Indians For Guns

Well Mack The Knife must have been out on a recruiting spree (!)

Hello to everyone. My user name is rich and that's because my real name is rich, it's not the status of my financial affairs though.

I've been a member on some of the UK forums since about 2000. That's where I got to know - if that's the right way of putting it - Mack The Knife. It's amazing how much you feel you do know about a person when you have corresponded for some while, yet never met.

A little bit of history; my interest is in air guns only. I'm right eye dominant but shoot rifles left handed. Such affliction makes accurate shooting of shotguns nigh impossible so I don't even try any more.

My first air rifle was a Mark 1 BSA Meteor that I bought second hand in 1964 and it cost me half a week's wages. Today I shoot mainly FT and for that I use an Air Arms EV2.

I live in a very remote part of North Devon, in the south west peninsular of England. In 2003 I was able to convince the company that runs the Lottery here to let me have some money to start up a new air rifle and pistol club, and they awarded just over £4,000. The result was Shebbear Shooters AGC (visit www.shebbearshooters.co.uk).

I'm looking forward to participating in and being able to contribute to this forum.

Rich

Hi Rich,

Delighted to have you on board.

There are lots of airgunners on this board (largely due to the headache of getting a licence for a firearm). If and when time permits if you could do brief articles on various airguns with a few photos, it would be really appreciated. Ditto for those other technical articles that you pen once in a while. Besides these, we would really appreciate your input on the airgunning and other sections.

Shebbear Shooters has certainly come a long way. I well remember discussing this club with you just after you had settled on the land. Congratulations on a job well done, Rich.

Best wishes.

Mack The Knife

A very warm welcome to the forum , Rich !

Mack The Knife is right about the firearms licence and I will add the abominable restriction on purchase of ammo in our country ( it starts with 10 rounds per year ).... for keeping people away from firearms. That said , FT interests me highly and if in future we indeed start any FT club, your views would be a lot of help.

I would take the opportunity to ask you one of my long standing doubt; rather query.

Though most of the gents might have taken to EV2 in FT ; how does the HW 100 ( T/S) fare in this area ? And which is the scope preferred for a HW 100 ?

Thanks

Sujay

Welcome Rich!

You'll see very soon that most of us here are Anglophiles. And many are airgunners as well, with airguns being the only form of shooting that is available without interference by the shrivelled up mammaries of the Indian welfare state.

Incidentally my wife, a new shooter, is also cross dominant and I had to get a scope for my little 22 rifle because she finds shooting with open sights impossible.

You'll find many friends here in the growing Indian airgunning community. Incidentally, we are also trying to promote a uniquely Indian "speed shooting" air rifle sport for open sighted low priced air rifles which we would like the advice of experienced British shooters on. Do check out the Non ISSF Shooting Sports forum whenever you have time and give us some suggestions.

Very best wishes and do post often. Good hunting!

Welcome aboard Rich.Wishing you many happy hours here.
Enjoy
Best
Axx

Thank you all sincerely for the welcome. I will do my best to earn your appreciation.

Sujay, I have to say that I've not handled a HW100 - but I can also say that I've yet to see one in use for FT. By and large, magazine fed rifles are not chosen because this is a single shot sport with rifles being unloaded when moving between lanes.

I notice that all your user profiles reveal your ages. I haven't tried to conceal mine, maybe I've not clicked the proper radio button. There is no escaping the fact that I am due to celebrate my 62nd birthday in September. There, now I've said it.

Given time I'll work out how to post pictures on this forum and then we can all have a laugh..........

ATB

Rich

Thats not too far from mine mate! I'm waiting for 70 to retire and go carping full time
Axx

Welcome aboard Rich,

Mack The Knife besides being a moderator is also one of the most popular members here and his posts on the airgun section here are largely responsible for getting many of us here (me included) interested in airguns once again.

Look forward reading your posts and articles here and wish you success with your club.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Welcome Mr Rich..

Hi Rich, Welcome aboard.IFG is surely enriched with you joining here.I was going through your website. Looks very nice to me and I can see the hard work behind bringing it into life.All the best there.We look forward to frequent participation from you.

BTW, I am bitten by the air rifle bug,thanks to Mack The Knife and Sujay, and recently bought an HW77 in .22.

Thanks for joining us.

Best-
Vikram

Welcome to the forum Rich,

I think we all need to thanks Mr. Bana for first introducing us to modern air guns then bringing in specialists to enhance our knowledge regarding sport . Regarding FT, I personally feel that FT or HFT can play a major role in reviving shooting sports in INDIA.

I hope one day we can get enough land in Bangalore to start a small HFT club so that young guys can come an enjoy shooting rather than waiting for months to get in to a rifle club run by govt.

-Inder

This takes us beyond the scope (!) of intros and welcomes, but I would just add, Inder, that FT and to a lesser extent HFT are sports that are cross-gender and all-inclusive. A man's strength compared to a woman's is of no avail, and rules exist to allow the disabled and infirm to compete with able-bodied without handicap. Precious few sports can claim such attributes.

Target shooting is not about beating your opponent, it is about recognising and overcoming your own imperfections, and learning to shoot can provide excellent lessons for youngsters and equip them with skills for later life.

Rich