Blackstuff wrote:Isn't there occasionally a Section 5 weapon shoot at Bisley a few times per year organised by the Army?
If it's the event I'm thinking of, the shooting for these is usually conducted at Pirbright and doesn't include full auto.
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I'm glad i missed it then!
Years ago, I was at Bisley during the week and there was on range 1 900 yards a film company taking records of bursts fired from several kinds of full auto firearms. The then Shooting manager told me this happened from time to time.
R.G.C
R.G.C wrote:
Years ago, I was at Bisley during the week and there was on range 1 900 yards a film company taking records of bursts fired from several kinds of full auto firearms. The then Shooting manager told me this happened from time to time.
R.G.C
There was a programme on mainstream TV recently showing a short clip of a Vickers being used on Short Siberia, in full auto and making an impressive din and being remarkably accurate to judge by the impacts on the sandbank.
Bisley has clearance for automatic fire on several parts of the complex. I was on duty over the weekend and was not aware that we had given anyone permission to use automatic firearms. So it must have been (I hope!) Pirbright, the nearest range on which is closer to Melville Bay A than the right-hand side of Stickledown.
And Gaz, I won't disappoint. Stickledown isn't a gallery range, it's a field firing area that happens to have a stop butt in the middle of it. Gallery range restrictions are tighter in nearly every aspect, so for simplicity in the rules and to avoid convoluted explanations to the uninitiated we treat it as if it was a GR. On the occasions we need to exploit the FFA it is with the explicit permission of the Chief Exec or his authorised representative, or if the Army have signed for the range.
IainWR wrote:Bisley has clearance for automatic fire on several parts of the complex. I was on duty over the weekend and was not aware that we had given anyone permission to use automatic firearms. So it must have been (I hope!) Pirbright, the nearest range on which is closer to Melville Bay A than the right-hand side of Stickledown.
And Gaz, I won't disappoint. Stickledown isn't a gallery range, it's a field firing area that happens to have a stop butt in the middle of it. Gallery range restrictions are tighter in nearly every aspect, so for simplicity in the rules and to avoid convoluted explanations to the uninitiated we treat it as if it was a GR. On the occasions we need to exploit the FFA it is with the explicit permission of the Chief Exec or his authorised representative, or if the Army have signed for the range.
Iain
Scuse my ignorance being displayed yet again, but what is the stop butt for, and why is it there? I'm presuming it's the black edifice just beyond what looks to be the 900 yard point on the left of Stickledown.
No, it's the sand bank behind the targets at the other end of the range. On Stickledown, the stop butt is there mainly to enable the markers to see when a shot has been fired. On a gallery range, it's there to capture all properly aimed shots, allowing the use of a limited danger area to deal with ricochets only.
IainWR wrote:No, it's the sand bank behind the targets at the other end of the range. On Stickledown, the stop butt is there mainly to enable the markers to see when a shot has been fired. On a gallery range, it's there to capture all properly aimed shots, allowing the use of a limited danger area to deal with ricochets only.
Iain
That makes sense. So what is the area with all the black bits for on Stickledown?
I think you mean Butt Zero, so-called because it occupies butt 0 (plus a bit) of the five butts on Stickledown. It has 3 bays. On the left is a set of barricades for shooting around at turning targets. The barricades fold flat so that the turning targets can also be used for ordinary timed events. In the middle is a running target and just in front of the track, two banks of turning targets for timed Gallery Rifle events. On the right is the hard target area, where people shoot steel plates and we hire out space for testing against brick walls, bits of car and suchlike. Butt Zero has its own stop butt, which is the rear face of the 800 yard firing point. Because Stickledown is a field firing area, the stop butt is not strictly necessary to catch the bullets, but it does protect the steel fence around the danger area, reduces the number of bullets passing through the bit of the range that is sometimes occupied by the deer and allows the firer a chance to spot the fall of wide shots.
I'm glad i missed it then!
