Anyone looking for the place name "Big Sandy" in the US is literally spoilt for choice. Whether in Kentucky's Boyd County, Montana's Chouteau County or Texas' Upshur County, there is a community with that name everywhere. But if you want to make the eyes of full-auto gun fans light up with "Big Sandy", the choice is clear: the Big Sandy Test Center in north-western Arizona, located a good ten miles (16 kilometers) north of the small town of Wikieup and known as the venue for the Big Sandy Shoot (BSS).
Anyone travelling there ends up in a sun-drenched desert landscape with saguaro cacti, mesquite bushes, creosote bushes and palo verde trees. All kinds of favourite creatures cavort among them, including various species of spiders, snakes and lizards and – the highlight – the crust lizard known as the "Gila Monster". Well, as long as you are sitting in the off-road vehicle recommended for the trip and travelling along Route 93, you have nothing to do with anything that crawls, wriggles, bites and stings. Instead, the driver should pay attention to the "111 miles" sign. This is where you turn off Route 93. Now, at the latest, it becomes clear why the off-road vehicle is the right choice: the car rumbles along a bumpy desert sand track for a quarter of an hour before you reach the Big Sandy Test Center. The 20th anniversary of the Big Sandy Shoot took place there over three days in October 2024. A superlative anniversary shooting event with a firing line that is no less than 500 meters wide. Participants and organisers bring in everything that shoots. The selection ranges from .22 to 155 mm guns, submachine guns, assault rifles, light and heavy machine guns, many of which are belt-fed, with tracer ammunition in the belts. Ammunition consumption? The organisers can only estimate: "Around two million rounds". Safety is the top priority. Consequently, the shooting starts in the morning with a mandatory briefing. The safety rules are discussed and a warning is issued about scorpions and snakes. After a communal prayer and the singing of the US national anthem, it's time to go.
"Open fire!" – The Big Sandy Shoot starts
Hundreds of machine gunners suddenly start firing. A deafening bang and rattle rolls through the desert and an hour-long barrage of fire pours out in front of the firing range. The shooting range is prepared with hundreds of targets. Many of them are explosive, so everyone tries to blow up as many as possible. One magazine after another empties in full-auto mode, machine gun belts jerk through the weapons at a rapid pace. A helper often acts as an assistant gunner and feeds the long belts. Once the guns are hot, they are put aside to cool down. But the participants don't stop there, they pick up another gun. And the fun continues. Due to its desert location, Big Sandy also offers shooting at flying targets, certainly unique. The "targets" are model aeroplanes, remote-controlled at various speeds. This poses a particular challenge for machine gunners due to the need to hold their fire. If flying targets are in the air, the machine gun fire increases noticeably and everyone wants to fire the decisive shot. During the shooting breaks, the Big Sandy team collects the model aeroplanes that have been shot down. And if they are not damaged, their controls are used again.
Casual shooting: fun shooting in the desert
The whole scenario cannot be compared to military shooting. It starts with the way the shooters position themselves behind their weapons in Big Sandy. They sit casually on camping chairs, ammunition boxes or upturned empty buckets, and also use tripods and mounts, making it easier to fire than from a prone position. Many use gloves as heat protection. Sometimes the wife is there and empties a few magazines. The children are also busy shooting. A round takes about three hours. Then there is time for gun maintenance, for setting up new targets and for chatting about the shared hobby. The atmosphere is informal and many people have known each other for years. Even as a spectator, you can quickly strike up a conversation. Questions and discussions about the firearms are always welcome.
Big Sandy Shoot 2024: weapons...
...are a form of investment in the USA (more on this below), so the range at the BSS is uniquely broad. When it comes to submachine guns (SMGs), you see a lot of American models such as Ingram, Thompson or Grease Gun models. Israeli Uzi and British Sten and Sterling SMGs can be spotted just as often. There is also an international flavor to assault rifles, with many M16 versions as well as AK-47s and Ak-74s. German guns are in great demand. This applies to weapons from Heckler & Koch, such as the MP5, MP5k, the G3 and G33 assault rifles and the HK21 machine gun. Even older German models such as the MP 40 and Sturmgewehr 44 can also be found, and these are also fired fully automatically. However, due to their age and the value, these models are certainly too good for hours of shooting.
