Strensall Range Report

Strensall Visit

Pics Below Courtesy of Ben Fisher.

Seven of us went up to Strensall on 25th September and four of those were new to shooting long distance.

For once, the weatherman got it right.  Initially it was drizzling when we arrived in the car park, but by the time the trolley had been loaded up with the targets, flags etc. it had practically stopped and blue skies started to appear.

Four of us shot first whilst the other three worked in the butts.  The first shoot was at 300m, where our novice shooters were given a guide about the adjustment required on their scopes to put them on the target.  Everyone hit the target with their first shot and all in the black.  Then it was just a matter of playing with windage and minutes of angle to get to the V-bull.  A bit easier said than done due to the wind dropping suddenly and then picking up again!  We finished up trying out a grouping of 5 shots.

We then moved back to 500m.  This was a bit more challenging; but again our new shooters coped well and sent several rounds down.  Again this session finished with a grouping of 5 shots.

Finally we moved to 600m, again repeating what we had done previously.  Once completed, we swapped, with the four shooters going to the butts and the other three taking their turn to shoot.  Two of the new shooters were in this group of three, so again there was a learning curve, getting to grips with the number of clicks to adjust to bring shots closer to the V-bull.  It was interesting to watch how the knowledge increased as time went on.

The same pattern of shooting was followed by the second group, and they also moved back to the 500m and 600m distances.  The wind however, decided to be more awkward in the afternoon and the three found it more difficult to get shots really close to the V-bull, but everyone gave it their all.

Once shooting was complete we all returned to the car park, targets and flags packed away etc.

Everyone agreed that it had been most enjoyable and challenging, especially from 500m onwards and the new shooters felt that if you own a centre fire weapon, you really ought to try shooting it at distances of more than 75m.

There was also interest in perhaps going up to Diggle and trying a few of their competitions as well.  We’ll probably look at that next year, as Diggle in winter can be a bit dire!!!

So here’s looking forward to the next Strensall day