Shooting in Mexico CAMPO DE TIRO (A Mexican gun range)
A friend and client was invited to shoot south of the border. This is his story:
CAMPO DE TIRO (A Mexican gun range)
On Sunday, 9 September 2018, I was invited to go to a private gun range located just outside the city limits of Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila Mexico.
BLUE marks the spot
Mexican Highway 2 is also known as “THE BOULEVARD” and is the road that most of the factories and the universities are on.
The range itself is in a natural box canyon of maybe 75 acres.
Members are given a key and they let themselves in and out. Like America, the members transport their firearms and ammo from their homes rather than leaving the firearms permanently at the range. The Mexican constitution does allow its citizens to possess firearms but there are strong restrictions on the number of firearms, types of firearms and allowed calibers. All guns must be registered with the army. The army has the authority to go to registered gun owner’s home and inspect the firearms, but none of the club members have actually experienced that. Private gun sales are allowed but the transaction must be approved and recorded by the army. The only authorized gun store is in Mexico City, on an army base. There are stores in various cities that can sell ammunition, but the buyer must present the certificate from the army that he is allowed to possess a firearm in the specific caliber that he wishes to purchase. While military cartridges such as .308 Winchester/7.62 NATO, .223 Remington/5.56 NATO, 9mm Parabellum, .45 ACP and even .30-’06 are banned, .30-30, 7mm-08, 7mm Magnum are very common. One may have up to ten firearms. Handguns cannot be larger in caliber than .38. (.38 Super is allowed. I forgot to ask about .357 Magnum.) There are no restrictions on how much ammo you can buy but the selections are limited and the price is roughly double of what you would pay in the US.
There is a second permit that you need- you need one to purchase the firearm and then you need a second to transport it from your home. That permit is also given by the army. It’s good for a year and obtaining it is just some minor red tape. The concept is to give the owner some legal protection should he be stopped by the police, say for speeding, on his way to the range or to a hunting ranch.
All shooters must have permission to transport firearms
Person involved in shooting practice must concentrate in what they are doing
Treat each firearm as if it were loaded
While firearm is not in use, maintain unloaded with an open chamber
Never put your finger on the trigger until your firearm is on target
At the command of fire, all shooters must immediately follow the command
Make sure your firearm is pointed in a safe direction when not firing
Never point your firearm to any person
Visualize the target and what is behind it
At the command of cease fire you will stop on command
Do not consume alcohol or drugs while using firearms
A firearm is not a toy, be responsible.
The day I was there it had been raining along the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo. When that happens, I shut my Texas range down. The owner doesn’t want his dirt driveways turned into mud pits. The Mexicans are used to hardships and they simply deal with it. There is always someone there with a 4x4 and a rope to pull out a stuck car. When I got home I was covered in mud. “We were pushing cars out of the mud.”
“I don’t care. Take your boots off outside and throw your clothes straight into the washing machine!”
The range goes out to 385 meters
I spent some time looking at the fired brass lying on the ground. Lots of .22LR and a lot of 9mm P. I asked about that and was told that while it is a private range, the Army and the police use it for training.
While paper targets can and do get used, the day’s shooting was all at steel silhouettes. Miniature chickens, turkeys and sheep that are attached to a cable reset system.
Note the T-bar that pulls the cable that resets the targets.
All shooting is done from covered bays. I loved the elevated limestone slabs.
The day’s shoot was Olympic style .22LR. Two shooters square off. They get two minutes and thirty seconds to fire five shots at five steel targets at various distances. They then swap sides and do it again. They guy with the most hits wins.
And then they repeat the course with .22 handguns.
The club president is checking zero with an Anschutz. The actual competition is done standing.
Another Ruger 10/22
I was offered a turn. I am familiar with the Ruger 10/22 and so I asked to borrow one of those. This one was very different from mine- At the muzzle is a huge muzzle device. The idea is to minimize barrel harmonics. It had a set trigger - before each shot push forward on the trigger. Each pull of the trigger then requires only ounces of pressure. I accidentally lobbed off a few rounds until I got used to it. Surrounding the trigger guard is an extended magazine release lever. I managed to drop the magazine a few times until some muscle memory kicked in.
