It all started 18 months ago with a few guys getting together to support a friend going through a divorce and let him have a little fun with machine guns; things he had not experienced before.
The third Makin’ Bacon was truly an experience. Once one forded County Road 149 and veered left, you came upon a large gathering of like-minded folks just hanging out getting ready to shoot a myriad of weaponry. All in all, a few hundred people showed up, registered to become members of the National Firearms Act Freedom Alliance (NFAFA.org), and then organized for a day of fun, food, and giveaways.
Leaving the Shoot.
The NFAFA is an organization created by Todd Rathner for the sole purpose of changing firearms and other weapons laws across the country. In the state of Texas, the NFAFA played a major role in effectuating the change in the Penal code dealing with the "defense to prosecution" for the possession of NFA items such as short barreled rifles and shotguns. Makin’ Bacon has evolved into an organized event with a design to benefit the NFAFA by being a membership drive with benefits of raffles and the ability to enjoy the items the NFAFA is deigned to help protect.
Tommy Horner and a group of friends worked tirelessly since last years event and it shows. Not only were there many, many more participants, there were many more vendors, rentals, and a deeper camaraderie among friends and family. There were vendors lined up selling wares like t-shits, AR500 plates, ammunition and gun parts. The real fun was on the line.
You could simply walk the line and chat with dealers and manufacturers from all over the country. You could rent and try out their weapons; anything from a 50 caliber Ma Deuce and a Hotchkiss .50 to a Steyr Aug, AC556, Uzi, Mac, M16, to even a briefcase mounted HK MP5k. Basically, if you signed the release and were legally allowed to possess and use the items, you could try out historical military machine guns to a huge selection of unobtainable firearms for regular folk. It was staggering the selection of weapons one could try.
Todd Rathner giving away the first Honorary Lifetime Membership to Tommy Horner.
The list of vendors and companies donating both items for the giveaways and machine guns and more for rental is exhaustive, to say the least. Here is a summarized list of vendors in no special order and what they gave to the event:
- 418 Plates donated $100 in targets and had plenty of AR500 plates available for sale at a discounted price.
- Alkys Defense donated Alkys Pilum and Kopis Silencers for the raffle.
- Big Tex Outdoors donated 2 Surefire Ryder silencers for the raffle.
- Silencershop donated 5 trusts, two Benchmade Auto knives and a Zero Tolerance knife for the raffle.
- TCH Firearms donated a complete Quarter Circle 10 SBR with NFA stamp and a Sig Sauer .22 Pistol to the raffle.
- GuntrustPro.com donated a trust for the raffle.
- Integral Arms donated Scorpion Jumbo silencer for the raffle.
- Capitol Armory donated a SilencerCo Micro Osprey, an ACC SR7 silencer and a Liberty Chaotic for the raffle.
- Darby Core Concepts donated a Daniel Defense rail and a complete custom Cerakote job to the raffle.
- Sam Scow with Scow leather works donated a full custom leather belt (I really enjoy mine I won from him last year).
- Dead Air donated a Sandman S Silencer for the raffle.
- Sons of Liberty Gun Works donated a Custom built upper to pair with the Dead Air Sandman S donated by Dead Air.
- Southside Tactical donated a Mega Arms upper with a Schillen barrel and Mega Arms rail for the raffle.
- Tommy’s company, Liberty Armory, donated a Sons of Liberty Gun works Serial #8 rifle.
- ESG Gunworks, Integral Arms Alkys Defense, Capital Armory and TCH Firearms provided many, many different types of weapons for rental from greaseguns, stens, UZIs, and full auto Glocks to a Ma Duece, silenced 50’s, 1919’s and a Hotchkiss .50.
The Strip of machine gun rentals, personal shooters, dealers and manufacturers.
Basically, if you attended and were a member of the NFAFA, you stood a very good chance of winning something awesome. Even if you were not a member of the NFAFA, you could hang out, shoot some rare and fun weapons and eat some great BBQ cooked by Elton Johnson.
I took breaks from enjoying the weapons I brought, the many brought by others and just plain old hanging out to take some pictures and videos. I do not really use my camera for video, but several asked me to give it a shot…I did. So, forgive the video quality. I need to mess with it a little more.
If you are interested in NFA items like machine guns, silencers, short barreled rifles and shotguns and other regulated items, please make sure to join the www.NFAFA.org. Plan ahead and take the trip to Liberty, Texas next year to meet some of the nicest and most genuine people you will ever meet and enjoy weapons from multiple eras of our history and the most current on the market. Who knows, you my even walk away a winner of something very, very cool…If not, you will have had some awesome BBQ, hung out with friends and made new ones and rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest names in the industry…all in a small town in Texas just off a little county road.