Variation for Non-HOA Club

[Triffid]

This seems to be a little bit of a grey area.... My club does not book ranges for any other purpose than fullbore TR with 7.62/.308 and I only have an SSC for "Iron sighted rifle" (I was planning a scoped rifle for this one). One of our members is an FEO, although not mine, works with mine and knows this. Even if I could apply for it, I would fall short of the usage as neither club would be recording my usage of the rifle.

I guess the best way forward is to wait for the club to be fully open and then ask both them and my FEO to advise whether it is possible...

Possibly you could come and join my Club if yours doesn't offer all the shooting you want.
http://www.weyvalleyrpc.org.uk/
In happier times we shoot at Bisley every weekend, mostly small-bore indoors in the winter months and full-bore from 25m-1000m in the summer. If it's legal and safe, we'll do our best to provide.

PM me if interested.
Triffid

[Mattnall]

This seems to be a little bit of a grey area.... My club does not book ranges for any other purpose than fullbore TR with 7.62/.308 and I only have an SSC for "Iron sighted rifle" (I was planning a scoped rifle for this one). One of our members is an FEO, although not mine, works with mine and knows this. Even if I could apply for it, I would fall short of the usage as neither club would be recording my usage of the rifle.

I guess the best way forward is to wait for the club to be fully open and then ask both them and my FEO to advise whether it is possible...

I think you have been misinformed/confused? or are unduly worried by it? ..............

FACs allocations are approved by type, not sights - so you can take any rifle & calibre & fit a telescopic sight...... or a laser, red dot, open, v, dioptre etc. It does not change the rifle from being a rifle on the FAC.

- that for a FB club is any rifle larger than 22rf & smaller than 338 (if at Bisley) & on a rest it might be regarded as match rifle or if you also fit a bipod might be regarded as FTR or Recreational rifle, on a 22 its known as benchrest ........ fitting a scope is just an adaptor, a bit of metal, to mount it. Zeroing that is sometimes a little bit more involved, but the process is very similar to zeroing TR.

You can shoot a FB telescopic rifle without a SSC for that classification, if you have somebody next to you who does & so you can prove to them you know how to zero, sight & use it safely & thus get that added by your club chair.

Whilst a club records their members usage, there is nothing stopping you from keeping a personal record of that too (& hand loaded ammo use etc) to justify the possession. I have members who only Shoot TR with us as their primary club - but shoot Service Rifle or BP with another club - thats what they do.

You can shoot your telescopic equipped rifle / or fit your telescope to your TR at your club bookings, if there is spare time? which in my experience is most, if not all shoots, ok in a 2&15 TR competition day thats more problematic, but i assume the club has practice days too? If your club wont let you shoot scope rifle? because they 'only shoot TR' & you have asked & been refused? then imho its time to find another club!

If you want to shoot that rifle with a scope or a dedicated rifle with a scope over land instead of, or in addition to over a range (hunting etc) then thats outside the club & you need permission from the land owner & a DS1 approval. Your FAC is then changed.

So my advice is if worried talk to your FEO & go buy what you want to shoot, then use it minimum ~3x pa.

........ does that make more sense?

Further to the above, you are a member of an NRA affiliated club. That allows you enter any of the open matches at Bisley, and also many at one of the multitude of clubs around the country with their own ranges. Doesn't even need your club to book anything but might need the chairman to sign off on the SSC or SCC (or whatever we're calling it these days).

There is your 'safe place' to shoot and your 'reason' for the different type of firearms. Entering one of the Action Weekends at Bisley could see you shoot almost every type and style of rifle, pistol and shotgun in three days that are available to us in the UK (assuming you could squeeze them in the time allowed, maybe take two Action Weekends ).

[Pippin89]

FACs allocations are approved by type, not sights - so you can take any rifle & calibre & fit a telescopic sight...... or a laser, red dot, open, v, dioptre etc. It does not change the rifle from being a rifle on the FAC.


You can shoot your telescopic equipped rifle / or fit your telescope to your TR at your club bookings, if there is spare time? which in my experience is most, if not all shoots, ok in a 2&15 TR competition day thats more problematic, but i assume the club has practice days too? If your club wont let you shoot scope rifle? because they 'only shoot TR' & you have asked & been refused? then imho its time to find another club!

Further to the above, you are a member of an NRA affiliated club. That allows you enter any of the open matches at Bisley, and also many at one of the multitude of clubs around the country with their own ranges. Doesn't even need your club to book anything but might need the chairman to sign off on the SSC or SCC (or whatever we're calling it these days).

There is your 'safe place' to shoot and your 'reason' for the different type of firearms. Entering one of the Action Weekends at Bisley could see you shoot almost every type and style of rifle, pistol and shotgun in three days that are available to us in the UK (assuming you could squeeze them in the time allowed, maybe take two Action Weekends ).

My comment to my SSC only being for iron sighted rifles was in response to someone who suggested I only needed one to shoot it.

My club holds a competition fullbore shoot once a year. Practice shoots we tag along with another club as there are not enough of us to organise regular shoots of our own. We only have twenty something members and not all shoot fullbore. There are normally just 3 of us on the practice shoots in with the other club. That makes is a bit more difficult to ask to shoot something else on the day.

The open matches at Bisley are interesting... I will look into that. There is nothing on their calendar at the moment but I am guessing once they can open again that will change. I will keep an eye out.

Joining another club is the ideal, which is what I was trying to achieve by joining the new local one. What I don't want to do is join another two clubs.... I already have the smallbore club, the clay club and soon-to-be local club (if I can make it work).

Thanks all for the advise. When the new club opens I will contact them first and see their thoughts and then my FEO to discuss it with her. She is one of the better ones compared to reports I have read of some on here.

[IainWR]

Further to the above, you are a member of an NRA affiliated club. That allows you enter any of the open matches at Bisley, and also many at one of the multitude of clubs around the country with their own ranges. Doesn't even need your club to book anything but might need the chairman to sign off on the SSC or SCC (or whatever we're calling it these days).

There is your 'safe place' to shoot and your 'reason' for the different type of firearms. Entering one of the Action Weekends at Bisley could see you shoot almost every type and style of rifle, pistol and shotgun in three days that are available to us in the UK (assuming you could squeeze them in the time allowed, maybe take two Action Weekends ).

...

The open matches at Bisley are interesting... I will look into that.

Membership of an NRA affiliated club does not, of itself, enable you to 'enter any of the open matches at Bisley'. Open meetings at Bisley operate by making every entrant a temporary member of the NRA. To achieve that requires the entrant to meet one of the criteria for temporary membership under Home Office Approval. Membership of an affiliated club will only do it if that club is itself Home Office Approved. Otherwise the most likely criterion to apply is that the entrant holds a FAC for firearms that fall within the NRAs HOA.

[Mattnall]

Thanks Iain, I stand corrected, I should have remembered that as it's on every entry form but as a member I just ignore it.

I think I was getting confused with membership of a HO club allowing you to shoot at Bisley if the club books it.

Either way he can shoot the meetings with almost any rifle he could have.