Newbie Questions thread.....

Daithi McGee

Hi there, I was thinking of taking up target shooting as a hobby and was surprised that there was no newbie starter guide?... or is there? I am basically starting at point Zero here as in I don't know where to start Or what even to google. Anyone fill me in on the basics? Cubs? Shops (Guns)? Legal requirements? I was hoping to take up the basic kind at first ala not real bullets. Rifle and not hand gun. Any newbie starter hints appreciated!

Sparks

Well, first question - what part of the country are you in?
And second question - is there any particular type of target shooting you were interested in? Rifle? Shotgun? Pistol?

rrpc

You could start at the boards wiki here. It's an ongoing labour of intermittent love , but there's quite a bit of information for the beginner.

Obviously there's more to come, but it's a good starting point.

Daithi McGee

Thanks for the replies. I am in South Dublin (own transport) and was looking into Rifle shooting. Google has not really thrown me much advice. Thank you for the WIKI link. Will read it when I get home.

Sparks

South Dublin puts you in reach of a lot of smallbore rifle clubs so you have a fair amount of choice if you want to stay local. Rathdrum has a good setup for beginners, rrpc can fill you in there. If you want a more formal introduction, Wilkinstown is running a six-week beginners course (an hour and a half or so, one night a week) in air rifle (rather than smallbore) and you could go on to smallbore from there. You're pretty much spoilt for choice with your location and transport.
Also, you won't need to buy any equipment, the clubs will provide all you need until you're ready to get your own stuff.

Jonty

Sparks wrote: »

South Dublin puts you in reach of a lot of smallbore rifle clubs so you have a fair amount of choice if you want to stay local. Rathdrum has a good setup for beginners, rrpc can fill you in there. If you want a more formal introduction, Wilkinstown is running a six-week beginners course (an hour and a half or so, one night a week) in air rifle (rather than smallbore) and you could go on to smallbore from there. You're pretty much spoilt for choice with your location and transport.
Also, you won't need to buy any equipment, the clubs will provide all you need until you're ready to get your own stuff.

Thats dead sound of the club

Sparks

No, it's just general good sense. Four grand's worth of kit as a prerequisite for entry = no new members. No new members = club dies a not-all-that-slow a death. Also, new members = more volunteers for help (new members are disproportionately more likely to volunteer to help run stuff).

IRLConor

Sparks wrote: »

No, it's just general good sense. Four grand's worth of kit as a prerequisite for entry = no new members. No new members = club dies a not-all-that-slow a death. Also, new members = more volunteers for help (new members are disproportionately more likely to volunteer to help run stuff).

Plus, kit for a newbie is often much cheaper than that and shared across many members for many years. You'll get 30 years plus out of a smallbore rifle and 3-6 years out of a shared jacket, glove and sling so once you spread out the cost it gets much more reasonable.

Amortize a Bleiker in a Gemini stock over 30 years and it starts to look a lot more reasonable.

EDIT:
Oh, and Daithi, have a look at this: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mcdermottroe.com%2Fshooting%2Fclubs%2Flocations%2FAll.kmz%3FlastModified%3D1211550828&t=h&z=7

It's a map of all the ranges I know the location of.

Sparks

IRLConor wrote: »

Amortize a Bleiker in a Gemini stock over 30 years and it starts to look a lot more reasonable.

It's just a shame they won't let you amortize the payments as well!

MortgageMan

There is no need to spend € 4,000 plus on kit, as a beginner I recommend that you find a local club that has a small bore range that you can try out some rifles on.

You may not even like the rifle and you might like some other type of shooting.

If you are in South Dublin, try Hilltop www.pcquad.com

Pat Cooke runs the club, the club deals with all disciplines of shooting Rifle/Shotgun/Pistol.

Call Pat make an appointment and he will show around and get you started for a reasonable cost.

Sparks

MortgageMan wrote: »

There is no need to spend € 4,000 plus on kit

I think that's exactly what was said above y'know...

rrpc

MortgageMan wrote: »

Pat Cooke runs the club, the club deals with all disciplines of shooting Rifle/Shotgun/Pistol.

All disciplines ?

N.O.I.P.

Well the important ones anyway :P

*Hides*

rrpc

N.O.I.P. wrote: »

Well the important ones anyway :P

*Hides*

Glad you qualified that

They're only important if you're doing them

I think the OP was talking about air rifle, so sending him to Hilltop might be a bit OTT

N.O.I.P.

rrpc wrote: »

Glad you qualified that

They're only important if you're doing them

I think the OP was talking about air rifle, so sending him to Hilltop might be a bit OTT

Yeah it looks like he was talking about air-rifle all right but theres no harm in calling around to a few different clubs just to see what his options are.

rrpc

N.O.I.P. wrote: »

Yeah it looks like he was talking about air-rifle all right but theres no harm in calling around to a few different clubs just to see what his options are.

No harm at all. Though I still think the Boards Wiki is the best place to send newbies. That way they can see everything available and then come back here with their questions.

Which is all the more reason to keep it up to date.