Knob Creek Gun Range

Seriously. I hate coming here. Its crowded up full of douchebags, and the range officers treat you like you’re one of em. Douchebags, that is. And the whole concept of their little «chamber flags» (you have to have one in the chamber of every gun, available in their store for $ 0.50 each BTW) you have to have during ceasefire. WTF? Did I miss something? Are we in California? Seriously. If I wanted to be yelled at, I’d have gone in the Marines. When I’m shooting, and safely BTW, I want to be left the hell alone!

From the moment we pulled up to this place we got a bad feeling. It was our first time at this range and we had heard mostly good things. signs were not posted well about where to park and enter into their gun shop, which is whatever. We parked on the other side of the gun shop and started walking around the building to find the door. On the way we stopped and asked the range officer where to go and he looked at us like we were idiots. We get into the gun shop and look around and don’t see anyone. We walk to the back of the shop and see a guy, unsure if he worked there or not, and we asked where we pay for the range and get ear plugs, targets, etc. He rolled his eyes and said «at the register», in a very condescending tone. While at the register I asked where a few things were, like targets and all, and he acted like I was an idiot for not already knowing. Then he asks if I had range flags, which I didn’t, and he said I had to buy some, which is completely understandable. When I asked where they were he pointed to a display in the middle of the room that had several different things on it and when I looked on the wrong side, he again was very condescending and rude when telling me I was looking in the wrong place. After all of that, we were ready to shoot. We head to the range and we got out on a cease fire so we were able to set our target up right away. We were just shooting a handgun so I started the target at 20 yards. We fired a couple clips and all went well. On the next cease fire, i wanted to move in the target (My wife and I are about to get our concealed carry and I wanted us to practice and feel comfortable shooting at 21 feet) and the range officer flipped out about the target being too close. He said that wasn’t allowed. I very politely asked for clarification about the distance for the CCDW test and he agreed it was 21′ but rather than just say we couldn’t have it in that close, which doesn’t make sense since that’s what the test requires and they typically administer the testes on this very range, he said «any idiot with a rock can hit that target.» My wife and I are both fairly new shooters. My wife is slowy getting more comfortable with shooting. It was not only rude but extremely unhelpful for this rude, grumpy old man to tell us that we were idiots if we couldn’t hit the target at 21′. I’m sure we could, but we came here to practice. Now my wife is pretty much afraid to take the CCDW class because she didnt have a chance to practice at that distance. Thanks Grumpy old man. I have never been to a range with such strict rules that honestly don’t help anyone. The whole cease fire every 30 minutes makes sense when you have 20+ people on the range, but not where there are only 5. There was a point where all 5 of us (another couple, and a gun by himself) were not shooting and waiting until the range officer called a cease fire, and one guy went and asked if we could call cease fire early because we were all ready to adjust our targets, and he spewed out some BS about having to wait until the 30 minute mark. This place is seriously such a joke. Finally when we were done, he rushed over as I was packing up my gun freaking out that I shouldn’t touch my gun during a cease fire. Like come on man! My wife and I will not be going back. I understand it is the cheapest range around, and thats cool and all, but I would pay double, even triple somewhere else just out of principal. You don’t treat people like they are stupid. Neither of us were pretending to be experts on guns, in fact we said we were fairly new at this, but still they acted like we were idiots. So overall, if you are a gun expert and dont mind rude, condescending jerks, then I am sure you will like this place especially for the price. If you want to be treated like a human being, go somewhere else, anywhere else. We had planned on taking our CCDW class here in a couple weeks, but now there is no chance.

I’ve been twice, both during the bi-​annual Machine Gun shoot. Wow! What an experience for this Dallas blonde! The second time I went I borrowed a friend’s S&W 76 and competed in the subgun competition. You’ll love the down range destruction zone… Heeeeeeavy auto firing at boats, a fire truck, tractors, semi empty propane tanks, etc. etc. I felt like I was in a war zone. My hair smelt like gun smoke and barbecue and I loved it. The staff people were very friendly and didn’t turn their nose at this city girl. They had tons of booths selling all kinds of knives, gun parts, military paraphernalia, and stuff for all the «tacti-​cool» guys out there.
It’s the most money you’ll see ‘spent’ in three days at a any gun show.

