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Dromia - I'm not sure why you're not being explicit when you're saying "you can shoot Full-bore rifles at your club" when you actually mean "You can shoot full-bore rifles with downloaded ammunition at your club". It doesn't exactly should like he's full-on into reloading, or even have any of the kit does it? Most people do not start their shooting journey with a loading press in hand, and i'd wager many don't even realise you can load your own ammunition. I think a £60-70 outdoor/full power rifle club membership is significantly cheaper than a reloading set up.

We'll get into the whole "what does downloaded mean?" debate next....

OK, so I think I understand - if I was to buy/set up for reloading ammo I would be able to bring .223 or .308 ammo to within the tolerances set by the club.
I thought maybe .223 and .308 could not not be brought down to within those levels. (just an assumption, nothing at all to back this up)

I know that certain ammo can be 'downloaded' (if that is the correct term) as the club allows you to shoot .357 and .44 that has been downloaded

Blackstuff wrote:Dromia - I'm not sure why you're not being explicit when you're saying "you can shoot Full-bore rifles at your club" when you actually mean "You can shoot full-bore rifles with downloaded ammunition at your club". It doesn't exactly should like he's full-on into reloading, or even have any of the kit does it? Most people do not start their shooting journey with a loading press in hand, and i'd wager many don't even realise you can load your own ammunition. I think a £60-70 outdoor/full power rifle club membership is significantly cheaper than a reloading set up.

How he chooses to go about his application is his business, however he is in a club that allows full bore shooting within its range limits, all ranges are limited in some way even military ranges some of which will not allow HME for example.

If it is easier for him to join another club rather than make suitable ammunition for his current club then that is his choice but the fact is his current club can give him good reason to have 308 or 223 rifles.

He has options and surely it better to understand them and make an informed choice rather than just assuming on his behalf the better option.

Absolutely, but you have to explain what YOU mean when giving advice like that. If he'd just gone off and slapped on a load of full-bore calibre rifles and said to the FEO "I can shoot them at Mayfair" without understanding what you meant (and have the ability to expalin it to the FEO) could've lead to a delay in his application, caused hassle for the Mayfair if the police also didn't understand the concept of downloaded ammo (for which they have form) and gone stomping off there to see if they were letting people blast away in there will full-power stuff or even underminded the application entirely because he may have come across as not knowing what he was talking about.

Perhaps it is his probationary training should be providing such clarity, if it requires deeper explanation than is given here.

I suppose there is only so much info the club can give you - I had it in my head that I wouldn't be able to shoot .223 or .308 at the club (admittedly not strictly true) but this info must have come from somewhere, maybe the expectation is I'm not going to start making my own ammo within the first 6 months and not to overwhelm me with to much info.

As I am required to put down each gun I take into shoot at the club then I shouldn't be able to take anything in that I'm not supposed to without deliberately trying to mislead

I agree that all knowledge cannot be imparted at once with out the risk of information overload. However clarity of understanding about what members can and cannot shoot on their range is surely one of the key pieces of information that is required to be known and understood by all members.

As I say I was under the impression I couldn't shoot anything greater than a downloaded .38 or .44 - so perhaps it's an err on the side of caution that they haven't discussed using higher calibres, when I become more advanced and probably with direction from people with more experience then I can start asking about going about using larger calibres and what I would need to do to fit in with club requirements.

Perhaps I just have an overly inquisitive mind

The cartridge and calibre is irrelevant to what you can shoot although I suspect the range will have a maximum calibre of .455" for smokeless propellant.

Unless a range/club is blighted by a nonsensical NSRA issued range certificate then you should be able to shoot anything you want on a club so long as it is safe, legal and uses ammunition that is within the range certificates limits when used in a specific firearm.

No doubt there will be many clubs who will have their own foibles and caprices around such things which is why understanding what you can or cannot do at any range is key knowledge.