Britain's holiday camp with guns

By Finlo Rohrer
BBC News Magazine

Shooting has long had a difficult image in Britain. But that doesn't deter the hundreds of men, women and children who, every year, plan to spend their summer holidays on a huge rifle range, complete with chalets and caravans.

To set foot in Bisley, home to the National Shooting Centre, is to travel back in time. It resembles a holiday camp, with myriad caravans and tents, children playing, adults sitting in circles on canvas chairs. It could almost be Butlins, but for the constant crackle of gunfire in the background.

The nearby Surrey towns are sleepy commuterville. But here, between the neat brick gateposts, there is an altogether different world, where dead-eyed marksmen do battle. July marks a red-letter event in British rifle target shooting - the Queen's Prize - which draws 1,300 competitors from across the Commonwealth, who get to try their hand across a selection of rifle ranges.

You can have everyone from a peer of the realm to a local butcher Colin Cheshire

Forget quaffing alcopops in Faliraki or braving the traffic to go to the West Country, there are hundreds of shooting enthusiasts who would rather spend a week's holiday doing what they love, and bring their families along with them.

Children's picnics

Bisley's managing director Jeremy Staples says children are happy to spend their time gambolling in the sunshine at the site, seemingly unperturbed by the nearby sound of gunfire.

"Children can't shoot, but they wander round, they ride bikes. Every Thursday, there is a group of about 50 people from grandchildren to old people who have a massive picnic."

A slight breeze and you're in trouble

The chalets and lodges dotted around the place have a look of the Empire. They resemble the kind of buildings where you might imagine splendid chaps gathering on the verandah for a sundowner in the beating heat of Rhodesia, rather than in the dappled sunshine of the home counties.

There are old red telephone boxes and old-fashioned gun shops preserved as if in aspic. Shooting has been going on here since the 19th Century, and many of the buildings were moved from the last Mecca of British shooting, at Wimbledon Common, in the 1890s. Everything harks back to a different era.

Peter Noss is typical of the "holidaymakers" at Bisley. He has travelled from Cologne to indulge his passion. Nicholas Batai, a member of the Kenyan Navy, has come further: from his home in the Rift Valley, for the fourth year, to enjoy the "atmosphere of friendship".

Furrowed brows

One thing that has not been frozen in time is the rifles themselves. They relate to an ordinary rifle in the same way a competition bow would to one of Robin Hood's armoury. They are strange looking contraptions of metal, wood and synthetic materials.

The mind boggles at the thought of hitting a bullseye on a target that is 900 yards, more than half a mile, away. But there's no room for doubt in the minds of competitors, who even seem immune to the heatwave, wearing tight-fitting shooting jackets, resembling the top half of motorcycle leathers. The jackets help hold them steady and allow them to distribute their weight properly. They lie prone, brows furrowed with concentration. A slight changeable breeze can be their undoing.

Shooters stress it is not an all-male sport

Colin Cheshire is a former captain of the Great Britain shooting team, and a secretary of the NRA. He has been coming to Bisley for 49 years, continuing even since his retirement and relocation to Cyprus.

Private schools have a big input into shooting, but Mr Cheshire emphasises the classlessness of Bisley. "You can have everyone from a peer of the realm to a local butcher," he says.

Shooters are also desperate to dispel the idea this is an inherently male pursuit, and there are plenty of female competitors walking around the site, although anyone passing the stall advertising "Big Boys Toys" might think otherwise.

Compared with other sports, shooting has a complex image, seen through strange prisms. The tightening of gun control laws after the Dunblane massacre carried out by Thomas Hamilton, a gun club member, has affected perception of the sport. And the British perception of America's gun culture also inevitably bleeds over.

But Mr Cheshire insists the image of shooting "is generally [dictated] by what the media chooses to perceive. If only the media were prepared to come here more often. You don't have accidents, you don't kill people, you shoot at targets."

Much of Bisley is frozen in time

Yet this is a sport that involves real guns and real ammunition. The 7.62 x 51mm Nato-style rounds used in competition look similar to the untrained eye to those used in combat rifles like the AK-47 (7.62 x 39mm rounds). For those people who do not care to find out more about the sport, the shooting aficionados on their unusual holiday in Surrey could be dismissed as "gun nuts". And Bisley is after all the base of the National Rifle Association. Its US counterpart conjures up images of Charlton Heston inviting the authorities to take his rifle out of his cold, dead hand.

