new pistol club

kiwijbob

I guess this is the first small step in a potentially long and drawn out process, I've been approached by a landowner interested in setting up a shooting range. I'm looking for advice on couple of issues:

a) is there a demand for a pistol range anywhere? - location in question is Meath
b) what is the process from a legal point of view in setting up a pistol range?
c) will/does the new CJB have any effect?
d) what design guidelines are used for ranges here, UK I assume?

I've no real experience of pistol shooting and I said that from a commercial point of view I thought clays and .22's would be his main business

any advice is greatly appreciated, cheers;)

rrpc

kiwijbob wrote:

I guess this is the first small step in a potentially long and drawn out process, I've been approached by a landowner interested in setting up a shooting range. I'm looking for advice on couple of issues:

a) is there a demand for a pistol range anywhere? - location in question is Meath

None that I know of bar Wilkinstown which is mostly Air. There is also one in Balbriggan.

b) what is the process from a legal point of view in setting up a pistol range?

First of all the two p's (Planning Permission). That's going to be the hardest part. Noise will be an issue here, and probably pollution as well. The second part is the Garda Authorisation. If you've done your work in the first part the second should follow. The Gardai are using the British MOD's JSP403 as the template, so you'll need that or extracts from it to set up properly. Don't try and buy it, it costs STG£20,000 :eek:

c) will/does the new CJB have any effect?

Other than the Range Authorisation (not signed in yet) which the Gardai have jumped the gun on (pun intended), no effect,

d) what design guidelines are used for ranges here, UK I assume?

See above. Bear in mind that the requirements differ by calibre and by distance. The higher calibres require more obviously.

Best advice I can give you is to vist Midlands Shooting centre in Tullamore and talk to Jim. You'll learn everything you need to know from him, plus you can actually see an approved 25 metre centrefire pistol range in the flesh.

There are other ways of going about what they did in Midlands (some of them cheaper), but it'll certainly give you an idea.

You can also do indoor with pistol, depends on the budget.

Sparks

kiwijbob wrote:

a) is there a demand for a pistol range anywhere? - location in question is Meath

Okay, rrpc nailed it everywhere else, but on this one, the correct answer is "Yes"
(some of the IPSA boys are from Kells, and there's lots of interest in ISSF pistol, but few places to train)

kiwijbob

rrpc - your reply is very much appreciated, I've already told him to
visit Midlands and we'll take it from there. I'm going to handle the
PP for him, it's just that I couldn't find any design guidelines. I'll investigate the British MOD's JSP403

cheers:D

rrpc

kiwijbob wrote:

rrpc - your reply is very much appreciated, I've already told him to
visit Midlands and we'll take it from there. I'm going to handle the
PP for him, it's just that I couldn't find any design guidelines. I'll investigate the British MOD's JSP403

cheers:D

If it's any use to you from a planning perspective, I can loan you my copy of the Rathdrum Rifle and Pistol Club planning application. The plans are for an outdoor >100m range and indoor >25m range but only for .22cal. Lots of other information in there though including a flora and fauna impact assessment and a noise study.

It's quite a weighty volume and I would appreciate getting it back as it represents a very useful resource for the shooting community as a whole and obviously being a successful application would certainly point you in the right direction.

I also have some extracts from JSP403 plus an Excel spreadsheet which automates baffle calculations.

Heres a photo of the MNSCI Pistol range

rrpc

One other thing I meant to mention is that Fermoy have built and had approved a 50m baffled pistol range.

If you look for a recent thread about the 50m target rifle shoot there, you will see a photo of the pistol range. Because the range is baffled, the backstop is much lower than the one in Tullamore.

Dr_Teeth

Would something like this be easier to get planning permission for? (no noise/pollution problems)

http://www.ais-solutions.co.uk/quickrange.php

It would cost a lot more no doubt..

sidneyreilly

Dr_Teeth wrote:

Would something like this be easier to get planning permission for? (no noise/pollution problems)

http://www.ais-solutions.co.uk/quickrange.php

It would cost a lot more no doubt..

Considering the costs of upgrading an existing indoor range (thousands on special latex curtians, steel bullet stops etc...) I would imagine the cost of this would be beyond a modest loto win!

fat-tony

rrpc wrote:

One other thing I meant to mention is that Fermoy have built and had approved a 50m baffled pistol range.

If you look for a recent thread about the 50m target rifle shoot there, you will see a photo of the pistol range. Because the range is baffled, the backstop is much lower than the one in Tullamore.

Here are a couple of additional shots of the 50m pistol range in Fermoy. If you need bigger high-res photos, PM me.

kiwijbob

pics are very helpful, thanks

rrpc I've sent you a pm