This is a question I get often. For those of you that haven't been out to one of our first two Zombie Shoots its a great question. The prospect of heading off to an unknown "Zombie Shoot" may be a bit daunting. Here I'll give you a quick rundown of what to expect and what to bring (and leave at home).
First off, each shooter will need to have eye and ear protection. We may have some foam earplugs etc for you, but please, bring your own. Secondly, if you're an IL resident over 18, you'll need your FOID card. If you are under 18, you need to be supervised by an IL FOID card holder. If you are coming from out of state, don't worry about a FOID card. Thanks for visiting IL where you as a non-resident have more rights than IL residents. Our club requires each IL resident to have a FOID card to limit our liability.
Now on to the fun stuff. The equipment. You can check out the
stages at this link here. You can get an idea of what stages to expect. We have multiple pistol, rifle and shotgun stages. At most on any stage you will need just one extra magazine. You'll need ammo for your guns. Please, no steel core ammunition. We will be shooting on steel targets. If you have ammunition that attracts a magnet, please leave it at home. Also, please no hollow point ammunition on the pistol stages. We use polymer self sealing targets that hold up great, unless you use hollow point ammo. So, just normal full metal jacket or lead rounds, no hollow points on pistol. Also, if you run out of ammo for the day, we will have a vendor at the event selling common calibers (Think 9mm, 40 S&W, .223 etc). If you are using an exotic or less common caliber, make sure your range bag is full. For Shotgun stages, please use bird shot 7.5 shot and smaller. No slugs or buckshot!!!
That brings us to one other question. No, we will not be drawing from a Holster for this event. We get a cross section of a variety of shooting abilities, so all stages will start from the "Low Ready" position. Please leave your holsters at home. Also, this will be a cold range. All guns must remain cased until it is your turn and you are instructed by a Range Officer to open up your case. This is for safety reasons. Anyone violating this rule will be asked to leave for the day. A good idea might be a rifle case that can hold 2 guns and a pistol. We've also had shooters come out with wagons to pull all your gear. While ASC has built our range road this past year, and there should be a lot less mud, this is a great idea. If you've got a wagon for you and your buddies gear, bring it on out!
One thing to remember is that we can't possibly design a stage that will work for every possible caliber of gun. So, typically on your rifle stage they are designed for an AR-15 shooting a .223/5.56 round. Pistol stages are geared towards a 9mm, .40 SW, .45ACP round. Shotgun stages are for 7.5 shot bird shot. If you use a caliber outside of this range, our reactive targets might not react so well. Some stages will run great with a .22LR pistol or rifle, but we can't be certain. You'll still be able to shoot the stage, but you might not enjoy it as much or you won't hear the steel target clang, possibly your rounds won't set off the shot timer. Please understand this.
That being said, bring out your fun guns. We love to see Saiga shot guns with 20 round drums and FS-2000s. This is a lighthearted fun event with a little bit of competition to keep it interesting. The most important thing you can bring out is a good attitude.