Bisley's faithful seem a lot less ardent. Remove the futuristic rifles and the participants appear utterly ordinary. These shooters could be viewed as part of a Great British tradition: that of the enthusiast. Whether it is collecting Elvis memorabilia, deep sea angling, trainspotting, or going to VW Beetle rallies, Britain is a nation that wears its hobbies on its sleeves.

Most of the shooters claim not be affected by what any outsider thinks of them, but there is an underlying resentment that they might be regarded differently to other sports. One shooter notes: "You wouldn't persecute darts players."

The site is dotted with chalets and lodges reminiscent of another era

For all the noise, this is a sport about stillness, and concentration, and discipline, and not getting demoralised when bullets whizz into the giant sand bank behind the targets. The officials stress safety is paramount. Bullets are handed out by a soldier. One shop advertises the faintly worrying promise of "free eye tests". Ear protection is mandatory.

But it was not always like this. Long-term shooters deafened by gunfire used to be a common sight. Phil Rowell has come from Powys for the week and at 83, is believed to be the oldest person taking part. His hearing is fine, but he remembers that decades ago "only cissies wore ear protectors".

And in a fortnight's time, Bisley will be deafened by the roar of a different kind as 2,000 Harley Davidson owners arrive for a festival. Kindred spirits to the shooters, another group of enthusiasts, enjoying an unusual sort of holiday.

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Here are a selection of your comments.

I just want to thank you for this great article about the Imperial Meeting at Bisley. I'll hope that it helps to get the sport of shooting viewed in a better way. Bisley is a very safe and beautiful place where many people, from all over the world, have a nice time enjoing their great sport. I was there also during this Imperial Meeting and it was the best time of my life.
Rene van Niel, Breda, The Netherlands

Good piece for a change from the BBC. Sadly one can see how hoplessly brainwashed the antis are. Can't they stop think and realise that allowing only the powers that be to have arms is the road to tyranny. Firearms belong in the hands of the people, otherwise only the criminals have them.
Steve, Stockton England

I condemn this story in the strongest possible terms. You are effectively promoting small arms which is wrong, even to young children. Absolutely 100% wrong. It is truly outrageous. I wonder whether it contravenes the BBC charter. You think that you can get away with abhorrent rubbish but you can't. There must be consequences. Someone should be disciplined.
Benjamin Pybus, Rainham

A report spolit by the obvious 'anti-shooting' stance of the writer. There are at least six unnecessary usages of disparaging terms in this piece, from the mention of 'AK47', to a reference to 'Charlton Heston'. The sort of report that encourages the ignorance of the public rather than informing them. I dont go shooting myself, I find it boring, but I do support the right of people to undertake a sport without vilification by the ignorant.
Barry P, Havant England

As an ex-pat englishman who now uses rifles and shotguns to hunt and shoots pistol at my local club , I'm glad to see somthing positive regarding shooting back in the UK. Shooters are not "gun nuts " but hobbyists and sportsmen(and women)
Chris H, Auckland NewZealand

I would love to find out whether Peter in Nottingham thinks Agincourt might not have turned out much the same, but perhaps rather more quickly and with even more French casualties, had the English longbowmen instead had AK47s. I'm sure a bow can be as deadly as a rifle, shot for shot, but the rate of fire's just not quite there. (Of course, I realise that people target shooting in Bisley aren't using assault rifles.)
James, Beeston, Notts

An armed society is a polite society - a society without the unfettered right to arms is a society of mental slaves Glen Hodges, California

Glen - Being worried about speaking your mind because the other person might have a gun and blow your head off is not my idea of polite society. It is exactly this type of frothy mouthed raving that typifies the american gun lobby and why it is so hard to take them seriously.
Phil Russell, London, England

Started off well, but why the 'AK47' remark - good old BBC, continuing in its traditions! Shooting in general is a friendly, safe and demanding sport. Banning cars is a silly request, but they do kill thousands every year (and the Beeb positively worships cars that can approach three times the legal speed limit i.e. Top Gear). It is hard not to be defensive when you have been targeted by media who refuse to be unbiased.
Terry Hibben, Sittingbourne, Kent

