Plans for reopening the range.

We will reopen the range as soon as we are allowed to by Government regulations. There is still some confusion as regards what can happen on which date, who this applies to and how far people can travel to avail of this opening. The Sports bodies are still in conversation with the Government to get clarification on this but we are hoping that our sport will be classified  in the same way as Golf or Tennis,i.e., an outdoor sport which allows for social distancing. As you may have noticed, nothing is clear or fixed at present so the following timetable is at best a guess and by no means a promise. You will have to regularly watch this space to get confirmation of any opening!

May 18th A possibility of outdoor sports opening with distance restrictions but only to those who live within 5km of the range. The first possible opening date after this is the 24th May

June 8th Same as above with  the distance travelled to be less than 20km. The first shooting  date after this is the 14th June.

There are other dates set in the Government timetable but we will not speculate on what could change on these dates yet.

Please be aware:

Assuming we can open the range, we will have to take account of the social distancing instructions. We have still to finalize how we do this but preliminary thoughts are as follows:-

Rifle Range.

We can allow 2 shooters in each bay meaning a maximum of 6 shooters plus the RO in the building at any one time..

Pistol Range.

A maximum of 3 or 4 shooters  plus RO at any one time. These may have to shoot from in front of the covered firing points. We need to be on site to finalise this.

Shotgun Range.

Separate groups of 4 shooters only at each firing position. Rigid separation to be enforced. No sharing of firearms. Trap controls to be wiped down between operators.

Office/Tea hut/ Storage shed.

Only 2 people max inside at any one time, well separated. RO will supervise the congregation space around the building to ensure distancing.

We expect that many of you will want to get out to the range at the first opportunity and that the spacing restrictions described above will restrict how many members can be shooting at the same time. We may need to introduce a shift system to avoid waiting and congregation. This could be a choice between 9-12 or 12-3 with prior booking. If so we will work this out when needed.

This is as precise as we can be at present and could easily change. Watch this space for further news.