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Club Insurance

The club insurance year commences on April 1^st. Details of the cover can be viewed on the link above. The insurance cover endorses both legal and Club Rules, further important notes can be found below:-

Visitors and Guests: To comply with the current insurance conditions, all guests and visitors will be required to ‘sign in’ on the Attendance Log sheet. All guests and visitors wishing to 'handle' firearms and ammunition are required to complete the Club Application Form in addition to the Log Sheet – shooting visitor’s fees are £5.

Most members still do not appear to be aware of the Club Rules especially as far as guests and visitors are concerned. Only Full Members are allowed to bring one guest or visitor to the club, you must receive authority from the secretary at least one week in advance, this is mainly to ensure that the correct legal documentation is available and is being completed ensuring that our legal and Club Insurance obligations are being followed.

Failure to follow these strict rules may cause you, your guest and the club to be in breach of the Firearms Act.

There are additional rules and guidelines for bringing a guest to Club Fixtures on MoD property.

If anyone is in any doubt or requires further information, please contact a Committee Member. 22nd February 2008

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NEWSLETTER

30th May 2008

Club Shoot - Bisley - Phoenix Weekend 2008

Ten members of the club attended the Bisley shoot on Friday 23rd May. An electronic scoring target was booked for the first time at 500 yards for the morning, what a great piece of equipment that proved to be. At a cost of just under £62 per half day, there were up to five members shooting alternatively on a single target. During the course of the morning it was estimated that over 900 rounds were fired altogether. Perhaps ten people shooting on one target is a slight 'oversubscription' however, by the end of the session everyone appeared to have shot as much as they wanted to.

The electronic scoring target system comprised the standard sized framed target fitted with numerous sensors around the periphery capable of detecting the precise location of the bullet passing through the target. Via a radio link a signal is transmitted back to a battery operated receiver/monitor 8" x 9" (below) which through a 'Windows' formatted display gave the precise position of every shot fired, the last shot was distinguishable by showing a red dot, turning blue in colour on subsequent shots. Cumulative scores could be shown on the display, apart from the position of the shot(s) being displayed the score was also shown. At any time the display could be reset to zero and if necessary there was a facility to 'zoom in' on the screen for a closer look. Although we didn't use it, the Range Office is capable to provide a complete 'print-out' for all the scores. Resetting the monitor would have produced a new print out stream.

The electronic targetry is available at various distances and can be booked through the club by the half or full day. For individual members of the NRA these targets can also be booked by the hour (£10.40/person/hour) The only drawback was the fact that there was no-one in the butts to help 'sight-in' rifles which were just off target, however, we managed to spot these shots in the sand with a decent powered spotting scope.

On behalf of just about everyone who was there, using the electronic targetry seems to be the way to go. Photos courtesy of Graeme.

Range Safety. We are noticing an increase in poor firearm handling and usage safety to include breaches of the Club’s, NRA and MoD safety requirements. All of the points raised below are covered in the Annual Refresher Training Briefings, common and regular occurrences include:

a) 70 Mils Rule. At the firing point and before a round is chambered into the breech the firearm must be pointed in the direction of the target and within an angular measurement of 70 Mils. For example, for a 1,000 metre target this means that the pre loaded firearm must be pointed within a 70 metre radius of the target. At the Sigma Range this equates to a 3.5 metre radius when shooting at a distance of 50 metres. Without care, the use of a bi-pod wrongly encourages rounds to be chambered while the firearm is pointed skyward…! At a recent shoot, some members were reminded repeatedly!

b) There is an increasing usage of yellow ‘magazine inserts’ on some rifles rather than a conventional Breech Flag, NRA and MoD rulings require a breech flag to be inserted into the breech, the purpose being to verify and to demonstrate that the breech is empty. The magazine inserts do not guarantee that the breech is empty. Whilst I have been concerned about the use of these inserts for some time, a respected Guest shooting with us at the last Archers shoot was also very concerned and pointed out this potential hazardous practice to me. This has led me to get an official ruling on this matter, having contacted the NRA today; I am informed that the latest version of the Bisley Bible (their official rule book to be re-published very soon) will for the first time make provisions for the use of these inserts. They do not replace the use of Breech Flags, but they can now apparently be used as an alternative, personally I would recommend the use of a Breech Flag as this will reduced the risk of a round being left in the breech.

c) Our ‘practical’ competitions involve movement with a loaded firearm. During movement, firearms are being pointed in unsafe directions, to include the feet and outside the range parameters. Apart from the occasional competition start position (normally 45 degrees) loaded firearms must always be pointed in a safe direction – towards the sand bullet catchment area. Fingers are to remain outside the trigger guard until just prior to allow the firearm to discharge.

Some of you will have noticed recently that scored points are being deducted from some members during competitions as a result of unsafe participation of the courses of fire.

d) We have had a spate of incidents recently involving .22 cases rupturing on firing, in two instances the extractor and magazine have been ejected from the rifle. A Ruger 10/22 was involved in one instance and a V22 in the other. Whilst overcharged ammunition cannot be ruled out completely it appears that the .22 round may not have ‘gone into battery’ (round not fully chambered or the bolt was not fully closed.) On most .22 semi-auto rifles it is possible to allow the firing pin to be struck by the hammer even if the bolt is partially open.

There have been two unrelated incidents involving muzzle loading pistols recently, one actually involving ‘particles’ entering an eye of a shooter has led me to remind everyone that whilst the wearing of eye protection is not mandatory* the risk of an eye injury is always present even to bystanders. Please be aware that if you are considering purchasing eye protection most ‘shooting glasses’ do not meet the former British Standard BS 2094 or the more recent EU safety standard, the wearing of prescription glasses may in some cases be better than nothing, but they too are not regarded as safety glasses unless specific lenses have been requested from your optician.

