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BOX ELDER COUNTY — Just west of Plymouth are 55,000 acres of open space known as Sniper Country. While it may be out of view and unknown to many, the facility draws gun enthusiasts from all over the U.S.
“Most of what the average person knows about firearms is what they see on TV, and it’s just really not accurate,” precision rifle instructor Jim Staley said.
Staley said when people hear that he trains precision long-range shooting, they often get the wrong idea. A former force-recon Marine sniper of eight years, Staley said his class is only available to U.S. citizens who can legally own a firearm.
“These are the least likely guys that you want to worry about,” Staley said. “We get some military, law enforcement, and some guys that are out and are working security for the State Department and other stuff like that. But we also get a lot of hunters and competition shooters.”
Chris Wilson of San Diego, for example, spent seven years in the Navy. He now keeps up his shooting skills, simply because he enjoys it. He takes part in a 24-hour competition at Sniper Country each year, where participants search out and shoot long-distance targets in the open brush. He’s won the competition before, and placed second overall last year.
“It’s a pretty grueling 30 to 40 mile adventure race,” Wilson said. “Quite a bit of land-navigation, involving just a map and compass.”
Most of what the average person knows about firearms is what they see on TV, and it's just really not accurate.
–Jim Staley, precision rifle instructor
Wilson’s partner is Erin, from Arizona. The former reconnaissance Marine said he still works for a government agency but could not tell us which one and would not give us his last name.
“Most of the guys are out here as a hobby,” Erin said. “It’s like a small culture of people that love it. It’s a skill, a very difficult skill.”
On the other end of the spectrum, several avid hunters take the beginning precision rifle course. Ian from New Mexico said he hopes learning to shoot from long distances will help make him a more responsible gun owner.
“You certainly don’t want to maim the animal and let it suffer and die,” Ian said. “I wasn’t aware that there are so many factors that go into long-range shooting; everything from spin-drift, to just the subtleties of your body positioning. There’s a lot of fundamentals that I’m learning here today.”
Sniper Country is owned by Desert Tactical Arms, while Staley’s company, Deliberate Dynamics, runs much of the training courses. He believes the facility’s popularity will continue to grow as more military and law enforcement agencies learn about it, because he said there are few places like it.
“There’s really a lot of full mission profile stuff that’s not available in a lot of other ranges,” Staley said.
He also said his courses help make the community safer.
“There’s a huge gap between owning a firearm and being able to use it effectively and safely,” Staley said. “Our business model and everything that we’re doing is based on community.”
