OAP
Before I start waffling on about my pet subject, I will spend today answering some questions that came up in the comments on my article last week.
Firstly, you don’t need a Firearms Licence to take part. You would be under the close supervision of a qualified person and that is all the law requires at the moment. The supply of ammunition, however, is a moot point if the new clauses are enforced. If your club is an Incorporated Society, there are no problems. We may have difficulty getting around that, but we will wait and see what happens after the election.
Secondly, the activity takes as long as you want. Much of the time at the
range is socialising (as old men do) and the actual shooting is limited by
national rules to 12 minutes for a 10 bull card (unlimited sighters for
benchrest but must be completed in the time.) A double card, 20 counting
shots, is completed in 22 minutes. Setting-up time is additional. I
usually complete my cards in half that time.
Next question is “where do I find a club? The short answer is that I dont know. But I can give you some ideas of where to ask. The Nelson area is well set up with the Association range used by two resident clubs, each of which has several bench shooters. The Tasman club also has a bench and one or two involved.
The Rangiora Smallbore club also is set up and has listed Benchrest in the
North Canterbury Champs. I believe that there is some involvement in Mid Canty, but I don’t know for sure.
The best thing you can do is go to the Target Shooting NZ web page (TSNZ)
and click on the contacts section clubs and associations. You will find all
the listed clubs in NZ with the contact persons. Good luck. The
association secretaries should be able to answer your questions. The RSA
club in Blenheim also has a bench, I have used it a couple of times.
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