* Some competitions at Bisley for example, require the wearing of eye safety protection.

For those of you who have been following the NRA and MoD negotiations and recently the final agreement (these updates and links have previously been circulated to all members http://mod.nra.org.uk/) apart from issues appertaining to High Muzzle Energy there are additional severe restrictions and conditions concerning Range Safety which will apply to us all. For those Members who still appear to have difficulty following the various safety rules please be aware that in the coming months the club is being forced to provide* Range Safety and Certificates of Competence to each Member. These certificates must be issued by the club, clearly following recent observations, some members* will not be issued with these certificates.

All members should re read and understand the rules if you are not sure of any points please ASK as without the certificate you will not be allowed to shoot at Bisley or on MoD ranges.

From July 1^st all new members will be required to undergo a NRA approved Probationary Member Induction Safety Training Course. The NRA is very slow in producing vital documents to allow the Committee to consider and interpret precisely what is required of clubs.

We are still trying to resolve the problem of handloaded ammunition being prohibited on the Archers Range, we are not scheduled to shoot there until August, and hopefully the problem will be resolved by then.

Club Fees. We are approaching the time of the year when Club Fees become due. For the time being club fees remain at £75 for the period July 1^st to December 31^st 2008. A few members have already paid these fees; early or prompt payment would be appreciated especially as we are committed to paying out £1,200 by the end of June.

Club Competitions. All ongoing Club Competitions come to an end at the end of June, several members have not quite completed the ‘six card’ requirement; there is still time for you to compete.

Club Records. Unless we have discussed your firearms records personally in the last few days you should have received a copy of your record by email last week. We have received several amendments to the club records already; please keep us up to date.

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NEWSLETTER

Spring into Action – Bisley Competitions 2007

As part of the Spring into Action Weekend held at Bisley 18^th/19^th March, Rob W. and I visited Bisley last Sunday. Rob actually took part in 4 competitions, the purpose of my visit was intended to gather information and photographs to encourage other members to consider the series of shooting disciplines with a view to introducing them into our own competitions or even to take part in the next series of competitions to be held at Bisley at the Phoenix Shoot May Friday 26^th – Monday 29^th. This is also a good time to visit some thirty or so trade stands that will be exhibiting at Bisley.

1. Speed Steel Plate Challenge

The photo above shows Rob shooting stage 1 of 5. This competition involves engaging 4 x 20” diameter steel plates and a square steel stop plate. This is repeated 5 times against the clock and your best four scores count. You then move onto the other four stages.

It came as a bit of a surprise to most competitors when they discovered that a minimum of 125 rounds was required to shoot all 5 stages. The steel plates are engaged at 20 yards and they look enormous compared with the 2” steel plates we normally shoot at. We witnessed several competitors shooting this discipline and I am confident that most of our club members could have done better.

This competition can be shoot with either a .22 carbine, fullbore carbine or long barrel pistol. For range safety reasons, there are some restrictions on the type and velocity of the ammunition used.

2. The ‘1500’

Initially, this discipline appeared to be slightly complicated and certainly was very intense, however it attracted the highest number of competitors. The helpful RO’s provided a quiet reminder to competitors who were perhaps slightly unfamiliar with the procedures. Each competitor is assigned one target which is engaged at a number of different distances, variable ‘exposure times’ and shooting positions to include: standing, kneeling, sitting, right and left hand barricade (either side of the post) some stages involve weak hand shooting. The competition can be shot with LB pistol or fullbore carbine. In an adjoining shooting bay, .22 carbines were also being used in this discipline, the same distances were engaged however, and the targetry was smaller. As you will see from the photos above optical sights were the norm and Taurus pistols were very popular. .22 competitors were all using customised Ruger 10/22 carbines; most were fitted with carbon or at least heavier target barrels and interestingly standard Ruger 10 round magazines were used. These magazines were also customised, a small (2”) ‘handle’ was fitted to the base of the magazine allowing the magazine to be inserted and removed from the magazine well more easily, mag pouches allowed each competitor to carry several pre loaded magazines.

3. Advancing Target

The 4 photos below show the Advancing ‘Man’ Competition. A pair of targets advance towards the shooter, the targets turn away automatically when they reach the 10-yard distance. In two separate competitions Rob used his .44 Taurus and his 357 carbine.

Rob and I were given the opportunity to try a customised Taurus .357 LB pistol fitted with ‘Holo sights’

The visit to Bisley was both an interesting and informative occasion, we met a lot of helpful shooters and range staff, I also learnt that Smith and Wesson LB pistols are already available from a German gunsmith albeit at a price tag of £1,400. This appears to be a different source from my earlier email! Hopefully more information will be available soon.

All of the competitions set out in this Newsletter can be practised at least on our range. A few of our long standing club members, Rob A. and Vin, already take part in these annual competitions, as one of the newer club members every credit should be given to Rob for ‘pushing the boat out’ by entering on his own and for competing with new acquisitions of firearms. It was reassuring to see that everyone was extremely helpful on the various ranges making first time competitors very welcome and comfortable with their event. It was reported that entry levels for the competitions were up on last year.

Several ‘action’ video clips of the visit are also available.

Some of the competitions allow a ‘classification’ category so your first entry into these competitions may not result in an outright win, but you may have a good chance of winning the following year.

Further information is always available. In the first instance check out the NRA website and the following link.

‘Shoot - Don’t - Miss’ Rules/disciplines etc. http://www.galleryrifle.co.uk/

Club Insurance

1. Speed Steel Plate Challenge

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