A bundle of questions from a newbie!

MRTULES

Hi, I have not just posted this with out reading and searching through the forum so forgive me if they have already been answered. Here are my questions.

1, The fist is an easy enough question. I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations on a place to go clay pigeon shooting. 3-6 People most have never done it before.

2, I am interested in getting into target shooting. I know people say prices dependant on your budget. Take it that my budget is as low as is possible. So all in for rifle, scope, safe and any other equipotent, what is a ball park figure of what I should be willing to invest? I am concerned that this sport may be too expensive for me atm, opinions on this please?

3, How long after starting target shooting could you enter a competition? I mean is there levels for beginners or something like that? Also, I think I would be a prone kind of person. At least this appeals to me atm with out having done any shooting. What are the longest distances in competitions in Ireland?

Sorry for such a mish mash post, just have so many questions running through my head.

Thanks in advance.

Tackleberrywho

MRTULES wrote: »

Hi, I have not just posted this with out reading and searching through the forum so forgive me if they have already been answered. Here are my questions.

1, The fist is an easy enough question. I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations on a place to go clay pigeon shooting. 3-6 People most have never done it before.LAKELANDS OUTSIDE MULLINGAR

2, I am interested in getting into target shooting. I know people say prices dependant on your budget. Take it that my budget is as low as is possible. So all in for rifle, scope, safe and any other equipotent, what is a ball park figure of what I should be willing to invest? I am concerned that this sport may be too expensive for me atm, opinions on this please?
Cheap ass rifle €500 scope €100 and safe €100, You might not get to the olympics mid (.22lr is cheapest shooting)

3, How long after starting target shooting could you enter a competition? I mean is there levels for beginners or something like that? Also, I think I would be a prone kind of person. At least this appeals to me atm with out having done any shooting. What are the longest distances in competitions in Ireland?
Unclassified competitors can enter most competitions, MNSCI is soon to be 1200 yards, Not cheap mind to shoot beyond 300 yards as equipment starts to become expensive

Sorry for such a mish mash post, just have so many questions running through my head.

Thanks in advance.

Hope this helps, and welcome on Board(s)

IRLConor

1) You don't say what part of the country you're in, but if you're near Dublin then the two options I know of are Hilltop (near Newtownmountkennedy) and Courtlough (near Balbriggan). I've shot clays at both and have had good experiences at both.

2) The cheapest way to get into target shooting is to join a club which has kit it is willing to lend you. That way you can buy piecemeal and you can try different disciplines until you find ones you enjoy. The worst case scenario is that you buy a bunch of kit and find that you're interested in a different type of shooting for which your stuff is less useful. I know that's not strictly answering your question, but I would be very wary about pricing up kit without knowing a) exactly what kind of shooting you want to do and b) how much access to shared kit you have.

3) As soon as you're confident shooting without any help, you can consider entering competitions. Depending on the kind of shooting you do, there could be classes which will lump you in with beginners. It really depends on the type of shooting you end up doing. Someone has to come last and very often it's the less-experienced shooter so don't be put off if you score poorly on your first few outings. Helping new shooters improve their technique is much easier than with experienced shooters and every range I've ever shot on has had at least one person willing to help me.

dCorbus

Welcome on Board:)

1, The fist is an easy enough question. I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations on a place to go clay pigeon shooting. 3-6 People most have never done it before. Courtlough or Hilltop - Try Hilltop first as can't recommend them high enough - it's where I got my own start in the sport - you can try out clays and 22 rifle there with instruction.

2, I am interested in getting into target shooting. I know people say prices dependant on your budget. Take it that my budget is as low as is possible. So all in for rifle, scope, safe and any other equipotent, what is a ball park figure of what I should be willing to invest? I am concerned that this sport may be too expensive for me atm, opinions on this please? Start with a CZ452 in .22lr with a cheapish scope - Licence Fee (for 3 years) €80, CZ452 about €450 - 460, Scope about €150 - 200, Gunsafe about €180 or so, and your biggest expense starting will be your Range Membership and Joining Fee of about €285 Annual Membership plus €250 - 300 Once-off Joining Fee. And then factor in ammo, kit, cleaning bits and bobs etc. - But trust me, ITS MORE THAN WORTH IT. Best money you'll ever spend TBH.

