News : More than 500 attend machine gun shoot in rural Mount Auburn

A participant at the machine gun shoot fires the twin Uzis with pistol grips at Sureshot Range.

More than 500 people from throughout Iowa and the surrounding states, and even at least one person from New Jersey, gathered in rural Mount Auburn last weekend for what is believed to be the first Machine Gun Shoot in Iowa in recent years.

Owner John Fetzer of Sureshot Range and Gunsmithing worked with two Iowa gun dealers, including Bob DuCharme of Tactical Creations in Vinton, on organizing the two-day event. Jerry Lovik of Mason City, owner of Jerry's Machine Guns, also brought many of his weapons.

“It was a great weekend,” said DuCharme. “We have a couple things we are working on to make it go a little smoother next year, but our main goals (No. 1, have a 100% safe event and No. 2, for everyone to have a good time) were both met.”

The smiles on the faces of those handing the weapons and their comments afterward indicated that they indeed, did have a good time.

The first day of the event was June 6, the 71st anniversary of D-Day. In honor of that, the organizers brought another weapon for participants to see and shoot: A World War 2 era Nazi MG 42. Many of the German soldiers defending the cliffs of Normandy were using those weapons against Americans that day.

Dozens of weapons from many countries and many decades were available for participants. Safety measures included mounting the weapons on tripods and chaining the barrels to limit the range of recoils. Also, only those age 14 and older were allowed to participate.

The Sureshot range is available for private events, said Fetzer. Law enforcement units have used his facility. The pistol range includes a variety of targets to allow a more challenging training.

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