East Barnet Shooting Club has an excellent 6 firing point air weapon range. It was built to comply with the ISSF [International Shooting Sports Federation] rules and features an auto returning target system.This section of our club is very popular and the range can get very busy at times.
Air rifle and air pistol shooting under ISSF rules is shot over a distance of 10-metres and in the standing position only. It is also a very hotly contended Olympic shooting discipline with nearly every participating country entering teams at the games. East Barnet Shooting Club have some county champions in Airgun shooting. May be one day you could be a champion.
Most shooting clubs in the UK and on the continent have air weapon ranges. All levels of ability are catered for. Both Air Pistol and Air Rifle shooting are one of the few sports where males and females can compete on equal terms. Most clubs run postal league competitions and there are also shoulder to shoulder matches run as county opens along with the national championships held at Bisley once a year.
East Barnet Shooting Club pride themselves in giving excellent tuition and coaching to beginners with a very important emphasis on safe gun handling and range safety. Although the competition air rifles and pistols do not require a licence and they are generally considered non lethal, they can however cause injury when improperly handled. In the 30 odd years we have been shooting air guns, we have not had one accident and we wish to keep it that way.
We do however have to set common sense limits somewhere on children's size and abilities. Junior match air rifles will weigh up to about 4 Kg [Senior up to 5.5 Kg ] Therefore some children may struggle to pick up a match air rifle and hold it steady especially if they are of small stature. The same criterion applies to air pistols. For this reason we have to judge a minimum ability. We usually find those boys and girls under 14 years old will struggle but it's the ability, not the age, that is important. All assessments will be made by the club instructors who are best placed to make a judgement and their decision will be final. The range is also wheelchair friendly.
Our air gun range times are 7.30 pm to 11.0 pm Monday Evening, Thursday Evening, Friday Evening and Sunday from 10.30 am until 4 pm. On Monday evening we are specifically able to cater for those new to Air Pistol, whereas on a Thursday evening we are specifically able to cater for those new to Air Rifle.
Jon Dedekind
Air Weapons Captain