke to my Dad for like 45 minutes)!! and we spoke several times thru the day.
You were always nice, calm and easy to talk to. You were receptive to the comments we had about the days events, as we have vast experience from going to "The Creek" for over 20 years as well as other shoots.

The shoot  from my and both my friends point of view was GREAT!!  We had a shit ton of fun!! From the start of the day, things were slightly unorganized, but that is to be expected as it is a first year event.  We were late to the opening (our fault) and also now late for our Zipline runs, as we had the first 3 slots at 9am. But with only slight delay your staff had us squared away in short order and headed up to the location for the Zipline. What a awesome time we had!! So much that the first thing my friend said was "we should have signed up to do this TWICE!" and I couldn't agree more! Yes, the ride needs some tweaking, but that comes with experience and time, which you now have. And your staff at the zipline event were GREAT! Hands down!

We then went to the hillside where the vendors were set up...that's where it gets tough...the hill was a bit steep and somewhat muddy, that made it tough to traverse for most folks. We all know you cant help that it rained. The mud was everywhere and sloshing thru it was a bit of a chore, but everyone I saw was in good spirits and talking and having a good time. We met up with vendors we know, like Dennis Todd and his wife,  from all the years going to shows and met some new ones!! The guys from 2A Armament were cool and spoke with my friend who always has a "hundred" questions!  Up In Arms had a very nice set up with ammo and some guns with good prices! Although, if I were Ryan, I would have a stocked table down on the Machine Gun line. Because we went down there later in the day to shoot and some of the rental guns were out of ammo, but said we could shoot at a discount if we ran our own ammo. Thankfully, we were carrying a few .45s and used all we had to run the Thompson!!  But, if he was down at the line, I would have bought the ammo from him without hesitation! The guys from Alpha Dog were in pretty good order and busy, but they had it all under control and LOTS of Suppressors and Hosts to choose from. They also had an ongoing contest, that if you hit the 2 inch plate you got a free mag to shoot! They Super nice guys that we became fast friends with. Les Sheaffer had very nice custom 1911s that he builds at great prices! Also, want to mention that we bought a few steel plates that we cant wait to shoot from Tactical AR500 Targets at good prices. Black Bag Resources made some deals with us and all parties walked away happy!

Towards the end of the day we did the Assault Hike which was a really good event. It was well run and very interactive. The course of fire was challenging and each target took two hits to knock down. That was a cool feature that the guys running it from AUTOTARGETS took the time to explain and show us all the details of the system and how it works. We will be signing up for that challenge TWICE also!!

We also went back to the Machine Gun Range to see the Flame Thrower and the explosion of the cars. But just before the Flame thrower guy came out a Range Safety Officer came out and announced that they would NOT be blowing up the cars due to fears of shrapnel hitting the crowd. We looked at each other and thought that was a GOOD CALL on the part of the staff. In "The Creek" the cars are over 200 yards away from the crowd to avoid this situation. In fact, the heat from the explosions are so severe you can feel the heat at the observation line! So, imagine it at the distance from the line at Stone Mountain....good call over all.

We didnt get to shoot at the 1100 yard range or the M99 because of the rain and fog as SuperMoose and we talked about, but we cant control the weather. So, we will do it next time!! All in all we thought it was a great event that is sure to expand. I have several guys at work that want to know when the next event is, especially after they saw the videos we took and others on you tube! It does need some fine adjustment in some areas, but that is to be expected.

I do want to say a big THANK YOU for holding such an event, it takes a METRIC SHIT TON of WORK to do something like this!! Sometimes I don't think people realize how much it takes behind the scenes!


SuperMoose, I will email you on some other thoughts at a later time.

ar-15-223-556

Wow...thanks for the time to type out such a reply. It really means a lot. It's super exciting to hear that people had a great time. Next year will be better with the lessons learned from this year.

Keep your eye posted on your email for a survey.

I'm going to be soliciting feedback from attendees and vendors in order to make next year better for everyone.

I agree 100% about the ammo and that is something that should have been taken care of this year.

fixed link:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64363855@N02/sets/72157667640976441

totally awesome

Looks like you guys got a shot of me from behind, I must say, my ass looks fantastic in high res. excellent pictures.

Are you in the gray Alpha Dog shirt, standing between the guy with a green back pack and the guy in the black sweatshirt??