Although best known for his starring role in “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo” and as a mid-1990s SNL mainstay, comedy icon Rob Schneider is also a Second Amendment enthusiast. During a trip to Idaho last fall, Rob bumped into Nemo Arms CEO Bill King and his wife, Jeana. They started chatting, and Schneider ultimately took the opportunity to tour the shared Federated Ordinance and Nemo Arms manufacturing facilities in Caldwell with Bill and Jeana.

While on-site, Schneider hand-built his own Nemo Arms Battle Light modern sporting rifle, chambered in 2.23 Wylde. When the build was done, Schneider tested it in their brand-new MILO Live indoor range with Shawn Stephan, a former Navy Seal and current head of NEMO’s Defense Division.

Click to watch the video: Rob Schneider visits Nemo Arms and builds his new Nemo Battle Light.

“That range is an interesting installation,” said MILO Live project manager Mike Hansen. “It’s actually inside their building—almost a building within a building—with all the air handling systems up on the roof of the main structure. So they have all kinds of special ductwork to ensure no potential exposure to lead particulate for workers.”

MILO Live regularly builds “function fire” ranges (like the one Schneider used) for gun and ammunition manufacturers, including Springfield Armory, Shadow Systems, High Point Firearms, and Federated Ordinance.

“Manufacturers in the States and abroad purchase our range for all the testing of their firearms before they’re sold,” Hansen explains. “Once they come off the assembly line, each gun is “function fired”—three or four shots to confirm everything works properly—and then ready for shipment.”

Reducing Exposure to Lead at Indoor Shooting Ranges

Most shooting enthusiasts give little thought to lead exposure. The risks are limited for the occasional shooter who practices basic hygiene. But it’s a different story for workers at ranges and in manufacturing facilities. In those jobs, exposure to lead particulates is a regular occurrence. The particulate itself also has the opportunity to accumulate in the facility over time, multiplying the risk to workers.

“If you’re shooting anything in there that’s a normal projectile,” Hansen says, “you’ve got lead dust and unspent accumulating powder from the firing line on down. That hazard extends surprisingly far downrange and in the bullet traps. You can’t just go in and dry sweep. That would make all of that airborne, increasing exposure. Clean-up with a standard shop vac could be even worse because you have the potential for a spark with all that collected unspent powder. You’re going to make a bomb out of your vacuum cleaner.” An explosion-proof HEPA vacuum is the industry’s preferred tool for lead dust and powder collection and disposal.

That’s why manufacturers seek out MILO Live for their function fire ranges.

Health and safety are at the core of MILO Live range design: every indoor range includes integrated “media-free” bullet traps and independent HVAC systems with down-range laminar flow and HEPA filtration.

Enough about the indoor shooting range and worker health and safety. What about Rob Schneider? “I like him,” Hansen laughs;.. “it was fun seeing him enjoy one of our ranges.”