Small-bore Siberia 2

[hitchphil]

.........I always thought the NRA could make some revenue having an outdoor 50m/100yd small bore range on site? poss shooting opposite direction into the backstop wall of Siberia? Many clubs only have 25yd indoor & the NSRA only have 50m. Would it cost that much to level an area build a FP & cover then lease it to the many shooters / clubs who also do smallbore? & that could also continue quietly shooting after the hooter.................?

Many young shooters start in Small-bore as its lighter, cheaper to fuel & easier to practice.

Whatduthink

[meles meles]

Sounds a plan worthy of serious consideration !

[dromia]

The small bore bench rest chaps are just desperate for 50 and 100 yrd outdoor ranges for practice and competitions.

[Steve E]

Nice idea but I cannot see how you could shoot 'In Reverse' into the back stop of either Short Siberia or Century Ranges.
Behind the backstop on Siberia is the access road to Long Siberia (disused for FB for 30+ years) and a rather thickly wooded area. Century backstop is equally well wooded behind and access could be a big problem.
The woods would need to be cleared (not impossible) and firing points built, possibly covered (again not impossible) but the biggest problem is that you would possibly be in the RDA from Pirbright.

I would advocate improving on Melville Range and Cheylesmore and allowing prone rifle on these ranges. After all Cheylesmore was originally run by the NSRA as a 50m Free Pistol and small bore rifle range. When the NRA took it on they turned it through 180 Degrees and it is now a Gallery Rifle Range but only at 25m when it was originally 50m. Big disadvantage to Cheylesmore is that the caravan site next door will complain about the range noise and parking will always be very limited.
There is always the old Pistol Galleries that could readily be converted into a 50m No Danger Area range and I know that the NRA does have plans to make more use of these.
With the new 100yd firing point being built on Century the NRA has a great opportunity to have 100yd small bore shooting carrying on into the evenings. If there are any plans to do any of this, it should be centrally on Bisley and not tucked away at the back of Siberia. Keep it in the main Camp Complex and shooters will feel more welcome and the clubhouses could benefit from more trade.

just my ramblings

[Individual]

The small bore bench rest chaps are just desperate for 50 and 100 yrd outdoor ranges for practice and competitions.

There is a 100 yard outdoor small bore range at Headley Park RPC, open 7 days a week to members.

[dromia]

Is it cleared for Bench shooting or prone only, how many firing points?

[hitchphil]

I recognise removing trees etc would involve work & cost but the backstop wall of Siberia is high enough to accommodate a NDA small-bore range to 100yds. Being in the Pirbright NDA might be a problem I haven’t got the maps. Central to my thinking was 100yds capability as that is what is missing at Bisley & for many small bore clubs - also it is not competing what the NSRA Roberts range it compliments it as there is 25 & 50 not 100. Benchrester’s & others do appreciate 100yds capability.

Steve makes a good point of being central to the site & being part of the Bilsey experience but is it possible to do ~100yds anywhere in the central areas? Not sure? Am not sure another 50m capacity will be seen positively by NSRA who should be our partners in the shooting world.

Could 100yds small-bore be shot from on front of the 300m sheds? or is that overlapped by the shotgun ranges & prevent reverse echelon shooting - its long enough central 100yds even 200? & with suitable frames to walk up & change targets might be a workable option? - Who knows about this angle is it another technical non starter?

I used to be a member at Headley park its a great range just a bit far for me & my kids, My now avid full-bore shooting daughter started out there…….. egg & .22 rnd! - I use Thorn in Bedfordshire occasionally but I do see many 100yd small-bore ranges becoming more difficult to access or even existing.

[hitchphil]

Dromia - Re Headley Psark 50 FP i think all covered & a pistol gallery too. I would presume cleared for bench but if we wanted to do standing we had to move fwd to 50m target line. shttp://www.headleyparkrpc.co.uk/disciplines.html.

[IainWR]

100 yds could be shot anywhere on Century from about target 20 to 90 from the 200 yd FP - the NSRA do it every year for their annual meeting. There would of course be substantial deconfliction issues, but it's within Range Safety regs.

Shooting back-to-back with SS isn't. You would be in the Danger Area for SS - imagine a low-energy high angle ricochet - could easily end up impacting 100 metres or so beyond the stop butt with lethal residual energy.

The right of arc for Pirbright danger areas is somewhere diagonally across Stickledown - it comes nowhere near SS.

Arranged the other way round might work - firing point tucked hard against the back of the stop butt, and electronic targets in the DA. But would need a huge amount of land clearance, and out-of-hours use might impact on the access to the shotgun facilities on Long Siberia. A similar suggestion has been made in regard to Melville, but the stop butt would need a lot of enhancing in the first place.

All of these ideas and more are kicked around every so often. I've just thought of another one - RHS of the 300m shed, not the bit with electronic targets, put a set of electronic targets and a mini stop butt just in front of the 200 yd FP. More ideas welcome. Don't guarantee to make any of them happen, but if it's possible and there is a demand and the bill isn't too big it will be considered.

Iain

[John MH]

Same for reactive targets on Stickledown when you get the opportunity to approach the MoD I hope. Enjoy SA.