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A friend and client was invited to shoot south of the border. This is his story:
CAMPO DE TIRO (A Mexican gun range)
On Sunday, 9 September 2018, I was invited to go to a private gun range located just outside the city limits of Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila Mexico.
BLUE marks the spot
Mexican Highway 2 is also known as “THE BOULEVARD” and is the road that most of the factories and the universities are on.
The range itself is in a natural box canyon of maybe 75 acres.
Members are given a key and they let themselves in and out. Like America, the members transport their firearms and ammo from their homes rather than leaving the firearms permanently at the range. The Mexican constitution does allow its citizens to possess firearms but there are strong restrictions on the number of firearms, types of firearms and allowed calibers. All guns must be registered with the army. The army has the authority to go to registered gun owner’s home and inspect the firearms, but none of the club members have actually experienced that. Private gun sales are allowed but the transaction must be approved and recorded by the army. The only authorized gun store is in Mexico City, on an army base. There are stores in various cities that can sell ammunition, but the buyer must present the certificate from the army that he is allowed to possess a firearm in the specific caliber that he wishes to purchase. While military cartridges such as .308 Winchester/7.62 NATO, .223 Remington/5.56 NATO, 9mm Parabellum, .45 ACP and even .30-’06 are banned, .30-30, 7mm-08, 7mm Magnum are very common. One may have up to ten firearms. Handguns cannot be larger in caliber than .38. (.38 Super is allowed. I forgot to ask about .357 Magnum.) There are no restrictions on how much ammo you can buy but the selections are limited and the price is roughly double of what you would pay in the US.
There is a second permit that you need- you need one to purchase the firearm and then you need a second to transport it from your home. That permit is also given by the army. It’s good for a year and obtaining it is just some minor red tape. The concept is to give the owner some legal protection should he be stopped by the police, say for speeding, on his way to the range or to a hunting ranch.
All shooters must have permission to transport firearms
Person involved in shooting practice must concentrate in what they are doing
Treat each firearm as if it were loaded
While firearm is not in use, maintain unloaded with an open chamber
Never put your finger on the trigger until your firearm is on target
At the command of fire, all shooters must immediately follow the command
Make sure your firearm is pointed in a safe direction when not firing
Never point your firearm to any person
Visualize the target and what is behind it
At the command of cease fire you will stop on command
Do not consume alcohol or drugs while using firearms
A firearm is not a toy, be responsible.
The day I was there it had been raining along the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo. When that happens, I shut my Texas range down. The owner doesn’t want his dirt driveways turned into mud pits. The Mexicans are used to hardships and they simply deal with it. There is always someone there with a 4x4 and a rope to pull out a stuck car. When I got home I was covered in mud. “We were pushing cars out of the mud.”
“I don’t care. Take your boots off outside and throw your clothes straight into the washing machine!”
The range goes out to 385 meters
I spent some time looking at the fired brass lying on the ground. Lots of .22LR and a lot of 9mm P. I asked about that and was told that while it is a private range, the Army and the police use it for training.
While paper targets can and do get used, the day’s shooting was all at steel silhouettes. Miniature chickens, turkeys and sheep that are attached to a cable reset system.
Note the T-bar that pulls the cable that resets the targets.
All shooting is done from covered bays. I loved the elevated limestone slabs.
The day’s shoot was Olympic style .22LR. Two shooters square off. They get two minutes and thirty seconds to fire five shots at five steel targets at various distances. They then swap sides and do it again. They guy with the most hits wins.
And then they repeat the course with .22 handguns.
The club president is checking zero with an Anschutz. The actual competition is done standing.
Another Ruger 10/22
I was offered a turn. I am familiar with the Ruger 10/22 and so I asked to borrow one of those. This one was very different from mine- At the muzzle is a huge muzzle device. The idea is to minimize barrel harmonics. It had a set trigger - before each shot push forward on the trigger. Each pull of the trigger then requires only ounces of pressure. I accidentally lobbed off a few rounds until I got used to it. Surrounding the trigger guard is an extended magazine release lever. I managed to drop the magazine a few times until some muscle memory kicked in.
Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
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