Target Air Rifles North Yorkshire

Check your stance, line up your shot it's time for air rifles in Yorkshire! Your experience takes place at a premier shooting ground in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, with rolling countryside all around you, a warm welcome and great facilities on hand too - we love the open log fire on a cold winter's day in the clubhouse!

Target shooting is an Olympic sport that is accessible for all ages. You might think that to be a hot shot you need to be big and muscly, but that is simply not the case. It's actually more about brains than brawn, as you'll find you need to concentrate on stability, calmness and co-ordination to be a success with the air rifle.

Our Yorkshire centre is home to a whole range of shooting sports, including the three different rifle set ups. Each one offers both the traditional paper targets (the ones with black coloured rings on), as well as knock down targets that pop right back up again after you've given them a good ping with your pellet.

You'll be using modern sporting air rifles here in Skipton. These guns have longer barrels than pistols, which means they are more accurate and have a longer firing range. Typically, you might start off at around 10m and as your shooting improves, the distance increases to keep the challenge up.

These air guns all use metal pellets as ammunition, so before you start your session out on the range, your expert tutor will talk you through the workings of the gun and how to load. They will also show you the various stances (you can stand, sit, kneel or lie down in shooting) and make sure your have the right gun for your physique.

In fact, gun fit is one of the most important elements. It's all about the length between the trigger and the butt of the stock so that you are comfortable in your stance. Once this is correct, it's over to you to work on your trigger finger positioning, body alignment and breathing. Novices tend to hold their breath whilst shooting, whereas you'll learn the trigger should be released halfway through a nice, steady exhale…cool, calm and collected in Coniston Cold!

Once you're all set up, you'll have around an hour to shoot air rifles at this Yorkshire ground. Of course, everything you need is included in the package, but if you get hooked on this challenging air gun sport, the centre has an excellent shop with a full range of goodies from 12b shotguns, ammunition and rifles to shooting clothes.