Marple Rifle and Pistol Club details
(how to join and costs)
The range building
To speak to a
Range Officer and make an appointment for a visit, call: 0161 427 9133
between
19:30
and 20:30
on a Wednesday or a Friday, or between 10:00 and 11:00 on a Sunday.
We will take your details and post you a location map of the Club Range.
We operate a booking system and can only take a maximum of 2 new visitors per day.
Please remember that we are a club, we are not a business like a bowling alley and cannot deal with large numbers of visitors at any one time.
See How to visit Marple Rifle and Pistol Club for more details
General Club details
- For more
information than contained in these notes, please call 0161 427 9133
between the hours of 19:30 and 20:30
on either, Monday or Friday and speak
to a Range Officer. All arrangements for a
first visit must be made by telephone, you cannot make a date by email.
When you call, we will ask for your full name, address and telephone number,
we will then write to you enclosing a location map of the Club Range. When
you receive the map, you can call again in order to make a date for your
first visit to the Club. When you came for the first time, please bring some
form of photo identification with you, such as a driving licence or
passport.
- Please be aware that all visitors
and applicants for membership must sign a declaration stating that they are
not prohibited by law from taking up shooting and holding a firearms
certificate. This requirement applies to everyone without exception,
irrespective of age and it
includes airgun shooters who may have no intention of ever applying for a
firearms certificate.
- Visitors are not expected to assist in the
operation of the range and there is no obligation, or expectation that they
will be required to undertake any tasks during their first visit. On the
other hand both Members and Probationary members are required to help in the
running of the club, by, for example helping to set up the targets, sweeping
up at the end of practice etc (we are not like a Bowling Alley, where
you come and have a game and then stroll off at the end of the night).
- Costs: ... For Adults aged 18 to 64 inclusive, the full membership fee for 2024 will be £130. Juniors aged 14 to 17 inclusive pay £25.. Seniors aged 65 and over pay £100. We operate a sliding scale for the membership fee, such that you pay for the balance of the year remaining when joining.
-
There is a £50
joining fee per person and this is paid no matter when you
join, or what age you are.
- Range fees for members and probationary members are
£3 per day for the indoor range and £2 per day for the outdoor airgun range.
There is no
additional charge to use Club equipment such as rifles, jackets, or spotting
scopes etc.
- The visitor
fee is £10 for someone on their first visit to the Club (this includes the
loan of a gun and the supply of ammunition and targets).
- We stock
various types of ammunition for .22
rimfire shooting and as a guide 50 rounds will cost you
about £5-00, plus £1-00 for 5 targets.
- Club guns, both .22 rimfire rifles and 4.5mm airguns
of various types are available for member and probationary
member use at no additional cost.
- Contact the club for further details of costs and times of opening or see:
Visit the
Club
- Membership of the club gives full
access to all types of shooting, both at the club's indoor range and
at
outdoor ranges that we visit. There is no part membership, even if
for example you only wish to shoot airgun on a
Thursday night. You do not have to take part in all the types of target
practice that we offer, but full membership does give you the right to
take part in all club activities on all
occasions that we are open.
- Please note that the minimum age
for full membership is 18. We do have a junior section,
admission to which is decided on a case-by-case basis; however the minimum
age for Thursday airgun shooting is 18 in all cases, see
Juniors page for full details.
- We especially welcome ladies
to come and try shooting, please do not think that our sport and this club
is a male only preserve, it is not.
- We operate a family membership scheme for
families living at the same address, ask at the club for full details.
- Please note that
all payment must be by either credit or debit
card as we do not take cash.
- Existing members see this page for further details.
Disabled shooters
- Disabled persons are welcome to join the Club, but must be aware of
the following points before making an application to come for a
visit ............................
- If you have any form of disability, either mental or physical this must be declared at the time
of the application for a first visit.
- We do have some dedicated disabled parking and specific access to the range for
wheelchairs, but capacity is very limited and if you wish to use this
facility, it would always be best to telephone first. First come - First
served. All the doorways in the Club building will allow wheelchairs to pass
through. We do not have specifically modified disabled toilets, you will
have to be able to use a normal toilet installation, either on your own, or
with the help of a carer (both male and female).
- You must be entirely, 'self-contained' and by that we mean that you
must be able to do everything for yourself; from loading the gun, to
changing targets. We do not allow the use of carers on the range. If you
need assistance to shoot, our Club is not for you.
- If you have a seeing disability, we recommend contacting the
NSRA for advice as to the whereabouts
of the nearest Club catering for this disability. You have our sympathy, but
we do not have the equipment to cater for such a condition.
- Hearing disability is not normally a problem, provided that you do not need the services of an interpreter. We do not have any sign language qualified members and you must have at least enough hearing to be able to recognise a Range Officer's shouted commands.
- If in any doubt, call the Club on 0161 427 9133 and discuss the matter with a Range Officer.
Shooting details
We are open for shooting at various times on most days of the week; see below for an outline of what we do on each day, but be aware that this is only an outline and is subject to change. The times vary that we open for different disciplines: see this page for more details.
For fuller details of shooting activities, read on .....
- Basic instruction at no charge is
given to all beginners to the sport in order to get them shooting safely.
