Target shooting.

[sutty2006]

Didn’t find an area for this, so please move if need be. 
 

it’s been a long time since I shot .22 rim fire number 8 Lee Enfield and the cadet L98A2. I’d love to do it again so I plan on potentially joining a club in Rugely. I was, at one point, a qualified range instructor, teaching cadets marksmanship. I left years ago but got the bug again. 
 

this was my first go, on a 25m indoor range. The first shot is miles away from anything, because I wasn’t expecting the trigger to be so light. Really enjoyed it. 
 

 

The guys at the club were impressed and I think they want me to join up. 
 

does anyone else do any target shooting? 

[Imperfection]

I like target shooting but do it as a social engagement than anything else. Not rimfire but centrefire. Only thing i use my 22lr is rabbits.

Infact im meeting friends tomorrow morning for a plink.

[.357shooter]

yes i do lsr light sport rifle with an airgun.20 yards standing usually 10 shots per card but can be only 5 shots.also do the timed lsr which is more fun 2 series of 5 shots in 150 seconds,2 series of 5 shots in 20 seconds and last is 2 series of 5 shots in 10 seconds again at 20 yards standingthis is done with my .22lr tippman semi auto..only other comp is the hendon league with a .357 magnum henry.again standing at 20 yards but you shoot 3 cards per round so the score is out of 300.

[Minky]

1 hour ago, sutty2006 said:

Didn’t find an area for this, so please move if need be. 
 

it’s been a long time since I shot .22 rim fire number 8 Lee Enfield and the cadet L98A2. I’d love to do it again so I plan on potentially joining a club in Rugely. I was, at one point, a qualified range instructor, teaching cadets marksmanship. I left years ago but got the bug again. This was my first go, on a 25m indoor range. The first shot is miles away from anything, because I wasn’t expecting the trigger to be so light. Really enjoyed it. 
 

The guys at the club were impressed and I think they want me to join up. 
does anyone else do any target shooting? 

Yes I do. I  started when I was in the cadets at school.  Then didn't for some years then started again about 1980. I use an Anschutz 1807.  What rifle were you using.?  That is pretty good shooting considering you are new to it and it will take time to build up the muscle groups.  Yes the triggers 0n match rifles are SUPER LIGHT.  On mine I don't pull or squeeze the trigger.   It only needs a thought. Although the shots on that card look erratic they aren't.   It's groups that count.  Once you can shoot  a  tight group you can then wind the sights on.  On a fun card it is better to shoot 3 shot groups. It  takes a lot of strength to hold mental concentration  and physical hold to shoot that many shots. Well done.

Looking at that card it's just a couple of clicks down and their in there.

[Minky]

What. Most people don't understand is that plain iron sights are far more accurate that big cheapo telescopic sights and even expensive glass. 

[Scully]

I grew up shooting targets.
I had an air rifle and would plink away at anything and everything, and can recall the excitement of the fairground at Morecambe when I would spend just about all my money on the Winchester and Browning gallery pump rimfires. 
I joined the air cadets purely because it gave me access to rifles of not only rimfire but centrefire, and we would SMLE ( if I recall I was still in the cadets at that time ) No4 and the L1A1 SLR. 
I still love the smell of .22rf to this day, and it takes me right back to those carefree days. 

[sutty2006]

These weren’t any fancy sights. It was just a standard club rifle, which shot really nice if i do say so. Noted, there are probably better ones out there. This was sat at a bench with a rifle stand. So that’s probably why they’re such good groupings. Time will tell when I go for prone. 
 

I also had a go at air pistol, at about 10 metres. Needless to say it looked like I’d shot the card with a shotgun 🤣

10 minutes ago, Scully said:

I grew up shooting targets.
I had an air rifle and would plink away at anything and everything, and can recall the excitement of the fairground at Morecambe when I would spend just about all my money on the Winchester and Browning gallery pump rimfires. 
I joined the air cadets purely because it gave me access to rifles of not only rimfire but centrefire, and we would SMLE ( if I recall I was still in the cadets at that time ) No4 and the L1A1 SLR. 
I still love the smell of .22rf to this day, and it takes me right back to those carefree days. 

When I was an Air Cadet, we used the number 4 SMLE for dry weapons handling tests. Unfortunately the .303 was out by the time I shot anything circa 2001/2. 
 