Extremely nice shop with an amazing selection and nice people to deal with. Looking forward to stopping back for the big shoot as I just happened by.

This is a nice facility, and a fun place to shoot. The sales staff is very knowledgeable of products and generally friendly. Selection, options, and prices are decent. Range fee is super cheap for how long you can stay. The worst part of KCR is the Range Officers, which are gruff, unfriendly, and seem to never want to answer sensible questions (this is based on experience from multiple visits).
If you are looking for a fun place to shoot random stuff (you can bring loads of shootable items: cans, car doors, old produce, LG&E bills, etc.), without having to rush, this is it. If you are looking to improve specific areas of pistol handling, this is not a great place for that, as you can only go down range every 30 mins, and there is minimal close distance shooting, unlike an indoor range with a moveable target. If you are doing fine tuning on high caliber, shotgun, or long range stuff with a scope, this may be for you. Also, they offer more dates for CCDW classes than anywhere else around.
There are numerous events that they put on. The biggest KCR hosts is one of the nation’s top Machine Gun Shoots. The next event is October 10 – 12, 2014.

Great all round business, even have animals for the kids Cat, Dog and a Parrot they can feed

Knob Creek, right off of Dixie on Hgwy 44 is a gun range and gun shop that puts the boom in bang. A very big establishment, family owned and operated by a gun smart staff. A very large selection of firearms. The range is very big and ran with a monitor that may be on your ass if you do not follow the simple directions, safety first, feeling second. This is a great place to bring your earplugs and your wallet. There is a break and snack area with every snack food option. It is a long drive in from the main road but there is a new bridge and gravel parking lot. They have a large machine gun shoot twice a year that brings in thousands of gun enthusiasts from all over the country and world. If you can not find it here, it probably is hard to find anywhere. Bring the fun and your gun to shoot some targets on this 300 yard range.

I had never handled, never mind shot a gun before. I’m fairly mechanically inclined, and safety concious though.
When I walked in, I explained to the nice gentleman behind the counter that I had never shot a gun before, and would like some help in picking one out, and ya know, not shooting myself in the face.
After a few jovial ribbings about my ancestry and home state of Massachusetts, he walked me over to a case, and picked out a pistol that he assured me would be really hard to shoot yourself with. We did the money part of the transaction (they take cards, obvi), and I wandered out to the range with my buddy just in time to catch the briefing before the firing line went hot.
I had never seen a gun shot before, did I mention that? So, here I am, obvious city guy from MA with some toy pistol, and this guy 7 feet away unloads with an AR15 (M16).
I soiled myself. Twice.
Once I put myself together, and loaded a magazine, I managed to screw up my handgun to the point where I had to bring it back in and get another. They were nice enough to give me another one that worked, so I took it, and went back to firing at the range.
Uhh… useful stuff… the stands are cardboard, and blow over in heavy wind. The range is about 300 yards long. You place/​retrieve targets at the top and bottom of the hours.
I’m sure more experienced people will have more nuanced reports then mine, but I was a complete noob, and made it obvious, and they were still nice to me. There is a lot to be said for not being an snob about what you do for fun. These guys are top notch, and if I’m ever back in The Shep, I’ll be back here.
With better earplugs.

Being from CA and not being able to shoot well anything anymore, it was fun. Note that no automatics are availiable unless its during the Maching gun shoot. Prices ok on rentals.

