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Spring Special - 11th March 2007

Championship: 60 shots at 25 yards
Classified Competition: Best 4 Series of 10 shots

Combined Entry Fee: €15 to include NTSA levy of €2
Prizes for 1st to 3rd in Championship and prizes in classified competition dependant on entry.

Detail A - 9:00, Detail B - 10:30, Detail C - 12:00, Detail D - 13:30. (75 minutes per detail)
10 Shot Final for top seven shooters (if present) - 15:00
Range Opens at 8:30. Early shooting by prior arrangement only, minimum of 4 entries per detail must apply for any early details.

To book a detail, email your name and mobile phone number to the contact link at the bottom of this or any page with your first and second choice of detail. Details will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Entrants will be notified of their detail and firing point number by text or email no later than 12:00 on Saturday 24th.

NSRA rules will apply for this competition.

Ties to be broken by count back, equipment malfunctions must be reported to the Range Officer immediately before any extra match shots can be allowed. The committee reserves the right to alter the conditions before the last shot is fired.

All shots must be directed at the target, any infringement of this rule will result in immediate disqualification.

Please bring your license/authorisation and evidence of insurance.

February Open - 25th February 2007

Championship: 60 shots at 25 yards
Classified Competition: Best 4 Series of 10 shots

Combined Entry Fee: €15 to include NTSA levy of €2
Prizes for 1st to 3rd in Championship and prizes in classified competition dependant on entry.

Detail A - 9:00, Detail B - 10:30, Detail C - 12:00, Detail D - 13:30. (75 minutes per detail)
Range Opens at 8:30. Early shooting by prior arrangement only, minimum of 4 entries per detail must apply for any early details.

To book a detail, email your name and mobile phone number to the contact link at the bottom of this or any page with your first and second choice of detail. Details will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Entrants will be notified of their detail and firing point number by text no later than 12:00 on Saturday 24th.

NSRA rules will apply for this competition.

Ties to be broken by count back, equipment malfunctions must be reported to the Range Officer immediately before any extra match shots can be allowed. The committee reserves the right to alter the conditions before the last shot is fired.

All shots must be directed at the target, any infringement of this rule will result in immediate disqualification.

Please bring your license/authorisation and evidence of insurance.

February 2007 - Range reopened

Following a meeting with the Gardai this morning, the range has been officially reopened on foot of our authorisation from the ballistics section. Those whose excuse for shooting badly in the test event was that they hadn't had any practice in the last five or six months, can no longer make that claim!

As the range is now open again, we are planning to hold the February Open proper on Sunday 25th February. For obvious reasons, this date could not be included on the NTSA calendar, but expect a good deal of amendments over the coming weeks as we organise ourselves to hold competitions in all the disciplines that we are now authorised for. A notice for the February Open will issue shortly.

February 2007 - Test event

We have been given permission to run our test event on Sunday 11th February. Re-opening of the range is subject to a final meeting between the Superintendent Wicklow and the Club chairman on Monday morning. All those interested in taking part on Sunday, email the 'Contact' link at the bottom of this or any page.

The test event went very well on Sunday. Ten competitors took part, and we thank them for their valuable support. All were presented with commemorative certificates to mark this very special day for shooting in Ireland. Scores for the test event are now on our results page. A couple of photos have also been added to the Gallery.

February 2007 - Range Authorisation

As of today (8th February), Rathdrum Rifle and Pistol Club are now authorised by the Gardai for the use of .22cal Rifle and Pistol as well as Air Rifle and Pistol on our range in Rathdrum. The authorisation covers the use of these firearms in the prone, kneeling and standing positions as well as Benchrest. The authorisation states that the range 'comprehensively meets the requirements'.

Coupled with the introduction of electronic targets (the first range in Ireland to use these), this authorisation now allows us to run all the ISSF short range disciplines as well as NSRA 25 yard and Benchrest 25 yard.

We are now waiting for the go-ahead from Wicklow to re-open on foot of this authorisation.

