Southampton Buccaneers Field Target Club

Under 17's

We welcome junior members to the club, however, they must be accompanied and supervised at all times by a parent or guardian over the age of 21.  Although between the ages of 14 and 17 minors are permitted to shoot air rifles unsupervised on private premises where they have permission, SBFTC cannot under any circumstances assume responsibility for their supervision.  There is no lower limit on age, the deciding factor will be an assessment of their ability to handle an air rifle safely, although it is felt that 10 is generally the lower limit for both physical attributes, and more importantly the understanding that air rifles have the potential to be dangerous.  This decision will be made by a club officer and reviewed periodically.  Whilst SBFTC is keen to introduce juniors as early as possible to shooting in a controlled and responsible environment, full size rifles are unwieldy and we cannot compromise their own safety or that of other members.

If you are contemplating allowing your child to shoot an air rifle, even in your own garden or land,  we would strongly recommend that you join a BFTA or NSRA affiliated club, even if it's not ours.  Only through a club can they learn the skills required to improve their ability but more importantly it's the opportunity to acquire the disciplines that ensure they are safe, skilled and responsible shooters.  There is much bad publicity regarding minors and air rifles, some of it well deserved, so joining a recognised club is the responsible thing to do.  In our links page are websites for many of the other clubs in the region.

If you feel that your child is keen enough to warrant buying a rifle for them it's not worth spending a fortune.  Rifles are like shoes, they are either too big or they grow out of it in no time, plus the fickle interest of youngsters can make an expensive piece of equipment surplus to requirement in a matter of months.  A low cost spring rifle such as the Wiehrauch HW25 can be a very good introduction to small juniors (The HW25 probably too small for juniors aged ten years+ though) that doesn't break the bank and gets you up and running for about £130 (which includes a basic scope) plus the cost of a tin of pellets and a rifle bag.  The HW25 is rated at about half the power of most air rifles which can also be an advantage with young shooters, although it will struggle on longer targets.  If you want to spend a bit more and go pre-charged, you'd be hard pushed to beat a new or second hand Air Arms S200.  Combine this with a half decent scope and you'll have a highly accurate rifle that's light and easy to shoot and will last for many years time.  Lot's of the expense comes from equipment that is intended for competition or has features that are wasted on a youngster, but shooting air rifles is actually a very low cost hobby once you've got the initial equipment.  In a pre-charged PCP rifle, each shot is less than 1p, springers are slightly less, so even on a very active club day you'll only get through £2-£3 of pellets.  If you want to go pre-charged but don't want the expense of buying a divers bottle, we have air available at the club for 20p a go.  Have a look on the equipment page for more information.

Membership and range fees for Juniors is half of the adult rate.

Unfortunately we don't have facilities to store rifles at the club, but if you have concerns about having an air rifle and ammunition in the house we suggest you invest about £30-£40 in a lockable hard case with a quality padlock to store the gun and pellets in at home.  £80-£120 will get you an airline rated case that is going to be incredibly hard to get into, and would probably require power tools, ingenuity and considerable motivation to get at the contents.  If they can get to the rifle, this is probably the least of your worries and you should check the car is where you left it.

There are specific laws that relate to under 18's and air guns.  It is recommended that you review the UK Law section.

Send mail to Duncan at webmaster@sbftc.co.uk with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 13-Jun-2008 21:03