At last a balanced view of our sport. Yes, these guns could kill but so can a golf club, a molotov cocktail (if you can afford the petrol) or a baseball bat. Baseball bats are freely on sale but I do not know anyone who plays baseball. The report on the BBC about recent fight between two gangs resulting in the death of a young asian man mentioned that the gangs were "armed" with baseball bats. Why no action to ban or restrict these weapons of choice?
Alan Robertson, Huntingdon - UK

I have no problem with people going to gun clubs and indulging in their sport, but I don't think that the general public should be allowed to own their own guns. I'm sure most gun owners are fine, upstanding memebers of society, but all it takes is one nutter. To quote Eddie Izzard "Guns don't kill people, people kill people. But I think the gun makes it a little easier." Outside the club they have no legal use anyway.
Tom, Birmingham

A gun is designed to kill people, its primary function is death. You can hire RPGs in Cambodia and fire them at live cattle- that's a sport too apparently- but it doesn't appeal. Anything that is devoted to killing should be tightly controlled and possibly banned. The fact that most people enjoy firing guns harmlessly at targets as a sport is beside the point. Don't need them, play no productive role in society, ban them.
Bill , Ampara Sri Lanka

Can we please get over the misconception that target rifles, and indeed now banned pistols, are somehow designed and built to kill people. They are not. They are purpose built, single shot rifles specifically designed to punch a small hole through the centre of a paper target at what seems like impossible distances. They are precision instruments which would be all but useless in the hands of anyone with evil intent. The politically-correct and their lobbyists continue to do their best to peddle this myth to further their banning campaigns. Even accurate media coverage such as this generates inaccurate responses from them.
Jeremy Dodd, Wokingham Berkshire

I am a hypocrite, I've been to the US shot hand guns and enjoyed it. I am fully behind a total ban on hand-guns. There is no need for them in our society, I do not believe sport is a sufficient reason for allowing a weapon that is designed to be concealed and to kill, to be sold in this country. I know it's not cool to be in favour of bans, but the slight limit on freedom is worth it if it saves one life. I think on balance I'd like to see the ban extended to rifles, I just don't think that sport/leisure is sufficient excuse. Harmless it may be in the vast majority of cases, but not all. When you hold a gun in your hands you are aware of its deadly potential, fatuous comparisons to cars etc demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of this fact. I'm not a screaming lefty by the way; I'm in favour of fox hunting.
Andy, Winchester, UK

On the whole, a balanced article for a change! Thank you for this, although therein lies the issue. As sportsmen and women, who happen to choose target shooting rather than racing, athletics etc, it feels wrong that we should appear so grateful for one of the few media articles that attempts a balanced treatment of our sport. The tragedy is how the British public has been bamboozled into believing that anything to do with shooting is wrong. Let's be clear - killing people, stealing and cruelty to people are wrong. Putting holes in bits of card is NOT wrong!
Bert Bertoloni, Stowmarket, Suffolk

Being one of the Harley Davidson owners mentioned in article and a rifle shooter from childhood, I would like to add that our weekends spent at Bisley each year, truly are reminiscent of another era, as someone once told me my beloved New Zealand is. And if that means that the old standards apply... of courtesy and manners and good old fashioned fun... then long may Bisley survive..its just a pity we have to leave its confines and safety to return to sadly what passes for the "real world" outside...
Oz of Nene Valley HOG, Northants

I have mixed feelings about shooting. Both Dunblane and Hungerford were committed by gun club members - which does go against the "gunclub members are all safe" argument. I took up pistol shooting at 16, and followed it up with small bore rifle at university. This was after starting archery at 12; very much the same requirement for precision, concentration etc. I was studying for my finals when Dunblane happened, and my flatmate Donald was from the village of Dunblane. None of his immediate family died, but it still got to us all that day - it just takes one nutter with a gun to do a lot of damage. Sure, you can argue things have gone too far by banning all pistol and making rifle almost impossible - but how do the authorities make sure another Dunblane doesn't happen?
Clark, Wishaw, Scotland

Whilst all shooters welcome balanced coverage of our sport, I find it interesting that the BBC finds itself unable to produce material in anything other than the pejorative. For example, in today's piece on the Bisley summer meetings.Your correspondent, rather than doing proper research, attempts to paint a picture that panders to the vocal anti-gun lobby. As ever, you fail to acknowledge that the UKs firearms owners are one of the most law abiding groups in the country. That doesn¿t make good copy, after all. Of course, quality content like this can only be brought to us by the unique way in which the BBC is funded
Anon, Marlborough

