C3 Rentals in Central TX - a question...a possibility?

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Spreadfire Arms

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got a question here, after reading the one by the Bullet Hole in San Antonio.

i have been approached by some people at the local gun show circuit in Central Texas about holding a "private shoot" with some of my C3 stuff.

i am wondering:

1. how many people would be interested in it? remember it would not be inexpensive, you're talking about "consulting" time per hour and the cost of ammo which would probably be marked up to account for wear/tear on the firearms. i knew someone who charged $75 per hour and had a 250% markup on ammunition.

2. is this something i would be able to do during the week, since i would be attending gun shows on weekends? meaning, would anyone take off work to shoot during the week?

3. what range would i use? i suppose i may be able to use the TX Tactical range in Henly (west of Dripping Springs on 290) but i'd rather find something closer to Round Rock/Cedar Park area. anyone know of some private land or a C3-friendly range that would allow me to take people out there?

4. could i do a "traveling" act, meaning, if there was enough interest say for a group of people in DFW or Houston, if i could trailer my stuff to their neck of the woods and have a range there to use as well?

just a thought, i have found myself thinking about whether or not it would be worth my while.

i have heard people tell me they'd love to shoot a Glock 18, HK G36E, HK G36K, HK UMP45, HK MP5-K, HK MP5SD2, HK MP5A2, HK MP5A3, AK-47, M16, Ruger AC556, L1A1, HK G3, etc, but would they REALLY pay that much money to make it worth my while?

or am i living in a pipe dream? :confused:

any input is appreciated, thanks.
 
well

I know I would be interested. Except for the military, that would be my only chance until I save up enough for my own personal favorite : a Norell 10/22!

Not sure i would pay 100 bucks per session though.

C-
 
I've always wanted to try a few full autos, so I think I'd do it once, at least.
I think I'd pay up to $100, maybe more depending on how long/how many guns i'd get to shoot, but flat fee + 250% markup on ammo is way too excessive, that'd turn me off right away. Either make your money on the flat fee, or the ammo, but not both. I'd prefer if you just put the necessary profit in the flat fee, and charge reasonable prices for ammo, or let people bring their own factory ammo from an approved list. And be sure to tell them several times "NO RELOADS!" so they don't get all pissed when they can't use their triple hot loaded 9mm in your MP5 :).

And yes, definitely try to find a place near Round Rock, since that's what side of town I'm on :D .
 
Some years back when I lived in Chicago (ugh . . . bad memories of Daleyville on the Lake) a couple of us used to periodically make the long drive down to Ottawa, IL, where a gun shop had a LOT of Class III guns - Thompsons, M16, various Ingrams, S&W M76, M3 Grease gun, American 180, etc.

As far as cost was concerned, if you bought his reloads, you could shoot his guns on his range all day. (Of course, we brought our own guns to shoot, too.)

It was a blast at the time, (no pun intended) but today I wouldn't pay $75 an hour +250% markup on ammo to do it again . . . and burn up a vacation day during the week besides.
 
Some Where Right Off I-35 Would Be Good

And cut travel time for those on a tight schedule. I'm game..but only at $75 or less. Bullent Hole here rents full auto..maybe they can turn you on to a private ranch.

Take Care
 
Well

I'd look at some websites for places that rent them like in Vegas etc to get an pricing idea. I'd also get a non-refundable deposit up front or your 15 "committed" will end up 3 folks in reality.
Closer the better,but it really needs to be an outdoor range to enjoy it...
CT
 
I would probably do it once (or maybe once every so often)--but I've done the full auto thing before.

I would be interested perhaps in a company sponsored "team building" exercise. I could possibly get that past finance. :)
 
This may be a bit far for you, but The Bullet Hole in San Antonio rents C3 and doesn't object to others bringing their own. BTW, when you rent their guns you pay by the magazine load - no hourly charge. All the costs and the profit is in the cost of the ammo, which they load so that they know what ammo is being used. IIRC, they charge about $15/mag for their rentals (MP-5, Grease Gun, Sten & Uzi). Their website is: http://www.bullethole.com/
 
No thanks, got my own. :p

But if you bring out the exploding goodies like HE 40mm rounds and bigger you'd corner the market. No place I know of rents out the big boomers.
 
