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BrewStew

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Having lived in northampton for three months now and not knowing anyone nor having friends out this way I thought i'd look into sports that are suitable for me with my dodgy back (slipped disc) where i can meet people and have a bit of fun too, and came across a local target sports shooting club.

As it happened it was open last night so i chucked my pathetic little plinker air rifle in the boot and promptly drove to have a gander.

I was quite surprised to find that they dont just do air rifle shooting!!! they do rimfire and black powder shooting too and full members are allowed to use the club firearms! even when you're on your six month probation and dont have a FAC (Firearm Certificate) :shock: all perfectly legal, with strict rules on safety though.

methinks i might be getting into this neat little sport as i did enjoy target practice at my old place where it was safe to shoot in the garden (something i'm no longer privaledged with as i've not got a hearty boundary to stop loose pellets).

i'm especially interested in taking it to the fields and shooting my dinner, and yes i'm quite comfortable with field dressing a rabbit or pigeon ;) having a farming family gets you used to that sort of thing

Are any of you fellas into shooting? whether it be target or pest/vermin control
 
Im a Clay shooter. Down the Line being my chosen discipline. Was doing rather well a couple of years ago, but I had time and money to commit to it then. these days I just pop out ocasionaly for a bit of fun.
Im thinking about going down the .22 target route and get my FAC. I do have a liking for full bore target I have shot .762 out to 600yds and that is a blast. Mate of mine has a 300 winmag and he keeps threatening to take my out for a shot with that but the problem is there are only a handfull of places in the country where you can use it. I saw one used up at Warminster the shooter was prome and I swear the ground shimmered the same as it does when a tank lets one loose... the muzzle lifted about 12 inches.... Awesome
 
Is clay shooting expensive then? i had thought about doing that a while back.

the fella i was talking to last night said it's much easier getting a FAC when your a registered member of a target club, but it's hard to get a license with black powder if you've not got a piece of land you have permission to use it on. is that accurate?

putting high powered air rifles down on the FAC application for target is aparently much easier to get, and that's probably all i'll go for for getting rabbit and pigeon (if they're not flying hehe).

a .762 at 600 yards :shock: nice :cool: as for the Winmag i'll have to take your word for it. loudest thing i've heard is a shotgun :(
 
Clays can cost a fortune e.g. my local shooting club is £24 for 100 targets which you will shoot in next to no time. Add to that the cost of the shells which will be around £20. thats around 45 for an afternoon. If its a competition which is most Sundays you need to add another £6 entry , then the travelling cost.
When I was shooting twice and 3 times a week I would have been cheaper taking crack..
All that said you can have a hellish good laugh if 3 or 4 of you do a round of sporting, still costs around 40 quid but it can be a damn civilised day out,
Yep if you dont have access to approved land a club is the way to go to get your FAC. In any case you generally wont get a certificate which will allow you to shoot anywhere you will have restrictions placed on it restricting you to specific locations. This will even apply to a S1 air rifle. To be truthfull dont bother with the air rifle. They are more expensive to buy that a rimfire and a darn site harder to sell on when you want to change your gun and only effective up to about 60yds. Rimfire will also give you scope to shoot Target with a club and when you get some land you can apply for the variation on your FAC and off you go popping bunnies.
 
christ that is expensive.

this club charges £3 for 100 .455 black powder cartidges and rimfire and pence for targets so it definately looks cheaper for smaller bore

that's awesome advice mate... cheers :cool:

can you reccomend any particular brand of rimfire?
 
I would be guided by the Gurus at your club on the brands of Rimfire. There are so many variables. One thing I will say is that you will probably use irin sights on 25m Target but for bunny popping you will go down the scope route. It is worth invetsing in good optics...
 
they have both scoped and non scoped there for the 25m range. hopefully i'll get to use them all and find what i'm most comfortable with by the time i'm ready to purchase.

they have a couple of rimfires similar to this one clicky in addition to the semi autos

all in all, i'm REALLY looking forward to thursday :D
 
My Father got me into shooting, having been a member of the Kings Hundred at Bisley. I started shooting while still at school (.22 Rifle and pistol) and a nice little .410 at my uncles (for Bunnies), and some interesting full bore pistols at the local police Range ( :twisted: )

At Uni I was treasurer of the Rifle and Pistol club (Strictly .22) which was good fun. It gave me the opportunity to get down to Bisley and shoot ( .303 up to 1000 yards - Thats a blast). I must admit I was really tempted by a lovely little .22 copy of an M1 that would have been cracking for rabbits with hollow point ammo, and as for the .22R hunting rifle at the shop that was awesome.