This is a good article and I am pleased to see that the sport continues to thrive. Whilst I do, of course, recognise the need for tight controls on gun ownership, I used to shoot competitively but was forced to stop owing to the lack of (affordable) access to the sport as everything was shut down. I would love to know if the measures put in place have had any impact on gun crime or really have just forced sportsmen and women to give up their sport.
Mark, London, UK

Am I just being cynical or does anyone else think that the gun associations have encouraged their members to add their comments en masse to this article, petition-style? I've no problem with shooting for sport, but there do seem to be a lot of people here typing near-identical messages. Come on you gun-lovers - next time spice it up with some interesting pheasant-shooting anecdotes or witty vignettes about ripping the crotch out of your tweeds at Badminton, etc.
Damian, Plymouth

Dangerous, antisocial things that should be banned. The sooner we clamp down on caravans and plastic furniture the better!
Roger Hyam, Edinburgh

A balanced article, but scary comments from the gun enthusiasts. I particularly like the idea that banning guns is akin to banning cars or fertilisers, the latter of which are primarilly for transport or growing crops, unlike guns which are designed primarilly to kill people. You could argue that shooting is a sport. Fine; I fence, personally, but have no problem with it being illegal to carry a sword in public
Rob Egginton, Bristol

I should like to inform Alex of London that legally held guns filtering down to criminals is a myth begun and driven by some police forces. All those with firearm and shotgun licenses are by definition known to the police and all firearms serial numbers registered. Moreover, license holders are vetted more closely than GPs (remember Dr Harold Shipman?), so these firearms are in safe hands - similar to Switzerland.
Rod Newnham, Romsey/England

"Alex" trots out the old canard about legal guns providing a supply for illegal use, but fails to explain (because he and his fellow gun-banning bigots cannot) how it is that the steady and draconian tightening of the gun laws in the UK has lead to a 10-fold increase in gun crime. If gun banners bothered to think rather than emoting, perhaps they might notice this rather inconvenient fact.
Huge, Bedford, UK

Whilst it is fair to say that Bisley is not to everyones taste and some of the members can appear on the odd looking or even geeky side, my personal experience of visiting Bisley is one of politeness and a professional approach. Contrary to popular belief, individuals who enjoy shooting are not gun totting lunatics, just persons who enjoy their hobby, usually with a passion enough to ensure they spend a lot of money ensuring compliance with safety and security of their arms and ammunition.
Pete Gourri, London, UK

Living in Northern Ireland has (for once) saved us from the raving loonies wanting to ban hobbies. This weekend, I'll probably go to my local club and send a couple of hundred rounds of varying calibre (9mm, .357, .40 .45) downrange. I'm not Dirty Harry and I'm definitely not a cowboy. I'm a law abiding citizen who enjoys the challenge of placing a bullet a few centimetres closer or tighter to the centre of the target than the next bloke. I wish the media would stop portraying us as 'gun nuts'.
Liam, Ballycastle

An armed society is a polite society - a society without the unfettered right to arms is a society of mental slaves
Glen Hodges, California

I really can't let Alex from London get away with one of the great myths i.e. "legal firearms often filter into the stock and flow of weapons owned and used illegally in the UK today." As every firearm on a shotgun or firearms' certificate has to be clearly identified what does he think that the police do on their regular inspections if they find one missing? I can assure him that the attitude would not be how sad, never mind. The owner would be immediately prosecuted. His statement is one of the pernicious myths about firearms ownership in this country and needs to be nailed as such.
Kip, Norwich UK

As a child, I spent a lot of time at Bisley, with my Dad. I felt safer wandering around Bisley with guns all around than I do walking down Slough High Street. Since pistol shooting was sadly banned in this country, I don't go to Bisley as often, but I know that when I do it won't have changed at all.
K Williams, Windsor

Your article says "..the participants appear utterly ordinary". Of course they are. Why should that be a surprise? When is the media going to stop bracketing together these utterly law-abiding citizens (they have to be..they won't get a firearms certificate otherwise) with illegal gun toting criminals? Oh, and in case it escaped peoples' notice, the incidence of armed crimed has increased tenfold since legitimate law-abiding shooters had their handguns confiscated. Private legitimate ownership of firearms by the law-abiding is not the issue.
John G, Leamington Spa, UK

