What does it take to start an air rifle only club in India?

[mehulkamdar]

Gentlemen,

Since air rifles are considered non firearms in India I wonder if it would be possible to start air rifle clubs there. What kind of legal regulations would have to be followed? Would someone be able to get these clubs to register with the NRAI? (Please note that I am being civil about these uber babus and that's a first for me since the early 1980s)

The reason for this is that hardly a generation ago many colleges had rifle ranges where 22 lrs were shot by the NCC etc - both the colleges where I studied, the Madras Christian College as well as Loyola had them and so does the Madras Medical College. These days it would not be possible to have this kind of facility and we have to look at city or district rifle clubs for those who graduate from college.

I have heard that India has the country's first military school for girls somewhere near Pune now and they had to be content with only an air rifle range for their students - if this presents no problems, it may be a good idea to encourage shooting sports by having air rifle only clubs in order to promote our sport and make it more popular. We would need just a regular wall as a backstop and targets could be cyclostyled or photocopied and distributed. There could be the 10 m ISSF matches as well as our own speed shooting matches as well...

Just thinking aloud and wondering about the regulatory and other processes. Anybody who knows the rules involved in this? ANyone with ideas?

Mehul

[mehulkamdar]

Come on, guys, didn;t think this would have required a BTT...

The name of the school in Pune is Rani Lakshmibai Military School for girls from what I have checked and one more military school for girls is planned at Amaravathi in Tamilnadu. The Pune one has only an air rifle range though the TN one may have a pucca rifle range as Amaravathi is not a very populated area.

It should be possible to start air rifle clubs in India...

[steyrshot]

Dear Mehul
You will be really surprised with the actual requirements .... nothing much.

All you need to do is get your rifle club registered with the state rifle body, once your club is affiliated with the respective state rifle association, your members will be able to compete in the state sponsored competitions ... and did i mention ... you can hold your own, and it will be recognized by the state.... (as in district level competitions).

The state rifle association most probably will send a representative to inspect your range .. for safety, meeting ISSF requirements etc but in reality these are mainly formalities.

hope this helps.

regards
Umang

[penpusher]

Mehul,

This is what is required for setting up a air rifle club,

1.Area for a range.
2.A set of rules.
3.A governing body.

The good thing about something like this is that no license or permission is required from any department.

All things said and done,getting a license for a proper shooting club is also something that is not that difficult, provided that you have the area for a range and know the licensing authority.The license is issued locally by the DM/ADM/CP/DCP

Take care,
penpusher

[mehulkamdar]

Umang/penpusher,

Since 90% of IFG members in India would be compelled by regulations there to participate in air rifle shooting of some sort (in the USA, for example, gun laws almost rule air rifles out because rimfires are cheap and widely available) I wonder if detailed information would allow some of our more enthusiastic members to set up air rifle only clubs. We have some members especially from Hyderabad and Kerala who have been very enthusiastic about organising friendly air rifle matches on the former IFG Yahoo boards as well as over here. This information could help them.

Also, like the formal 10m matches, we could have open sighted air rifle matches as well as our discussed speed shooting matches - rifle clubs in India have always offered open sighted rifle matches for beginning shooters and this could be a good way to get new shooters into the sport.

Perhaps the only air rifle shooting matches over here are 10m matches in sschools - Dave Schrank and I had a long chat about this and it was his opinion that this was a good beginning target sport for children because all you need is a temporary backstop inside a high school gym - probably even on an indoor basketball court, a range officer to ensure safety compliance and some air rifles for the shooters to shoot. In heavily built up urban centres in India as well as in small towns where not much infrastructure is available, air rifle only clubs as opposed to clubs that allow firearm shooting could be a great way to get more and more new shooters involved.

We could promote the idea in the IFG's name if someone here is ready to organise these matches and work on air rifle only clubs - the Hyderabad members have been communicating with me to a major extent though it does seem as if they have not quite been able to communicate among themselves. I wonder how the ball could be set rolling?

Also, any volunteers to help start this process?

Mehul

[steyrshot]

Dear Mehul
Im a little confused, Hyderabad has one of the best shooting ranges in the country ... i think only chennai and Indore are better. Its a huge complex located within the University Grounds near Kaccibowli (think i spelled that wrong for sure) stadium, infact the 49th NSCC was held there last year .. so its a great place to practice.

