Photos provided by Alabama Marine Corps League
vintage guns
The Browning automatic weapon and Thompson submachine gun are two of nine vintage Marine Corps weapons people will have an opportunity to fire at a fundraiser for the Alabama Marine Corps League on Oct. 1.
The Alabama Marine Corps League is offering people a chance to shoot vintage firearms at the Brock’s Gap Training Center on Oct. 1 to raise funds to help veterans in need.
The event, called “Shoot with the Brutes,” will last from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For $25, people will have a chance to shoot three weapons used by the Marine Corps in the 20th century, including firearms used in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
The guns include:
- Browning automatic rifle
- Springfield 1903 sniper rifle
- M1 Garand
- M14 (M1A1)
- Colt 1911 pistol
- Thompson 1927 “Tommy Gun”
- M1 Carbine
- M14 (AR-15)
- M92 (Beretta 92) 9mm pistol
All the guns are semiautomatic, except the Springfield 1903 sniper rifle, which is a bolt-action single-shot weapon, said David Landler, a volunteer with the Lt. Gen. Victor “Brute” Krulak Detachment of the Alabama Marine Corps League.
The $25 price is for tickets bought in advance. The price goes up to $40 the day of the event. For an extra $10, guests can shoot three more weapons after the first ticket is purchased.
The event also will include a $5 poker shoot, in which participants fire five shots at a piece of paper with 52 randomly placed playing cards on the back of it. Whoever ends up with the best hand wins.
There also will be a silent auction, military history display, refreshments and a drawing for an AR-15 rifle. Tickets for the drawing are $5 each.
“It’s really a neat opportunity for people who may not even be gun enthusiasts,” Landler said.
This is the second year for this event, though it went by a different name last year, Landler said. About 150 people attended last year, and organizers hope to have about 300 this year, he said. Last year’s event drew men, women and children, he said.
The Brock’s Gap Training Center also on Oct. 1 is holding a swap meet that is open to the public, as well as four shooting competitions, Landler said. The outdoor gun range is at 3721 South Shades Crest Road.
The Lt. Gen. Victor “Brute” Krulak Detachment of the Alabama Marine Corps League raises money for a variety of charities that help veterans and veterans’ causes, as well as for individual veterans in need. The group meets the second Saturday of each month at Hoover Tactical Firearms.
Read more about the group and the Shoot with the Brutes fundraiser, and buy tickets on the group’s website at alabamamarine.org.
