Have you just started shooting or want try a new discipline?

[Kungfugerbil]

The smallbore club here could easily support double the membership or more - they have 3 indoor ranges with a total of 16 firing points. Open every day from 7 - 11. Bar, leisure facilities on site. Very open and welcoming.

The fullbore club I’ve recently joined are excellent - they are growing rapidly but have invested heavily in a new indoor facility but also have an outdoor range of their own and access to military ranges. Every discipline shot from .22, BP pistol, PSG, mini rifle, gallery/Underlever, TR/fullbore etc etc. Cracking club - very proactive committee and a well structured training/probationer course.

It’s not all doom and gloom but does seem to be a bit of a postcode lottery.

[RDC]

What would your ideal shooting club be like?
Supportive members who get involved, multiple bays and ranges for different disciplines.

How easy do you find it to get information and help from shooting clubs and organisations?
When new, trying to find any info is a nighmare. Many clubs are hidden away and don't like to advertise. When you do get some info it tends to be snippets and in my experience lots of clubs are scared of anyone who contacts them without knowing existing members.

As an example I worked at a RAF camp and contacted two shooting clubs I could find details of. One ignored me and another said they were only taking on people who already had an FAC or knew their members.

When I left there i was considering where to move to and contacted several more clubs around an area i was looking at moving to. Two ignored me, another said not unless I was vouched for by an existing member.

Luckily my work has a shooting club and they are receptive to new members!

What could they do better?
Engage with prospective members and listen to existing members who wish to introduce new things to the club.

Why would you join a club (apart from the obvious reason to get an FAC!) and what would you expect to get in return for your membership fee?
Shooting is a social thing for me, I want like-minded people to share a firing point with, and obviously access to the facilities to shoot safely.

If smaller clubs are difficult to get into, is the NRA considered an alternative?

I'm a Northerner. The NRA might as well be a million miles away for all it offers as an alternative.



I should point out both clubs I am a member of, one 255 members and the other 25 members, are encouraging to new people and generally supportive of its membership.

The larger club is full with a waiting list, has its own ranges and covers a number of disciplines with plans to expand to support the wishes of the membership.
Whereas the smaller club has a hut on a military range and then uses indoor ranges of other clubs once a week. We are a small club and recruiting members isn't easy. The problem we have is that the long distance fullbore shoots are at risk of being cancelled it we don't have enough to cover all duties (lookout, butts and RCOs). More regular fullbore shoots would probably attract more members but without more members we can't sustain more regular fullbore shoots.

[KidsClays&Cartridges]

This thread is very timely for me as I'm going through the process of just starting to shoot at the moment.

I made the decision to get back into clay shooting after taking my young sons to a game fair last summer where we all had a go on a 'try clay shooting' stand. We also had a go on some air rifles. Both my boys were instantly hooked and I remembered why I had enjoyed shooting air rifles and clays so much as a teenager when I moved to the UK. I started to do some online research and found the English Shooting YouTube channel. This led to me deciding to look into getting a FAC as well. I got all excited and enthusiastic and then it very quickly got very frustrating. This was last August 2017.

First, I struggled to find a local club that ran a course for beginners. Information about clubs on the internet was sparse and when it was there, it was old, out of date, with broken links, etc. Shooting as a sport in this country seems to be stuck in the 1970s, from clubs to RFDs, it appears to be in the dark ages. I've even encountered club reps that wont interact via email for gods sake. Without wishing to be disrespectful to anyone on this forum, the level of old farts I encountered nearly put me off entirely. And I say that as a young whipper snapper of 48 years. I felt like the whole scene was a closed shop that didnt want any new shooters. I was on the verge of giving up and just going clay shooting when I got some help via the English Shooting Facebook page. A couple of guys on there pointed me to a club that was about 15 miles away and suddenly everything got better instantly.

The guy who runs the club I approached was very welcoming, knew how to use email, and the club even had a website that gave half decent information. Before I knew it I had started a probationary course and was on the range learning everything I needed to know and getting hands on experience. I've also made a couple of new mates who were on the same course and I'm now a week away from taking an exam and getting full membership so I can finally apply for a FAC. I cant thank this club and the chairman enough. The time and effort put into making the course interesting and valuable is exemplary.

So, to answer your questions:

What would your ideal shooting club be like?

