My shooting range is gone!

Charles Graff

Moderator Emeritus
Elon Musk is building his Mars launch facilities and a new town he is calling Star City in the Boca Chica beach down here. Our gun range is about seven miles away. It is a pretty place on the Rio Grande River that flows around it making is almost an island. It is 24 acres. Musk plans to build condos and homes there.

Musk payed a staggering sum of money to get it and I am very glad for my friend that owns it. He is now set for life. Musk is really screwing up my world, but this time I am glad. There will be other places to shoot.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I don't claim to know what "your world" is like, but pretty much everything from Port Isabel to Los Fresnos was a genuine third-world shithole last I was in the area. Any money that Space-x can bring to the area will hopefully be good, let's just hope it's sustainable.
 

Charles Graff

Moderator Emeritus
I don't claim to know what "your world" is like, but pretty much everything from Port Isabel to Los Fresnos was a genuine third-world shithole last I was in the area. Any money that Space-x can bring to the area will hopefully be good, let's just hope it's sustainable.
Home is never a shithole. It is a good place filled with warm memories of family and friends. Still have lots of friends and family down here. My wife, whom I have known since 1950 is from here as well. It is a bi-cultural, bi-lingual place and very different from life north of the Border Patrol Checkpoint. Folks with deep roots here, like it very much. Others are welcome to stay north of the Checkpoint and within their comfort zone.
 
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waco

Springfield, Oregon
Another reason I don’t shoot at a “range”. BLM land is abundant in these parts. I’ll shoot there and not have people tell me what I can and can’t do.
 

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
At least you can shoot on the bom land. You can hunt on state land here but you can not use it for a range. I can see the crack pots going after the blm land next.
 

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
Space launch facilities are ideally located as close to the equator as you can be and with large bodies of open water to the east.

Launching near the equator allows you to take maximum advantage of the rotation of the earth. Plus, if the satellite is intended for a geostationary orbit, it take less fuel (and therefore less weight) to get it in the right position if you start near the equator.

Having a large body of water to the east of the launch site is a safety measure. Most launches take an eastward trajectory shortly after liftoff. If something goes wrong early in the flight (which sometimes happens) the debris field will be over water and not above populated areas. So having the Gulf of Mexico to the east of your launch site is a good idea.

The southern tip of Texas and South Florida are about as close as you can get to the equator while still being within the continental United States. In fact, the southern tip of Texas is about 2 degrees of latitude farther south than the Kennedy Space Center (roughly 26 degrees latitude verses 28 degrees for Kennedy).

Charles, your friend was wise to sell. He had something that Musk wanted and was willing to pay top dollar for.
 

Charles Graff

Moderator Emeritus
Space launch facilities are ideally located as close to the equator as you can be and with large bodies of open water to the east.

Launching near the equator allows you to take maximum advantage of the rotation of the earth. Plus, if the satellite is intended for a geostationary orbit, it take less fuel (and therefore less weight) to get it in the right position if you start near the equator.

Having a large body of water to the east of the launch site is a safety measure. Most launches take an eastward trajectory shortly after liftoff. If something goes wrong early in the flight (which sometimes happens) the debris field will be over water and not above populated areas. So having the Gulf of Mexico to the east of your launch site is a good idea.

The southern tip of Texas and South Florida are about as close as you can get to the equator while still being within the continental United States. In fact, the southern tip of Texas is about 2 degrees of latitude farther south than the Kennedy Space Center (roughly 26 degrees latitude verses 28 degrees for Kennedy).

Charles, your friend was wise to sell. He had something that Musk wanted and was willing to pay top dollar for.

Update: My friend got 4.5 million for 25 acres. The range will remain open and he will open two more in the area. All's well that ends well.
 

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
Charles,
Good for your friend and all your shooting pards.

I wonder, though, how much Musk's project is costing the American taxpayer.
 

Charles Graff

Moderator Emeritus
Charles,
Good for your friend and all your shooting pards.

I wonder, though, how much Musk's project is costing the American taxpayer.
Well he is doing some contract space hauling/freight work for NASA, but direct taxpayer dollars nada.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Even an Elon Musk KNOWS that restricting Texans from their shooting venues is WAY BAD KARMA. The good ending all around.
 
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