Yep, Bullet hole rents Class III. No fee for the gun, Just have to use our Ammo at 15 bucks a clip. MP5's (Three of them supressed and not) Grease Gun, Uzi(Supressed or not), Sten, Mac-10 With more comming.

In all Honesty, almost every Class III rental place charges more, Bullet Hole is one of the most reasonable in the country.
 
thanks for the input.

ive seen places in Vegas that rent full auto. both places do not charge for time, they only charge for the ammo. i think it depends on what kind of ammo, i.e. 9mm costing less than .223.

it would make sense to charge by the magazine, however, it would be a sure waste of time for me to meet a guy at the range for him to shoot one mag dump out of an MP5 and then leave. whoopee, $15! i think i'd have to have some sort of minimum agreement.

as far as the hourly rate would go, yes it can sound steep, but if you divided lets say $50/hr amongst three or four buddies it isn't so bad. say you had 5 guys, at $50/hr it is $10/hr for the opportunity to shoot F/A with good stuff too (not harping on MAC owners, but i'd rather shoot an MP5, Glock 18, UMP, G3, etc. vs. a MAC).

who knows. i am just bouncing the idea around. i don't necessarily want to have the price so low that i have everyone shooting them and blowing the barrels out. also i wouldn't want to have a guy give me $30 for two mag dumps (say if it was $15 per 30-round mag of 9mm), which is 60 rounds. even at Academy that is $5 of CCI blazer ammo, so you're making $25, of which some may go for range fees and a few bucks for gas, it really doesn't make it worth your while unless you are permanently set up, like the Bullet Hole, where people come and go all day and do it.

i'd be a different operation where i would host a private event over the course of a few hours, vs. just a quick opportunity to mag dump and leave.

thanks for the input. i'm leaning towards scrapping the idea personally. the main issue is that if i started to offer this, anyone with cash would expect me to take them out, regardless of if i felt the person was shady, suspect, etc. it could turn into a can of worms. also if i made it "affordable" for everyone i may run into having to tell some people "NO" who i didn't feel comfortable handing a machine gun to.

not to mention i'd probably have to pay an assistant for safety reasons. it would be clearly stupid to take out a bunch of people you didn't know, let them load up your MG's, and rob you :(

oh well.....good thought anyway. thanks for the input.
 
You might have fully refundable deposist (for those that actually show up)to sort out the first line of wierdos. For those that don't well you just made some profit right there.

Secondly I think anyone whose wants to shoot FA, especially the heavier stuff, would be okay with making it a two day affair. Have a class room portion on the weapons. Make that a prerequist for actually shooting, that'll take care of another bunch of odd balls. You can setup a couple of class days before the actual shoot day. That'll let you get a rough idea on head count, filter out some folks, and get a decent number of interested shooters to make it worth your while on the actual shooting day.

Far as pricing goes, I'd say a small fee per weapon, with a "all weapon" discount to take care of the basics of maintence wear and tear etc. Then charge per magazine fired at a reasonable fee. Heck I'd say let people bring there own factory sealed ammo to fire, but they pay a per magazine fee (to account for wear). That way if they really want to can cycle a couple hundred rounds through a weapon for cheap, but they'll still be covering the wear cost. If they don't bring ammo, then go ahead and sell it by the mag worth.

Just my two cents,

-Jenrick

PS I'd be interested if you end up doing this.
 
NP :) Let me know if you ever decide to do it, I'll be game. Hopefully I'll be done with the academy by then too, and actually have a decent amount of spare cash.

-Jenrick
 
I've thought about going over to the Bullet Hole and try one or two of their C3 guns, $15 per mag and no gun fee does sound very reasonable.

I don't think I would pay $75 + ammo especially at a huge mark up.

For $100 it would cost to rent a C3 gun and a couple mags of ammo I could get my jollies running about 500 rounds of .308 through my Browning 1919-A4, it is only a semi but with the crank fire adapter on it it will run close to a full auto 1919 and still put a big grin on your face.
 
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