本帖最后由 Laou168 于 2014-2-18 14:14 编辑
I have thought about shooting in Burro Valley Shooting Range(BVSR) for a while. This is because I have always shot in indoor ranges with maximum distance of 17 yards in one range and 25 yards in the other. So, shooting outside in the wild has been a dream for me.
Burro Valley Shooting Range drew my attention when I searched the internet. Its website shows very impressive and beautiful scenes of the range. It is located on top of hills along a valley in the north of Los Angeles County. It is about one hour driving from my home. Google map’s satellite views certainly enhanced my desire to go there one day.
After a lengthy preparation of my weaponry that includes a M&P 15 Sport, a Bushnell 3~12x scope, a bipod and 550 rounds of ammunition over the past 3 months. Today is the day to fulfill my dream. After one hour drive which was not too bad for President’s Day (2/17/2014), our vehicle entered San Gabriel Canyon Valley. Not long, a mini “Hover Dam” appeared to our right-hand side followed by a man-made lake. It was Morris reservoir. We stopped and came out several times to enjoy the view down to the water and the mountain breeze. There was not much water left because of drought in California. The hills on the east side are green whereas the hills on the west side are brown. After Passing the second reservoir, namely San Gabriel reservoir, we made a right turn across a bridge and drove less than half mile. A sign pointed us to a left turn toward Burro Valley Shooting Range. We continue to drive uphill and entered the shooting range. As soon as we reached the top, we heard dense gun fires like fire crack explosions in Chinese New Year Eve.
First thing to do was “check in”, each shooter paid $12 fee for whole day (9 am to 4 pm). Target frame rental fee was $10. If the frame were return without any bullet holes, we would get $8 back. If one bullet hit the frame, we would get $6 back. If more than 3 bullets hit the frame, we would not get any money back.
The old gentleman at the target frame rental office gave me very useful introduction about the shooting operation. One can use any range in the park. Each shooting field is operated in 30 minute cycle. After shooting for 28 minutes, a range officer announces there will be 2 minutes left for shooting.When time is up, the range officer shouts “cease fire”. Everyone much unload weapon and leave gun chamber open first. Then everyone must stand behind the red line. The range officer will walk by each shooting position to inspect guns to make sure all weapons are safe, i.e. unload and chamber open. Then the range officer shouts “line cold” which means that one can go inside the shooting field to install target or take target back. One must wait behind the red line again afterwards. When no one is in the shooting field and everyone is behind the red line. The range officer shouts “line hot”. That means it is time for every one to shoot.
It was the first time for me to shooting outdoors and to use scope to fire at a 100-yard target. The scope alignment was apparently too tall since it was zeroed at 15 yards using bore laser sighting at home. Even with 12x scope, it was difficult to see bullet holes because of the angle of sun light. So, I had to rely on the dust behind target to zero the scope. The wind was strong towards the right most of the day.
After about 250 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition, it was near range close time and we had to finish. I took the rented frame back and found there were 6 bullet holes in the PVC frame. Well, there was no point to return it anyway. I asked the range officer whether I could take it home. He ansered yes. That is great! I can use it again next time. |