February 2007 - February Open

Subject to final approval by the Gardai, the February Open is provisionally scheduled to take place on Sunday 11th February 2007. Due to the fact that this will be the first time a competition will be held on the new targets, this will be held as a test event. In addition, since the date coincides with the international rugby match in Croke Park, the competition will be held in the morning and will be restricted to two details of 40 shots only. Priority will be given to club members and remaining places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. The details will commence at 09:00 and 10:30 and will run for 50 minutes each. As this is a special event, no prizes will be awarded, but commemorative certificates will be presented to all those who attend. The entry fee will be €30 for seniors and €15 for juniors. Please email the contact link at the bottom of this or any page if you wish to be considered for a place on one of the details stating your preference in the form A for the 09:00 detail and B for the 10:30 detail. Final detail arrangements will be published here.

As this is still a provisional event, and as we may not know for certain until Saturday if this is going ahead, please check back here for further updates.

January 2007 - Range Upgrades

Thanks to all of you the range upgrades have now been completed. The last session on Sunday saw the range cleaned out, some wiring and blockwork done and the final targets installed. A bit more work was done on Tuesday night to install the computers and target control boxes. The target system was turned on and is now fully operational. Photos of the completed work are available here for those who have been unable to attend at the range for the last few sessions.

December 2006 - New Targets

Our new targets have been shipped from Oslo. ETA Dublin docks is Tuesday 12th December. Details of the entire system can be viewed here.

November 2006 - Upgrades to range

The Garda Ballistics Unit have revisited the range and provided us with drawings of the upgrades we need to make to the range before they can authorise us under the new system. The drawings are available here. We have looked at them carefully and have made a number of amendments in order to cut down the amount of steel necessary to achieve the same result through the use of baffles and I have faxed them with the changes we are proposing to make. The details of the changes can be looked at here. The steel and wood is ordered, as is the rubber sheeting.

June 2006 - Sports Capital Grant

We have been approved for a Sports Capital Grant to purchase Electronic Targets for the range. We applied last January requesting a grant of €13,530 and have been approved for €12,000. The total cost of the equipment estimated at the time was €19,330 so we have to make up at least €7,500 of the balance ourselves. The Grant equates to 62% of the total cost of the project. As the maximum allowed is 70%, we've done quite well. Many thanks to Joe Jacob for his help in pushing this through for us. With a bit of luck, we'll be shooting on electronic targets when the indoor season starts up again. The full list of Sports Capital Grants is available to download here.

Spring Special 12th March 2006

Championship: 60 shots at 25 yards, Classified Competition: Best 4 Cards, Combined Entry Fee: €12 (incl sub to N.T.S.A.), Range Opens at 10 a.m. – Last Entry strictly at 12.30 p.m. The competitor must be present in order for an entry to be made on their behalf.

Prizes: 1^st to 3^rd in Championship and prizes in Classified Competition dependent on entry. Rules: N.T.S.A. Ties to be decided by graduated gauges.7 minutes per detail. One practice card allowed, strictly 10 shots per card thereafter. Firing points to be allocated on a first come first served basis. Single entry only allowed. Challenges €2 per card which will be refunded if the challenge is successful. Challenges must be lodged before the prize giving. Contestants may not retrieve or see their cards after handing them in for scoring and before lodging a challenge. Any cards seen, handled and/or removed after handing in for scoring may not be challenged and the Competitor will automatically lose a tie break in such circumstances unless the Range Committee decides otherwise. The Committee reserves the right to alter the conditions before the last shot is fired. Early shooting strictly by prior arrangement.

A team of three competition has been organised with DURC to run concurrently with the Spring Special. The competition is to be scored using the MacRae handicap system and the teams and averages are as follows:

February Open 2006

This took place on 12th February, and was won by Richard Stapleton Jr. with a score of 590. This is the highest score achieved in Rathdrum since Tony Cogan's 591 in March 2000. Well done Richard! Still a bit to go to beat Ray Reilly's record 595 scored in September 1997 though.

Turkey Shoot 2005

This is to take place on Sunday December 4th. Details here

Autumn Indoor Open 2005

This was held on Sunday 11th September. Unfortunately, whether due to the fact that the NTSA AGM was held on the previous day or that people were not ready for the start of a new season, the turnout was exceptionally poor with only seven competitors turning up (six on the day). Declan Kelly of DRC took the honours with a fighting 584, with Ray Reilly and Kealan Symes taking second and third respectively. I think that seven is the lowest turnout ever in Rathdrum, and I'm hoping it's just a blip. Lads and Ladies, get your calendars out and put the next competition in your diaries so we don't see this kind of thing repeated!

