Even with the pink tank top and sandals, Debbie Carter looks a little like Rambo.

The black, MG3 machine gun she's holding is heavy enough that, even gripping it with both hands, she must fire it from the hip. A belt of ammunition hangs off the imposing gun, which is spewing bullets into the prairie at a rate of 700 a minute.

Her pose conjures up images of action heroes mowing down bad guys. But instead of a scowl, Carter's got a huge smile on her face. As she fires the final rounds , she lets out a yell.

"That was awesome," she says.

The dental officer worker from Cheyenne had never fired an automatic weapon until this day. But at the Northern Rockies Machine Gun and Cannon Shoot, which took place over the weekend, even novices had the chance to fire weapons usually found in the military or the movies.

The annual event, which benefits the Casper Mountain Volunteer Fire Department, is held on an empty stretch of prairie about 30 minutes south of Casper. For three days, gun buffs and novices take aim at targets with a eclectic armory of machine guns, high-powered sniper rifles and cannons.

"It was something you've never done before and never thought you could," says Carter. "And that's what makes it cool."

The shoot, which is sponsored by the Wyoming NFA Shooters Club, is almost akin to a carnival, except instead of games and rides, there are guns and bigger guns. On one end of the firing line, a Civil War re-enactment group is setting up a cannon. A little farther down, two men are launching radio controlled airplanes into the sky for target practice. At the far end, Dean Klingensmith is readying his homemade bowling ball mortar.

Klingensmith, who lives in Keenesburg, Colo. and runs a welding shop, saw similar weapons at other shoots and decided he needed one for himself. For less than $100 and a half days worth of labor, he build a mortar that uses 4 ounces of black powder to launch blowing balls up to 1,000 feet into the air.

"I just kind of came up with a plan and built it," he says.

The mortar is not the only weapon Klingensmith has brought to this weekend's shoot. He's also hauled up a 90 mm anti-tank weapon once owned by the Israeli army. The weapon uses a two-foot long shell, and when the weapon fires, the blast can be felt more than 30 feet away.

"I'd like to go with a 105 (mm gun), but I don't think I could find one," Klingensmith says.

Even though you can't buy them at a sporting goods store, all of the weapons at the shoot are legal. Obtaining a machine gun does present some challenges however. The weapons must be registered and the owner must undergo a background check and complete an interview with a local law enforcement official.

Then there's the price. With a limited supply, the weapons can easily cost five figures.

"It's a heck of an investment," says Kenton Tucker, an Arizona man who drove 16 hours with his son, Dakota, to attend the shoot.

Tucker, 50, has been interested in automatic weapons since he was a teenager. Although he enjoys the marksmanship, his interest in machine guns runs deeper than merely hitting targets. He refers to it as "firing history."

"At that very young age, I learned to appreciate the historical value and the mechanics," he says. "I'm a history person."

As for Carter, it remains to be seen whether she will develop a long-term interest in machine guns. But after blasting away at targets with the MG3, she's told her boyfriend, an avid collector who brought her to the shoot, that he'd created a monster.

"It's a kick," she says. "Literally."

Reach Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com.