We’ve received news that we are unable to continue to use our local civilian range as it fails to meet the standards required, and due to a long ongoing saga of a supermarket Giant, and the selling off of a town carpark and property that the range sits on to accommodate said supermarket, the local rifle club are loathe to spend time and money on what could be a wasted exercise.
Are there any activities that would fit in around the shooting mold, I’ve been toying with the idea of archery,(the company I work for has access to purchasing decent quality archery kit and accessories) still at the rifle club, or if push comes to shove somewhere on the Squadron (we have a large field for sports, but due to public access issues, we are unable to install a tube range) or private property.
What else do I need to pursue this, or is it a case of too much effort for little reward?
Coaching and training courses? Would the courses, if needed allow me to offer the activity up to other Squadrons in my sector, for example?
Safety equipment if we were to go down the route of usage in open air?
Are there any other ranges closer to you (if not for evening shoots, for a plink at the weekend?) many towns/cities are not that far from a military range, you just have to know where to look. What about the TA or (shudder) ACF?
If you have access to a large open area (or a largeish inclosed hall) then air rifle could be worth a thought.
But I’d never give up on shooting, theres got to be a way to make it happen…
Speak to your wing shooting officer and Sqn Ldr Logs 2 at HQAC.
Should be entirely possible to set up air rifle shooting in your Squadron building.
Frankly this is the future for everyone with the impending end of the No 8…
MW[/quote]
I concur with this assessment. An air rifle range should cost no more than £1500 to construct and purchase the weapons. Well within reach of every unit in the ACO.
Are you chaps allowed temporary air rifle ranges? Very easy to set up. We use them all the time in the ACF as we do not have any purpose built air rifle ranges round my way.
we built our own in our top building, with fold able plinths that just stack in the corner enabling us to use the building as a normal parade hall/teaching room. Cost very little as well, however HQAC can be very anal when it comes to inspecting it as mine got closed on it’s biannual inspection.
I know people who have used temporary outdoor air rifle ranges before. It’s in PAM21C, you are qualified to run them, so you are allowed to build them!
[quote=“mtbcol” post=10998]We’ve received news that we are unable to continue to use our local civilian range as it fails to meet the standards required, and due to a long ongoing saga of a supermarket Giant, and the selling off of a town carpark and property that the range sits on to accommodate said supermarket, the local rifle club are loathe to spend time and money on what could be a wasted exercise.
Are there any activities that would fit in around the shooting mold, I’ve been toying with the idea of archery,(the company I work for has access to purchasing decent quality archery kit and accessories) still at the rifle club, or if push comes to shove somewhere on the Squadron (we have a large field for sports, but due to public access issues, we are unable to install a tube range) or private property.
What else do I need to pursue this, or is it a case of too much effort for little reward?
Coaching and training courses? Would the courses, if needed allow me to offer the activity up to other Squadrons in my sector, for example?
Safety equipment if we were to go down the route of usage in open air?
Looking forward to your replies…[/quote]
PM me I am in your Sector your more than welcome to use our Air Rifle Range once approved in November and our TA Centre Range…the Sgt there is screaming use it or lose it and they arent and neither are the ACF - Tuesdays only though for that one unfortunately. Working together!!
We have 2 x Supasports and 2 x Scorpians and tonnes of pellets so would be a good way to see if your cadets enjoy it - justify the investment in building your own then. We had to rebuild ours as the very nice ACF cadets damaged the backboard so had to rebuild from scratch. Taken a while to get it back to the point where it is going to be inspected again but its all good!
How big is your sports field & what’s the public access ?
Reason why I ask is have you considered Clay Target Shooting? You’ll need a reasonable danger area (I believe the template is 300m), clear of public right of ways and the permission of the land owner - and possibly an 11/6 exemption from the local Police (currently free).
Might be worth speaking to the Shooting Development Team to see if they can help.
when i did my sasr(07) earlier this year we did a lesson on setting them up it is allowed as long as you are outside with the land owners consent and put in place all the safety distances ect required by the pam
To sum up, we share a building with the ACF, they’ve applied for an air rifle range and have been turned down due to the size and location of the building.
The field with public access is the size of 2 football pitches side by side, but is surrounded by residential properties as well as our building and local youth centre. Clay Pigeon shooting is a no go I’m afraid, but we could use the area for archery due to the safety equipment that would be required, as we could assemble/take down as needed.
Spicester, thank you for your offer, I’ll have a word with my OC this week, I know currently we have been granted shooting sessions at a squadron outside of our sector, but it would be ideal to have somewhere a bit more local to use. I’ll keep you posted.
So, back to my original question, what qualifications/measures do I need to take to offer archery as an extra activity to the cadets?
You’ll need a GNAS Archery Leader (a 2-weekend course), lots of archery stuff and a range area that confirms to the GNAS specifications (see this link)
You’ll need a GNAS Archery Leader (a 2-weekend course), lots of archery stuff and a range area that confirms to the GNAS specifications (see this link)[/quote]
And get on it quick! GNAS Leader will shortly be replaced by them adopting the UKCC route - which will mean Level 1/Level 2 coaching - a much more laborious route!
You’d also need permission from the range owners as they may argue the point.
Course prices will vary from £180-400 per candidate. You’ll probably need about £400 to get the gear which should get you a couple of take down recurve bows, target bosses, some targetry, arrows, stringers, a basic repair kit and some netting. Make sure you get left and right handed sets (probably two of each).
Has anyone got a photo of their temporary air rifle range set up? The books don’t make it too clear on exactly what is allowed - more so only what isn’t allowed!