The holiday camp description is fairly accurate, but Bisley is far more relaxing than you could imagine. Apart from the sound of gunfire (mostly from the adjoining Army ranges) it's a haven of peace with people enjoying barbeques, the many on-site bars & clubs, plus the wonderful local countryside.
Rob, North London

Your article points out that media portrayal of gun sport has focused the publics¿ minds on negative aspects such as gun related violence. However in the next paragraph you mention that the rounds used are similar to those in an AK47, thereby conjuring up images of gun toting militiamen the world over, a world away from this precision sport. Surely this is the type of comment that helps to entrench the negative thinking.
Ian, Aberdeen

I visited Bisley only once - during my service in the Royal Naval Reserve. We were not part of the event as such, just spectators but I was amazed at the variety of weapons offered for sale and the fact you could get ammuntion made to your own specification. All this during the height of the IRA campaign in London. Most attendees appeared to be perfectly normal and enjoying their sport but goodness me, there were some [from their appearance] serious weirdos around....
Peter, Welwyn, England

I'm pleased to see that rifle shooting does get some press coverage, although still somewhat disheartened that this is still a rarity, for a sport where we (the British) regularly win gold and silver medals in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.
Andrew Brockhurst, Stevenage, Hertfordshire

Well done BBC. Now follow this up by telling the world how our unfair laws prevent good honest people from training for the Olympic pistol shooting (unless you live in Northern Irland that is).
Bob Harget, Leicester

At last, an article that dares to show the truth about shooting in modern day Britain! We're not all raving lunatics, but just normal, everyday people with a hobby we care about. The sooner the general public are awoken to this fact, the better. Hopefully, this will happen before our sport is banned forever.
Alan Moulding, Gateshead

At last an article about shooting that is relatively well balanced and doesn't portray the thousands of law abiding UK shooters as closet homicidal maniacs! Shooting is one of the few sports that does not differentiate between men and women or able bodied and disabled. All can compete on an equal playing field and now, with new technology, so can those with poor eye sight (amazingly). It is also a sport that, as a country, we are very good at despite the restrictions placed upon shooters. Many Universities have closed their shooting clubs as it is viewed as being not politically correct, while many councils are publically anti shooting. On top of this some Police Forces apply overly strict (and illegal) criteria to put off people applying for licences.
steve , Birmingham

Its strange that no one would bat an eyelid if you went on an archery holiday, yet in the hands of a real pro (like the actor Robert Hardy) a longbow is a more deadly weapon than an AK47. Its role at Crecy or Agincourt shows that it was designed to kill en masse. Why is it acceptable to use one deadly weapon for sport but not another?
Peter, Nottingham

I'll bet there were no police about, despite there being 1,300 armed with guns. It says a lot about how law abiding the shooting community is.
Patrick Stevens, Llangollen

Each to their own i suppose - i'd rather be sunning myself on a tropical island or touring around some major city as opposed to shooting in Bisley.. Oh well...
Spencer, London

I am very pleased to see such a report as this. I am a member of the shooting fraternity, though not in rifle. My chosen sport is clay pigeon shooting. Prior to clay shooting I used to thoroughly enjoy pistol shooting and achieved modest success representing my county. I have to say it's a great shame that following the knee jerk reaction by the government to the tradegy of Dunblane, of banning hand guns; that come the olympics in 2012 any British competitor in the pistol shooting events will have to go abroad to practise...
Nicholas Lojik, Leeds West

I am pleased that you have carried this article, since the anti gun loby are often represented by well meaning but uninformed people who associate the sport with the illegal use of firearms. When the public learn the facts they will be able to understand the sport more clearly. Also while i would defend shooting for food it is important to understand that most marksmen never kill animals. My grandfather won the Queens prize in 1908 at the age of 18 (with a second hand rifle!) and to my knowlege never shot any animals (claiming that they did not shoot back!)
David Gray, Leighton Buzzard

Yes - typically British and at its best! But shouldn't the Elvis memorabilia be Cliff Richard's, and the VW rallies be for ancient MGs?
Clive Sherriff, Oxford

