Small Bore / Full Bore FAC

[dromia]

If you want to shoot at Bisley then join the NRA, its the only reason too. Then you can book targets and shoot at your own convenience. That should be reason enough for plod to get full bore rifles. You can join the NRA/Bisley shooting club as well its free if you join the NRA, or used to be, even if you don't get to any of their specific meetings its still a full bore club for plod if the require such.

[rox]

even if you don't get to any of their specific meetings its still a full bore club for plod if the require such.

...but bear in mind that if you join a club and don't attend for a period of a year they are obliged to report your non-attendance, which can trigger questions being asked of your primary, so it may not be the best idea to join a club with no intention of shooting with them regularly. It would be good to know for sure whether NRA membership is itself no longer a suitable justification (as Mike's FEO apprently claimed) despite giving access to 200+ full-bore targets 6 days a week, plus cometitions, teams etc. Surely justification boils down to 2 things: having shooting facilities available to you, then actually making use of them. If NRA membership doesn't provide the former then what does? Perhaps Iain can comment on this.

..

[dromia]

Typo, should have read many.

[IainWR]

Membership of at least one Home Office Approved Club (eg the NRA) is a necessary condition for a FAC including a condition for target shooting. It is not a sufficient condition. You have to be able to demonstrate active participation - the use of firearms for target shooting "reasonably frequently - say at least 3 times a year" from the Home Office guidance. Now that's not directly related to your club membership. Your club is required to report non-attendance if you don't turn up at all for a year, but nothing more than that, and once you have a FAC you can shoot as an individual anywhere the range authority (eg another club) will let you.

Obviously this is a bit chicken-and-egg, especially if you already have the rifles for another purpose. How do you go shooting targets with your guns if you don't have a condition permitting it, and why should you use another gun when you have your own. There are answers to this, which are a bit complicated for a quick response here.

It will be difficult to demonstrate active participation if your club does not have facilities for full-bore, and it follows that it might be difficult to get permission for a full-bore rifle at this stage. However, NRA membership coupled with NRA training should meet that requirement more or less immediately. I have never before heard it suggested that the NRA was not an appropriate organisation to support a FAC condition permitting target shooting, and I would be most interested in the details.

Those suggesting that a local club might be a better start have a point. Fuel is expensive, and staying away always adds up to a fair chunk of money.

Iain
NRA Firearms Manager

[HWN147]

Thanks for all the great posts.
So looks like I need to get my FAC with slot for small bore rifle at my current club to start with then apply for a variation (??) to add full bore rifle at the NRA once I have done my probationary course with the NRA at Bisley.

I assume there is not problem having more than one club on an FAC??

I think the best option for me will be to join the NRA club at Bisley it's a bit of a trek but I don't see much option if I want to shoot full bore TR competitively. I want to have a go at the Imperial next year so the NRA club seems to be the best place for now. I can always look at other clubs in a few years time.

Time to get the NRA probationary course booked.

[IainWR]

There will only be one Club named in the conditions of a FAC (unless, unusually, the police listed different clubs for different classes of shooting - I've not seen this but the police can write such discretionary conditions as they see fit). This is something you can change as necessary. The naming of one club does not preclude you from being a member of, or shooting with, any other club. I am a member of two Home Office Approved clubs and two non-approved clubs - that's not unusual and raises no problems. You should pick as your "primary club" - the one on your FAC - the one where you will do most shooting with the greatest variety of firearms. If your primary club can provide evidence at FAC renewal time of regular use of all your firearms, it saves the police (or you on their behalf) running round to collect evidence of use from various sources.

Just to get the detail clear. You would join the NRA. The NRA Shooting Club membership is just a mailing list of NRA members who wish to be notified of when the club is having shared targets and firearms hire at Bisley. It has no legal status independent of the NRA itself.

Iain

[rocket-dog]

What constitutes regular use? If I spend the majority of my time shooting .22 and gallery rifle, but occasionally want to shoot a centre fire rifle how occasional can occasional be? Once a month? A couple of times a quarter?

[ovenpaa]

Once a month is certainly enough and as long as you get 3-4 visits in per year you should be fine.

[HeatherW762]

Having come into this discussion at a late stage and agreeing with what's been said already, I would add that at some point you will be having a discussion with your enquiry officer so ask him the question. Show him that you are a probatinary member with the NRA and that your course is imminent and can you add what fullbore rifle/s you want?

Heather

[rocket-dog]

Once a month is certainly enough and as long as you get 3-4 visits in per year you should be fine.

Thank you. To be honest that question was the only reason why I joined the forum! I am a bear of very little brain and all this talk of competency cards etc. was proving to be a bit confusing. One of the two local clubs which I want to apply to after Christmas has access to 200m plus range and .308 club rifle. Obviously I would be relying on the kindness of a club official to be available for me to shoot said rifle during my probation. I am quite confident of hitting a target out to 100m, but would question whether at best 2, maybe 3, visits to the full bore range during my probation would make me competent at greater distances. Perhaps I read too much into the word competent? Of course shooting at the other club ranges will hopefully prove to them I am safe individual but that is a different aspect of competency. Really I have no interest of shooting in competitions or travelling to Bisley to shoot. Going to the club's fullbore range a couple of times a year, hiring that 100m tunnel range on the other side of the county for an hour or two one afternoon, and perhaps a trip over to say Minsterly would do me. Simply if I am going to all the trouble of getting an FAC not to have one centre fire bolt action would be a bit, well, unseemly! Thanks for replying to my question.


(PS: Yes I know I haven't done an intro post yet. I just wanted to get in on this thread while it was active to save starting similar.)