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Williamsburg gearing up for first-ever musket ranges

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Williamsburg, Va. - Soon you could be able to shoot an 18th Century weapon in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg.

Colonial Williamsburg is the world’s largest living history museum and soon it will be getting even more hands on.

A common theme here is to have more entertaining and engaging and hands-on experience.

It may look like just woods now, but hopefully this fall it will be home to one of the area’s first-ever musket ranges. It’s just one of many proposed changes coming to Colonial Williamsburg.

In addition to a petting farm and an archeological simulation, guests could soon have the chance to feel like real-life colonial soldiers.

“We think that giving them the opportunity to handle the device, feel the weight of it, the noise, the smell, the recoil, it will provide a fun, enjoyable and of course, educational experience,” says

Shooting an 18th century black powder musket would be one of the most hands-on experiences they’ve ever offered.

The range is subject to city approval and we hope, ideally to begin work on it in the fall. It would not be the type of environment that people associate with a modern day firing range.

In true colonial fashion, the range will be as historically accurate as possible with 6 to 8 lanes where guests get a one-on-one lesson in loading and firing the musket.