Small Bore / Full Bore FAC

[HWN147]

I am 3 weeks from the end of my probationary period at my local rifle club (Bromyard RC). The club is small bore target rifle shooting only. The guys at the club have told me to start applying for my FAC.

My question is.
I will be doing a full bore probationary course with the NRA at Bisley starting I hope before Xmas. When I am applying for my license is it worth putting down for a full bore rifle or would that be rejected as I am not be a full member of a Full Bore club?? Or maybe it would just be best to put in for just a small bore rifle on licence application for now and add a full bore when I am full NRA member.

I am just trying to save some time after reading some of the horror stories about how long things FAC related can take. I don’t want to be waiting months for a change on my license to add a full bore rifle if I could do it now.

I would come under West Mercia for my FAC.

Henry

[M99]

Henry,

West mercia have gone from being one of the worst forces to probably the most efficient in the country.

They will not let you have a fullbore now without being a full member of a full bore range/club

I appreciate you are going to do the probationary course at Bisley - but do you propose to use the NRA shooting club as your primary club for full-bore?

Would it not be easier to find a full-bore club local to you as your primary club for full-bore?

There are a few members on here from your general area and would be worth seeking them out.

Mike

[dromia]

Does your small bore club not have any arrangements with a full bore club to attend their range days.

If not it would be worth encouraging them to do so. It would be a benefit to its members I'm sure

Our club will be giving up booking fullbore ranges next year as the NRA affiliation isn't worth the money and will be going in with another club for our members that want to shoot full bore.

[rox]

I appreciate you are going to do the probationary course at Bisley - but do you propose to use the NRA shooting club as your primary club for full-bore?

Is there such a thing as a 'Primary Club for full-bore'? There certainly wasn't a year or so ago when I was a club secretary - an individual had a single primary club (for all disciplines and activities) which served as the initial point of contact for the police, with the purpose of simplifying administration when verifying activity etc. The advice I received from FEO's, both as a secretary and as an individual, was that folks could record all their activity at their primary club, then only the activities specific to other clubs at the other clubs.

Membership of the NRA alone should suffice (not necessarily the NRA SC), since that gives direct access to facilities to shoot.

..

[M99]

I appreciate you are going to do the probationary course at Bisley - but do you propose to use the NRA shooting club as your primary club for full-bore?

Is there such a thing as a 'Primary Club for full-bore'? There certainly wasn't a year or so ago when I was a club secretary - an individual had a single primary club (for all disciplines and activities) which served as the initial point of contact for the police, with the purpose of simplifying administration when verifying activity etc. The advice I received from FEO's, both as a secretary and as an individual, was that folks could record all their activity at their primary club, then only the activities specific to other clubs at the other clubs.

Membership of the NRA alone should suffice (not necessarily the NRA SC), since that gives direct access to facilities to shoot.

..

Not if his primary club is only .22lr - we have just had this discussion with 2 new prospective members of our club - they are already members of an indoor .22lr club but want to shoot fullbore - they have been told they need to be a member of a club that has the facilities to cater for full-bore, otherwise they will not get full-bore on their tickets. I doubt being a member of the NRA alone would give sufficient reason to pose a full-bore - but membership of the NRA shooting club would. (But then he is going to need to attend it a minimum of 3 times a year)

Easiest way is to ring your FLO and ask them!

[rox]

I appreciate you are going to do the probationary course at Bisley - but do you propose to use the NRA shooting club as your primary club for full-bore?

Is there such a thing as a 'Primary Club for full-bore'? There certainly wasn't a year or so ago when I was a club secretary - an individual had a single primary club (for all disciplines and activities) which served as the initial point of contact for the police, with the purpose of simplifying administration when verifying activity etc. The advice I received from FEO's, both as a secretary and as an individual, was that folks could record all their activity at their primary club, then only the activities specific to other clubs at the other clubs.

Membership of the NRA alone should suffice (not necessarily the NRA SC), since that gives direct access to facilities to shoot.

..

Not if his primary club is only .22lr - we have just had this discussion with 2 new prospective members of our club - they are already members of an indoor .22lr club but want to shoot fullbore - they have been told they need to be a member of a club that has the facilities to cater for full-bore, otherwise they will not get full-bore on their tickets. I doubt being a member of the NRA alone would give sufficient reason to pose a full-bore - but membership of the NRA shooting club would. (But then he is going to need to attend it a minimum of 3 times a year)

Easiest way is to ring your FLO and ask them!

Indeed. So not a primary club as such; this is a specific term, and there is only one per FAC holder. But one should be a member of a club or association that provides the facilities to shoot the type of firearm being requested (in the case of target firearms). The NRA has always been suitable for this role in the past and I would be exteremly surprised if that were no longer the case; I don't see why you would doubt that. The NRA SC is a relatively recent innovation to improve accessability to shared shooting, in particular for folks who come out of probation courses without another club in mind.

..

[M99]

Rox,

I am not doubting you, I am just stating from experience of our FEO's - I've held an FAC since '92 with a short break in between due to work. I've always been a stalker/vermin shooter - now when I wanted to add target shooting to my FAC I was told, being an NRA member was not sufficient reason. I would either need to join a club or shoot at least 3 times a year with the NRA shooting club. (which you technically join but does not cost)

You need to show "good reason" for each firearm - Stating on the FAC application NRA member is not in the opinion of my FLO sufficient reason.

Mike

[HWN147]

Does your small bore club not have any arrangements with a full bore club to attend their range days.

If not it would be worth encouraging them to do so. It would be a benefit to its members I'm sure

Our club will be giving up booking fullbore ranges next year as the NRA affiliation isn't worth the money and will be going in with another club for our members that want to shoot full bore.

My club is small bore target rifle only none of the members do anything else as far as I know. We only have 23 members.
We have an indoor range and 50 and 100mtr outdoor ranges.

I had planned on joining the NRA shooting club only because I didn't think there were many other options for the longer distance shooting I would like to do. We do have a local club in Worcester which is a general shooting club but it's only short range stuff max 100mtrs which is not what I am looking for.
If I could find a club with 300mtrs + ranges that was local to Worcester that would be great. But I haven't found anything yet.

[M99]

Does your small bore club not have any arrangements with a full bore club to attend their range days.

If not it would be worth encouraging them to do so. It would be a benefit to its members I'm sure

Our club will be giving up booking fullbore ranges next year as the NRA affiliation isn't worth the money and will be going in with another club for our members that want to shoot full bore.

My club is small bore target rifle only none of the members do anything else as far as I know. We only have 23 members.
We have an indoor range and 50 and 100mtr outdoor ranges.

I had planned on joining the NRA shooting club only because I didn't think there were many other options for the longer distance shooting I would like to do. We do have a local club in Worcester which is a general shooting club but it's only short range stuff max 100mtrs which is not what I am looking for.
If I could find a club with 300mtrs + ranges that was local to Worcester that would be great. But I haven't found anything yet.

You have the Hereford and Worcester club (at least one member on here) who shoot on a regular basis at Kinsgbury range. (which is out to 600m)

You also have Offas Dyke - http://www.offasrifleclub.com/Membership.htm - who shoot up and down the length of the country (including Kingsbury)

[HWN147]

Offas Dyke looks really nice I had considered that club. But I need to be a bit flexible with when I can shoot because sometimes I have to work at weekends. With Bisley I can go down during the week to shoot. Plus most of the competitions I want to do will be held at Bisley so my thinking is that Bisley will be the best place to practice also. Plus I think maybe more guys shooting TR at Bisley who will be able to point me in the right direction when needed.

Maybe I am wrong in my thinking I am a newbie to full bore after all so please say if you think that’s the case.