NRA Open Day : Saturday 7 September 2013

[EagerNoSkill]

Hi All

NRA Open Day (National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley) : Saturday 7 September 2013
http://www.nra.org.uk/common/asp/calend ... &type=main
The NRA will be holding one of our hugely popular Open Day events where visitors will be able to try shotgun, air rifle, fullbore rifle (F-Class), sporting rifle, laser clays, precision snap, practical and historical rifles to name but a few, all with one-to-one coaching.

THE ENS REQUEST
For my sins the NRA has asked me to run the F-Class Section - which will be shoot at 1000 yards. This is a great opportunity to showcase shooting in general and F-class specifically. I have been a "Instructor" for visitors for the 2 previous NRA Open Days and it has been a very rewarding experience. In both open days we put +- 400 visitors through - it is seriously one of the most popular events. People queue for 45 mins to shoot 5 shoots (this I want to improve dramatically). They enjoy the experience .. .we can show such a positive side and hook them !

The general procedure is: The NRA provides rifles and ammunition. Each visitor is given a walk-through, settled in on the rifle and shoots 5 shots at a F-Class target.
The instructor is there to ensure
1. Firearm safety (muzzle trigger),
2. Help with setup and body position (scope kiss ),
3. To load if required, and
4. make the wind calls and PLOT the fall of shot on a memento plot sheet.

If you get 4, 5's or V' s then it is the visitors brilliant shooting ability party2 - if not its your lousy wind calls :lol:
The key point is to create a friendly engaging atmosphere and pleasant experience and get new shooters into F-Class. :cheers:

So what do I need ... Well simply F-Class Shooters to help me run an efficient and friendly event! sign85
I need both FTR and Open shooters to assist. If we have enough instructors we can work in relieve shifts, spread the workload and tasks. We seriously need people that actually do F-class at a Club or league level.

We will have a gazebo, lunch and drinks provided .... and should there be enough interest we could even organise a slap up dinner at North London Rifle Club on the Saturday evening. I am at the F-class World Champs in USA for 3 weeks in August and only return the Sunday before ... I need the help from the shooting community to showcase our sport!

Please PM me your interest and I will contact you!

BONUS EVENT If we can get through the visitors by 4PM we could have a "Instructors Cup Match" - purely for bragging rights so bring your rifle (OK I will throw in 2 bottles of "RHINO Urine" for the winner! The targets are paid for and you could easily get 40 rounds down late afternoon!

WHAT SHOULD YOU BRING
Think of a normal shooting day out = Shooting mat or chair + Spotting Scope / Bino + Rifle / Bipod / Ammo (for Display and the "Instructors Cup Match")



SOME ADDITIONAL DETAILS
http://www.nra.org.uk/common/asp/calend ... &type=main
Please note the following:
ALL visitors will be required to pre-register before the day as we will be unable to register visitors on the day.
1. Age restrictions will apply to children under 14 years of age for some shooting activities.
2. All children under the age of 17 must be accompanied by an adult who must sign for them at Registration on the day.
3. All visitors wishing to shoot must register and pre-purchase vouchers.
Registration costs £20 per adult (14 and over) and £5 for NRA members and under 14's.
Vouchers are sold in sheets of 10 costing £10 for the sheet, with a maximum purchase of £20 per person via the internet or by telephone. The vouchers can then be redeemed for any of the activities.
4. Everyone who is registered must also produce a valid form of ID (and proof of address) in order to collect their tickets on the day.
5. Registration will be in the NRA Pavilion and will open at 8.30. Shooting will start at 9.00 and will continue through to 4.30 but may carry on till 5.00.
6. Extra vouchers will be available to purchase on the day. Please note that any unused vouchers will not be refundable but may be used at the May 2014 Open Day.

Further details and prices will follow in due course.
Click here to download a list of shooting disciplines and their related age restrictions.
Click here to Register : http://www.nra.org.uk/common/asp/openda ... p?site=NRA

[the running man]

I think open days are an excellent thing,and prove how popular shooting can be,and how club numbers could be bolsterd by new members,i think that the joining process and paperwork just puts some off getting involved...

One small point ide like to make a few people aware of and to some its probably already old news. I have volunteered at bisley live and 2 other open days,i asked quite a few guests why dont you join a club your a naturally good shooter,to which the reply was," why? Why bother? When i can just come down here a couple of times a year and shoot for nothing" i asked some other volunteers and a few said yes you do see a hell of a lot of old faces who always turn up..

As said it is a small point,the nra are good to lay these events on as the more shooters it generates the better. Well done...

[EagerNoSkill]

.... One small point ide like to make a few people aware of and to some its probably already old news. I have volunteered at bisley live and 2 other open days,i asked quite a few guests why dont you join a club your a naturally good shooter,to which the reply was," why? Why bother?
When i can just come down here a couple of times a year and shoot for nothing" i asked some other volunteers and a few said yes you do see a hell of a lot of old faces who always turn up.. As said it is a small point,the nra are good to lay these events on as the more shooters it generates the better. Well done...

You are right - I saw several repeats ... from OD 1 to OD 2.
I see that as a chance to "re-enforce" that they need to join and support or there will be NO Open Days in the future!

" why? Why bother? When i can just come down here a couple of times a year and shoot for nothing"
Is too prevalent

Small victories ... one new member at a time!

[rox]

One small point ide like to make a few people aware of and to some its probably already old news. I have volunteered at bisley live and 2 other open days,i asked quite a few guests why dont you join a club your a naturally good shooter,to which the reply was," why? Why bother? When i can just come down here a couple of times a year and shoot for nothing" i asked some other volunteers and a few said yes you do see a hell of a lot of old faces who always turn up..

