December 2000 Fun Shoot!!

Just got back from the Albany Rifle & Pistol Clubs Full-Auto December Fun Shoot!  Held in Albany, Oregon, each year as a companion to the May shoot, this is a one day event of nothing but full-auto fun :)  The following pictures are all screen captures taken from my Canon XL-1 while shooting in frame mode, so you get a really nice still from it.  The bad news is that I use this camera all the time in a professional role using external XLR microphones and I forgot to flip the switch back to the onboard mic.  DOH!!!!!  My realization of this was followed by about 5 solid minutes of language that would make a sailor blush.  < sigh >   However, I'll be cutting the video to music at the suggestion of a friend, so stay tuned for that in the near future.  On with the captures!  They're in no particular order, other than the order in which I shot them with the camera.

Very nice MG42 that was kept very busy as a rental all day long.

Me shooting a Barrett M82A1 .50 rifle!  Thanks to Tod Glen's friend for letting me rip with it :)

WHEEE!!!!

Tod shooting the .50.

This is the magazine & ammo in case you've never seen how big a .50 cartridge is.  I have large hands too!!

Tod shooting Paul's M16 in 7.62x39mm Russian.

Me shooting the same gun.  I don't know if it was that funky muzzle break or not, but it was VERY controllable and soft recoiling for that caliber.  I have a pre-ban Norinco AKM that shoots a lot harder than this gun did.

A minigun!!!  This one's a bit unique in that it's .22 caliber, and is actually made up of 6(?) separate Ruger 10/22's.  At least I THINK they're 10/22's as the gun is loaded with 6 separate 10/22 magazines.

That's what he's doing right now...loading magazines.

Kinda' neat watching it fire :)

HK53 .223 with folding stock.  It didn't have the correct 4-prong long muzzle break, so the muzzle flash was pretty severe (as you can see ;)

Speaking of Tod's buddy Paul, here he is with the '16 again.

This lucky little lass is firing a suppressed HK USP Tactical.  Lucky girl!!!  My preferred pistol is also a USP, though mine is a standard model in .45 caliber.

The grin says it all!!!  (Lucky girl!  I'm jealous!)

SSSSCCCHHHWWIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is the very exotic, and quite rare FN P90!  You DEFINATELY don't see these puppies every day!  They were developed by FN as an aircrew, tanker, or special operations personal defense weapon.  They are *extremely* compact and a real smooth shooter.  Unfortunately, the vendor that had this gun for rent only had 27 rounds for it...

...which is why he was charging $15/shot to shoot it, and is also why he's smiling (he's the one in red).  Kel, bring more ammo next time so *I* can shoot it dammit!!!!!!

The Full Auto Director of the Club, Mark Cook, gets ready to shoot the P90.

I think he likes it :D

This is the shell casing for the 5.7x28mm cartridge that the P90 shoots.  That's a U.S. penny & nickel straddling it.

Suppressed Berretta 92 at the moment of firing.  This thing was VERY quiet since it was using sub-sonic ammo.  However, it wouldn't cycle in semi-auto...

Same shot, in full recoil.

Mark doing his Rambo imitation with his HK21 belt-fed.

Mark readying the HK21 on it's tripod while a young lady lets loose with the MG42 in the background.

I think she likes it.....

Gettin' ready to cook off a 100rnd belt....

....in *one* burst, which is why I'm grimacing at the end.  It's hard to tell in this shot, but there was so much smoke it was gettin' hard to breath :)  Thanks to my new friend Jonah for feeding me!

Jonah firing another of the Barretts that were out there for the shoot.  One of the great things about taking pictures with DIGITAL VIDEO is that you can always freeze the picture exactly where you want it.  In this case, the shell casing is seen ejecting from the side of the gun, and you can see the round impacting in the berm at the 50yd. line.  Jonah was aiming for the bowling pin about a foot below the strike, but Barretts aren't generally zero'd for that close :)  He only had the one round available, so he didn't get a chance to correct his fire unfortunately.

This December shoot had an extra-special treat.  A friend of Kel Wheelen, the aforementioned dealer with a P90, came down from Washington with his 20mm Lahti and Solothurn cannons!!!!!  Here the owner and two helpers are assembling the Lahti's standing pedastal base.

The helpers holding the cannon while the owner anchors the hinge pin.

The Solothurn being set up on a wheeled carriage.

Kel shooting the Lahti.

The next frame of the shot, showing how the gases dissipate from the muzzle brake.

Cal shooting the Lahti.

Cal *likes*!!! :)

Cal comparing the 20mm shell casing to that of a .308 rifle.  Damn that's big!

My friend Leonard Erickson firing the Lahti.

Cal firing the Solothurn.

Me rapid firing an HK Mk23 SOCOM, the big brother to my USP.  There are two shells clearly in the air above the gun, with one or two blurred into the background below it.  When I have time, I'll tweak the brightness & contrast in Photoshop to correct the picture.....

Another MG42 in center frame, with a delta handguard M16 and FN-FAL(?) to it's right, and an MG43 & Browning .30 to it's left.  I LOVE this shoot!!  You get to see all KINDS of stuff!

My friend Tod Glenn firing some rather hot 00 buck from a Bennelli shotgun.

From right to left:  .22LR, .308 casing in link, .50 casing, and a 20mm casing from the Lahti & Solothurn!!

Tod on the right and another friend of his (name escapes me...) on the left firing more of that 00 buck through a pair of Bennelli's.  The one in Tod's hands is a 14in. entry gun version :)

Hard to see in this shot, but Tod's buddy wanted this shot up here.  He's got *3* shell casings in the air!  One just ejecting from the gun, one about a foot below his muzzle and 2 feet directly above Tod's left hand, and another about 2 feet below and one forward of Tod's muzzle.  See it?

Bob(?) shooting Mark's HK21.  This being the first time the '21 had run well in about 2 years, everyone had to have a chance to shoot it :)  Unfortunately, I gave him a belt of defective ammo, so for every five shots fired, they had to clear about 5 shots that showed perfectly good hammer strikes that hadn't ignited.  >>:(

Mark and his '21 again.

Jonah showing what a flamethrower a short barreled, un-braked .223 can be!  The 2 shadows in the flame are actually ejected shell casings being flung forward and right by the gun.

Same here.

This guy (whose name escapes me :(   ) had a 200 rnd belt of .308 that he'd had for quite awhile that needed to be shot.  So, he shot it out of Mark's HK21 :)  Very fun!!!

Jonah shooting the '21

Me shooting my what's arguably my favorite subgun, the HK UMP in .45.  Oh baby!

If I could have *ANY* -one- fully-automatic weapon in the world, this gun would win out.  It's the HK G36K of course!  Man, I LOVE this rifle!  I shoot it every time I make it up to this shoot!  It is such a cool and innovative design from my beloved HK!!

Well, that's it for now!  I'll have some edited video up here shortly I hope.  I'd once again like to thank my good friend Mark Cook and his wife Lori for not only inviting me up from California for the shoot, but inviting me into their home and showing such great hospitality!  For now, keep it safe and in the x-ring!

Jesse