OC Rifle Club

Newcomers’ Corner

30405_600_ssAs well as the topics covered on our Home Page there are some other issues that can worry those contemplating joining us. The following remarks are intended to help with this. If there are any questions that are still not covered our Hon. Sec. will be very pleased to hear about them.

An important issue is equipment. Many of the members are fully equipped but the Club owns three rifles: a Swing, a Musgrave and an RPA (kindly donated by the Club President, Ted Eilley, after he retired from active shooting); we also have some telescopes available to borrow. For your first visit(s) you would most likely be able to borrow the basic equipment from other members (size and handedness permitting). In the longer term, you would be expected to provide the more personal things like score books, ear protectors, hat, ammo box, shooting jacket and mat. If some of these terms are unfamiliar don’t be concerned – have a chat with the Hon. Sec. and he will explain everything.

We charge a subscription (the prevailing value is on the fixture list), which really only covers the fixed costs, and a contribution towards the cost of target hire and the price of the ammunition when a member actually shoots. We fully appreciate that this all adds up a bit; nevertheless it is still very good-value-for-money shooting and not an expensive day out. Our Hon. Treasurer can usually find ways of easing the financial burden for hard-up students. Due to firearms legislation, for the first six months of your career with the OCRC you would have to be considered a Probationary Member. We assure you it will make little practical difference if you have experience with the CCF at Cranleigh School and is an entirely bearable situation if you haven’t.

Once you are up and running, the more seasoned members of the club would be happy to help coach you and get you performing as a competent competitor in your own right. To help with this, we also have a number of learning resources available for you to make use of.

We hope this puts you in the picture a bit. We are always very keen to attract new members: you would be most welcome. Have a look at the current fixture list to see what is going on.