Clachnacuddin Small Bore Rifle Club was formed in or by 1913. We do not yet have many details of the early years of the club. All of the National membership information was kept in London and was destroyed during the Blitz in 1941. The club may have been variously known as "Inverness smallbore" but should not to be confused with the fullbore club that was in existence about 1880. This latter "club" was a precursor to the TA. More history available here.
Generally we
shoot
.22 single-shot target rifles (AKA small-bore). Our
indoor range at the club-house in
Inverness is 25 yards long while our outdoor range at Dochfour
is caters for both 50m and 100yards. Most of the club
members shoot prone (on the
floor) using aperture sights (concentric circles or posts), some shoot
off a bench-rest. Some of our competitions allow the use of a rifle
mounted
'scope. A few members shoot kneeling and standing (3P). The
indoor range
is also capable of being used 10m air-rifle (not exceeding 6ft/lbs) and
air-pistol. The outdoor range can be used for FT and HFT too.
The club is open to all - provided they pass the checks imposed by the police firearms unit. Our youngest junior is about 11 years of age, our oldest wont tell us his age. We have a significant number of female shooters - of all ages. In total we have about 45 active members, some shoot recreationally, some compete Internationally, most compete in The National Leagues.
Apart
from a few early reports (and a trophy dated 1912) most of our records
-
and the memory of our members - really starts around the time of the
Second World War. At this time the club shot in the Cameron
Barracks near Raigmore. In the 50's it moved to the Haugh -
apparently shooting in an attic above a pub - and in
the 60's moved to our current base in Kinmyles for indoor shooting.
The
club is active in the local leagues as well as in National postal
leagues. These competions are in classes - so you shoot against people
with the same scores as yourself. Club members are encouraged to
participate in the leagues - but there is no requirement to do so. A
smaller number of members regularly travel to
50m/100yard outdoor shoots throughout Scotland and to compete in SSRA
outdoor events. Ths year the "Scottish" will be held up near
Thurso.
Ranges and Times
Our indoor 25 yard range has
7 firing points. The club-house has toilets, an
equiped
kitchen (with coffee/tea facilities, a small oven and a
microwave), a waiting area and a rifle preparation area.
Throughout the night we shoot in "details". Each detail takes
about 15 minutes and has up to 7 target shooters - so we can
accommodate a significant number of shooters in an evening.
Our outdoor range at Dochfour is 50m and 100yards, it has 8 firing points. This range was reopened in 2009 as more of the members took a more active interest in outdoor shooting.
During
the Winter Season the club meets Monday and Thursday evenings at our
Clubhouse - a 1900 start.
During the Summer Season the club opens Monday evenings from
1900. The days and times for outdoor tend to be Thursday from
about 1800 but is
a bit weather dependant especially early and late in the season. The
club is open on Wednesday evenings for 3P shooting.
The
club can provide access to all the equipment that is needed to take up
.22 target shooting - rifles, ammunition, shooting jackets, gloves etc,
together
with basic training.
Serious shooters
should perhaps consider starting to acquiring their own kit after 6-9
months.
Membership
Membership of a rifle club is governed by a strict set of
laws. This
makes it difficult for us to advertise the club address (no "drop in"
visits are allowed by members of the public). Before attending the club to
shoot (or handling any weapons in the club) we are required to have you
"checked". So
prior to attending the club we need to know who you are, and to send
off a form to the local Police Firearms Unit. After the police
checks
are concluded - usually 1-2 working day - we can give you access to the
club.
Existing holders of a Shotgun Certificate or of a
Firearm
Certificate will clearly have no issues - but we still have to operate
procedures. I trust you appreciate the requirement to stay within the
Home Office guidelines.
So if you want to visit the club with a view to becoming a member please drop an email to secretary at clach hyphen sbrc dot org dot uk including your postal address and - if possible - a land-line telephone number that can be validated via directory enquiries - on your first contact. On receipt we will send you a link to a web-form that collects the necessary infomation to complete the application. Unless you hear otherwise, about a week after submission you will be OK to attend the club. Note that you dont get a positive message from the vetting process, you just dont get rejected.
Please dont think you can join our club simply as an
easy way to obtain or retain a Firearm Certificate. Initial
membership is probationary for 6 months. Probationary members
cannot
refer to the club on an application for a FAC. You have to be an active member of the club for
over least six months before you can consider target shooting as sport
in
which you are involved. Also note that we have to report
the names of members who hold their own firearms and
fail to shoot on a regular basis - these members may not have a valid
reason to retain their
firearms/firearms certificate.
Induction
We can take small numbers of new members at anytime
throughout the year. In September (prior to the winter season
starting) there
is an intensive induction course run by the club for
a group of new-starts/beginners. During this month the club is
open for 8 nights and the club members donate their time to get new
shooters introduced to safe handling of firearms and of the basics of
prone target shooting.
