It’s behind a pay wall so can’t see the article, but doesn’t sound good?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-ba...IRTUJVOXCHFBQ/
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It’s behind a pay wall so can’t see the article, but doesn’t sound good?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-ba...IRTUJVOXCHFBQ/
from friendface:
"Rivers To Ranges
URGENT NOTICE
Both of the HBRC Rifle RANGES are NOW
closed and cannot be booked or used
Until further NOTICE……
We will endeavour to bring them up to the new legislative standards as soon as we are able..
We are sorry for this inconvenience to the hunting and shooting public of HB
Regards
Jeremy Hanaray and the RTR team"
Sounds like they hit a mine in the minefield.
And yet it is very likely that it has operated safely for decades.
The inspectors sound like really nice people,who are " just doing their job".
Or not.
We had no leniency given to us and had a spot inspection. They basically said because we hadn’t completed the work we were going to do in a timely manner - they threw me under the bus and implied I was breaking the law by operating the range, and that would be on my shoulders.”
Hanaray also cited the scrutinising new rules as a frustration. He said he had been penalised for trying to go further than was expected.
“Because we wanted to be better than just ticking the box, we gave it a huge ‘DANGER, NO ACCESS, LIVE FIRING’ sign, with additional info.”
Once a sign was made and erected, the spot inspection found that it didn’t directly state that when the red flag is up, that meant live firing, therefore it was not acceptable.
“Common sense doesn’t prevail any longer.”
That sounds like there is a lead into this, that it might be helpful to outline. There are a few in here who have navigated or are in the process of doing so.
My feeling is that things that don't fit their prescriptive examples tend to cause then consternation.
That particular "range" fulfills a valuable role for casual shooters round here. Without it, many would be sighting in or testing in river beds, etc
I guess I am just becoming a grumpy old prick. I am sick and tired of the degree of health and safety overreach and the numpties that administer it and on a separate note, I am fed up with officialdom telling me what I can and can’t do. From my old man on up, my hands on pioneering ancestors would be spinning in their graves if the knew just how much our society had been dumbed down and over regulated. And while I am at it, despite all of the orange vested, coned off dickheads we now have to suffer, people are still having accidents and fuck me they learn from them just like we always did.
Sounds odd if they had there range inspection and received there range certificate then it all should have been sorted then as there is a map with where the signs are placed and what is on them, bit worried about ours now
Might be a good time for Ms McKee to step in on their behalf , now that ACT have more political clout .
She's still an official nobody til the negotiations have finished
I am not personally involved in this range at all outside of a conversation I had ages ago about suitable backstops for "large" projectile capture, suitable backstop depths, angled steel deflector plates, etc.
Anyways, and I have no idea if this is the case, but they may not have received their certificate - but were having their application reviewed by FSA with an improvement notice being issued (or possibly improvements being noted on their range inspection) with a specified time frame (e.g. you can continue to operate but we want to see "these" improvements within "this" time frame to be able to issue your range certificate). Then comes the spot inspection...
Greetings @Gillie,
I think that you have nailed it. I have only been to the range once and that some years ago so I don't know what work has been done. There was no backstop to speak of and open river bed in the danger area. That said there is a chronic need in Hawkes Bay for a 100 to 300 metre rifle range that the average hunter can use. A few months ago we had a presentation at our NZDA from Tod McClay and the two local candidates, now MP's. I made the point that the pressing need was for a decent Rifle Range along the lines of that at Tauranga. This is beyond the ability of one person or one club to achieve if they are starting from scratch.
Regards Grandpamac.
The range I provided some small advice to sounded like it was in a quarry? So might be a different range we are talking about @grandpamac
You are better at this than me Rushy - I'm more the former - but the world does need Rushys'.
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
― George Bernard Shaw
I know we are a bit of a trip but if anyone is desperate for a range we have our one in wairoa it's only 200m rifle but shotgun and pistol to
It was always going to be hard (if not impossible) for that range to meet the new range safety standards. As others have pointed out, there's no decent backstop and the danger area is uncontrolled riverbed.
Pity. It's a great range and valuable resource.
Well, one option would be a silt dump berm... Knock off two birds with one stone so to speak. Probably wouldn't be allowed though, too much of a good idea.
Would need to be retained inside a lined abutment of some sort with a removable catcher arrangement for lead control, but it is definitely doable. One of the issues some areas have found is where to get fill cheaply enough to be viable to fabricate the control structures.
I stopped in at Ashburtons rifle range couple of weeks ago.Gates locks,way in the distance 400yds?was a big high,wide concrete wall.May be 8mtrs wide and 6 mtrs high,my guessing could be out.3 big bullsizes painted on it.River bed bank n willows in the back ground.Set up looked impressive.
Exept that mountain bike track goes behind the butts I believe.
Council have tried to shut it down but I think in the fine print when it was gifted by the army? They can only close it if they provide the same thing else where in country.
That proved troublesome I think, they were looking at somewhere down Hakatere but then all the NIMBY's stymied it so its still in center of town as it were.
i remember as a schoolboy biking thru Ashburton going from home to range with my .22 slung across my back. Would not try it now!!
My local doc told me Te Pirita gun club range been closed too in the last yr.Mostly used by shot gunners.Pellets straying,blimey theres nothing up there.
If your local doc is named Lewis tell him he needs to get his facts correct.
Mead Te pirita gun club is not closed, there skeet field is shut down because it's to close to the road.
They have ample room to build a new skeet field further from the road.
The dtl fields are consented and used for there monthly shoots.
How does that range work @country cuts?
Booking system or just call in on our way through?
The HBRC range has large earth backstops, and side stopbanks.
It is not shooting into an open riverbed.
The "target area" has earth filled tyres.
The range has been closed down as a result of the new rules.
Those less scrupulous with safety are now shooting in open riverbeds and DOC land - not saying this didn't happen previously; but anecdotally this activity will increase.
Work is being undertaken to rectify the HBRC range - but it will be 2 months or so before the range can be re-opened.
Don't think this couldn't happen in your location.
Half these range inspectors are on their own job creation program,some probley never had a fal.
I disagree, the list of inspectors are all fal holders, many are members of national shooting organisations. All attended "training" in applying the templates and inspection criteria laid out in the police range manual. The manual is a prescriptive "standard".
Variations are likely to attract scrutiny such as in our case where the distance from the target to the backstop exceeded 30 metres it was approved as a reduced danger area range by the private inspector we employed as the backstop actually is a 165 m high papa cliff. His assessment is being reviewed as we speak.
I think the FSA (now) Range Manual has flip-flopped on the earth filled tyres thing. I think there was a bit in the manual about they were worries about low velocity projectiles basically "bouncing" off the tyres and the steel windings. I think FSA had talked about an earth layer (500mm thick) on top of the tyres but then you need to keep that earth in place - compaction will get it there to start with (keeping in mind the required angles) but then projectile impact will wear it down again. Heavy conveyor belt type material comes in handy here but then you need a maintenance / replacement program for that as well.
Reading the full article in HB Today it seems that the fix is agreed on but just has not been done yet. I note also that Taupo is removing tyres from their bullet catcher and backstop as they find them. Other ranges are using plastic drums with the tops cut out and filled with various mediums as a bullet catcher
GPM.
As part of the new regulations tyres are not recommended for bullet catchers as the wire belts can cause ricochet or sparks, that's what were were told