Pete my husband had some years experience at clay pigeon shooting many years before and gave it up when we were married. Physical fitness, money and other priorities were the main reasons.
Replacement knees, a new hip and a mid life crisis caused a spark to reignite and he decided it was time to get back to the sport.
I thought this was a great idea for him since I knew he needed a reason to get out of the house in the fresh air and I thought this was something we could perhaps enjoy together …. I was planning to be his caddy!
Old eyes were not going to stop him, beautiful guns, the smell of gunpowder and ‘things going bang’ were calling him, and before I knew it, there he was applying for his shotgun licence!
Every evening when he finished work, we were discussing guns of all things and I felt myself being captured by the beauty of the older guns, (also the very pricey ones but hey we can all dream) GuntraderUK began to be my new “go to and browse” website in my idle moments, something I never thought would happen. I found myself selecting types, makes and models in next to no time and wanting to know more lol.
I could feel myself getting so excited by the prospect of wealding a gun and joining in a bit, and after much discussion, there I was applying for my shotgun licence too since Pete would be unable to let me have a try until he had been a member for a year at Southdown Gun club just up the road!
Many years ago I tried clay pigeon shooting once – not in a serious way but just for a bit of a giggle… seemed fun at the time lol.
We signed up for a family membership at Southdown Gun Club in Findon and also joined the CPSA for insurance reasons mainly.
before the first ever shot!
A brief glimpse into the future!
An original UK Browning Citori Grade V had been the love of his life all those years ago so he concentrated on looking for something similar.
Saturday was all planned … off to Reigate Gunmakers who had a Browning B125 that he wanted to see.
We knew we couldn’t actually buy a gun yet due to the licence application only just being submitted, but there he was all excited and raring to go.
Stephen at Reigate was very friendly and helpful, he actually had a couple of 12g B125 Brownings, one fixed choked and one multi choked, we also looked at a beautiful Miroku and then…. he came out with a B25 (the daddy of all Brownings as far as Pete was concerned and as I have since found out so does everybody else) and I could see my husband melting at the sight of it.
Hand made, hand engraved and not out of our price range! He was smitten!
We strolled down to a local café called The Tea House Reigate and had a glorious cream tea while we discussed our next move… despite the B25 stock not being quite as he would have liked in terms of the finish, this was the gun he wanted so Stephen agreed to hold the gun until the licence was received.
The following week we decided to go to F. A. Andersons in East Grinstead to look at a basic gun for me.
Well… shooting may not be my thing, anything nice could be a waste of pennies! We met a really friendly chap called Marvin who presented me with a new Kofs to look at. Having looked at so many pretty glorious looking guns in the past weeks, this for me was quite uninspiring but hey, it was a gun...
Then it happened… there it was … out came a 1984 Beretta 20g Silver Pigeon V (drop dead gorgeous in my opinion 
)…. and then there was the price tag … more than three times what we were planning to spend! This gun was light, appeared to fit with it’s short stock, 28” barrels in fabulous condition, but way too expensive for my conscience.
We were already out and about and half way to Reigate so off we went back to Reigate Gunmakers to visit Pete’s B25 B2G and give it a pat lol and to have another look at the B125’s with me in mind instead of Pete. Although I had to admit these guns were lovely, well made, had provenance and not too oversized, once I lifted them the difference 'seemed' clear, I needed a 20g with a small stock, I needed a ladies gun, something to suit a smaller person..... or so I thought...
We treated ourselves to another cream tea at the café and went home.
I kept looking on the internet for a while and finally decided to wait until I was in a position to actually buy a gun with shotgun licence in hand. I could see the impatience building in Pete to get his hands on his new gun and it seriously appeared painful!
Meanwhile Pete found another gun that he wanted! (how many guns can a man shoot?!) This lovely 1988 Browning B125 grade D was at Chris Potters in Tunbridge Wells and I had to admit the woodwork was to die for! Another deposit paid and the wait continued. At least I could try and shoot a heavy gun until I found my perfect match… I thought.
This process, while pretty painless is very tedious (yawn!). The time it takes to come through varies from county to county and we were apparently still in for another 6-8 week painful wait. Eventually we got the call for the visit and despite our applications being made over a week apart our firearms officer agreed to interview us together. Pete’s original gun cabinet was still suitable and she seemed happy with our responses to her questions. All seemed good and then it was all about checking the doormat every day for those all important pieces of paper!
Reigate Surrey
RH2 0AD
East Grinstead Sussex
RH19 3AF
Tunbridge Wells Kent
TN1 2QB
Southampton Hampshire
SO30 2GB
Tern Hill
Shropshire
Northall Clay Pigeon Club
Northall Farm
Fletching, East Sussex
TN22 3SA
Reigate Surrey
RH2 0AA
Clay Pigeon Shooting Association
Sussex
Findon, West Sussex
BN14 0RQ
Headley, Surrey
KT18 6LD
Mill Farm, Hankham Hall Road
Westham, Pevensey
BN24 5AG
Northall Farm
Fletching, East Sussex
TN22 3SA
Old Hay
off Pearsons Green Road
Paddock Wood, Brenchley
Kent, TN12 7DG
Quarley
Andover
SP11 8PX
Hodnet
Market Drayton
Shropshire
TF9 3LH
Bottesford Lane
Orston
Nottinghamshire
NG13 9NX
Windmill Road
Markyate St Albans
Hertfordshire
AL3 8LP
Offering private 1:1 or group shooting lessons in Sussex
Offering essential and advanced basic training and 1:1 instruction in Surrey