Instruction/Coaching
The Club currently has three
prone instructors who are certified under the NSRA scheme. Two of
these also hold the 3-Position module on their
certificates. We expect to have two club coaches in the near
future. Since certification is controlled by our governing body
our coaches have been checked and certified at the highest possible
level.
Air
Rifle/Pistol
The club has 10m air-rifle/pistol targets. At present these
are
used mainly by the pony club. Air users have a separate night to the
"live"
fire nights. Recently a number of members have expressed an
interested
in Field Target (and HFT). We are considering opening the club on
a separate
night for low-power air target shooters (6ft/lbs). While FT and
HFT shooters cannot use our indoor range as it stands it is possible
for them to utilise our outdoor facilities. Note that there is an
additional charge
for the extra opening night.
Bench
Three
of
our
indoor firing
points
can be quickly converted for bench-rest
shooting. The benches can be used for competition or as a
training
aid. We frequently start new shooters "on-the-bench" to allow
them to understand aim/zero point/trigger pull/follow through without
having to suffer the complexities of slings and jackets. Benches
are also used as a "debugging" aid to look for problems in technique
and as a method to help select ammunition that matches your
barrel. People with injuries or disabilities that make them
unable to prone shoot are able to use the bench to continue in target
shooting. Over the years we have had members qualifying for
the finals of the national ELEY/NSRA bench comps. Some of the
club members compete very successfully in National level bench rest
competitions. 1 member has qualifed to the finals for 5 out of
the last 6 years, and holds both the NSRA (50m) and NSRA/Eley (25yard)
national title.
3
Position
(3P)
Shooting
We now have the ability to instruct members in 2P shooting -
standing and kneeling - disciplines (standing can be air or small-bore,
kneeling is small-bore only). 3P shooting happens on Wednesdays
duirng the winter. There is a small additional charge (about
£15) for members attending on this night.
Outdoor Shooting
Our outdoor range is used more heavily in the Summer (April to
Spetember) than in the Winter. In
reality
April
is
still pretty dark up here and shooting usually will be
curtailed by lack of light from about 1930. This is more than
made up for the fact that in the July-August period
it is not unheard of people to finish comp-cards after 2200.
We
can
cater
for the "standard outdoor distances" of 50m and 100yards at
our range.
We
have
8
firing points, and is usual we shoot six spot faces on cards at
50m with three spot faces on cards at 100 yards. Backer cards are
available if needed. Adjacent lanes can shoot 50 and 100 on the
same detail, so it is possible to crack through a number of cards in an
evening shoot.
The
range
faces
south, so afternoon and early evening shooting can be
interesting. Towards evening the light is more predictable.
The wind is less so. We have no side banks, so the prevailing
westerly wind is from the right and can play havoc with the best
planned shots. It is not unheard of for reasonable shooters to
get a decent group of nine shots and one somewhere about seven (yes
seven) off. If you dont believe me come and try it.
In wet weather cars can be parked on the driveway to the range - leaving 50 yards or so to walk. When conditions are dry cars can be take to the side of the firing points.
Barrel-Ammunition
Matching
To
allow
ammunition
and
barrel
matching one of the bench rests can be
converted to a rifle clamp. This leaves the barrel free--floating
has a amount of damped recoil and therefor allows multi-shot groups to
be generated. In this way barrels and ammo can be shown to be a
good match.
Full-Bore
Shooting
In
2008
we
affilated
for a year to
Cawdor Rifle&Pistol Club. This is a local
full-bore club with facilities for full-bore shooting out to 500 yards
(or is it 600). This allowed
our members to shoot outdoors at 50m and 100 yards. Here is a
couple
of pictures of the 50m range at Cawdor 50m
50m, and of
the firing point at 100y 100y. We now shoot small-bore on our
own dochgarroch range. If you are interested in full-bore
shooting drop us an
email and we can put you in touch with the Cawdor club. Here is their 2011-12 programme.
ISSF
National
Judge
The club has
one National ISSF judge, who can advise and coach travelling shoters on
matters such as range procedures, electronic scoring, and equipment
control.
Pictures
from
the 2011 "Scottish" in Wick Here
| Links
to
external
sites |
|
| Shooting
outdoors
-
some
notes
and
guidance |
Kendal Rifle Club |
| UIT
forums
-
old
but
worth
a
read |
archived |
| Stirton.com
-
shooting
web
forum
-
if
you
are
going
anywhere read this |
stirton.com |
| Stuff
to
do
with
an
application
for
a
Firearms
Certificate |
Application info for a Fire Arms Certificate (FAC) |
| Hampton
Rifle
club
page
-
good
notes |
prone shooting |
| NSPCC
-
Physical
contact
and
young
people
in
Scotland |
NSPCC
web
site
link |
| ISSF rule book for 2009 |
ISSF
rules
(pdf) |
For more information, go to www.nationalshootingweek.co.uk
