Aldershot Rifle and Pistol Club History
The club was formed in October 1919 by ex-members of the WW1 Volunteers, the equivalent of the Home Guard in WW2, as the “Aldershot Rifle Club”. It shot at various indoor ranges in the Aldershot area until WW2 curtailed all activities for the duration.
After the war the club was reformed and obtained the free use of a disused chalk quarry. Three 4-lane ranges were constructed, 25, 50 and 100 yards which were opened in 1947. Shooting took place on Saturday afternoons and Wednesday evenings. In winter the Wednesday meetings took place in an army barrack range in Aldershot.
Around 1957 the club purchased a small plot of land close by the quarry and built its own 4-lane indoor range with clubroom and car parking space which opened in 1958. This range continued in use until severe subsidence compelled its closure in 2006.
In the mid 1970’s the committee recognised the increasing interest in pistol shooting and changed the club’s name to “Aldershot Rifle and Pistol Club”.
In 1976 the club’s free tenancy of the chalk quarry came to an end and an expensive rental agreement was offered. The members took the bold decision to purchase the quarry outright, and succeeded at auction with a bid of £2,850, becoming owners of 3 ¾ acres of quarry with an access road. This was eventually developed to provide a 12-lane pistol and rifle range at 50 metres, and an 18-lane 100 yard range. Echeloned mounts provide for shooting at 20yd, 25m, 50m and 100 yards.
In 1998 the club completed a 10-lane 25 metre indoor range within the quarry, complete with full facilities effectively bringing all club activities onto the same site.
Being a long-standing Aldershot (Hampshire) club, but fully located in Surrey, the club is affiliated to both the Hampshire and Surrey Small-bore Associations, and therefore offers the opportunity to enter competitions run by both Counties, as well as those of the National Governing Body, the NSRA.