Where to practice long shooting in SW BC?

Mission Rod and Gun Club has a 300 yard rifle range. You pretty much have to go to one of the Okanagan clubs to find a longer approved range. Failing that research where you can shoot on Crown Land in the lower Mainland.
 
The old CFB Chilliwack had two ranges. One was a few hundred meters from the front gate. I shot there a couple times in the late 80s. I think the government had to return it to the First Nation whose land it was on. The other range was deeper in the Chilliwack River valley at Slesse Creek. The backstop was a jeezly tall snow capped mountain. Really stunning! It looks like it is still in operation and called General Chris Vokes Range.
 
One way to get experience on a longer range is to attend their competitions and training days. The cost is usually very reasonable for club matches and you generally do not need to be a member. PRS competitions I have attended shot out to 500 and 600m. Took an intro to F-class training day and got out to 800m.

Not only do you get to shoot far, but you learn a ton from the other shooters.
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
The old CFB Chilliwack had two ranges. One was a few hundred meters from the front gate. I shot there a couple times in the late 80s. I think the government had to return it to the First Nation whose land it was on. The other range was deeper in the Chilliwack River valley at Slesse Creek. The backstop was a jeezly tall snow capped mountain. Really stunning! It looks like it is still in operation and called General Chris Vokes Range.
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I just took a look at the website, and it kinda appears dormant. No news postings since 2023. The application form is for 2025. Of course the range could still be in use, but there's little or no info beyond the map.
 
Random Citizen said:
I just took a look at the website, and it kinda appears dormant. No news postings since 2023. The application form is for 2025. Of course the range could still be in use, but there's little or no info beyond the map.
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In my experience military range control offices will have a love/hate relationship with the civilian rifle associations. The average troop-a-loop doesn't know or care about long standing agreements and they routinely try to pull rank over the civilians. The SPRA shot at Dundurn from its opening in the 1930s* until they utterly $hit the bed in the 90s. We had our bookings cancelled and limited. Access to the camp and messes was restricted. The senior NCO who ran the base like it was his property resisted every overture of negotiation. We had to go through him to get to speak to the camp officer. It was their loss. The SPRA knew about land for sale and in 1988 we bought and built North Star Range. No more getting jerked around and the association looks after itself thank you very much.

*I had a chance to look at the original drawings for the butts at Dundurn held at 15 Wing Moose Jaw's Construction Engineering section. The camp was built by .25-cents a day men on so-called relief programs run by the Army during the Depression. The drawings were approved by then-Major Chris Vokes. He later went on to a not bad WW2 career in Italy.
 
My understanding is General Vokes was shut down for a while. Something to do with back stops and new cartridges/rifles. (Rumors at best.) However, I tried a few times to figure out how to get access either via club, match or the likes and never got lucky. Your best bet beyond 300 at Mission is crown land. Unless you want to head up to Kamloops.

You could always switch to rimfire at 200? That takes some skill, wind reading and practice. It doesn’t totally translate but it’s fun and cheap.

B
 
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