Tuesday, 26 June 2007

Penkridge Air Rifle Club.

So what is field target shooting? Field target or FT as it is known is a sport originally developed out of frustration by airgun shooters who had brought a gun, scope combination but had nowhere to shoot the darn thing without breaking the law by trespassing on someone’s land without permission.  

In the early eighties a club was formed in the Dudley area to cater for these 'frustrated' would-be marksmen. This club was called Stourvale Woodsmen and although sadly the club no longer exists. It became Hilton Park FTC and for ten years provided a venue for shooters of all abilities. Hilton Park also closed as the ground was needed for other activities but a new venue was found not to far away just outside Penkridge. The committee has carried on the 'mantle' of anybody is welcome with whatever gun you have (provided it was legal of course!) The club has now developed into one of the biggest and friendliest clubs in the country. The same friendly atmosphere still exists and everyone is welcome.

We shoot throughout the year (every two weeks) and have a broad spectrum of people who attend, from children to oap's, experienced shooters and newcomers, everybody  'mucks in' to keep the club as efficient and friendly as possible. 

Well what do we do there?? Well the obvious answer is to shoot! But of course we all know that but what do we shoot at? Well we like to call our course more of a simulated hunting course in that we mean we shoot at silhouettes of typical airgun quarry i.e. Rats, Rabbits, Magpies, Crows etc etc. Some of our targets have a disc in the centre of the silhouette which you have to hit, we call this the 'kill area', it usually is about 40mm in diameter scaling down to 25mm for these awkward shots!  When hit in the kill area the whole silhouette either falls flat or twists to the side to simulate a 'kill' This is then reset with a cord when pulled and the shooters score is recorded on a scorecard by the shooters partner. The other types of targets we use are the 'head shot' type. These are an easier target to hit and are proving increasingly popular with the members as time goes by. At the beginning of the paragraph we mentioned our course is more of a hunting one, well that is no understatement with targets that you'll find as you walk through woodland.

All in all the club is an airgun club and that is simply it …… a club that welcomes visitors as well, so why not come along and give it a go? Look at the map or alternatively give Tony Wall a call on:   0121 520 2000 daytime or 0121 530 1026 evenings  and he will be happy to answer any of your questions. .