The Witney Pistol Club   (founded1967)

 

Aims and objectives.

  Rule 2 of the club states: -  ‘The object of the club is to provide instruction and practice in the use of the pistol and the rifle’.

  The ethos of the club is to provide a safe environment in which to practice and enjoy the sport of target shooting and to teach newcomers to the sport (and to remind established shooters) that the safety and well-being of other people is paramount.

  Members of the WPC are generally not very interested in competitive shooting.  Although some members shoot in postal league and national competitions, most of us shoot to improve our personal ability rather than ‘win’.

 

Firearms used.

 Since the government, in a disgraceful and unnecessary knee-jerk reaction to the Dunblane massacre in 1997, confiscated our pistols, we mostly use pistol calibre carbines, .22 rifles and black powder pistols. (There are a few members who have ‘long barrelled revolvers’ and ‘long barrelled pistols’ but no other people than their owners may use these firearms. Air rifles and air pistols are also used at the range but will be subject to the same safety procedures as firearms.

 

Ranges.

·          We mainly use the Witney Projectile Range at the West Witney Sports Ground, Burford Road, Witney. This range is the property of the Witney Town Council but is run by volunteers from the local shooting clubs who make up the Witney Projectile Range Users’ Committee. This committee is responsible for hiring out the range, collecting hiring fees and for its internal maintenance. Much of the work in the range is done by volunteers from the Witney Pistol Club.

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We also hire a target at Bisley, Short Siberia 100yds on the third Sunday in the month throughout the year and we there use full-bore rifles.

  The Witney Range is used at 20 metres shooting mostly at NSRA PL3 targets although other card targets are permitted. This club does not use targets that depict the human form.

 

Opening Times

At Witney we shoot on Wednesday evening (7pm to 10pm), on Friday evenings (7pm to 10 p.m.) and Sunday evenings (6pm to 9pm). The main shooting evening is Wednesday and newcomers should attend then. Provisional members may attend on Fridays by arrangement. Sunday shooting is reserved for full members only.

 

Range Fees

The range fee for full members is £1.00 per evening. This covers the cost of targets.

For provisional members the fee is £2 per visit until they are accepted as full members.

The range fee for Bisley is £10.

 

Joining.

If you are interested in joining or are simply wanting to find out about target shooting by attending on a Wednesday evening you must first of all contact the Club Secretary and arrange with him a date and time to attend. You may not just turn up at the range for without prior permission you will be turned away.

At your first attendance you will be given a chance to see what we do and you will be given a brief course of instruction about safety and procedures. You will also be given a copy of the club rules to look at before attending again and a form of application to fill in if you think you may like to join. Note that you will be required to supply TWO passport photographs of yourself when returning your application.

At a second and subsequent attendance you will be given the chance to shoot at a target, under instruction. Your application form will be discussed and at this, or at a subsequent attendance, and you may be granted a Provisional Membership that will be subject to ratification by the committee.  The minimum period of Provisional Membership is three months but that may be extended depending on a) your attention to the safety rules, b) your frequency of attendance, c) your behaviour at the range.

Provisional members may only enter the shooting range with an instructor and may not handle firearms/ammunition without direct supervision.

 

Is there a minimum age?

There is a minimum age of 11 for membership of the club but all prospective members will be required to behave in a suitably sensible way and to be able to hold a light rifle safely.  Please note that if you are under the age of 17, you cannot carry your own air rifle or pistol to or from the range, although an adult may carry it for you  All applicants under 18 years of age will have to obtain the permission of a parent to join the club.

 

Membership Fees..

For the first 6 weeks you pay 2.00 per visit.  One-half of this is refunded on becoming a full member.  There is a charge for every member of £1.00 per visit.  Full membership is £45 per year, which includes 3^rd party liability insurance cover.

For Senior Citizens the annual rate is £22.50.

Family membership costs £60 per year.

Junior membership costs £5 per year.

Membership is renewable in March of each year.  Members who join after that date pay on a pro rata basis until the following March.

 

 

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