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I'd not got an updated fixtures list for one club I shoot with, so turned up at Melville this morning, only to find no one recognisable. There was clearly some sort of competition going on, with various types of competition going on in the different bays. I repaired to the Range Office, and the lady on duty there was helpful and sympathetic. She explained that the Imperial meeting, and others, meant that clubs did not always get the bookings they asked for between June and August. This is fair enough, but I did notice that bay 'D' in Melville was not in use this morning, and we could have used it without inconveniencing competitors on the adjacent ranges.

A loss of income to the NRA, and no shoot for me this month due to other commitments. The other club I shoot with had their July booking cancelled too.

In these days of wonderful computer cleverness, is there perhaps a way of making greater use of facilities in the busy summer period? Century looked busy too, but there might have been some spaces there as well.

Whilst the big competitions are no doubt very important, and an essential part of the sport for those who want to compete at a national level, I find myself wondering whether the balance between normal club shooting, of the sort that supports the NRA during the "off" months I suspect, and the big nationals, is quite right if there are bookings being rejected and ranges not apparently in use.

If I'm out of line with this, I apologise, but I know that the NRA is under pressure to maximise income, and no range should be unused on a morning when bookings have been cancelled.

Century was full this morning and available for hire this afternoon. I suspect there is an alternate attraction on our old site at the moment.

There are two problems on Melville. The first is that we do not know until quite late how many people are entereing the Imperial Historic Arms Meeting, so the default is not to let space. The second is that because of all the activity on Stickledown, melville has to be quite closely co-ordinated with other ranges. Neither of those are insuperable, but given that our range plot is still paper-based, it is a lot of extra work communicating the gaps to prospective customers. Later in the year we hope to have our electronic range plot live (it's under test at the moment) and you should be able to see exactly what is available online.

Iain

IainWR wrote:Century was full this morning and available for hire this afternoon. I suspect there is an alternate attraction on our old site at the moment.

There are two problems on Melville. The first is that we do not know until quite late how many people are entereing the Imperial Historic Arms Meeting, so the default is not to let space. The second is that because of all the activity on Stickledown, melville has to be quite closely co-ordinated with other ranges. Neither of those are insuperable, but given that our range plot is still paper-based, it is a lot of extra work communicating the gaps to prospective customers. Later in the year we hope to have our electronic range plot live (it's under test at the moment) and you should be able to see exactly what is available online.

Iain

I don't understand the alternative attraction bit.

I was given a print out of our club bookings at the Range Office, so assumed it was computerised. How much time is there between the closing date for the Imperial Historic Arms Meeting (assuming that's what was happening in Melville, there seemed to be black powder about) and the actual meeting? It would be interesting to see if our club members could cope with a short notice day, although I suspect the main result would be fewer people able to attend if they don't "book" weekends with the domestic commissar ahead of time.

Gotta say, Century this afternoon was dead. 4 targets at 300x, us alone at 500x and a handful of bods at 600x. From about 4pm onwards we had the entire range to ourselves.

I think an awful lot of range capacity goes unused during competition season. All you need is a copy of this year's Bisley Bible (free to download off the NRA website) and a few minutes with a calendar to figure out what's available to use.

As an aside, top-notch marking this afternoon too. Putting aside the faux pas at 2.15pm when he asked if we had finished for the day, not a single Message 4 or challenge sent and the speed of marking was good too. Passed our compliments to the range office afterwards. clapclap

Gaz wrote:Gotta say, Century this afternoon was dead. 4 targets at 300x, us alone at 500x and a handful of bods at 600x. From about 4pm onwards we had the entire range to ourselves.

You must have arrived late...as Century was full (less 20 targets) most of the day (til mid-afternoon), with the cadets using most of the left of Century, and the IHAM using butt 19.

Edit: Having looked at Haupmans pics (nice tongueout ) maybe the cadets cleared out earlier than I thought...when I went back to Shorts after lunch it was still very busy...

The cadets were packing up just before lunch, and when we arrived at 13.00, the firing line was clear.
A week before the competition started, I asked the question about range availability during the Imp., and was offered three half day slots, which I promptly booked.

H/man