IF, and its a big if, you can get a personal license then definitely go for .22, what you have to decide is do you want to go target, or hunting (which is going to be bloody hard to a ticket for). Although you can swap sights, zeroing them in each time to swap between the two is a real PITA. . . . of course you could always buy a pair of guns one for target, the other for hunting :)

PS I found out recently that one of my Mums Uncles turned out to be Coach for the Welsh Commonwealth small bore squad . .. quite a surprise really . . . very interesting character
 
in an ideal world, i'd like to do both. target for the practise and hunting for the pot. with one rifle to keep the costs down.

they allow scopes on the range so zero'ing shouldn't be a problem. although i might need to compensate on shots further than 25m as it will no doubt be zero'd for the range.

if it does turn out to be too tough to get a FAC, are you allowed to hunt (with the land owners permission) rabbits with an 11.5ftlb air rifle without a FAC? or do i need a seperate license to kill pests/vermin?
 
No game licence required for vermin control over land upon which yu have permission to shoot with An air rifle under 12Ft Lbs. I had and AAS410 .177 which was a lovely little rifle and accurate up to about 40Yds. and it had just enough puff to take a rabbit with a headshot ( jsut behind eye) at that distance. In retrospect a .22 would have been a better rifle for rabbits as .177 dends to puncture rather than Thwack..... ( I liove that word Thwack)
I would do the 6 month probationary member thing with the target club, and go for the FAC. as you develop a reord of competent usage and as land becomes available you can put in for variations.
 
As far as I know a FAC is easily obtained if you are of good character and have a place to use the weapon. Personally I prefer an air rifle which is well silenced and scoped it does not require the regular police inspections that a FAC weapon would. Frisp is right in mentioning the accuracy of a .177 over a .22

I like a pop at the bunnies myself using a .22 Falcon precharged rifle. All go in the pot with a
nice recipe for them being:

One bunny skinned, cleaned and jointed.
Slack handful of smoked bacon lardons.
Dozen small onions or shallots.
Same amount of mushrooms.
2 X cloves garlic chopped small.
bouquet garni of fresh bay, thyme, rosemary.
750ml chicken stock.
Glass white wine.
1 Tbs plain flour.
Seasoning to suit.
Dijon mustard to taste.

In a heavy casserole brown bacon, onion in butter & olive oil.
Remove and add mushrooms & garlic, saute then remove.
Brown rabbit pieces adding more oil etc if needed.
Sprinkle flour over all rabbit pieces in pan and deglaze with white wine then add stock & bouquet garni, stirring to remove sticky bits from the bottom of pan.
Cook in oven around 150c for an hour then add bacon onions mushrooms. Cook for a further 45 mins or until the rabbit is tender.
Add seasoning to taste and the Dijon to thicken before serving.
 
That's great advice, cheers folks ;)

really looking forward to Thursday now hehe :D

oh and that recipe is making me sooooooooo hungry! :D
 
Well i signed up for membership at my local rifle club last night and had a go with three firearms. just thought i'd share my newbie experience with you guys so the experienced ones can reminisce (sp?) and the ones that haven't tried it may be tempted to give it a try, cos it really is completely harmless but AWESOME fun ;)

All I can say is... WOW!!!!

i was at the rifle club from 7:45 till 11pm and had 8 Details (10 shots per detail) on three different guns, Increasing the calibre each time.

I thought i'd skip air rifles as i've shot a few and they're all about the same, and went straight for a scoped .22 Rugar Bolt-Action Rimfire. it was quite exciting and i was nervous because i'd never fired a cartidge firearm before. the target was a match target, only 6 inches across, with the black higher scoring spot only 2 inches diameter, and the 10 spot 1/4 of an inch, set at 25 yards. the rifle was heavy, very heavy infact. twice as heavy as my air rifle and that's not light. as the nerves were making me shake a little i decided to take this one from resting on the bench. **CRACK** the first round hit 5 just 1/4 inch from the black circle, a small kick smell of spent powder, and a big grin on my face. the second shot hit 5 again. now used to the rifle and reloading mechanism and settling into it a bit more, gun still a bit wobbly, my next 8 shots all went into the black spot which scores 7,8,9 and 10 on the centre. 4 went into the 7, three into the 8, and my last shot was mostly into the 9 but because it just touched the highest 10 score, it counts as 10!! a total score of 72/100. not bad for my first ever go. I had 3 consecutive details booked on the chaulk board and decided to stick with this gun for the next 2 details. my second detail scored 76, and third 81. I was very impressed with myself :D

there was a short break between my next run of three details. many cigs were smoked to settle my shakes... i could've really done with a beer but then i wouldn't have been allowed to shoot (for a very good reason too!).