As said it is a small point

I don't quite see your point.

They are hardly shooting 'for nothing'. If they genuinely aren't sufficiently interested to want to shoot more than twice a year then we are at least keeping them active and collecting a little money from them, and maybe they will gain interest as they come more or bring others who may be more interested. Those that do want to shoot more can join a club and take it further. What problems do you see with the current approach, or what alternatives do you suggest to improve it?

..

[the running man]

I see your point rox,and as i posted i did say its s small point!

I could not agree with you more that as long as the " no intention of joining" folk cone to open days at least we take a bit of money off them,and who knows as you said they may want to get involved in the future,and bring a friend who does get involved...


I only mention this as we had a situation at our club whereby certain individuals were attending our range each month as guests,the police upon reading our records decreed (wheather its right or wrong) that after 3 visits they ought to join as they are turning up more regularly than proper members....
Realising that its easier to come along with dave and pay £36 (£3 per guest day) they were using the facilites more than a full member paying £100 a year.so we put a 4 times a year per guest limit on our members...

But as eager no skill pointed out so very well above we will never be able to truly eridicate that type of guest from bisley,unless records point out that hey! This guy has been attending every guest day for ten years hes clearly got no intention of joining,then give others priority over him and if it means non admission due to bisley being packed then that seems fair to me,but in reality back here on earth,how busy does it get?

[Matt]

Count me in :shakeshout:

Did the last one and had a great day but we need good shooters to help out as the more the merrier...

We need to keep the queues down and the round count and scores up for the good folk that come along to shoot

Sign up and help out..... You know you want to :goodjob: sign92 clapclap


PS. This is a volunteering thread, let's keep it positive sign92

If any potential helpers want a bit more info about the day please pm me with your number and I'll give you a call to hopefully answer any questions you may have before signing up :cheers:

[Mr_Logic]

Already said Yes to Tim's early bird phone call this morning :)

[IainWR]

Hi all

Super to see the positive response.

3 points:

The NRA guns (mostly) aren't dedicated F-TR guns, they are .308" TRs with a scope on top and a bipod on the front - ie true to Farky's original concept. Please respect the resultant limitations. NRA armoury will do its best but guns and scopes are expensive and we are doing this on a budget. Also NRA Armoury DOES NOT HAVE the resources to zero nearly 200 firearms for the Open Day given that many of them will be in use for many different purposes in the days leading up to the event. We hope to get you on the paper but the final zero is up to you the coaches in the half-hour between range opening and guests being accepted.

The ammo isn't heavy bullet handloads - it's off-the-shelf milspec and while it will hit the bull at 1000, please do not expect competitive standards. That's why you will shoot at an NRA TR Target, not one of these nasty little F-class jobs. The difference would mostly be lost on the guests anyway.

The primary concept is to PROMOTE THE SPORT AS A WHOLE. If the guests go away happy and understanding that we are normal people who are enthusiastic about a hobby and are all law-abiding and utterly risk-free, that's a win. Phrase your patter to the Great British Public accordingly.

Thanks for volunteering or just supporting

Iain
NRA Firearms Manager

[EagerNoSkill]

Hi all
Super to see the positive response.
3 points:
1. The NRA guns (mostly) aren't dedicated F-TR guns, they are .308" TRs with a scope on top and a bipod on the front - ie true to Farky's original concept. Please respect the resultant limitations. NRA armoury will do its best but guns and scopes are expensive and we are doing this on a budget. Also NRA Armoury DOES NOT HAVE the resources to zero nearly 200 firearms for the Open Day given that many of them will be in use for many different purposes in the days leading up to the event. We hope to get you on the paper but the final zero is up to you the coaches in the half-hour between range opening and guests being accepted.
2. The ammo isn't heavy bullet handloads - it's off-the-shelf milspec and while it will hit the bull at 1000, please do not expect competitive standards. That's why you will shoot at an NRA TR Target, not one of these nasty little F-class jobs. The difference would mostly be lost on the guests anyway.
3. The primary concept is to PROMOTE THE SPORT AS A WHOLE. If the guests go away happy and understanding that we are normal people who are enthusiastic about a hobby and are all law-abiding and utterly risk-free, that's a win. Phrase your patter to the Great British Public accordingly.
Thanks for volunteering or just supporting
Iain NRA Firearms Manager

HI Ian

All valid points

1. Firearms zero : At least 2 of the volunteers (both RCO's) have offered to pre-zero / check the rifles and validate them on Friday afternoon.
This eases the pressure on SAT am and ensures we the ground shooting so to say

2. Agreed the GGG Ammo we use is not the ultimate - but it adequate - it readily holds the 3/4 ring.
Considering the purpose is generic and fun exposure.
Almost all guest just want the feeling and experince of a scope rifle at 1000 yards
I have had shooter walk off with 2V-2 x & 1 4 (dont know who was happier him or me clapclap

3. Shooting Sports as a whole - agreed - Fun recoil therapy with decent law abiding citizens!
Presented by decent blokes and ladies that dont have bugs in their teeth!

Those that volunteer will get a get a comprehensive pre Open Day briefing from me - re our ideas and modus operandi
Dress Code is standard (no mankini's no ridicilous redneck camo and no rugby shorts Maggot!)
ENS

[Matt]

No face cammo then, I better put my ghillie back in the cupboard tesnews