The Williams Lake Sportsmen’s Association is the proud new owner of a completely overhauled shooting range.
Terry Chupa, director with the WLSA, said work was completed Oct. 1 on the project.
“What we’ve got now are five IPSC (International Practical Shooters Confederation) bays, we have a 100-yard rimfire range, the trap range and we’ve got a long-range bay,” Chupa said.
Prior to the renovations the club’s ranges consisted of a long-range bay, the trap range and a single short-range bay.
Chupa said the new ranges give the association far greater options in terms of being able to hold events and to attract more people to the area for tournaments and other events.
“Now we can do all the things we’ve never been able to do here,” he said. “We can hold IPSC provincials here now. We can do our qualifiers here, which is really nice. They can have rimfire competitions — the army and navy cadets can also do their biathlon training here now, and they can build a cross-country loop around the outside. The Cariboo Archers are going to have bays there to use, as well.”
Chupa added it will also be one of just a handful of ranges in B.C. approved for automatic fire weapons.
“The range inspector told us this is one of the nicest ranges he’s seen laid out in B.C.,” he said.
Work on the project began in April of 2012, Chupa said. He noted Lee Todd, owner of Newco Logging Ltd. and Bill Pinchbeck were massive supporters in the project.
“We designed it and they completely lent us their equipment,” Chupa said “Bill brought out his backhoe and they put in about 120 hours of free work.”
More volunteers included cat operator Jack Butler, Scott and Roy Betts, Jacques Drisdelle, Barrry Jenkins, Ernie Davidson, members of the Rocky Mountain Rangers, who helped with clearing brush, and multiple WLSA members. “So many people were just a tremendous help in this,” Chupa said.
For more information on the WLSA visit its newly designed website at www.williamslakesportsmen.ca.