UK hunters where do you practice?

BRNO zkk602

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Greetings all UK hunters

I have been wondering when you guys go for hunts in Africa where do you guys practice with your big bore rifles ?
How hard is it for you to get a license for big bore rifles here in the UK ?
And the club/ clubs you belong too how much is it to join and the process to become a member of said club ?

I imagine there is not many places to go and looking on the internet all I can come up with is .22 shooting clubs, but for big bore I think I should be looking on the dark web !!
And I’m sure I read or was told that some clubs say you have to store your weapons at the club ?

Look forward to hearing from you hunters out there !!

Cheers
Brnozkk602
 
I’m not in the UK but I have shot big bore rifles at the Holland & Holland range in London.
 
As above really. If you're fairly central or north then Diggle, near Manchester is a good bet and is where I shoot currently.

It's a good facility. static shooting at distances from 100 to 1000yds, good for anything up to at least .50BMG, possibly approved for even bigger. They also have a fair complement of 'field' shooters and disciplines that cater for the sporting rifle. The newest toy up there is a running boar range.

Linky: http://www.diggleranges.com/

The range is members only, although guests can visit and shoot up to 3 times a year without signing up. Fees are approx £250/year and most competitions have a £2 or so entry fee. Zeroing and practice is free, just turn up when there is an RO about. If you've already got an FAC I think you can avoid the probabtion period, or at least shorten it, but if not it's 6 months I think and you'll need to observe 5 competitions and do a basic theory / safety test in that time before you're cleared to shoot.

Licensing for the bigger bores is an interesting one and seems to depend almost entirely on the local force. For me with West Mercia, it was absolutely fine. No more fuss than my .270 application. Others however have all sorts of fun and games.
 
The firm Westley Richards mentioned to me in a letter that there are shooting grounds available in the United Kingdom . I had written to them to make an enquiry about my recently purchased 12 bore Westley Richards side by side game shot-gun.
I have the telephone number of a few if you are interested . I visited the shooting grounds of Holland and Holland, in 2010 with some friends who are residents of the United Kingdom .
 
Thank you everyone for the comments and suggestions. I am in the south east in Kent at the moment but just doing a little research for my own personal sale on where all the hunters here go to practice. Diggler ranges seems to be the only one and Holland and Holland too but for the regular guys I think Holland and Holland would be quite an expensive club to join and be a member. It is just interesting as there seems to be so much red tape here in the UK regarding shooting and hunting as a sport / Hobby.
Especially the big bore guys everything from .22 to .308 seems to be common and I guess they don’t need anything bigger here to take the game.
It makes me appreciate home ( Zimbabwe ) more and makes me look forward to getting back there next year and finish up the PH license
 
Thank you everyone for the comments and suggestions. I am in the south east in Kent at the moment but just doing a little research for my own personal sale on where all the hunters here go to practice. Diggler ranges seems to be the only one and Holland and Holland too but for the regular guys I think Holland and Holland would be quite an expensive club to join and be a member. It is just interesting as there seems to be so much red tape here in the UK regarding shooting and hunting as a sport / Hobby.
Especially the big bore guys everything from .22 to .308 seems to be common and I guess they don’t need anything bigger here to take the game.
It makes me appreciate home ( Zimbabwe ) more and makes me look forward to getting back there next year and finish up the PH license
BRNO ZKK-602
As a retired Professional Shikari myself , l salute you. Best of luck for securing your license , young man . I know you will succeed . If you need a shooting range near Newcastle upon Tyne , do not hesitate to contact me . I have a few friends there .
All the best.
Sgt . Kawshik Rahman ( Retd )
 
Shooting sports are generally in decline in UK.
it is not surprise.
This is last years article....

Source:
https://www.shootinguk.co.uk/news/s...-commonwealth-games-97382#vDOBLleO8y3BS0BD.01

Shooting dropped from Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
Birmingham’s successful Commonwealth bid has been tempered by reports that there will be no shooting at the Games for the first time in over half a century.

Shooting sports look set to be excluded from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, reportedly due to the lack of a suitable venue.

This will be the first time since 1970 that shooting has not featured at the Games and shooters have expressed shock after the BBC reported that the exclusion was due to a “lack of appropriate facilities” near to the host city.

Bisley Shooting Ground in Surrey, which hosted the shooting at the Manchester 2002 Games, was apparently dismissed as too far away, despite plans for track cycling to be held in London.

Sign the Shooting Times petition to ask the powers that be at the Commonwealth Games to reconsider their decision.

“Big blow to shooting”
Steve Scott, who won two gold medals for England at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and 2014, as well as Olympic bronze in Rio last year, told Shooting Times that it would be a “big blow to shooting” and a “sad start to 2018” if the sport was dropped from Birmingham 2022.

