New gun clubs or ranges

kay 9

I know alot of you might see or hear me as crazy but what would it take to start a new gun club or open a shooting range in your local area, as I'm from Galway. Have my own machine for building safe backstops and everything. I'm actually serious about this believe it or not. Any comments or positive thinking out there.
I believe in you

IRLConor

This post really deserves a thread of its own. If you're up for creating your own range, by all means shout about it. There are plenty of people here that would love to see more ranges around the country. From what I've seen, ranges west of the Shannon are at a premium too.

There was a thread about some of this here previously, see here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055280237 It's about an indoor range, but some of the same bits apply.

There are a few people here with experience going through the design and planning stages for building a range, rrpc being the one I know, so they should be able to tell you about some of the quirks of building a range.

EDIT: The Canadian Range Design and Construction Guidelines are here: http://www.mcdermottroe.com/shooting/rangeconstruction/Canadian%20Range%20Design%20and%20Construction%20Guidelines.pdf. That should answer your questions about the sizes and materials needed for backstops and baffles and stuff.

It wasn't me!

And DRC appears to have just signed up, so they could add in any little intricacies about the outdoor ranges. I know they've recently put in a bunch of new baffles and the like under the Garda guidelines they were given.

Sparks

It might be an idea to talk to other local clubs - archery and target shooting ought to be able to coexist in the one venue, for example, as well as clay pigeon and rifle and pistol, and not only will the larger number of people involved give you a better chance of starting, it will also give you a better chance when going for grants.

Money is deceptively easy. I know, I know, it doesn't sound that way, but once you get started, it turns out to not be the enormous hurdle people always think it is. You don't need the top-of-the-line kit and there are grants all over the place for sports clubs even in today's climate. Look at the Sports Capital Grant allocations this year for example, and don't forget that that's just the national one. Local Leader grants, local sports partnership grants, women in sport grants, regional development grants... there are lots of sources of cash out there beyond the pockets of the members, which themselves are deeper than most think they are. And that's not even mentioning fund-raising activities. Packing bags in a supermarket for example will haul in nearly a grand a day (though you do need to book a slot with the supermarket and you will need volunteers). Table quizes, raffles, BBQs, you name it, you can raise funds with it.

Land is very important. You need to get some, whether freehold or long-term lease. Without it, things get quite awkward. If it's owned by a club member, that's no obstacle, but getting the long-term lease often makes life easier in the long run.

But the key thing, the absolutely indespensible thing, the only thing that you will fail if you don't have, is people. If you have a core of three or four highly motivated people, then it will happen. Without them, you're in trouble. Don't worry so much about large droves of ordinary shooters who'll show up to shoot - they're relatively easy to locate compared to the core who get things running.

Talk with the lads who set up the Midlands as well. And don't turn away any sport from the club. ISSF, silhouette, sporter, gallery, whatever - so long as there's interest (and it doesn't interfere with other groups), have the club support it. Associations and NGBs are the only ones restricted in that area, not clubs or shooters.

And don't forget you would need an indoor area for airgun stuff. 13m x 5m is enough to start with (you'll get 4 firing points in there easily, and 5 at a squeeze).

IRLConor

Sparks wrote: »

And don't forget you would need an indoor area for airgun stuff. 13m x 5m is enough to start with (you'll get 4 firing points in there easily, and 5 at a squeeze).

Even if you don't want to cater to airgun, an indoor rimfire range can be useful for attracting shooters in the winter. Target shooting outdoors in the winter in Ireland can be unpleasant at times. As much as I take the mickey out of Rathdrum being cold in winter it could be much, much worse.

If you go for outdoor only, it's worth sheltering the firing point as best you can. Protection from the worst of the wind/rain in the winter and shade from the sun in summer can make your range much more pleasant to shoot on. It doesn't have to be too fancy but walls on 3 sides and a roof does a huge amount. (It also cuts down on the noise for those behind the firing point.)

If you can at all, point your range so that the shooters are shooting north. Shooting into the sun with the targets shading themselves is much harder.