• 1. Friendly and welcoming firstly. New shooters in my position who dont have a friend as a way in need to feel welcome.
  2. The club needs to make use of modern technology. It needs a decent website with a dedicated section for potential new members.
  3. The club should have a well structured and comprehensive course for beginners. One club I contacted said I could apply for probationary membership but said it had no course for beginners. So I asked what I would do when I visited as a probationer, I was told to watch, and maybe someone might let me have a go! So I could have turned up, hung around like Billy no mates hoping someone would take pity on me, and then finished my probation, got full membership and applied for a FAC with some serious rifles on it, all without having had any form of instruction!
  4. The course should not cost the earth. I am lucky that the one I am doing is offered free when you pay your membership subs, ammo costs, etc, but I would have paid a reasonable price. I have heard of one club charging £400-£500 for a course which is frankly ridiculous and is going to put most people right off.
  5. The club should have links to other clubs who shoot different disciplines so that members can have a go at new things.
  6. The club should have a view of where its going and what it wants to be. I know most clubs are run by volunteers and it takes a lot of time and effort for very little reward so this is difficult. Most clubs seem content to be there for a small group of shooters, and whilst there's nothing inherently wrong with that, I'd like to see shooting grow in popularity in the UK to benefit everyone from shooters to RFDs. I'd like to be part of a club that was 'doing its bit' to this end.

How easy do you find it to get information and help from shooting clubs and organisations?

• 1. I refer you to my examples above.

What could they do better?

• 1. Start living in the 21st century when it comes to technology. New members who are young adults use nothing but the internet to research, email to communicate, etc.
  2. Decide if, as a club, they actually want or can accommodate new members. If not, fine, make that clear on your website so people don't waste their time contacting the club. If they do, then be serious about it and get your act together.

Why would you join a club (apart from the obvious reason to get an FAC!) and what would you expect to get in return for your membership fee?

• 1. The bottom line here is that if you dont have land or a permission to shoot on, then you cannot get a FAC without being a member of a club that shoots what you want to shoot. Clubs are the gateway to the growth of this sport but many of them dont seem to realise this. The sport cannot grow without clubs. I needed a club to get a FAC, but in my mind I need to contribute to that club in return. Not just financially but with time, effort, being a good member, etc.
  2. I dont have any friends that shoot so I'm also looking for the social aspect of a club. I'm lucky in that the club I've joined has enabled me to make a couple of friends already and the banter on the range is good.
  3. I dont expect much for my membership fee, just the normal stuff about the club facilities being maintained, some competitions, events, etc. I tend to think more along the lines of 'ask not what your club can do for you, but what can you do for your club?'.

If smaller clubs are difficult to get into, is the NRA considered an alternative?

1. Again, without wishing to be disrespectful, the NRA seems a bit of a non-entity to me. It doesnt really seem to be concerned with anything outside of Bisley which is at the other end of the country to me. I am very new to this, so I apologise if my perception is wrong.

[Thorney]

It’s worth remembering that most if not all clubs require unpaid staff - volunteers, without them they are all bankrupt. If you don’t have that then there is a cost to everything so if something looks expensive then look to the reasons why. We run a formal, 3 month training and mentor ship course. It’s costs £499 but covers every aspect of firearms training and marksmanship from NRA qualified instructors and has formal written and al examinations on everything from firearms handling to firearms law. It’s not run by an unpaid volunteer and as a probabtionary member the club is responsible for you and every shot you fire, that has a cost.

[KidsClays&Cartridges]

It’s worth remembering that most if not all clubs require unpaid staff - volunteers, without them they are all bankrupt. If you don’t have that then there is a cost to everything so if something looks expensive then look to the reasons why. We run a formal, 3 month training and mentor ship course. It’s costs £499 but covers every aspect of firearms training and marksmanship from NRA qualified instructors and has formal written and al examinations on everything from firearms handling to firearms law. It’s not run by an unpaid volunteer and as a probabtionary member the club is responsible for you and every shot you fire, that has a cost.

As a business I totally understand you need to survive and pay wages, and its your right to ask a price you think the market will bear. If I look at the man hours, materials and other overheads involved in running the course I'm on, I can easily see it adding up to that kind of figure. Personally, a figure that high would make me look elsewhere, but if you have willing customers who come away satisfied then all power to you.

[Thorney]

It’s worth remembering that most if not all clubs require unpaid staff - volunteers, without them they are all bankrupt. If you don’t have that then there is a cost to everything so if something looks expensive then look to the reasons why. We run a formal, 3 month training and mentor ship course. It’s costs £499 but covers every aspect of firearms training and marksmanship from NRA qualified instructors and has formal written and al examinations on everything from firearms handling to firearms law. It’s not run by an unpaid volunteer and as a probabtionary member the club is responsible for you and every shot you fire, that has a cost.

As a business I totally understand you need to survive and pay wages, and its your right to ask a price you think the market will bear. If I look at the man hours, materials and other overheads involved in running the course I'm on, I can easily see it adding up to that kind of figure. Personally, a figure that high would make me look elsewhere, but if you have willing customers who come away satisfied then all power to you.

