Thread: Practical shooting around or within a few hours of auckland?

Hi all, a lurker but new to posting here. I am probably in the minority as I am not a hunter. I have always been a paper puncher and done a lot of competitive shooting - at round targets.

I had many years off when my kids were younger and now I shoot IPSC. I have wanted to do some rifle shooting again but not the target stuff that I have been used to. I had looked at something like the ruger precision but wasn't sure what I could do with it other than a bit of time at the range. As this would have been a little bit of fun on the side I never saw it as a good investment to hit some paper by myself.

Recently I saw some stuff on facebook like the Ruahine NZDA Biathlon and thought to myself, if I could do a few of those a year and a bit of extra plinking then a rifle like that might make a bit more sense. This would really be for a bit of fun competition, nothing too serious on my part.

Does that kind of stuff happen within a few hours of auckland on any semi regular basis? I really like the format of it, I would really like another rifle but shooting the other stuff costs $$ as it is so I dont particularly want something that sits in the safe all year around.

Thanks!

Welcome to the forum. Read some of the shooting competition threads started by Gillie. They may point you in a direction you might like.

I am not aware of a semi-regular practical / field rifle shooting competition or get together close to Auckland. One of the shooting spots that was running field events has been closed and the other semi-regular event is invitational (by mates, for mates) and that property has not long been sold as well. If you know of a property / land manager that would be open to hosting a field shooting or practical rifle event then please get in touch and i'll pass you onto a couple of people that are very keen to get an event around Auckland going.

Thank you Rushy and Gillie. It looks that way, having gone through the events section there don't seem to be too many regular shoots and they happen 5-8 hours away.

I will try to be sensible and not go and buy something I could easily lust over if there is nothing around that interests me in shooting it!

Thanks all.

@MaW Depends on what sort of paper punching you'd like to do?

* F Class type shooting - Clevedon Rifle Club
* Service Rifle - Auckland Service Rifle Association

Go to an ASRA shoot mate. A few forum members shoot there Ryan, Dogmatix etc

Hi Ryan, thanks for the info!

I will have a look at the service rifle. I just wanted something a bit different to mix it up a few times a year but nothing too serious so I reckon F Class probably doesn't fit the bill. The field target looked like it would fit the bill, a bit of fun, not horribly expensive and good enough to get a bit of a fix without spending long amounts of time in front of fixed distance targets all the same, all the time.


Thanks!

Maw, as Beavis said service rifle might be what you are looking for and close to Auckland.

A bunch of field or practical events are not advertised as well.

Originally Posted by MaW

Hi Ryan, thanks for the info!

I will have a look at the service rifle. I just wanted something a bit different to mix it up a few times a year but nothing too serious so I reckon F Class probably doesn't fit the bill. The field target looked like it would fit the bill, a bit of fun, not horribly expensive and good enough to get a bit of a fix without spending long amounts of time in front of fixed distance targets all the same, all the time.


Thanks!

Service rifle's good fun, there are no fevered egos - great bunch of friendly and knowledgeable people. Don't *need* to be a member, can just rock up on the day, pay your fee and participate in the day's event. CNIGC although in Rotorua, also host some enjoyable events and is well worth the trip out there.

+1 for ASRA, NZDA Auckland also run service rifle shoots but they don't have the facilities like Cleavdon where ASRA shoots in the summer.

Thanks again for the replies everyone, that gives me some things to do a bit of research on.

I have spent so much time on the net in the last few days! Shooting IPSC and now wanting to get in to 3gun/multigun. A lot to learn, what people are shooting etc. It's pretty easy to figure out the shotgun and pistol side of things. Now figuring out the 3gun options for rifle. All those years off has seem to made me hungry for more It's a great sport shooting.

Originally Posted by 300CALMAN

+1 for ASRA, NZDA Auckland also run service rifle shoots but they don't have the facilities like Cleavdon where ASRA shoots in the summer.

Do ASRA do vintage service rifle shoots or is it all AR type?

Originally Posted by Steve123

Do ASRA do vintage service rifle shoots or is it all AR type?

BAM (bolt-action match) are occasionally run but mostly it's service rifle (i.e. current issue rifles, AR, AK etc).

I would expect that at any service rifle match, if you wanted to shoot the match with a vintage service rifle then they would welcome you with open arms... expect to have a lot of fun but don't expect a vintage bolt action to keep up with a modern semi!

Originally Posted by Gillie

I would expect that at any service rifle match, if you wanted to shoot the match with a vintage service rifle then they would welcome you with open arms... expect to have a lot of fun but don't expect a vintage bolt action to keep up with a modern semi!

True - any shooter doing so receives a bit of extra time for each match.