How/where to start.

Zulu

Hello all, I visited a rifle range in New Zealand, and really enjoyed it.
I would like to take up target shooting as a hobby - but where do I start?
I don't know of any gun clubs near me (Baggot Street in Dublin). Can anyone help a complete newbie???

Zakalwe

If you're a college student at TCD or UCD or a graduate of either you can join their respective clubs. Both have ranges on campus.

I'd love to see a list of clubs and ranges in Ireland as part of the inevitable FAQ for this forum. Could we perhaps list them here?

Zulu

Zakalwe wrote:

If you're a college student at TCD or UCD or a graduate of either you can join their respective clubs. Both have ranges on campus.

I'd love to see a list of clubs and ranges in Ireland as part of the inevitable FAQ for this forum. Could we perhaps list them here?

I'm a UCG graduate, so no good there.
If people would list clubs/ranges here, I really would appricate it.

Renegade_Archer

Agreed. Do UCD / DCU take non-graduates? Im in UL at the moment but no shooting club there, and I dont have the experience to set one up
Anything down the Limerick end of the country? I also have residences in Drogheda and Mullingar if there is anything around there.



Cheers


Ewan

Sparks

There aren't too many ISSF ranges in the country at the moment. Off the top of my head, theres:

UCD Rifle Club, on campus in belfield, shoots 10m Air Rifle.
Dublin University Rifle Club (in TCD), on campus in TCD, shoots 25yd prone smallbore and 10m Air Rifle.
Dublin Rifle Club, range is just south-east of Blessington, shoots 50m smallbore, both prone and 3P.
Ballinteer Rifle Club, out near tallaght, shoots 50m prone smallbore, but is mostly a non-ISSF range.
Rathdrum Rifle and Pistol Club, Rathdrum town, shoots 25yd smallbore currently but is in the process of getting planning permission for a truely impressive new range that will cope with 50m prone and 3P, 25yd prone, air rifle and pistols.
Fassaroe Shooting Club. Currently without a range, they were moving to Ashford but are having problems with planning permission.
There are also clubs in Fermoy and Wexford, but I know relatively little about them. They're both NARGC/NSAI ranges rather than ISSF, though you can shoot 50m ISSF there. (NARGC is sporting rifle and NSAI is metallic silhouette shooting).
Going west of the city, there's a major range in Tullamore, the Midlands Rifle Club. Excellent range, but mostly non-ISSF and centerfire stuff, however you can train in 50m (and 300m, it's the only civilian range for this in Ireland) there without problems.
Going north of the city, there's Wilkinstown Target Shooting Club, in Wilkinstown about 4 miles directly north of Navan. Shoots 10m Air Rifle and if Air Rifle is your game and you're serious about it, you want to train here. (I know of one chap who travels from Wexford to train there, that's how good it is). Fair warning - the Irish Junior Team effectively all come from here, so you may find the 16-year-old standing beside you on the firing point is going to hand you your ass in the scores
That's about all the ISSF ranges in the Republic, there are dozens of other ranges, but I have precious little in the way of details about them, and they're not really ISSF ranges, though you could shoot 50m ISSF disciplines at most of them.
Up North, you have ranges which are for the most part far more "pretty", like Comber (currently the single best smallbore facility on the entire island), and East Antrim (probably the single best ISSF facility on the entire island - Comber's got better .22 facilities, but EARC have better air and pistol facilities). There are also ranges like Tobermore and Hillsborough, but I'm embarressed to say I've never made it to either range before now, and won't get there for this year's XB open in two weeks either

Sparks

Renegade_Archer wrote:

Agreed. Do UCD / DCU take non-graduates?

Well DCU don't have a club, so I guess you meant TCD - and no, the college tells us we can't take non-students or non-alumni. UCD's a bit odder, the UCD rifle club was told the same thing some time ago, but this year the UCD boat club got a government sports capital grant and that can't happen unless the club is open to anyone who wants to join, so there may be some flexibility there.

Zakalwe

Do any of these ranges allow visitors sans equipment? If not what if they're a member of a different club?

Sparks

Some do and some don't Zakalwe. UCD and TCD are all club gear - you need to be known to the ROs to bring your own in fact. Rathdrum doesn't have club gear but will sort something out if you tell them; Wilkinstown has club gear; Dublin Rifle Club is strictly bring your own; but I'm not sure of the rest.