for my second group of 3 details I chose the Winchester .357 underlever with an open V sight. This gun was incredibly light. half the weight of my air rifle, so about 1/4 the weight of the Rugar. I felt confident then so decided to take this one from standing. the targets for open sights and high calibre rifles are bigger, about 10 inch overall diameter, with the black higher scoring (7+) 5 inches in diameter, the 10 spot is 1 inch. Knowing this firearm had a bit more punch to it, i breathed slow... relaxed and took my time. just as i was about to squeeze the trigger, then the fella in the booth next door to me loosed a .44 round that made me jump and shook me up :( it was bloody loud even with ear defenders (and i later found out he was using 4.2 grains while the club ammo is 2). i got back to my aim and tried to settle. sqeezed the trigger and BANG! about 2 inches of muzzle bounce, a slight wobble with an impulsive scream of "WOOOOoooo!" from my lips and big grins later i looked down the site scopes they have to the side of every booth. I completely missed the target hehe... but i didn't care cos firing it was fun enough! hehe. my second shot also missed the target. my third fourth and fith hit the target, but missed the score circles. 6th and 7th hit 4, 8th 9th hit 5 and 6th hit 6. total score 24. my second detail was better but still missed the target completely on the first shot. the rest hit and scored and i got a 9 on one shot. total score 60. i'm guessing that's because the fella with the .44 wasn't there for that detail hehe. my third detail all shots scored, totalling 81. 5 shots of that were 9's, and 1 was a 10!!!! not bad for only my third go on a .357 with no scope and standing!

A short break and a few more cigs later i was feeling brave and picked up a .44 calibre underlever, very similar to the winchester but i forget the name. this one had a scope and was a bit heavier than the last, i'm assuming the scope added a bit but it wasn't a large scope. the target was the same size as the one for the winchester. i decided to take this one from the bench both because of weight and because of the loud bang i heard from the next booth because i wasn't sure of the kick. i only had two details with this one as it was getting late. it was quiet and no one else at this point was using anything loud enough to be heard through ear defenders, so i took my time and very gently squeezed the trigger..... BOOOOOOOOOM! went the gun, "WHOOOOOOHOOOOOO That's ******* awesome!" said I. the muzzle lifted about 4 inches and had i been standing i think i'd have felt it alot more!. all 10 shots hit the score circles, and only 1 (my first) missed the black high scoring circle. total score 77. three of which were 9's two were 8's and four were sevens. I swear the scope was off on this one and said to the RO (Range Officer). to prove it my second go i concentrated hard on aiming for bullseye everytime, and i ended up with a very definitive group of 6 shots exactly 1 inch below the bullseye. two went well off because i got distracted, hitting 6 and 5. four hit the 8 and four hit 9. total score, 79! would've definitely been 80's if it weren't for someone talking and people gathering behind me. and if the sight weren't off, i reckon i'd have reached the 90's. damn i loved that gun but ammo isn't cheap for it. £8.50 for 50 rounds, while .357 are £6.50 for 50, and .22 £3.50 for 50.

All in all i had an excellent time. spent £20 on ammo and targets, but i've got some ammo left for monday. next thursday i'll buy 100 .22 as you save a pound (£3.50 for 50 or £6 for 100) and try the semi auto to keep costs down but fun high hehe.

this is definitely a sport i wished i'd have properly got into years ago as it's so much fun and i highly reccomend it.

BEWARE THE RABBITS hehe
 
I get to shoot occasionally,

L85A2 with 5.56 ammo.

All through work and completely free.
 
Nice! wouldn't get a fully auto in my 25 yard indoor range though :(
 
Its really good to shoot, and thankfully I have never had to use it in anger while away, and I hope I never have to. I'm just appy blatting a few rounds of on the range every now and again.
 
Bobo said:
Its really good to shoot, and thankfully I have never had to use it in anger while away, and I hope I never have to. I'm just appy blatting a few rounds of on the range every now and again.

You must be in the forces then?
 
great stuff :cool: i nearly followed in my granddad's footsteps as he was in the RAF, but bottled out at the last minute :(
 
I love it, couldn't imagine what i'd be doing now i i didn't join. Shame you bottled it but that said it might not have been for you.
 

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