Most parts of a range can be done incrementally as money/manpower becomes available. It's just a matter of planning for the future so that when you do expand (either to greater width in the firing point or to greater length in the range or adding different types of range) that you don't have to undo any of the work you've already done.

kay 9

Yeah, the land wouldn't be a problem as I own it. But the big question is the neighbours whims and such. Can local objections put a spanner in the works? By the way lads, thanks for all the information and links so far. Must check them all out when I get a chance.

kay 9

I might just have found a use at last for this land. Because there sure as hell isn't much out of stock.

IRLConor

kay 9 wrote: »

But the big question is the neighbours whims and such. Can local objections put a spanner in the works?

In a word, yes.

If you're careful about how you go about the planning and have answers to all their questions (primarily the noise and safety ones) then you have a much better chance of getting the application through.

rrpc is the person to talk to about this, he's gone through the process before.

kay 9

IRLConor wrote: »

In a word, yes.

If you're careful about how you go about the planning and have answers to all their questions (primarily the noise and safety ones) then you have a much better chance of getting the application through.

rrpc is the person to talk to about this, he's gone through the process before.

Thanks Conor. I'm gonna be so busy in the upcoming couple of weeks but I'm definately going to pursue indepth information on the whole topic after that. As work in my line of business is getting very hard to come by:eek:
Grant aid would be a must for me to even consider the project as I'm not financially capable of pulling this off on my own.

rrpc

IRLConor wrote: »

rrpc is the person to talk to about this, he's gone through the process before.

And right on cue, here I am.

I'll give you one very important piece of advice before you start: Talk to everyone!

If you don't get everyone on side, they'll make your life a misery and stop you before you get started, but not before you've spent money :mad:

That means your neighbours, the Gardai, and the County Council. You need the goodwill of the first and second and authorisation from the second and third.

The country is littered with ranges that came to an end because they didn't do this. Without even thinking too hard I can name three.

If the neighbours say they're worried about noise, then start with .22 and get noise surveys done and work to diminish the sound in every way possible. If you've the machinery, build up plenty of backstop and side berms and plant trees and grow grass on every surface, it kills the sound very well.

You'll need planning permission and Garda authorisation (not necessarily in that order), you can do the two at the same time. It's good to talk to the Gardai first and get them to tell you what they want, because it'll save time and money in the long run.

Look at things like how the roads will take the increased traffic (one range failed on this alone) and where you'll put the cars when they arrive.

But don't try and 'do it on the quiet'. It's not possible and you'll end up getting closed down for good.

Good luck and welcome

Sparks

Sports Capital Grant scheme so kay. As well as your local Sports Partnership, the galway village enhancement scheme, and a host of local sports grants - in fact go through all the financial support grants the galway council has to offer, and call the people involved and have a chat with them.

But the money's not as big a problem as you think it's going to be. Get those core people together first - they're going to determine the success or failure of this whole idea.

kay 9

Sparks wrote: »

Sports Capital Grant scheme so kay. As well as your local Sports Partnership, the galway village enhancement scheme, and a host of local sports grants - in fact go through all the financial support grants the galway council has to offer, and call the people involved and have a chat with them.

Thanks so much for all the links and advice guys. It's just so hard keep everyone happy, I spoke to some of the neighbours and I was very surprised as to how anti gun alot of them were, before I even got a chance to explain myself:mad: two in particular nearly shut the door in my face. I dunno, and I came across as nice as possible too. Tunnel vision is an Irish trait with alot still suffering from it

Seachmall

You could try to hold a meeting with all the locals, that way you have a chance to address all issues at the same time (as oppose to repeating yourself 100s of times) and it'll show you're making an effort. I'm sure you could rent a hall out for a few quid or a youth center/parish hall might let you use one for free. If that fails door-to-door is probably your best option (I'm assuming thats what you're doing now), flyers are a waste of money as, like you said, theres huge tunnel vision amongst the masses so they'll just end up in the bin.

Might I also recommend talking to the Gaurdi before you talk to the locals, that way you can slip in 'I was talking to the super last week and for safety he recommended...', dropping names will get you a long way amongst Irish ignorance:p

I would love if you went through with this, I was hoping to get a rifle last year but was told not to bother unless I was with a club and with the closest one in Fermoy it didn't work out. I plan on getting one next year though, after the exams:(

kay 9

yeah, don't worry you would be more than welcome to join. I'm actually trying to figure out if I'm going to australia in march of next year or not, so it would besome time down the road you know. I hear a bit of sun never done anyone any harm
:cool::D