The procedure for air rifle ranges is as simple as i mentioned to you earlier, i know this cause i recently helped set up a range at the Chandiwala Estate Sports Complex and got it affiliated with the DSRA

All you have to do is set up your range and then contact the secretary of the state rifle association, they will come and inspect the range to see that is meets safety standards and ISSF ruless for the sport, a formality really...pay the club affiliation fees and your set.

Honest thats all there is to it .... you can then import weapons throught the state rifle association, get your members to participate in state and through the state in the pre nationals and nationals.

For calibered weapons the process is far more complex ... involves the police and several applications ... will get you that info by tomorrow.

However if the idea is for a group of friends to get together ... just find a enclosed space and set up your lights and pellet traps .... as long as its air weps you dont need permission to set up a private range - most of my friends have one in their house or backyard.

[Vikram]

Its a huge complex located within the University Grounds near Kaccibowli (think i spelled that wrong for sure) stadium, infact the 49th NSCC was held there last year .. so its a great place to practice.

Hi Umang,

It's Gachibowli. I did my MA in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Hyderabad. Beautiful campus and beautiful range, isn't it? I attended the National games,the Afro-Asian Games and another National tourney, though the name escapes me.I had the fortune to meet most of the top trap and skeet shooters. Though, I have to say, if somewhat red facedly,didn't visit the indoor ranges.

Good shooting-
Vikram

[mehulkamdar]

Umang,

I have never been to Hyderabad and shot there - my shooting experience is limited and that too from a long time ago at Chennai, Kolhapur and Kanpur. That said, if you think that the MRC range at Egmore is "good" I presume we don't look at things the same way.

I have a big grouse against the cost of rifle club membership in India. Three years ago when I left India, MRC charged Rs 25000 for a membership. I am sure that there are millions of Indians who would like to shoot and who cannot afford this. Nor can they afford the ridiculous prices that are charged for ammunition in India - believe me, when I posted about buying Federal and B&P target shotshells at $ 3.25 for a box of 25 in the US, I broke a few hearts on this very forum.

My idea is to have air rifle only clubs where the cost of membership is about Rs 500 a year plus the cost of targets. Students should be charged half that amount. Matches for Indian made open sighted air rifles and for ISU air rifles could be conducted separately in order to encourage more people to join the shooting sports. There is a procfess of mentoring in the US that helps identify and train promising shooters from a young age. We do not have that in India. Indians are proud of one Olympic shooting medal? A shame in my opinion as we should have won one in each event. It is possible, and achievable if someone tries hard enough.

When Deepak came here - he is, like you, a target shooter and non hunter who has also won medals in state competition albeit in Karnataka - I took him to meet one of the USA's top coaches, Dave Schrank, whose father, Mike runs a very nice family owned gun shop not far from Chicago. The Bristol ranges where Dave coaches people, across the Illinois border in Wisconsin, charge $ 30 for a 1 year membership. Shooters from India have come to coach there - I presume you can see the reason why. Mainly rural Wisconsin, with vastly poorer people than Illinois, produces many more highly talented shots than Illinois does. The reason? The cost of joining a rifle club in Chicago's suburbs is $ 800 a year. Similar to the situation in India, I think.

Shooting does not have to be an expensive sport. Fleet Farm sell 22 lr ammunition in boxes of 500 for $ 7 and make a profit on it. Gander Mountain sell $ 100 22 lr semi auto rifles and make a profit on them as well. Keep the price down and the sports would flourish better than they have so far. Air rifle only clubs would have less hassles than rifle and pistol clubs as far as getting the relevant clearances etc is concerned, hence my posting about this. And, with mentoring in mind, if seasoned participants on different air rifle matches would help coach some of the newcomers on a voluntary basis it could only be a good thing for the sport.

I hope you get my drift on this - if my friends have to get together to shoot in India, I have access to properties that are vastly better than the MRC range in Egmore, and the best part is that the place is completely private. This idea is to set something up where many could participate and then promote the concept across India. Hyderabad and Kerala (no specific city in Kerala) came to mind because that is where the most enthusiastic newcomers on this site are from. I am in regular touch with these guys, and, frankly, they deserve better than is available at the moment.

Mehul