He said: “Obviously we’ve still got the Olympic Games and all the other world events we try to achieve in. But everyone who has tried to get to the Commonwealth Games this year and didn’t, and has more than the ability to win a medal in 2022, are not going to have that opportunity to do so.”
Mr Scott, who is also on the Team England squad for the 2018 Games on Australia’s Gold Coast this coming April, said “off the top of his head” that Bisley is “more than adequate” and “not a million miles away” from Birmingham. He added that his current focus is on the upcoming Games and hoped that success in Australia would help to put shooting back on the programme.

Clay Pigeon Shooting Association chief executive Nick Fellows said the exclusion would “significantly disrupt Team England’s medal quest”.

He commented: “Shooting contributed no fewer than 15 of the Team England medal tally at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and England has won a total of 168 shooting medals over the years — more than any other competing nation and over 20 per cent of the medals available.

“Fantastic” facilities at Bisley
“Fantastic facilities have been offered to the organisers at Bisley Shooting Ground, which successfully hosted the shooting competitions for the 2002 Games in Manchester and the bid team has already agreed to hold track cycling at the London Velodrome, demonstrating that a non-Birmingham venue is perfectly viable.”


Mr Fellows added that there were concerted efforts to persuade Birmingham of the value of putting shooting back on to the programme.

British Shooting said it was deeply disappointed that shooters would not be among those UK athletes enjoying the “wonderful opportunity” of competing on home soil and shared its surprise that the Birmingham bid team considered the Bisley Shooting Ground to be too far away. The Countryside Alliance likewise said that it would be working hard to reverse what it said was a “short-sighted decision”.
 
It might be a bit of a drive from you but Garlands has a nice range that can shoot any calibre. They have some nice steel silhouettes etc. I practice shooting off sticks and free hand there. Costs about £25 to shoot for the day (coffee and boerewors roll included).I joined a club after moving from South Africa (pm for details) and I kind of skipped the probationary period after just having chatting to the guys about reloading etc. The club costs £125 a year with free shoots nearly every weekend on ranges from 100-600m in the midlands. After becoming a full member you can own rifles. A few guys with 9.3’s, and 375’s. I know a uk gunshop that has really nice custom 375’s and up just sitting on the racks.
 
There are national hunter's and sport shooter's associations in UK. It looks a bit confusing to me, though. They should know about existing facilities.

There's lots of shooting ranges here in Finland. Mostly run by local clubs. There's often restrictions on the times when you can make noise, and guests are usually allowed only when supervised by a member. One local club has set an upper limit of 8mm for rifle calibers.
 
I'm in the South West. We have a couple of ranges here that are cleared to 7000 joules of muzzle energy, about 5160ft-lbs. I think most private ranges are cleared to that energy, but if in doubt check the range safety certificate. Finding a club that will let you shoot their rifles of that kind of size will be hard but to take your own is more simple.
 
@BRNO zkk602,

Bisley might be better for you, particularly the British Sporting Rifle Club (I'm a member there) at Bisley.

We have a few big bore comps / practices per year and are usually quite good fun.

If you want to talk about it a bit, drop me a line and will see if I can help.

Scrummy
 
Corinium Rifle Range near Cirencester is excellent; cleared for rifles up to 7,000 joules and run by a passionate hunter. They also organise driven boar and African safaris.
 
Corinium Rifle Range near Cirencester is excellent; cleared for rifles up to 7,000 joules and run by a passionate hunter. They also organise driven boar and African safaris.

Paul has helped me no end with my technique when shooting my .416. He's a seriously good teacher and an impressive shot himself. I generally try to work things out for myself but when all else fails I go to him because I know he'll pick through what I'm doing and tell me how to fix the issue.
 
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And some think we have it rough here in the USA. Compared to the rest of the world this is shooter's heaven.

You aren't kidding. When I want to shoot I drive 30 minutes to my dad's property or National Forrest property and shoot away.
 
It might be a bit of a drive from you but Garlands has a nice range that can shoot any calibre. They have some nice steel silhouettes etc. I practice shooting off sticks and free hand there. Costs about £25 to shoot for the day (coffee and boerewors roll included).I joined a club after moving from South Africa (pm for details) and I kind of skipped the probationary period after just having chatting to the guys about reloading etc. The club costs £125 a year with free shoots nearly every weekend on ranges from 100-600m in the midlands. After becoming a full member you can own rifles. A few guys with 9.3’s, and 375’s. I know a uk gunshop that has really nice custom 375’s and up just sitting on the racks.
Is that West Midlands shooting ground with the TT Proctor in 375 that you refer to?
 

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