Knob Creek Gun Range, located just outside of Louisville, KY (in Bullit County, no less!), plays host to the largest machine gun shoot and military gun show in the nation. Their semiannual three-​day machine gun shoot and military gun shows held every April and October have become THE show for Class III weapons collectors and history/​firearms enthusiasts to attend. Nowhere else can you see a larger assemblage of civilian-​owned machine guns, flame throwers, restored armored fighting vehicles, artillery pieces and associated hardware!
Contrary to popular belief, Class III weaponry is actually legal to own in *most* states. The number of states currently allowing civilian ownership of fully automatic weapons is something like 33 or 35 I believe; but as one naturally expects, California happens to be one of the states prohibiting the average citizen from owning guns equipped with Giggle Switches. The Class III category includes such fun hardware as machine guns, sound suppressors, short barreled rifles/​shotguns, grenade launchers and even artillery pieces (which are sub-​classified as Destructive Devices). Owning the «fun» stuff not only involves dealing with the very strict and requisite Federal hoops to jump thru (along with special taxes) but having an extremely large bank account as well. The number of civilian-​legal machine guns on the market is finite due to stricter Federal legislation that presently only allows the military, law enforcement and commercial dealers/​manufacturers to possess newly manufactured MGs. We have Ronnie «Bedtime for Bonzo» Raygun’s administration to thank for that 2^nd Amendment restriction (Hi, we’re from the Gummint… we know what’s best for you!). In a nutshell, the stricter regulations limit your average collector to purchasing only hardware manufactured prior to the 1986 Federal cutoff date, and those specimens are a finite quantity whose price and value continue to skyrocket. Feh! In addition to machine guns, the buying and restoring of MiG jets, Panzer tanks, etc. with original working armament is also a fully legal (but EXPENSIVE) segment of the Class III hobby!
When I attended, the first day of the show was spent gawking at all the older nifty belt fed machine guns set up on one of the firing lines. I got to see all kinds of WW1 era Maxim guns, WW2 German stuff like MG34s and MG42s and quad mounted .50 caliber Browning M2s (Ma Deuce!) chattering away. Neat-​o!!! Another cool thing was witnessing Jonathan Ciener’s ground mounted electric Mini-​Gun in action (this is the type of electric gatling gun usually mounted on aircraft); I just heard one fast Zzziiiiiiiiiip and the next thing you know there’s a HUGE pile of expended brass on the ground! I didn’t check out any of the submachinegun competitions but got to spend trigger time on the M1918A2 BAR (just one of the fruits of John M. Browning’s genius), an M3 Grease Gun and the belt fed Vietnam-​era M60 GPMG. It was a such a great experience walking M60 fire into one of the many bullet riddled target cars downrange! Knob Creek is where automotive failures like Pintos, Vegas, Pacers and Gremlins redeem themselves and actually become useful! Flame throwers were also available to satisfy your Inner Pyromaniac but I didn’t partake because I aint much of a firebug. I definitely felt the heat radiating from the ribbons of ignited napalm while milling behind the firing line though!
We only went for the evening portion of day 2, which featured the night time shoot. The entire firing line lighting up the range with tracer fire made for a pretty awesome spectacle. Day 3 was spent wandering the gun show tent and just marveling at all the old WW1 and WW2 era hardware for sale. So many neat goodies that I had only previously seen in reference books! So I went to the famed Knob Creek, blasted away at an old car with some neat-​o hardware and all I got was a lousy tee-​shirt!
Five stars… the KCR machine gun shoot is an event and destination well worth taking a cross country roadtrip to check out!
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Addendum on accommodations and the locale: We stayed at the Louisville Holiday Inn off Eye-​65 which was a very short drive from the range and close to local points of interest. Louisville is a great town that’s totally worthy of exploration! Things I liked about Louisville, KY:
1) ear X-​Tacy — A very well stocked indie record store!
2) Thrift shops and used bookstores — Found some really great 1950s lesbian pulp fiction paperbacks for cheap. Also bought some nifty vintage Old Man shirts in excellent condition and a Super 8 reel of «The Creature From the Black Lagoon.» Thrift score!!!
3) Very nice, older houses in charming neighborhoods with tree lined streets (like Midtown Sac, but with a Southern feel). Couldn’t find Hunter S. Thompson’s mother’s house though. We tried.
4) Drive-​thru liquor store