Big 3 East Tactical Training Center

Florida, known for it’s beautiful beaches, alligators, and seasonal snowbirds, is also home to a hidden training complex known as Big 3 East Tactical Training Center. Tucked into the woods off an unmarked road, minutes away from Daytona Beach, Big 3 East sits on 80 acres (with access to 1,000 acres), and features 1,000 and 100-yard rifle ranges, a 50-yard pistol range, a 14-bed bunk house, and a 4,300 square foot classroom structure.

Twice a year, the veteran-operated training complex hosts a media and content creator event known simply as Big 3 East. Manufacturers, large and small, are invited to demonstrate their product to hungry reporters, bloggers, and photographers who also go hands on to evaluate and to just plain have a little fun. The Spring event played host to notable companies like Colt, FN America, and Spike’s Tactical, as well as a multitude of smaller operations including Navy SEAL-founded Triumph Systems and veteran-owned Head Down Products.

The 4-day event was a celebration of the 2nd Amendment and free America with no shortage of SBRs, suppressors, and machine guns. Of particular interest were the number of quick takedown/assembly AR15s from MGI, Frontier Arms, and Pantheon Arms. Imagine the capability of breaking down an AR and fitting it into an ammo can. For militaria enthusiasts, FN America presented their Military Collector series which includes semi-auto (but full-auto marked) versions of the military M4, M16, and M249 SAW, while Colt brought out their Combat Unit 1911 pistol designed with retired SFOD-D Sergeant Major Daryl Holland, and the legendary Ken Hackathorn.

From precision bolt action rifles, to subcompact Derringers and prescription shooting glasses, there was a little something for every facet of the firearms community. As the grand finale, each gun on site was put to the test punching holes in cars laced with explosive targets by USA Chemical Supply.

Here's a look at some more of it.

About the Author: Quoc Ha is the Founder and President of Q Concepts Design and Photography. A former volunteer with his local disaster assistance response team, he went on to donate time and expertise to his local police department. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science from UCLA and shoots as well as well with a rifle as he does with a camera — and that's saying something. Breaking from the tradition of entering the Doctor/Lawyer/Engineering professions, Q took a leap of faith and followed his creative passions and taught himself how to push buttons on a camera. He's been responsible for not only the photography in several issues of RECOIL, OFFGRID, and CONCEALMENT, but has also done design and photography work for numerous manufacturers and training organizations in the firearms/tactical industry. Go further back and you'll find his talents have been applied to some extremely interesting other projects, like G.I. Joe action figures with Sideshow Collectibles. Learn more about him here or find Q Concepts online here.

Q and RECOILweb editor David Reeder on assignment in Amman, Jordan, at the King Abdullah Special Operations Training Center.