Its not compulsory, its designed for those who have never picked up a firearm and want to take the sport up. We usually do a taster day (£95) for those who want to have a go to see if they like it, the £95 includes 200 rounds of ammo, targets and all training on a £1500 rifle so I dont think thats expensive either.

The issue on training is that there is no consistency between clubs, some are great but some there is zero, literally grab a gun and shoot, thats wrong IMO, what we have done is formalise it. The course includes:

300 rounds of ammo
Use of two rifles/calibres (both high end £1k+ guns)
All targets
Breakfast and lunch
All course materials
All training
Examination

Its an all day course, usually one on one (max class size is 3) and we take people through every aspect of firearms handling, shooting range safety, Firearms Act, and they are shooting all day, practice practice practice, but fun too. At the end they get a certificate of competency and probationary membership to the club. Over the next 3 months they must attend 6 times and each time they have further training usually geared to the type of shooting they wish to do more of, gallery, FB, practical etc so thats 6 more visits with 6 more days of training. At the end of it they are more competent and practiced in firearms handling than most people who have shot for years! Once completed we help them complete the FAC application, give them advice on gun security and inform their local police that they have passed the course and we deem them safe to shoot here unaccompanied. At £500 we make a loss.

For those who have done a bit of shooting but want to take it up then we run the probationary scheme, 3 months mentored membership, requires 6 visits of monitored shooting using club rifles (4 with a .22, 2 with a FB up to .223) and at that point we can accept them as members and they can shoot on their own. There is no charge for this save for gun rental and ammo.

We try to be adaptable, the full direct access course is relatively unique but for someone who has never picked a gun up its invaluable but OTT for someone who has shot before and just wants a ticket, hence we have different options. The point is we formalise it, something as a commercial operation we have to and the decent clubs do via their volunteers, as a commercial operation I cant use volunteers, they need to be employees to be covered by my insurance so we cant do it for free.

[KidsClays&Cartridges]

Sounds very comprehensive and good value. It's just that the overall price would make it a problem for me personally as it would wipe out my budget for my first rifle. I'm sure there are people out there that are in a different position though and I'm glad there is a place offering that kind of course.

The course I'm doing doing has lasted 12 weeks, with a single weekly session of 2 hours. I'm told it is an MoD / Home Office approved course with structured content that covers everything from safety, to ballistics, technique, disciplines, etc. The range is an indoor 25 metre range but we have been able to shoot .22 bolt action / semi, .357 underlever, .44 black powder pistol, and some larger calibre rifles with ammunition downloaded to meet the range requirements. Each week I pay range subs, gun hire and ammo costs. I would estimate that over the 12 weeks I have spent in the region of £200 on membership and the weekly costs mentioned.

[Thorney]

Sounds very comprehensive and good value. It's just that the overall price would make it a problem for me personally as it would wipe out my budget for my first rifle. I'm sure there are people out there that are in a different position though and I'm glad there is a place offering that kind of course.

The course I'm doing doing has lasted 12 weeks, with a single weekly session of 2 hours. I'm told it is an MoD / Home Office approved course with structured content that covers everything from safety, to ballistics, technique, disciplines, etc. The range is an indoor 25 metre range but we have been able to shoot .22 bolt action / semi, .357 underlever, .44 black powder pistol, and some larger calibre rifles with ammunition downloaded to meet the range requirements. Each week I pay range subs, gun hire and ammo costs. I would estimate that over the 12 weeks I have spent in the region of £200 on membership and the weekly costs mentioned.

Thats great and how it should be done, lots of clubs are the same and that should be celebrated. Still needs unpaid people of course but then all sports need that, the time I've seen coaches put into kids rugby is phenomenal and they all deserve medals as well for their sport.

[Kungfugerbil]

Our club does similar but it’s a six month mandatory probation. Probationers must attend 6 indoor range sessions, 6 outdoor and 2 on a military range. Probationers must also receive Training and demonstrate safe shooting on all categories of guns that we shoot - .22, .38, .308, black powder etc. This is because full membership gives you good reason to ask for pretty much anything on your ticket. Even if you’re already an FAC holder with a safe full of guns you have to do the same.

There is no cost to that above your normal membership, ammo at club prices and optional donation of a few quid for each visit. This is possible as the committee give generously of their own time as Thorney said. If you’re running it as a business of course it costs more! From not touching a gun to full member would cost a bit under 200 quid in total, but that includes membership for a year.

[Thorney]

Arguably this is why our sport is so hard to get into, 6 months before you can even apply for a licence is a long time (legal minimum is 3 months) and will put a lot of people off. I'm not being critical of yourself per se, as I've said we are responsible for every bullet fired so its not a process you can undertake lightly but if there is proper and adequate training in place 6 months IMO is too long to encourage new shooters to try our sport.