National Indoor Championships 2005

This year's National Indoor Small-bore Rifle Championships are to be held in the Rathdrum Rifle and Pistol Club on Sunday, April 24^th. The range opens at 10:00am. We will be running 3 details, first 7 competitors start at 10:30am, you will shoot one practice card, followed by 6 competition cards of 10 shots each, you will have 7 minutes per card.

Second detail will start at 12:00pm.

Third detail will start at  1:30pm.

(There will be 10 minute preparation before the start of each detail)

Award Ceremony will be at 3:30pm.
Prizes will be awarded for the top three places in the championships as well as in the classified sections.

Entry fee will be 15 euro.

Ties to be decided by graduated gauges. One practice card allowed, strictly 10 shots per card thereafter. Anyone found to have shot rounds at anything but a target will be disqualified. Single entry only allowed. 10 minutes will be allowed after the posting of results for challenges to be lodged. Challenges Euro 2 per card, which will be refunded if the challenge is successful.

Contestants may not retrieve or see their cards after handing them in for scoring and before lodging a challenge. Any cards seen, handled and/or removed after handing in for scoring may not be challenged and the Competitor will automatically lose a tie break in such circumstances unless the Range Committee decides otherwise.
Targets will remain the property of the NTSA and will not be returned to competitors.

This is a closed shoot for N.T.S.A. affiliates who are entitled to hold an Irish Passport. While non-affiliates may enter, they may not claim National Championship Prizes.

Firing points will be allocated first come first served. To avoid disappointment you are asked to contact; Liam Crawford (Target rifle co ordinator) by 5pm Friday 22nd April. Indicating whether you wish to start at 10:30, 12:00 or 1:30 and your preferred firing point e.g.. left or right handed.

Contact details for Liam Crawford can be found on the NTSA website

February Open

The February Open was held on 13th February. Results available.

Annual Turkey Shoot

The Annual Turkey Shoot was held on Sunday 5th December 2004. See the results page for further details

Leinster Indoor Open

The Leinster Indoor Open was held on Sunday 7th November 2004. Declan Kelly of Dublin Rifle Club was the winner. See the results page for further details

New Range

The club is pleased to announce that permission has been granted by Wicklow County Council for our new ranges at Stump of the Castle, Rathdrum (great name isn't it?). The new range will incorporate a 13 point indoor 25m/25 yard range a 7 point indoor 10m Air Rifle Range and a 26 point outdoor range at up to 100m. It is intended to include 12 electronic target points on the outdoor range. The indoor 25m range can be used for large Air Rifle competitions shooting across as the dimensions are 28m by 13m.

Building is expected to commence early in 2005.

Site Plan - Apologies for the poor quality, but it's always a trade off between image size and quality.

The Outdoor range faces due north, which is the ideal layout as you never have to shoot into the sun. There are ample car park spaces 33 plus three disabled parking spaces. The Chairman's parking space is directly outside the front door!. The outdoor firing point is covered by the overhang of the roof and will be laid out with the 50m firing points to the West and the 100 yard/100metre firing points (which will also double up as 50m) to the East. There is substantial planting of trees around the facility, with an extremely wide variety of native and other species to be introduced. Access to the range is from the main Glenealy to Rathdrum Road, turning right just before the Glanbia co-op at the entrance to the town and taking the right fork approximately 500m up that road. It is then a short drive of about 700m to the entrance.

Floor Plan: There are slight changes between this plan and the submitted plan (namely the addition of a wheelchair accessible toilet).

The 25 yard/25 metre indoor range can be used for Air Rifle shooting across the range, which would give up to 20 firing points for large competitions. The Preparation Room has windows looking into the indoor range for viewing purposes. Access to the meeting room, toilets and kitchen can be given to other clubs or associations without giving access to the rest of the building. Storeroom is provided for the storage of electronic and paper targets when not in use on the range. Competitors can prepare either in the preparation room or in the main foyer leading out to the outdoor firing points. Statistical Officers will be able to monitor the indoor and outdoor ranges from the Statistics Office. Firing points will be open with taped lines to show different target distances and width of point. Indoor points will be marked out at 1m width. Outdoor points will be marked at 1.5m for electronic points and 1.25m for paper and bench rest points. There will also be a test bench installed probably to the most westerly end of the firing point.

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