Caliber 3 Range Review (In Israel)

[ShamboPyro]

So I did the 2 hour learn to shoot course with my family (I'm 15). It was a major letdown to say the least. A look on the website says that you train with assault rifles, pistols, and sniper rifles, and learn about anti terrorism. For 110 US dollars, I shot 40 rounds of 22lr from a crappy semi auto pistol, a scoped, 10/22, and at the end I used a bolt action 22 "sniper rifle" to pop balloons at 40m. Hardly what I expected. They just lied. Avoid this tourist rip off at all costs. It's in Gush Etsyion by the way.

 

[Sam1911]

Yikes. That surely would be an enormous let-down. Sounds like it might maybe appeal to some folks from places where they simply can not handle firearms at all. Otherwise, sheesh, I'd want my money back!

 

[YZ]

Sounds like a typical tourist scam with a promise of "authentic experience". Which semi-auto pistol, do you remember?

 

[Walkalong]

Wow, I took a fellow from England, who is originally from South Africa, to the range today for his first time shooting. He had a blast, and got to shoot more than that, both rounds and calibers.

 

[Al Thompson]

Darn, that sucks. If you ever get to South Carolina, I'd be happy let you run some of my guns.

 

[ShamboPyro]

The pistol was some tiny version of a berreta 92. They loaded 25 round rifle mags with 8 rounds each because of jamming concerns. It jammed 3 times on one mag.

 

[ShamboPyro]

The safety also bothered me. The guy didn't wear hearing protection the whole time, and fired a burst out of an m4 before we put ours on. He then put saftey plugs in his glock and m4, and told us they were safe. Somehow he thought it was then okay to aim them at our face.

 

[tarosean]

Sucks but interesting, because the only type of gun Ive yet to see in the Middle east is a lowly 22.

 

[tarosean]

The safety also bothered me..............Somehow he thought it was then okay to aim them at our face.

Definitely no 4 Rules here....
Mind you I am not military, yet Ive had an M79 pointed at the car. AK's, MP5's, F2000's, Aug's, waived or pointed at me, etc. etc.

I guarantee I can walk to my office window right now and see multiple guards manning the gate with their fingers on the triggers of their AUG's. we wont even get into the dumb ones manning the m60's and other machine guns..

 

[MedWheeler]

At least they have .22LR over there...

 

[YZ]

=Lack of cleaning and maintenance.
A well-earned reputation for excellence in firearms is sure as heck to be exploited by low grade entrepreneurs. Thank you for the caveat emptor.

 

[jonnyc]

Can you post a link to their website, or PM it to me? I can have some friends check the operators out.

 

[gbran]

While I was on vacation in Alaska, I met a couple of Brits. Within a couple days I had them out shooting. Like a couple kids in a candy store.

 

[mp510]

with all do respect, they show pictures of students shooting the sidefold 10/22 and the Beretta on the webpage for the 2-hour course. Obviously, the description talks things up a bit...maybe a little too much- but you have to use logic, and if you wanted to know specifics (i.e. what type of guns you will be using, round count, etc...), ask the facilitator. The course is intended for individuals who have never used a firearm before, many from countries where the likelihood is that they will probably not have easy access to a firearm experience again....an experience to say I shot guns....*real* guns....on my holiday to israel. It's not really an aficionado course. Even in the US, when people take basic rifle and pistol courses- they shoot .22LR (either first or exclusively). In hunter safety courses, it's either a .22 LR or a shotgun. It's not prudent to hand an inexperienced individual a centerfire handgun, or a high powered rifle, especially one with a high cap magazine- which will be more difficult to control and more prone to an accident of some sort- it's not a necessary risk to fulfill the objective.

 

[jonnyc]

After a quick look at their site:
A. You can't really do too much with first-timers in 2 hours.
B. Their Beretta Mod. 71 pistols are true gems, and are known to have been used by ElAl security and in some Mossad "actions".
C. Ruger 10/22 rifles are excellent choices for new/inexperienced shooters, but there are lots of really crappy aftermarket mags out there for them.
I would say that the company needs to explain their programs a little better, and get Ruger factory 10 round mags.

 

[robMaine]

The safety in the pictures looks shady to say the least, check on the main header image on this page ..... http://www.caliber3range.com/Touristcourses/TwoHourslearntoshootTraining.aspx

Brand new shooters doing stuff on the move with an instructor downrange? He has more guts(stupidity??) then I do.

EDIT*** It looks like those may all be rubber guns, can't tell for sure.

 

[ShamboPyro]

They did give us wood guns to start with. But a 223 isn't that much of a step up from a 22lr. They spent a lot of time talking about "anti terrorist" tactics, they didn't say anything that couldn't be aquired from history channel. Also their guns jammed A LOT. Maybe the guns were just under maintained but it was very annoying.

 

[T2K]

In Phuket, Thailand there are several ranges where you can go and shoot real pistols (9mm, .38, .45, etc) for about US$1.50 per shot. In sets of 10 shots with an instructor standing right next to you, at a range of 10-15m.

Talk about a letdown...but if you're from someplace where being able to handle and actually fire an M1911A1 is verboten I guess it's really cool.

Safety - this range was apparently in a former shopping center. The sidewalls, cross beams, etc were all poured steel-reinforced concrete (there was a bunch of dirt piled in the target end).

 

[Speedo66]

I think I'd prefer something a little more substantial than mosquito netting between me and the next person on the line.

 

[targetshooter22]

"The safety in the pictures looks shady to say the least, check on the main header image on this page ..... http://www.caliber3range.com/Tourist...tTraining.aspx"

The "instructor" in the bottom picture isn't really doing much for the young woman with the pistol. Her stance and grip with both the rifle and the pistol leave uh... a little to be desired.

 

[19-3Ben]

Very odd. I actually learned to shoot in Israel from Israeli instructors.

Don't take this as an representative sample of Israeli ranges.
Of course, i didn't take a "learn how to be a sharp shooter in 2 hours" course either.
I mean, every shooting school in the US does things like taking an entire weekend to learn how to shoot one platform. 2 hours to cover everything you mentioned would just be impossible.

My personal experience was taking a weekend and learning the CZ75 inside and out, and shooting the snot out of it. I was 16 at the time, and it was a LOT of fun, and a great learning experience.

 

[jonnyc]

Small detail, but are you sure it was a CZ75, and not a TZ75? Lots of Tanfoglios is Israel, even used for a while by YAMAM, the national police HRT, but in 6 years there, I don't think I ever saw any CZ pistols.