Among the MGs, many German pieces also catch the eye: MG 13s, MG 15s, MG 34s and MG 42s on gun carriage or tripod. And they are not spared. Because the barrels are easy to change, you can shoot them for a long time. Many shooters use cheap spare barrels for long continuous fire. Of course, the Americans also shoot with machine guns from their own country. World War II classics such as the BAR M1922, M1919, the HBAR M2 in .50 BMG are active in large numbers, the last also as a twin MG, water-cooled, for air defence. The M60 known from the "Rambo" movies is also present, as are the Russian Maxim, RPK and RPD machine guns. A rare and valuable weapon can be recognised immediately by its sound: the 7.62 mm M134 Minigun with six rotating barrels is represented three times. With a cadence of 50 rounds per second, or 3,000 rounds per minute, you can hear them very impressively. The largest shoulder weapons are tank rifles such as the Lathi L39 or Solothurn 18/100, both in 20mm. One US peculiarity is that until 1986 many semi-automatic rifles could be converted by gunsmiths and registered as fully automatic. Further full-auto rifles were then built on the basis of these guns. This means that many HK clones in the USA, for example, do not actually originate from Germany, but instead come from licenced manufacturers such as MKE, POF or EBO or contain locally manufactured parts.
Machine gun shooting with tracer and pyrotechnics...
...at night – a highlight for many visitors. Night shooting starts after dark on Friday and Saturday. The effect targets are marked with fluorescent light sticks. The model aeroplanes fly with illuminated LED strips for identification. To celebrate the BSS, the organisers prove to be particularly generous with explosive and pyrotechnic targets. Some of the shooters load tracer ammunition. Machine gun belts and magazines are full. An hour-long fireworks display lights up the desert. The muzzle flash of the fully automatic weapons, the trajectories of the tracer bullets, the explosive targets hit, the targets with pyrotechnics and flares create a thrilling spectacle. The mesmerised spectators enjoy the scenery for hours.
Big Sandy Shoot – Tanks and howitzers are also present in the desert
Part of the fire line had booked "Battlefield Vegas", one of the many shooting centers in Las Vegas. There you can choose your favourites from hundreds of weapons. The offer extends to armoured driving and shooting. As this is not possible on the company's premises in Las Vegas, the owners have had various vehicles moved to the desert for their wealthy regular customers. A large number of anti-tank guns (PAK) were brought into position, including an 155 mm M114 Howitzer artillery gun. This is the largest working gun in the USA that is privately owned by collectors. Battlefield Vegas also positioned some working armored veichles in the desert. You can fire Vietnam style a machine gun from a M113. The M48 main battle tank and its successor, the M60, fired individual shells every day. Every shot from these vehicles caused a huge crowd, often interrupting the rest of the shooting because everyone wanted to watch the spectacle. The expensive shells were proudly presented to the spectators beforehand. It goes without saying that an extended security area was required for these tanks and anti-tank guns.
Simply hire machine guns: machine gun rental
At the BSS but don't have your own firearms? No problem: you can borrow something. There are sometimes long queues in front of the issue tent on Saturday. On Friday or Sunday you can go without having to wait. Experienced shooting supervisors help with the guns. 20 shots cost 35 dollars, not cheap, but certainly a unique pleasure. The selection ranged from classics such as the Thompson M 1928, Beretta Model 1938, S&W M76, Uzi to the HK MP5. M16, AK-47 and AK-74 assault rifles were of course available for hire. As the price of the weapons was standardised, it made more sense to take the opportunity to shoot assault rifles and machine guns at the BSS. The MGs were mounted on a bipod or mount for safety reasons. There were four weapons to choose from: the oldest was the 1919 A4 in .30-06 Springfield, which was used until the Vietnam War. The M240B in 7.62x51mm is still in service worldwide and is also known from many action films. A Russian PKM in 7.62x54mm R was also something that many shooters booked. You can also shoot longer belts with pleasure. The American Browning M2 was naturally more expensive due to the large .50 BMG caliber, with five rounds costing 25 dollars. Many shooters took 20 rounds for 100 dollars. Where else can you shoot a belt-fed .50 BMG fully automatically?
The Big Sandy Test Center in the US state of Arizona
The Big Sandy Test Center is a private test site for the defence industry covering almost 2.6 square kilometres. The area contains a number of shooting ranges with a maximum firing distance of up to 2,000 meters. Firing ranges with moving targets in direct fire can be used at different speeds up to 1,500 metres. Armories, explosives bunkers and a test track for tracked vehicles form the infrastructure of the test center. Weapon manufacturers, defence companies and even film producers can rent the facility exclusively for testing, training and demonstrations. The offer is popular, as it is very difficult and bureaucratic to book appointments at US armed forces training grounds. The flexibility of a private provider is therefore a great advantage. An experienced team of range security, firefighters and firework specialists are available at the test center. The management team at Big Sandy consists of Kenton Tucker, the Range Officer, and Ed Hope, the General Manager. Due to the aforementioned very friendly atmosphere between visitors and shooters, people help each other with tips on the guns and sometimes let other people shoot interesting pieces. Bob Faris was a well-known US collector who had worked in the US firearms industry for a long time – he celebrated his 80th birthday here. Today, the path to the shooting range is named after him. Mike Dillon, founder and owner of the reloading accessories company and known from the film "Machine Gun Magic" / "Firestorm in the Desert", also used to belong to the circle of shooters travelling to Arizona. His descendants shoot in Big Sandy today.
