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Thread: Range Officers

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
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    Range Officers

    My nearest Home Office approved Target shooting club seems to be very relaxed and despite mentioning the fact that shooting should be under the direction of a range officer it is never done. Is this the norm in all clubs? Members just seem to sort shooting details out for themselves at mine, which seems a touch risky.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    Rossendale and Formby
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    Myself and two other members of our small club all took the NSRA Range Control Officers course (and passed) shortly after we started RMTC..

    This may have been seen as a "massive overkill" (3 fully qualified Range Control Officers in such a small club) but as far as we are concerned safety is by far the most important part of any good target shooting club.

    Each of us was happy to pay for the course from our own pockets (we did not use any club funds for this) and feel that what we learnt has held us in good stead and kept all our members safe over the years.

    Good range discipline is essential and it is the Range Control Officers job to oversee and enforce it (if necessary) but every club member has a responsibility for their own safety and that of every other club member too!
    Rossendale Target Shooting Club. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening 7 - 10pm.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
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    Ramsey, Cambs
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    No, at our club all shooting is done under the control of an RCO, either an NRA qualified one, or a Club trained one (Trained "inhouse" by a qualified NRA instructor).

    The RCO for the detail wears a Hi-Vis jacket, and reads the range orders out at the begining of each detail, and on his command firing commences and stops (normally after 15 minutes.)

    I think our club has nearly 300 members, (although some of those are Airgun or Clays only) and maybe 15-20 RCO's, so theres always at least a couple on the range.

    Edit: I should also mention that ours is an outdoor, ex military Barrack range, so once the cease fire is called by the RCO, he inspects all firearms on the firing point (breach flags are mandatory), and only once hes satisfied, the range is clear and people allowed to go forward to inspect and replace targets...
    Last edited by Daryll; 03-03-2018 at 05:48 PM.

  4. #4
    Turnup's Avatar
    Turnup is offline Dialling code‎: ‎01344
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    I shoot at a small club where everyone knows everyone and most of the time, for precision shooting, we do not have a dedicated range control officer. We do have a standing instruction that under these circumstances the shooter on the left most firing point (there are only 6) is acting RCO. Said shooter must be a full member. If we have a probationer on the line then he will be 1 on 1 supervised by a non-shooter who also takes the RCO role for the detail. If absolute beginners on the line then 1 on 1 and a non shooting RCO.

    Sometimes as part of our training programme we set up a full formal RCO so the learner(s) can experience the formal process, and before they become full members we set them up as RCO with experienced shooters on the line who will variously have (gentle) problems.

    For timed/rapid (Police Pistol 1500 etc.) or when other clubs are visiting we always have a dedicated RCO.

    It's worth discussing your observations with the more experienced members or the committee - there might be some similar arrangements which are in place but not obvious. It never hurts to explore safety concerns but try to raise them in a non-critical way an air of "wouldn't it be better if......"

    Also note that on ranges with target returners (e.g. Melville bay A at Bisley) and of course those ranges with butt markers (e.g. Century, Stickledown, Short Siberia at Bisley) there is usually no RCO
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  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
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    Stafford
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    Varies. A lot of NSRA clubs won't bother on indoor ranges, possibly also on outdoor ranges. Depends on who is shooting. Clearly on a guest day for instance you're going to have a hi-viz'ed RCO and probably a couple of other helpers hanging around in addition to your 1-on-1 instructors. Likewise if you're running a competition or have visitors, then you will have an RO making sure that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet and understands the local range rules.

    Conversely, for two experienced shooters quietly coming down and buddy-buddy shooting on a Thursday morning, it would be tedious to alternate between one person supervising the other. You just manage together.

    Shooting on a military range is obviously military rules, and local rules would be stricter on a larger fullbore range where there's potential (for example) of accidental incursion by members of the public and you need dedicated look-out.
    "A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." Sigmund Freud
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  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2006
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    Birmingham
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    Also depends on what the club means by a "range officer". As said above, for many indoor ranges, an experienced member , typically whoever is on the end of the line, gets informally designated the range officer even if they do not have a formal qualification. This seems to be safe for most indoor ranges where there are experienced club members present.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    Aberystwyth
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    Interesting to see these replies. My club has three outdoor ranges 25m 50m and 100m, all run without any formal or informal range officer in charge at all.

  8. #8
    boff180 Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by mh374 View Post
    Interesting to see these replies. My club has three outdoor ranges 25m 50m and 100m, all run without any formal or informal range officer in charge at all.
    Interesting indeed, we operate the same outdoor range distances and there must be a Range Officer on duty at all times, if there are 4 or less shooters (including himself) the RO is allowed to shoot however at all other times the RO is none-shooting, with people taking it in turns to RO each detail. We ensure all members receive RO training as part of their probationary training course and all members are expected to take their fair share of stints as RO.

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