Your coworkers know you’re into guns — or maybe they just thought it’d be funny either way — so for your birthday they pitch in and buy you a “Guns of Vietnam” package at a local shooting range just outside town.

The place is small, sunbaked, and a little rough around the edges. Nothing corporate about it. It’s run by Jake Harmon, an older Army vet. A few instructors help keep the range going, including Alyssa Bylilly — a young Navajo woman.

The “Guns of Vietnam” package lets visitors fire several iconic weapons used during the war, from Cold War Communist rifles to classic American service weapons.

Available Weapons

SKS

A rugged Soviet-designed semi-automatic rifle commonly supplied to North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces early in the war. Reliable, simple, and easy to maintain.

AK-47

The legendary assault rifle of the Communist side. Probably the most recognizable XX century weapon in the world.

Colt M1911

The classic American sidearm carried by officers, helicopter crews, special forces, and Marines.

M16 rifle

The signature American rifle of Vietnam. Early versions suffered reliability problems, but later improvements turned it into a lightweight, accurate, and deadly weapon that defined the image of the American infantryman during the conflict.

M14 rifle

The M14 bridged the gap between old-school battle rifles and modern assault rifles. Powerful and accurate with its 7.62 NATO round, it hit hard but was heavy and difficult to control in full-auto fire, leading to its replacement by the M16.

M60 machine gun

Nicknamed “The Pig” by American troops, the M60 was the iconic U.S. machine gun of the war. Belt-fed and capable of sustained suppressive fire, it was carried by infantry squads and used by helicopter crews alike.