I am taking a trip back to England in August.My Mum will be turning 90,& I'm long overdue a trip.I will be staying with my Mum n sister in Chobham, Surrey
I would love to find a nice little Club where I could shoot a round or two of sporting clays.
I am a pretty down to earth guy, n wouldn't feel at home at some vast, famous & ritzy shooting school type place.
I'd rather shoot with farmers than Lords :), if you know what I mean
(But I will need to rent a gun(hopefully a sxs)
Anyone across the pond got any ideas???
Thanks for any help
cheers
Franc

Go Bisley Franc, take a round with my cousing John Heagren. Tremendous shot, named as top 75 in the world by the Field last year. I always learn something new with a lesson from John.

Best
T

Absolutely concur - I am a member at Bisley and the folk there are very down to earth and friendly. If you put a call into them, they would be able to get things sorted easily.

I am not sure of the parameters re visitors, but have a sense you may need to be accompanied by an instructor/guide given lack of a UK shotgun certificate and UK insurance. Either way, Bisley is a superb ground and if you visit mid-week, there will be even more stands available than at weekends. Bisley is also no distance at all from Chobham.

Dependant on dates, I would be happy to assist and say hello at the same time.

Craig.

P.S Tony - had not realised John was your cousin. A small world indeed. John a superb instructor.

Hi Craig, yeah John taught me to shoot when I was 13.

t

Yes, Indeed, Bisley, Franc, It's a unique time warp place, all those old clubhouses. The NRA Museum has an amazing quantity of old target rifles. A few years ago I was in the Museum and looking at the many Canadian Ross target rifles I asked them if they had a 22 Ross straight-pull Cadet rifle, they said no. so I mailed them one when I got back home and last trip I saw they have it in a cabinet with some other nice rifles.
It's a fascination place. We had the Commonwealth Games there so I spent 2 weeks there a few years ago.
Go visit Guildford Cathedral, worth the tripI don't know why they are holding the shooting in London thet Bisley folks built a super facility for the Commonwealth Games

Simply answered. The decision not to use Bisley, the biggest and best shooting centre in Europe was because it's too far from London. The 45 minute journey from as it might be, Trafalgar Square was adjudged to be too onerous and inconvenient.

Instead some £30,000,000 (and counting) is to be spent on fitting out a completely new venue at The Royal Artillery barracks in Woolwich. As soon as the Games finish the facility will be dismantled and the barracks once again closed to the public. This is what is called the Olympic Legacy.

Now the truth ... all this was decided in the reign of Tony Bliar (not a spelling mistake) and the one thing that finger wasn't going to do was provide any funding legacy to the "Gun Lobby"; he'd already banned handguns remember. The distance thing is just a smokescreen.

Eug

Eugene,
Trust you to get me going.
I campaigned vigorously to not have the Shooting Sports at Woolwich and to have them at Bisley all to no avail.
Now a few FACTS.
The whole point of the Olympic Games is to leave a legacy for the sports involved.
There will be no legacy left for Shooting, it is taking place at Woolwich Arsenal an active Army Barracks with the British Army Medical & Dental HQ there. For the duration of the Games this facility will be closed, service families will have to be temporarily re-housed, a netting ballistic screen has been erected to stop spent shot going over a main road and onto a housing estate because the safe fallout distance from the firing point does not comply with the safety regulations for the control of spent shot. The shooting complex is already £14M over budget and it is estimated another £11 to £19 Million will be required to convert it back and dismantle the shooting facility. We learned last week that a lady shooter who has finished 2nd in our Olympic trials and is second in the yearly averages as not been selected to represent GB whilst ladies who finished 3rd & 4th have. All this co-ordinated and fronted by a man who was President of The British Pistol Association until Thomas Hamilton ran amok in Dunblane . He ( Lord Coe ) then resigned the very next day rather than representing the pistol shooters he presided over.
Finally the modern Olympics was founded by William Penny Brookes of Much Wenlock, Shropshire. The Olympic torch will be run around Gt. Britain to publicise The Games prior to lighting the Olympic flame, the torch will pass within ten miles of Much Wenlock, but will not visit. William Penny Brookes will probably turn in his grave. God save Gt. Britain from these blithering idiots.

Who was the #2 shooter. Salopian? Not Pinky, or Charlotte, was it?
Just insane to by-pass Bisley, such a beautiful facility.
As an ex Olympic judge, who are your trap and skeet teams for the Olympics? I'd probasbly know most of them.
What will happen with pistol shooting. I understand long free pistols are allowed, but what about regular pistol shooting?

Mike,
Richard Faulds Double Trap, Steve Walton Double Trap (Possible)
Peter Wilson Double Trap, Steve Scott Double Trap (Possible)
Richard Brickell Skeet, Clive Bramley Skeet ( Possible)
Aaron Heading Trap (Possible)Carl Exton Trap (Possible)
Elena Allen SKEET (Possible)
Charlotte Kerwood Trap ( Probable) Shona Marshall Trap ( Probable)

Abby Burton is the disappointed Trap shooter who finished second but as been ignored. Also Ed Ling a young Trap shooter with loads of results, experience has been ignored. I think maybe a bit of skullduggery is going on.
Yes we have a pistol team but they cannot train in Gt. Britain because pistols are banned so they have to train abroad.
NOW I ask you.
How can we have a pistol event if Pistols are banned in this Country?
How can we have a shotgun event if we do not have a safe fall out distance for spent shot as laid down by all governing bodies and scientific research?

I wonder what the safe fall out distance for 7 1/2 shot is? Must be a pretty cramped range to have to put up a screen to catch shot.
I would have thought the ISSF would not approve the range under those circumstances
And the noise, won't that bother the locals?
I had hoped the shooting would have been run at Bisley, as I could have stayed at the historic Canadian MacDonald clubhouse, a magnificent building there.
So the British team can bring over their pistols from across the Channel for the Olympic Games and take them back afterwards?
I'm glad I moved to Canada in 1978.
We are in the process of dismantling our long gun registration.
Pistols are still registered but I can have as many as I want. I just picked up a Smith and Wesson Model 52-2, a semi-auto target gun in 38 Special mid-range (wadcutter) virtually hand finished and very accurate indeed.

PS, thanks for giving me your shooters, Lagopus. Sounds like Abby got screwed out of her well-earned spot.
Richard Faulds is the smoothest shooter I have ever seen. He makes it look effortless. Pretty to watch!

If only I WAS Lagopus.
I would be extremely wealthy, with lots of time on my hands to shoot my fabulous collection of guns.
ALAS I am a pauper from Shropshire eeking out a living, and struggling through life.

Thank you guys...I'll perhaps check out Bisley.
Its just that I really haven't done a whole lot of shooting in about 6 years, & I wasn't great when I shot regularly.
I sometimes get a little flustered & embarrassed by my lack of skill ,& might prefer just bumbling along by myself.
But perhaps I should just chill out & try it... I will give it a think.
My Sister knows a local farmer type guy who seems to keep her well supplied with game birds, & she's going to ask him if he could take me out after Wood Pigeons or Rabbits, If they can be shot in August , & if I'm allowed to hunt as a visitor,but I was born there,:)
CBL1...thanks for your offer....I'll be there August 10--20th.
Perhaps I'll pm you,thanks anyhow
Cheers
Franc

Thanks guys...