Then the Government, in all it's wisdom, enforced a handgun ban on the shooters of this country, the ban required us to surrender all our Pistols, we complied and (eventually) received compensation for them. This knee-jerk reaction cost the government approx £200 million! This meant the taxpayer (you) had to foot the bill.

Some shooters completely disheartened by this unnecessary ban, gave up a hobby they had enjoyed for years, and our membership dropped by approximately 60 %.

But not everybody gave up, some of us used the
compensation payments we received to purchase
.22 Semi-automatic Rifles & Lever-action Pistol Calibre Rifles
and more recently, Long barrelled Revolvers & Pistols.
and made the transition to Target (Gallery) Rifle shooting.

Click on the sixth bullet hole above for a spot of target practice!
when the website opens type a silly name in the box and press begin.
(you have to have Flash installed on your PC)

The "LCB Marksmen" club has a 20 yard shooting range using a turning target system below left with 6 firing points (bays) centre, we have several club guns (for members & probationary members to use), a club room with a Pool Table, toilet and washroom on site, tea and coffee making facility's, soft drinks & choc-bars are also available at very reasonable rates.

To date we have 40 members and 5 probationary members and we are taking on more due to the overwhelming success of the Open days (see below).
Our annual membership fee at present is, £70.00 for adult members & £30.00 for Junior members (under 18's).

We're open 4 night's a week:- 7.30pm - 10.00pm & Saturday afternoon's:- 2.00pm - 5.00pm. (Closed Sunday & Monday)

Ammunition is approx £2.50 to £3.50 for 50 rounds and can be purchased for use in the club but can not be removed from the premises (unless you hold a Firearms Certificate).

Anyone wishing to apply for membership must first attend an Open Night (none Firearms Certificate holders) then complete an application form to include a passport style photograph. A means of identification must be produced e.g. Passport, Driving licence, ID etc, with the appropriate one off joining fee of £15 or £10 for juniors under the age of 18. Once accepted as probationary members, they have to attend the club for at least 12 shooting visits in a minimum of 3 months, they are given one to one supervision and training on the aspects of safety and gun handling for the extent of their probationary service, they pay a £3 range fee per visit for the duration of their 3 month period.

When they have completed their 12 visits, their membership application is reviewed by the committee and if no objections are forthcoming they are accepted as full members (subject to payment of their membership fee).

Applications can only be accepted from anyone aged 14 or over.

A parent, guardian or adult relative must accompany applicants under the age of sixteen when they apply to join.

(LCB Marksmen reserves the right to refuse probationary membership applications and full membership applications without explanation.)

The Law allows us to hold up to 12 Open Nights per year. Only on these occasions, can a person visit the club and shoot on the same day without being a probationary/full member (under strict one to one supervision).

The cost of an open day visit is £6 for the range fee which includes: 50 rounds of ammunition, training in handling a rifle and some degree of coaching. Guests who have taken advantage of this facility in the past, have realised what enjoyment the sport has to offer and how safety is our utmost priority, all have thoroughly enjoyed themselves and many have progressed to become full members and now shoot on a regular basis, some attending the various national Open competitions we enter throughout the season.

Organisations like Round Table & Rotary Clubs tend to visit us on a regular basis to try Target shooting, either as a special one off visit or one of their members may be looking for a new hobby.
Large companies have also arranged for their staff to attend one of our Open Nights. All have left with a positive attitude towards shooting, knowing it's one of the safest sports you can participate in.

 

We also hold a number of Practice nights throughout the year (if time & space permit), dedicated to certain types of disciplines that we find difficult to shoot on a normal club night because of members needing to shoot Competition cards or Probationary members wanting to shoot.
These disciplines include: the 1500, the Bianchi and the exciting Man v Man, this way anyone wanting to practice one of these in particular can request one night to be kept free to practice.
Other disciplines like the Precision & Timed and Multiple Targets are shot as a matter of course on any club night.
Fun competitions may be held at the club throughout the year, these are out of the ordinary competitions shot for fun, each competitor pays 50p for one entry, at whatever the comp consists of, (multiple entries are positively encouraged) it could be different coloured targets, or targets of different shapes & sizes, timings could be within a certain time limit, or against the clock (fastest time wins), they may have to be shot in a certain rotation or out of order, anything that's diverse or devious! Possible dates for the Fun comps can be seen on the same page as the Open Nights.

Members who wish to keep up to date with club comp cards, or Phoenix postal comp card dates, and club opening times, follow this link

~ Hand-loading basics ~