A8843PPjacquelinem
Aug 2023
This was a very unique, informative and interesting experience, and it was cool to be able to hold and eventually shoot some of the fantastic guns in the collection. Pete was incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the guns he spoke through. Unfortunately for our experience, the duration was not the advertised 2 hours. From the time we arrived to the time we left, it was over 5 hours - and that was omitting the opportunity to shoot the last gun (which was unfortunate because it was the one we were the most excited about).
This was a birthday gift to my fiancé who really enjoys the history of WW2, but it was meant to be a portion of our day and ultimately took a huge chunk of it. We began at 11am, with the understanding we would be out at 1pm. We planned to get a late lunch afterwards, so we were both quite grumpy and hungry by the time we left around 4pm. Additionally, the first 3 1/2 hours were spent in the “vault” where Pete’s guns are kept and displayed. It was a small room, with limited space for him, us and the two other participants there to sit - so my fiancé ended up standing on the cement floor for Pete’s 3 1/2 hour discussion of the weapons and their history. In fairness, we were offered a seat once at the beginning but with the extremely limited space and expectation that the discussion would only last an hour to 90 minutes decided to stand. Thankfully, one gentleman from the other group offered for me to sit after the 2 1/2 hour mark.
Upon arrival and until about 2pm it was a cloudy day. By the time we were finally able to get out on the range, it had started raining pretty hard. Also, Pete instructed each of us to load our weapons, rather than simply asking if we wanted to do it ourselves or just have him set it up for us. Finally, when loading the M1 Gerand, it was my fiancé who cautioned me to watch my thumb rather than Pete, but a moment too late as it caught my thumb (there a phrase ‘Gerand thumb’ for this reason) and caused me to start bleeding. Pete offered me a bandaid, but no antiseptics to clean the cut.
For us, the sum of all the parts made it an overall negative experience. I think for the right person with the right expectations, this is a really great opportunity to learn about and interact with historically significant weapons - but I caution you to come with a full stomach and an open day. I also offer the suggestion to Pete to either adjust his advertisement or to shorten his presentation prior to the shooting. Im sure there are those who have the time and interest, and would happily come back after shooting to hear more specific and personal stories of the guns.