Shooting ranges being built, upgraded

KARACHI: The sport of shooting is set to get a big boost as new ranges are being established in Lahore and Peshawar.

It has been learnt that Pakistan Army is building a new state-of-the-art shooting range in Lahore. “This is being developed on the lines of Gun Club Islamabad,” said National Rifle Association of Pakistan (NRAP) secretary Javed Lodhi.

He added that the range would be similar to the PN’s Karsaz range in Karachi but without the e-scoring system initially. “They have built a final hall in the range which is not available in any range in the country,” said Lodhi.

The NRAP secretary said the range would be ready for use in two to four months.

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) also wants to establish its own range. “It has been suggested that it should be built at a place where there is no such facility available,” a source told this scribe.

But another source said that PAF had established a 10 metre range in Peshawar in collaboration with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rifle Association (KPRA) president Dr Inamullah Gandapur, who is already running his own range in the province.

A shooting range in Balochistan has got skeet machines that were replaced here at PN Karsaz range. “A team of Pakistan Navy recently went to set up these two used skeet machines at the range being operated by Sardar Naseer,” said a source.

The source added that this arrangement would help skeet shooters in the province and promote this sport.

Due to tense security situation, shooting ranges in Balochistan are not being used regularly by athletes.

Besides, Jhelum Shooting range under the control of Pakistan Army has got electronic scoring system. “I don’t remember at the moment how many target machines have been equipped with this system but this e-system has been installed on 10m, 25m, and 50m ranges there,” said Major Amir, who is in charge of the range.

This very expensive e-scoring system was first installed at PN’s Karsaz shooting range in Karachi which helped Navy shooters compete according to international formats. “This e-system really helped our shooters and our overall scores have increased a lot,” said an official at the PN Karsaz range.

Practicing on this e-system is one of the reasons Navy’s shooters dominate national shooting circuit.