Chuck wrote:oh with all those toys you don't want neighbours.....unless they share your interests

Funilly enough Chuck, the established residents were used to it.
The flags went up and it was a given that things were going to get noisy. I spent most of my school holidays either on the beach or looking for brass.
The beach could be entertaining, particularly with grockels. They had no idea and you could usually see the muzzles of the 4.5" Mk6 & 8s. There was a bloody great cloud of manking brown smoke and a ruddy great bang....sweet!!
On a clear day you could just about see the splash on the horizon. The only time we took notice was when they fired Corvus rockets (they seemed to wake you up more than the guns) or occasionally it could be uber noisy (the local suggestion was new barrels but it was probably more to do with humidity and wind direction).
Every so often someone would move in and complain until they were told to check the deeds of the house and sure enough....
Its all NT land now, which is probably much better than houses as the wildlife that was protected by the range is still inaccessible....lots of Adders, great.
Seriously, if money was no object I guess I would have a high end AI, a nice No4(T) and plenty of ammo. Something that was just reliable and accurate.
Pistols....if we could, I have shot a few courtesy of her maj and our allies but I always liked the .45 ACP and the Beretta 92.
GPMG or Bren, what's not to like? But you can tire on anything I guess.
Oddly, I would not mind a baker either.....but I know sod all about BP really.