Marple Rifle and Pistol Club details
(how to join and costs)

The range building

 To speak to a Range Officer to make an appointment for a visit, call: 0161 427 9133  

 between 19:30 and 20:30 Monday to Friday and you will be given directions to the Club.

 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.

How to join (and costs)

Shooting details

General Club details

How to join (and costs)

• For more information than contained in these notes, please call 0161 427 9133 between the hours of 19:30 and 20:30, Monday to Friday inclusive and speak to one of the Range Officers. All arrangements for a first visit must be made by telephone, you cannot make a date by email.
   
• 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.
   
• Costs: Full annual membership for 2012 is £95, payable either in full from 1st January, or in two equal payments of £47.50, on 1st January and 1st July. We operate a sliding scale for the membership fee, such that you only pay for the balance of the months of the year remaining when you join: for example you would only pay £8.00 membership if you joined in December (plus the joining fee).
   
• There is a £35 joining fee per person and this is paid no matter when during the year you join.
   
• For family members living at the same address we have a special annual rate whereby one person pays the full amount (normally £95) and all others only pay £10 each (everyone pays the £35 joining fee).
   
• Range fees for members and probationary members are £2 per day, the visitor fee is £5 for someone on their first visit to the Club.
   
• We stock ammunition for .22 rimfire and airgun shooting only; as a guide 50 rounds of .22 will cost you about £3-00 and 5 targets £0-70.
   
• 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 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!

Shooting details

 We are open as follows:

        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 over a 5 week period for those wishing to know more. These longer courses are usually held in January / February each year.
   
• On Monday and Tuesday 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 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 normally 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 on the second Sunday in May we hold a barbecue in the range grounds and family and friends of members are invited to attend. During this event we 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. 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 countries 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', 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 into the club.

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Revised 24-Dec-2011.