3, How long after starting target shooting could you enter a competition? I mean is there levels for beginners or something like that? Also, I think I would be a prone kind of person. At least this appeals to me atm with out having done any shooting. What are the longest distances in competitions in Ireland? Prone is good - but there are many types. You could start competing day one (edit: Obviously, once you've learnt to shoot competently and safely) - you may not win anything, but you might win your class - but you'll enjoy yourself, improve your shooting, and make lots of new and interesting friends!:rolleyes: Distances that are regularly shot in Ireland competitively range from 25m indoors to 50m outdoors and onwards and upwards to 500, 600, 800, 900, and 1000yds - with 1100 and 1200 starting in a month or two. So plenty there to interest you. The longer ranges can only be shot at Midlands (MNSCI) so I'd suggest a visit there and a chat with one of the ever-so-friendly Range Officers:rolleyes::D

If you're a student of UCD or Trinity, get in touch with the Rifle Clubs in both these colleges - best and cheapest way to learn and start in the sport of Target Shooting TBH. Some of the members aren't too bad at the shooting lark either.

If you need more detailed information, feel free to PM me and I can help answer more questions for you or point you in the direction of the men in the know!

And +1 what IRLConor said.

Cass

Welcome.

MRTULES wrote: »

1, The fist is an easy enough question. I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations on a place to go clay pigeon shooting. 3-6 People most have never done it before.

Courtlough
Mourne Shooting grounds
Hilltop
Kilkenny
Wicklow

2, I am interested in getting into target shooting. I know people say prices dependant on your budget. Take it that my budget is as low as is possible. So all in for rifle, scope, safe and any other equipotent, what is a ball park figure of what I should be willing to invest? I am concerned that this sport may be too expensive for me atm, opinions on this please?

From point three where you ask about longest distance i am assuming you are interested in Long Range Target Shooting. If so the "cheaper" version of the sport of F-Class shooting would be FTR. This is a factory rifle setup. F-Open is the other subsection of this class, much more accurate shooting, but can be more expensive.

Anyway for rifle, scope, rings/mounts, bipod, case, ammo, safe, cleaning gear, tools, accessories, license and membership to an authorised range you could be looking at €5600. Thats new prices, cheap enough rifle (in .308 caliber) and all the gear you could ever need. Now second hand you can expect to pay €3500 - €3850 or there abouts. There are ongoing costs such as travel, competitions and of course the constant purchasing of cleaning gear, newer accessories and ammunition.

3, How long after starting target shooting could you enter a competition? I mean is there levels for beginners or something like that?

After shooting for a while and showing proper safety and care when handling a firearm. In FTR there is no "novice" class as such. There are learning/introduction days and plenty of lads to help along the way.

Also, I think I would be a prone kind of person. At least this appeals to me atm with out having done any shooting. What are the longest distances in competitions in Ireland?

All F-Class shooting is done from a prone position. The distances range from 100yds to 1000yds. For FTR the bulk of the shooting is done at 800, 900 and 1,000 yds.


If you are a complete novice to shooting and have never fired a rifle before most people (myself included) would recommend starting with a lower caliber rifle such as .22lr. The NTSA is the NGB for ISSF shooting in Ireland and other than 3P (3 Position shooting, standing, kneeling, prone) alot of their shooting is done in the prone (solely, PR60) position at ranges to 50 mtrs (max). There is also the Air Rifle route. Same setup as PR60 and 3P, but using an air rifle at shorter distances such as 10mtrs outwards to 50mtrs (i think).

If the long distance fullbore shooting is what appeals to you then i would seriously advise you to visit a range and see how the sport works before making any decision. Check out MNSCI for more details.