Club information: Here is a list of the clubs in Edinburgh and the Lothian area which normally affiliate to the Association each year. Those indicated have said they are currently willing to accept enquiries from prospective members.
| Please read this section before proceeding to the rest of the page:
If you wish to enquire about joining any of the smallbore shooting clubs in the table below or just ask them a question, then click on the appropriate “Contact this club” button in the table below. You will be asked to fill in a short form that will be sent to a representative of that club.
As can be seen below, not all clubs accept enquiries from the general public. Of those that do, some might not have dedicated coaching and equipment available for beginners. This is a gender-neutral sport and men and women generally compete together. Juniors should really be at least 12 years of age before taking up the sport as for purely practical reasons, physical size can constrain the use of the adult equipment most clubs have to lend to new-starts. Contact your chosen club for further information. If your enquiry concerns airgun shooting only, please look at this note before continuing.
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You can contact any of the clubs in the table below that has a “Contact” button in the right-hand column.
(Please do not send an enquiry about airgun shooting to a club which does not have those facilities (see the table below) as it will just waste everyone’s time)
|
Club |
Comment | Air Rifle / Pistol available? | Is the club contactable? |
| Balerno & Currie | Based in Currie on the south-west edge of Edinburgh. (Please see the note below this table* before making an enquiry to this club.) |
Yes (but read this first) |
Contact this club (but see below*) |
| Edinburgh University | Open to EU students only. Range is in central Edinburgh. | Yes (but read this first) |
No |
| George Heriot’s School FP | Open only to former pupils, teachers or parents of current or former pupils of George Heriot’s School. The club shoots at Balerno & Currie’s range after being summarily evicted from the School’s range in 2015. | No | Contact this club |
| George Watson’s College | For pupils only. | Yes | No |
| Merchiston Castle School | For pupils only. | No | No |
| Prestonpans | Located in the town to the east of Edinburgh on the coast beyond Musselburgh. | No | Contact this club |
| Redcraig | Their range is west of Edinburgh between Wilkieston and East Calder. | No | Contact this club |
| Hawick | Based in, er, Hawick in the Scottish Borders. | No | Contact this club |
| Watsonians | Uses the range at George Watson’s College. Not restricted to former pupils. | Yes (but read this first) |
Contact this club |
In addition:
1. Dumfries is a club which used to be based in that city but since they were ejected from their range premises in circa 2010 it uses the range of Cumberland New RC in Carlisle. Most if not all of its members reside in the wider Dumfries area, so it’s a moot point whether the club can be considered to be part of the LBTSA family. If you are looking for a club in the south-west of Scotland or the northern north-west England, then either Dumfries or CNRC can be recommended.
2. EU Alumni† is an active club which occasionally affiliates to the Association. Its range is in central Edinburgh and it is is open only to graduates of Edinburgh University and a restricted number of graduates from other Universities. If you come under either of those categories and wish to make enquiries, you should be aware that potential members must be experienced shooters and must own all their own equipment. You can contact the club here.
†Note that, when last checked, its website has not been updated since 2003.
*Note regarding Balerno & Currie: The Club is now accepting new members who have prior experience who do not require beginner-level instruction or who already have their own FAC/AWC. They currently have limited ability to coach novices so cannot guarantee to accept such new members immediately. However, interested novices are welcome to contact the club, and might be placed on a waiting list depending on the availability of the coaches. Contact may be made using the link above or via the club’s own website.
Some clubs are only active in the “winter” season (September to April) and do not operate during the “summer” season at all or do so only on a reduced basis, so induction and instruction of new members may or may not be available in that period. Enquiry with a club will provide details of their seasonal activities.
Here’s a YouTube video about shooting in general. If you’re totally new to the sport it gives a good overview although it spends very little time on smallbore rifle shooting. (I hope it’s still available: apologies if not – it’s out of my control.) It lasts about 8 minutes.
Traditional cartridge pistol shooting is banned in mainland UK and none of the clubs listed above has a range suitable for it anyway. However, see more on cartridge pistol shooting here as that’s not the full story.
There are other clubs: Dunfermline, Dysart, Leven, Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Kinross & Milnathort and Perth to the north, and Alloa & District (shooting at Kincardine indoors and near Clackmannan outdoors), Callander, Larbert, Lanark, Larkhall and Claymore to the west. There are no longer any clubs in Glasgow itself, but there are clubs in Dumbarton and Greenock. Contact details for any of these clubs may or may not be available from the site administrator, but feel free to get in touch with any queries as he might be able to find out for you.
If you have a physical disability, please visit these websites for a lot of information about target shooting
Disability Target Shooting GB
Disabled Shooting Project
If you are registered blind, please visit these sites:
British Blind Sport
Disabled Shooting Project (acoustic shooting)
Unfortunately, as far as this writer knows, there are no clubs in Lothian with the facilities either for shooting from a wheelchair or for acoustic shooting for the blind.
This link (also available in the Sidebar) gives an overview of the organisational structure of shooting bodies in the UK, and an explanation of how competitive shooting is arranged and run, both locally and nationally. It’s quite long, so set aside a good 10 minutes to get through it.