The Club was constituted in 1984, with the objective – ‘to further the sport of full bore shooting in a safe & instructive environment, & to help Members qualify for local & national events in association with national clubs.’
Things have obviously moved on since then but the underlying theme of furthering shooting sports in Angus, with a competitive element, still underlines the club’s raison d'etre.
When the Club was set up, pistol shooting was a National sport, with the UK strong in Olympic & Commonwealth events. The Club followed the National lead and predominantly shot pistol on our Club range which we leased at RM Condor & also on inter-club events on other Scottish ranges. Some also shot full bore rifle at the military ranges at Barry and by invitation at other rifle ranges in Scotland. The Club settled into this pattern for many successful years, on frequent occasions winning the North East of Scotland Club Championship [NESCC] until the tragic events of Dunblane in 1996.
The subsequent ban on full bore pistol in 1997 obviously brought about significant changes. We still largely shot at RM Condor on a regular basis, but in common with many other Clubs, we moved to shoot the same timed & precision competitions using underlever carbine rifles of pistol calibre –so called ‘Gallery Rifle.’ We also developed an interest in black powder muzzle loading pistols and a few also have black powder rifles. In addition full bore rifle shooting took on a new impetus with more regular shoots, both practice & competition, throughout the year, mostly at Barry.
In the past few years the Club, at some expense, has developed our own Home Office approved range not far from Edzell which is now fully operational.
We also shoot Clay Pigeons once a month on ground near to Letham Grange. This is a fairly informal shoot but still with a competitive element.
Overall, the Club has reacted well to our changing times while remaining true to our original goals, particularly of promoting shooting sports safely within Angus.