I interviewed the head of the NRA at Bisley two years ago and I agree with the context of the article above. The place and the majority of the people involved in this kind of activity are outdated with a perspective on 21st Century society and the role of firearms within that, dating back decades too. People who use firearms in this context will consistently relate the problem of firearms in society to those who own and use them illegally... without actually recognising that legal firearms often filter into the stock and flow of weapons owned and used illegally in the UK today, ie. stolen and converted firearms.
Alex, London

I was amongst the private school input into summer shooting at Bisley in 1997. I think your report hits it spot on - these are not gun nuts, just British enthusiasts doing what they like quietly. The camp itself is rather grotty so you'd have to be a fan to spend a week there.
Matt, Edinburgh

The Artists Rifle Clubhouse looks like a typical house in Welwyn Garden City.
Andy Bird, Cheshire, UK

Thanks for a good article about shooting - makes a change from the rabid anti-gun reporting that one sees too often these days. I frequently shot at Bisley as a schoolboy at national competitions, and the article evoked some very fond memories.
Tony James, New York (x-UK)

Nice photo of Jacqui Rankin one of my East of Scotland R C club Members, whose father is a doctor in Stirling who treated children after Dunblane and did not stop Jacqui from taking up target shooting as her sport and becoming one of Scotland's and GB's top female shooters. I have been going to Bisley since 1965 (after a moderate athletics career) missing only last year through a heart bypass and look forward to many more years of shooting and visits to other Countries. A great sport for young people and teaches them many personal skills for their future.
Bob Aitken, Edinburgh and Scotland

I doubt if there is a safer sport than shooting. Ironic that the media can't get past the idea that guns=bad. Why do you always mention the NRA? American culture is based on the right to bear arms - Remember they needed them to kick us out of their country.
Neil, Surrey

Interesting that you compare shooters to other enthusiasts, but not to other world class sports men and women. Target rifle shooters compete internationally in the commonwealth games, although as yet unrecognised by the Olympics.
Tara Young, Hertfordshire/UK

I attend Bisley annually for the small-bore shooting week in August which encompasses the British Championships and it is without doubt a welcome step back in time. Ideal for film sets of a yester-year it remains undiscovered with a charm all of its own. All the buildings have their own story. Long may it stay that way in character but with some of the facilites updated as the ablutions blocks are still from the 1950's / 60's.
simon jacklin, Bristol

Thank you for such a well written article. It gets across a point that we, in the Rifle Shooting community, have been trying to make ever since the tragic events of Dunblane, some 10 years ago. Rifle Shooting is a past time and a sport, where we aren't mad gun nuts, but people who want to induge in and compete in an enjoyable sport where the firearms are aimed at targets, and not people or animals.
Jordan Dias (Secretary, Edinburgh University Rifle Club), Edinburgh/London, UK

At last - a sensible reporter has managed to dispel the myth that anyone involved with guns is a nutcase liable to murder someone on a whim. My husband and I both enjoyed smallbore rifle shooting at a club in Aberdeen, where the members are varied in both age and occupation, where shooting is an enjoyable pastime and where if you're lucky you'll be there on the same evening as double Gold Commonwealth Medal winner Sheena Sharp. Shooting is great fun and a sociable sport which is needlessly demonised by the press and knee-jerk reactionaries.
Melanie Torrance, Newtonhill, Scotland

Pointing out that these rifles use the same ammunition as AK-47s is like pointing out that the knife used to stab someone is made of the same metal as the knife on your dinner table, or that your family digital photos are in the same format used for pornography. It's the use that's important, not the object itself.
Anthony M, Poole, UK

An unusually balanced article, with occasional snide asides. One unbalanced man takes his gun and shoots up people - and the knee-jerk government reaction bans guns. Why haven't they done the same for cars? or fertilizers (no chemicals - no bombs) or any number of things that contribute to a senseless murder?
Angela Martin, Bedale

There is no need to comment in this article on the Big Boys Toys stall! It's just a name and I have seen this stall at countless air shows, and other outdoor events over many years. I'm female and a clay shooting enthusiast and yes it is a branch of shooting persued by mainly middle aged men but there are big efforts to encourage females and youngsters to take the sport up - a great idea. Shooting is not a macho sport at all, frustrating yes - but great fun!
Freda Lodge, Alton Hants