Shooting clubs (espec. in germany)

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

I am neither in the army nor can I profit from lax gun laws. But still I would like to enjoy some shooting lessons just for fun during my days off.

Is anyone of you active in a shooting club (possibly in europe). How does it work. How much does it cost. And what are the rules?

[denoir 0]

I'm not so much active these days (don't have time for it), but I'm a member of a shooting club. To get your first license in Sweden, you have to be an active member of a registered club.

Anyway, there are two basic categories - range shooting and field shooting. The first one is indoors at 25 meter ranges where anything but Magnum caliber weapons are allowed. The field shooting is outdoors and ihas no limit on caliber etc

The prices are very much varying, depending on the location of the club etc If you don't own a gun, you'll have to rent one and buy ammo there. All clubs have some form of training-courses for beginners etc

I don't know what specifically you want to know beyond that.

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

No, that was about the info I was looking for. I was wondering if I would ever have the chance in germany to fire a nice weapon without having to take all kinds of silly examinations. But I guess that is not possible.

[CounterForce 0]

in Germany there are only few legal possibilties.

Even if you join one of the shooting clubs you won't get every weapon or ammo.

Hand guns and hunting rifles are the most dangerous weapons you will get in your hands.

Of course you won't get weapons with a big caliber.

btw:

I think it is a bad idea to use your signature in a English speaking forum.

Those who don't understand German might think you are supporting Bush.

[denoir 0]

No, that was about the info I was looking for. I was wondering if I would ever have the chance in germany to fire a nice weapon without having to take all kinds of silly examinations. But I guess that is not possible.

You just tell them that you really need a gun now and you'll see that they'll give you a loaded G36 and let you out on the street

Of course you need some form of training, if you want a license. Many clubs allow you to try shooting at a range, but that is for the most part, just a first-time offer.

[Balschoiw 0]

Check it out here:

Waffengesetz

Quote[/b] ]Außerhalb von Schießstätten bedarf das Schießen mit Schusswaffen einer Erlaubnis

Auf Schießstätten darf ohne Erlaubnis geschossen werden:

ab 12 Jahren: mit Luftdruck-, Federdruck- und CO2-Waffen

ab 14 Jahren: mit sonstigen Waffen, wenn der Sorgeberechtigte schriftlich sein Einverständnis erklärt hat oder anwesend ist und eine zur Kinder- und Jugendarbeit geeignete Person das Schießen beaufsichtigt

ab 16 Jahren: ohne jede Einschränkung

Von den Altersgrenzen soll eine Ausnahme bewilligt werden, wenn durch eine ärztliche Bescheinigung die geistige und körperliche Eignung und durch eine Bescheinigung des Vereins die schießsportliche Begabung glaubhaft gemacht sind.

Für das Schießen mit der Armbrust gilt keine Altersbegrenzung.

Quote[/b] ]and you'll see that they'll give you a loaded G36

Sure

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

Quote[/b] ]You just tell them that you really need a gun now and you'll see that they'll give you a loaded G36 and let you out on the street  

 Damn, was my intention that obvious... believe me, they realy dont pay me enough here, the money I earn is just not enough for my daily living... and now I got all those bills...

So that means I will never be able to shoot a real weapon unless I travel abroad. Kind of silly to play OFP and to never have had the experience to fire an M16 or a G36. Hell I behaved well all my life and I am a peaceful peasant. Why dont they let me?

[denoir 0]

So that means I will never be able to shoot a real weapon unless I travel abroad. Kind of silly to play OFP and to never have had the experience to fire an M16 or a G36. Hell I behaved well all my life and I am a peaceful peasant. Why dont they let me?

You go and sign into a club, go there once a week and shoot away. It's really not that complicated. You'll have to go through some weapons safety training (for obvious reasons), but there's plenty of shooting.

You need to know how to safely operate a weapon so that you don't by accident shoot others or yourself. That isn't so much to ask, is it?

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

So that means I will never be able to shoot a real weapon unless I travel abroad. Kind of silly to play OFP and to never have had the experience to fire an M16 or a G36. Hell I behaved well all my life and I am a peaceful peasant. Why dont they let me?