I aim to get my section 1 licence, so that one day I can target shoot a real .303 SMLE on a proper range again. There is a club near me that operates on an old army shooting range, unfortunately you have to know someone to get in. 

[McSpredder]

2 hours ago, sutty2006 said:

it’s been a long time since I shot .22 rim fire number 8 Lee Enfield

That brings back some memories.   Used those rifles for team practice 1961-1964 while in the school CCF.   We also had a couple of the older model (think it was No2) that looked exactly like an SMLE.

Summertime was the serious stuff, using the .303 No4.   First job when we arrived at our local range was to drive the cattle off.   No proper hearing protection (though a few lads did stuff cotton wool or bits of 4x2 in their ears) and we soon learned that it was not a good idea to be further forward than your neighbour on the firing point.

High point of the year was the Bisley meeting.    Shoot your match targets on the Century range, then you were free to wander around, .303 over your shoulder, and enter as many of the small competitions as pocket money would allow.   You paid a few shillings, were given a score card and some rounds of ammunition to shove in your pocket, and off you went to the firing point.   That is what we did as 14-year olds, in the days before the whole country had been taught to panic at the sight of a gun.   Always a lot of older folk around to offer friendly advice, most were probably WW1 veterans, but to us they looked ancient enough to have fought in the Boer war.   In the evenings there were trains to Woking, where some boys might have been tempted to visit public houses, but I won't say any more about that.   Happy days indeed.

[sutty2006]

14 minutes ago, McSpredder said:

That brings back some memories.   Used those rifles for team practice 1961-1964 while in the school CCF.   We also had a couple of the older model (think it was No2) that looked exactly like an SMLE.

Summertime was the serious stuff, using the .303 No4.   First job when we arrived at our local range was to drive the cattle off.   No proper hearing protection (though a few lads did stuff cotton wool or bits of 4x2 in their ears) and we soon learned that it was not a good idea to be further forward than your neighbour on the firing point.

High point of the year was the Bisley meeting.    Shoot your match targets on the Century range, then you were free to wander around, .303 over your shoulder, and enter as many of the small competitions as pocket money would allow.   You paid a few shillings, were given a score card and some rounds of ammunition to shove in your pocket, and off you went to the firing point.   That is what we did as 14-year olds, in the days before the whole country had been taught to panic at the sight of a gun.   Always a lot of older folk around to offer friendly advice, most were probably WW1 veterans, but to us they looked ancient enough to have fought in the Boer war.   In the evenings there were trains to Woking, where some boys might have been tempted to visit public houses, but I won't say any more about that.   Happy days indeed.

They sound like easier kind of days to be honest. You see a kid in the street now, you don’t know whether he’s going to knife you or mug you, or at least try. Crazy times. 

[Madhatter2132]

Is the Rugeley club home office approved? I've been looking for somewhere nearish to Wolverhampton and there's Wednesbury marksmen but they seem pretty geared toward the practical rifle stuff.

Also there's a good chance we've met, I was at 2132 squadron from 2002 to about 2008 and did a lot of shooting, coaching, weapons instructor and a couple of Easter swinnies on the range team.

[Minky]

The way to find a smallbore club is to contact the NSRA.  The above posts remind me about my time in the ATC. How we had an armoury of 22 rifles and #4s. I  had my own #4 that I was responsible for and that I always used in competitions. When we went to the Lydd and Hythe ranges we marched through the town like a small army in 3 column shouldering the #4s 2ith the officers leading the way. How  an officer used to bring car loads of wooden crates of 303 rounds. Like on the film Zulu. Us cadets were sent to the officers car and pairs of us carried the crates back to the armoury.  There was security ... a sort of shed padlock on the door.  There was never anything like there is today. Super days.

[sutty2006]

15 hours ago, Madhatter2132 said:

Is the Rugeley club home office approved? I've been looking for somewhere nearish to Wolverhampton and there's Wednesbury marksmen but they seem pretty geared toward the practical rifle stuff.

Also there's a good chance we've met, I was at 2132 squadron from 2002 to about 2008 and did a lot of shooting, coaching, weapons instructor and a couple of Easter swinnies on the range team.

I was at 60 Leek sqn from 2001 to 2006 ish, then rejoined 2493 Alsager sqn as a civilian instructor until 2019. Ditched it when covid hit and DBS checks were getting lost and messed up. Had enough of paperwork by then.