Las Vegas: SAS shooting experience with instructor & pickup

5.00

(27 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I’ll admit, I was a little nervous on the drive over — maybe it was the thought of holding an actual sniper rifle, or just too much coffee. The van picked me up right from my hotel on the Strip (which felt weirdly VIP), and I ended up chatting with a couple from Texas who’d done this before. The air outside was dry and sharp, but inside the range it smelled faintly metallic, like old coins and oil. Our instructor, Mike, had this calm way about him — ex-military, but he cracked a joke about British accents when he handed me the Glock. I definitely fumbled loading it at first.

There’s something about squeezing that trigger for the first time — it’s louder than you expect, even with ear protection. My hands shook a bit but Mike just nodded like that was normal. He explained how these were the same firearms used by the UK’s Special Air Service (SAS), which honestly made me pause before picking up the MP5. It wasn’t just about firing guns; he told us little stories about SAS training, how they’d practice in all kinds of weather (I can’t imagine doing this in British rain). The group started to loosen up after a few rounds — someone missed completely and we all laughed, which helped.

The sniper rifle surprised me most — heavy and cold against my cheek, scope fogging slightly from my breath. I tried to steady myself like Mike showed us (“slow squeeze,” he kept saying), but my shot went wide anyway. Still felt good though. There’s a weird satisfaction in trying something you never thought you would; I kept thinking about how different this is from anything else you can do in Las Vegas. They filmed us too — apparently you get a free video of your package, which is both cool and slightly embarrassing if you’re as awkward as I am on camera.