You go and sign into a club, go there once a week and shoot away. It's really not that complicated. You'll have to go through some weapons safety training (for obvious reasons), but there's plenty of shooting.

You need to know how to safely operate a weapon so that you don't by accident shoot others or yourself. That isn't so much to ask, is it?

No, certainly not. I see the reason for that... but still, I am not too sure whether we are allowed to fire larger weapons in germany even with a license and a good sense of responsibility.

[Balschoiw 0]

In short terms: No.

You won´t get a chance to fire a military assault weapon non modified on a privateshooting range.

Of course you can buy a downgraded G36 sports version and shoot with it. For almost every weapon there is a sport´s version available.

I guess you should better start with handguns and then think of big ones.

Or do you need a toy ?

Or is it for your self esteem?

The BW gladly will provide you with some G36 shooting, once you signed the contract

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

In short terms: No.

You won´t get a chance to fire a military assault weapon non modified on a privateshooting range.

Of course you can buy a downgraded G36 sports version and shoot with it. For almost every weapon there is a sport´s version available.

I guess you should better start with handguns and then think of big ones.

Or do you need a toy ?    

Or is it for your self esteem?  

The BW gladly will provide you with some G36 shooting, once you signed the contract

for self esteeeeeeeeeem ? no, rather to compensate for my tiny manhood!

Seriously, of course I know I should start with small handguns and they are fun anyway, I know that. But so far I have seen only sporting clubs with silly airrifles and small calibers. I dont see a reason to invest time into that if this is the max of weapon I would be able to get into contact with. For the sportsversion of the G36 you definetly need a high class WBK (waffenbesitzkarte).

[Balschoiw 0]

Well everyone here has to start with small ones and then go for big ones.

It would speed up your progress a lot if you do the hunting license. If you got one of those, you can get almost every gun you want.

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

Well everyone here has to start with small ones and then go for big ones.

It would speed up your progress a lot if you do the hunting license. If you got one of those, you can get almost every gun you want.

Hunting license? Speed up!

A hunting license costs you more than 1 year of hard hard work. The examinations are terrifying!

[Balschoiw 0]

Ok then check your status and make yourself a person who is endangered. Doctors for example can get a WBK pretty easy.

You have to be a bit flexible and need someone who supports your claim and there you go

What did you expect Albert ? You go to a shooting range and they hand you over a weapon and say there you go ?

Come on...it´s about weapons and you should know that you better check multiple times until you hand a weapon over to someone. Either you make it yourself a hobby that you really care about and approach it the serious way or you go to Kirmes and shoot with airgun...

[shadow 6]

Over here in Norway there is nothing stopping you getting a Barret .50 unless you can't afford it. Only requirement is (same as Sweden) you need to be a member of a registered club. In order to become a member you need to pass a theory test and show good behaviour on the range (no pointing your weapon anywhere except at the targets etc).

But its always a good idea to start with a small caliber. The smaller the better. Preferably a .22lr (for both handguns and rifles).

I've heard lots of stories about "toughguys" starting with a larger caliber because the gun looks cool. Then they start shooting, noticing they can't hit the broad-side of a barn. Part of the reason being afraid of the recoil. Then they sell the rifle and never shoot again because of the bad ("frightening") experience.

So, start with a small caliber that is easy to shoot with. You don't get a caliber any friendlier or easier to shoot than a .22lr.

I'm sure all of the professionals here (like Denoir and Bals) agrees with that.

[Balschoiw 0]

Sure that´s why we start weapons training with handguns slowly evolving to smg´s , assault rifles and mg´s.

It´s a matter of getting common with the feeling of shooting a weapon. Once someone doesn´t close his eyes anymore while shooting and he knows and practices all weapon security guidelines over and over again he´s said to be fit to advance.

There have been some nasty accidents on BW shooting ranges that have been learned from. Noone gives a recruit a G36 without proper training and guidance. Even if he has 5 shots only in the magazine it can kill five people. Some people are extremely surprised by the difference between handguns and a rifle. This surprise is dangerous and has to be avoided.

The G36 infact is shooter friendly compared to old G3. Recoil has decreased a lot by change of caliber.