The Club has training videos and books on target shooting for self-study and
in addition full training courses are held throughout the year, usually on
the first Sunday of the month for those
wishing to learn more.
-
The Club has both .22 rimfire rifles and 4.5mm airguns of various types
available for member and probationary member use, at no additional charge.
- On Monday we shoot .22 cartridge rifle from the prone, standing and kneeling positions over 25 yards, between the hours of 19:30 to 21:30. This discipline is intended for .22 rimfire single shot rifles only and all the shooting that takes place is to NSRA rules. There are 10 positions for prone rifle and of those, 8 can also be used for shooting in the standing and kneeling positions.
- On Tuesday (for members and
probationary members only) we shoot various disciplines and calibres, often
using turning targets: be sure to enquire in advance what is to be shot,
before turning up at the range.
- On Wednesday,
Friday and
Sunday we shoot all calibres between .22 rimfire and .455 fullbore
nitro powder guns (there is no upper calibre limit for Black Powder guns).
These three days are for all types of gun, from single shot .22
rimfire up to anything legal. By legal we mean guns which both comply
with current legislation and are within the scope of our range safety
certificate. We have a set of electrically operated
turning targets for use at these times and can practice courses of fire
similar to the old PP1 and Service Pistol competitions, but using carbines,
or Black Powder, or legal (long barrelled) fullbore pistols. There are 6
positions for fullbore and 8 positions for .22 rimfire,
all shot from a standing position. It is possible to shoot from the
prone and kneeling positions as well as standing, but the usual practice is
to shoot standing. Distances
available are, 25, 20, 15, 10 metres, 20 and 25 yards.
- On Thursday we shoot airgun between
19:30 and 21:30. This discipline is purely for
shooting to NSRA and ISSF standards using 4.5 mm calibre
guns. No .22 air rifles or pistols are allowed. It is purely a single shot target discipline. We have a 12 position
range which caters for both air pistol and air rifle simultaneously. It is
equipped with electrically operated target retrieval mechanisms at all 12
firing points. Minimum age for taking part in airgun shooting is 18, see
Juniors page for more details
- The first, or
second Saturday of the month is
somtimes used for visits to outdoor ranges
usually at Sealand near Chester (this is in addition to
the normal Sunday shooting at the club
range). All calibres of gun can be used up to the
maximum that the military will allow, over distances between 100 and 300 metres.
The army actually provide paper targets, but we usually take our own. For
full details and travel arrangements ask at the club range. Please note that
visits to the outdoor ranges are for full members
only,
not probationary members or visitors.
- Normally
during the early part of the year we hold a barbecue
in the range
grounds and family and friends of
members are invited to attend. During this event we often organise a 'fun shoot'
and have demonstrations of different types of shooting
especially for the benefit of guests who normally do not have the opportunity to handle guns.
General Club details
- We are located in Marple,
about 5 miles to the south-east of Stockport
town centre and 12 miles to the south-east of Manchester, in Cheshire, England,
in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Between 1974 and 1986 Manchester, Stockport and Marple were in the
administrative county of Greater Manchester (now abolished). The telephone
code for the Manchester area is: 0161, for Marple it is 427 (or 449) and for
the club itself the full national telephone number is: 0161 427 9133. If
telephoning from outside the UK, you will need to omit the initial "0" and
insert your country's international access code before the access code for
the UK, for example: +44 161 427 9133.
- Marple's neighbours in the
Stockport, Offerton and Bredbury area are, Romiley, Compstall, Mill Brow,
Strines, Mellor, New Mills, Hazel Grove, High Lane, Cheadle and Cheadle
Hulme. A little further in towards Manchester, are Heaton Mersey, Heaton
Chapel, Heaton Moor and Heaton Norris.
- Marple is close to the
Cheshire - Derbyshire border and is not
to be confused with the
Marple near Philadelphia, in the state of Pennsylvania in the
USA. There is however a connection, in that one Francis Stanfield who
emigrated to America in 1683 had lived in Marple,
England and seemingly named his new home in the New
World after his old home in England.
- Marple is also where Agatha Christie got the name for
her famous lady detective Miss Marple, this was apparently after she was delayed
for several hours at Marple rail station in the 1920's
- We do not publish full details of our location here,
you will need to obtain directions by telephoning us on 0161 427 9133.
- The range is a purpose built
facility that does not share with any other users and so we have complete
freedom to do as we wish. In practice, opening times are dictated only by
demand and if the demand were to be present, we could be open 24 hours a day
7 days a week. We do not have any neighbour problems with access, noise or
parking.
- The whole range has recently been
redecorated to a high standard and is well heated in the social area /
toilets / kitchen and coaching rooms. The actual firing range itself is also
electrically heated, both for firearms and separately for airguns.
- For a small charge there are a
selection of beverages (tea, coffee, canned drinks) and biscuits available
in the kitchen for members use.
- The Club is wholly owned by the
members and the administration of it is carried out by officers and a
committee, who are elected annually at the AGM in January. The range is run
on a day to day basis by voluntary Range Officers. The
Club is not a commercial enterprise and is not run on a, 'for profit basis'.
All surplus left over after paying our bills is re-invested in the club.
Revised: Sunday, 12. November 2023.