Wilmslow Rifle Club

It’s that time of year again - 8 days of intense competition at the National Rifle Associations Shooting Ground in Surrey - Wilmslow are there !

The club is at Appleton Rifle Club for the Cheshire county shoot, shooting at targets at both 100yds and 50m.

Is there any other sport that measures in both imperial and metric?

We’re a small club but with very talented members! This weekend two of our members shot in a selection trial match to represent the North West Region at an inter regional competition to be held in Surrey during the National Rifle Meeting Championship in August… both members made the selection!

Slightly later (in the year) than usual but we’re all set for our annual prize-giving dinner. Our yearly chance for glory and silverware.

We use special “two spot” cards for guest shoots at the range, with everyone getting at least two goes at shooting in an evening.

All set up for a guest shoot for the local Scout troop. Rifle shooting (marksmanship) can be added as a “skill” for anyone taking their Duke of Edinburgh award.

There are two ways to shoot a card… well… two established ways to shoot it…
1) Across the top, down the right, across the bottom and up the left side
2) Top left and the one next to it, then diagonally down to the bottom left corner, across the bottom, up the right and across top to the middle

So imagine how annoyed you would be shooting the latter way, to get a two off on your very last shot.

Bad words were spoken! 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Ah well! There’s always the next card.

N.B. the second hole on the last target was caused by a ricochet off the steel backing plate ripping the card which can happen occasionally.

It’s been a busy month for us. It’s the start of the new shooting season, so plenty of competition cards need to be stickered to allow people to compete.

More significantly we’ve upgraded the lighting of the targets from incandescent bulbs to LEDs (making it brighter and saving money at the same time).

We also decided to paint the bottom of the range and have been reliably informed by those wiser than us, that “duck egg blue” is the best colour to provide the best colour contrast to the beige/buff coloured cards we shoot. It must be true because the first card shot against the new colour scheme was a “poss” (short for possible, indicating a possible maximum score before it is marked).

Here are some photos of club members battling with roller and brush.

Here are some questions (and answers!) to get you started...

WHAT DO WE DO?

We shoot smallbore (.22″ live ammo) rifles at our 25-yard indoor range. We only shoot prone, i.e. lying down, and at card targets. It’s a game of millimetres, where it might take years before you get your first perfect score.

HOW DO WE COMPETE?

The key to any sport is competition…and we have loads. We participate in national and local postal competitions (where a card is shot, witnessed, and scored by someone official), as well as running many internal club competitions.

Internally, we have several handicapped competitions, where your average is taken into account – they favour new shooters, and anyone can win.

WHERE ARE WE?

We’d rather not put our exact location on the web. Sorry! But we’re in Handforth Dean, just off Wilmslow Road.

HOW DO I START?

The best way to start is for you to come along on a shooting night and have a look at the place. We should be able to answer any questions that you may have.

Email me (I'm Mahinda, the club secretary) on [email protected] and I’ll arrange a first visit.

I shoot on Mondays, but would be able to make arrangements for you to meet someone if you could only come on a Wednesday.

Note that you won’t be allowed to shoot on your first visit to the club.

CAN I SHOOT?

Usually, yes!

We accept anyone from crack shots to complete beginners. Even if you’ve never picked up a rifle before, we’ll make sure you’re shooting straight in no time.

Young, old, male or female (or non-binary), able bodied or disabled - you can join as long as you’re 14 or older. This is one of the few sports where people of any gender can compete on a completely level footing.

Note that anyone under the age of 18 will have to be accompanied by a parent.

While our range is not wheelchair friendly, we will do whatever we can to help.

HOW DO I BECOME A MEMBER?

We have a system of tiered membership. New applicants are granted probationary membership after filling in a couple of forms.

Once a probationary member has been shooting regularly for six months or more, he/she will be put forward for full membership.

As I’m sure you can understand, the Home Office and police force require us to keep close tabs on our members. Membership is subject to checks and references.

WHAT DO I NEED?

We have a selection of club rifles and other equipment (jackets, slings, gloves, mats and scopes).

There’s plenty of expertise around, and everyone will try their best to get you shooting straight.

WHEN DO WE SHOOT?

We shoot on Monday and Wednesday evenings, and Sunday mornings. But note that Sunday mornings not for beginners.

BUT ISN'T SHOOTING EVIL?

No not at all -in fact it’s an Olympic Sport I. Just like archery, fencing, and the javelin, all of which also use potentially lethal weapons.

Shooting gets a lot of bad press in the news, especially from the other side of the Atlantic. That just isn't us – target shooting is a whole different mindset.

You might be surprised about target shooting and target shooters in general. It’s all about millimetres – keeping things very steady, being in complete control of your body and focussing on every…single…breath.

If you want to be Rambo, you should probably try paintball instead!