Regulus K This blog post provides a full review of the Cu Chi Tunnel shooting range, including bullet and gun options, price, regulations, and whether it is worth it.
First, the shooting range is part of wider attractions in the Cu Chi tunnel (or Ben Duoc Tunnel area). It is located at the “National Defense Sport Shooting Range” point at the bottom left corner of the map. You shall have no trouble locating it via the “The Plan Of Visiting Point” information board there.
Not to mention, it is just located near the souvenir shop and exit, so you would not miss it.
Despite being the only place, where you can have real-fire arm experience in Ho Chi Minh, the experience may not be worth it. From my experience, it feels more like pressing a button and firing the bullet (or USD) than shooting. Because all the guns there are fixed with anchors in a very controlled environment, the experience is not as real as other shooting ranges in the world despite its cheap price.
You should be going to Cu Chi Tunnel as a whole (to know more check out our Cu Chi Tunnel Full Review) and treat the shooting range as an optional paid activity Afterall, you just need 15 minutes or so to finish this attraction (it does not take much time to fire 10 bullets). I also include below information from my last visit for you to make a decision.
Bullet & Gun Options & Price
The shooting range provides you with options to choose various bullets & guns. That includes M16, AK47, K63, RPK, RPD Machine Gun, Grand-M1 and Carbine. The most popular options are M16 or AK47. However, I would suggest you do Grand-M1 or Carbine, given it seems to be an option not available in other shooting ranges in ASEAN Countries.
You just simply go for the booth at the resting area for bullet purchase.
As for the price, regardless of the option, 1 bullet is 60k VND (~ 2.3 USD). And you have to buy 10 bullets each time and all the 10 bullets must be the same. For example, if you picked an AK47, then you need to buy 10 bullets of the same AK47. That means a round of firing shall cost you around 23 USD.
From the price point alone, it is worth comparing to real-fire shooting in Indonesia or Cambodia.
Regulations
There is a regulation board near the bullet purchase booth. There it listed 4 regulations that you need to abide by for using the range. First, you need to follow the employee’s guidance such as guns, cartridges, and shooting stands. Second, you should not consume alcohol before shooting.
Also, you must wear ear protection while shooting. The ear protection is just near the bullet shop where you can take it for free. Also for the last regulation, for non-shooters, it requires permission for photo shooting at the fire range and wearing ear protection.
Based on my experience, the last regulation is not that strict. You can sneak to the fire range for photo shooting and even without wearing the earplug. The shooting range is just 20 meters from the resting area or bullet booth. So you shall have no problem taking photos there when it is crowded with tourists.
As for safety, as mentioned earlier the guns are fixed with anchors and point at the targets only. So you should be safe taking photos from the shooting area.
I am not aware of any age limit for the usage of the fire range and I also did see a group of families firing there. So I suppose kids or teenagers, are allowed to use the fire range.
Is Cu Chi Tunnel Shooting Range Worth It?
As I mentioned, the shooting range is not worth an exclusive visit itself. One major drawback is you can only fire in a very controlled environment, the guns are fixed with anchors and you cannot even move them.
However, it is also one of the cheapest locations in the world where you can do real firearms. It has multiple gun options and because of the very controlled environment, it is safe even for kids and teenagers.
More importantly, it is only part of the attraction in the wider Cu Chi Tunnel area. After all, the tunnel shall be the main dish for you. With that, I would say it is a good add-on for the wider tunnel tour. If you never fired a gun before and happened to go on the tunnel tour, you should have a try there.
Interested in other parts of Vietnam? Feel free to check out our itinerary for Hanoi and Nha Trang.
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