But everyone who remembers shooting the MG 3 for the first time knows why he leared to shoot it last  

All those specialities like 20mm, 40mm, live nades or incendiary ammunition or thermite ammo are either part of special weapon drills or taught on demand.

While we do talk about sport-shooting here you definately should go for a handgun first Albert. You can check this out at many places in Berlin I guess. There gotta be some shooting clubs who offer trial shootings with handguns.

Just check out if you like shooting first and then evolve.

Edit: Oh ! And stay away from skeet That´s definately nothing to start with, even if it may look tempting

[shadow 6]

The good thing about shooting handguns first is that when you move on to rifles you're amazed how easy they are to handle and shoot (more holding points) compared to a handgun where your only holding points are your two hands.

Learn to shoot with a .22lr. They are pretty much recoil-free, very precise and very cheap ammo.

Generally ammo for rifles is very expensive unless you got access to military ammo btw.

Personally I only shoot handguns due to the price-tag of a G36 or a SL8-4 with G36 conversion-kit over here

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

Sure Bals, you are definetly right about this. But you see I dont want to take weapons home with me... just a few tiny shooting experiences. On the other hand you are right that a rifle needs to be handled properly and for this one needs experience. It would just be silly if I would have to come to a shooting range regularly for a year to simply be able to shoot a good rifle once. How am I supposed to learn modding for OFP2 if I havent even shot a modern rifle yet (I shot with hunting rifles before).

Shadow.. some good advises, thanks!

[shadow 6]

Don't know how things are done in Germany, but over here, all you need to do is sign up for a security-class. It takes 4x3hours (4 evenings). After that you take a simple test with 10 questions. They are only about common sense and understanding of gun-safety and general range-laws. After that you can start shooting by either renting or borrowing weapons from the club but you can't take them with you home. There is a trial-period of 6 months and a minimum amounts of 20 visits to the range before you can apply for your own license for a certain caliber. Thats over here anyway. Don't know Germany's laws regarding this but I assume they are similar in terms.

Over here you can have a license for any caliber as long as the caliber is allowed on the club(s) you're a member of.

Lucky for me, the handgun-club I'm a member of is certified for everything up to and including .50AE

[joltan 0]

I had some nice shooting lessons on a range over here in Germany a few years ago and I didn't need to take any classes - but then getting a hunting license was basically part of my studies (although not obligatory), so we had all the theory at the uni already. Was fun and we started right away with shotguns (skeets and moving ground targets) and hunting rifles (100m+ ranges and moving targets). It was real fun! And the few bruises quickly teach you to press the rifle butt firmly against your shoulder.

Never finnished the training, tho, as I wasn't actually interested in getting the hunting license and just went there with my pals to have some fun. Still got my Peltors - maybe I'll give it another go one day.

[General Barron 0]

Lol... I'm glad I live in the US, where we get to shoot rifles in Boy Scouts when we are like 11 years old. :P Heck, my dad used to bring his own gun to school and put it in his locker way back in the day. Of course, the culture was much different then, so there weren't school shootings.

But seriously, you really should start with small caliber pistols or rifles. In scouts, we shot 22's from the bench rest, at 50 feet. Its laughable to me now, but back then it was good for teaching some fundamentals. Pistols are a lot harder to shoot, and the higher caliber ones can be kinda nerve wracking for your first time, so you should definately start with a .22. But hey, if my girlfriend can shoot a .45 her first day ever shooting a gun, you can handle it too.

Assault rifles really aren't that spectacular, IMO. I remember when we first shot the m16 in boot camp, everyone was like, "that wasn't what I was expecting". Don't get me wrong, they are great weapons, and I wouldn't be caught dead with a hunting rifle or pistol in a war, but shooting one isn't very different than shooting a hunting rifle.

Machine guns are another story though. I don't know if there are any clubs where you can shoot one in Germany, but they are lots of fun if you ever get the chance.

[Balschoiw 0]

Quote[/b] ]Assault rifles really aren't that spectacular, IMO.

Depends on what assault rifle you shoot. I was feeling like a boy with a toy when I shot the M16 first time. When I shot 7.62 G3 for the first time the story was very different. Small calibers make assault rifles a lot easier to shoot...but that takes away the fun and the big bang I really liked

*sniff*

Uh well, at least I still have my 40mm´s