A few beginnner questions

[Bender]

Alright, this thread might drag a bit, so thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read it.

Basically, I'm looking for a good place to go shooting in the Calgary, AB area. I've been going to The Shooting Edge for six years, and it's a great club, but it's extremely pricey. Now that I'm old enough/finally getting around to applying for my PAL, I'd much rather spend 500 dollars a year on ammunition than a membership at a club.

From what I can see, there's two other options for large bore rifle and shotgun shooting, one being the APRA homestead range, and the other being the CDTSA range out by Race City.

The APRA range is the most attractive choice to me, mostly because it's free and I'm cheap.
However I'm slightly confused about the rules. According to the website, no calibers larger than .338 Lapua are allowed on the public range. Does anyone know if this would rule out larger caliber but much weaker cartridges such as the .45-70, .416 Rigby?
Also, it says "shotguns only at the shotgun facility", however I can't find any other information about it. Can anyone advise if you're allowed to shoot slugs and buckshot there? I plan on buying several "tacticool" shotguns and I'm going to need a place to play with them.

From what I can tell about the CDTSA range, rifles are all fine except for the .50 BMG, and shotgun slugs are fine on the rifle range, but other than that, anything besides light target/skeet/trap loads aren't allowed. No shredding paper targets with 00 buck? Awww...

If anyone has any other advice on good ranges, please let me know.

Last but not least, do I need to take both the PAL and the RPAL courses/tests to get an RPAL? If it's possible to just take the RPAL, is it still good for rifles and shotguns? Is the RPAL significantly more difficult to obtain? I'm on the fence about getting it, because I've never been huge on firing pistols, but if the only difference in getting the license is cost, I'll probably get an RPAL in case I want to buy a couple down the road.


Cheers and thanks again for taking the time to read/reply to this...


-Ben

 

[pdubois64]

Can't answer about the ranges as I just shoot handgun but as for the PAL RPAL you do need to take the PAL 1st. Just take them both together because they skip most of the stuff that is doubled up on and then you have to do both tests. They give you time to play with the pistols to get familiar.

Good luck.

 

[Bender]

Cool, thanks for the info, that sounds like a good idea.

 

[Wendell]

You don't have to take the courses.

You can simply challenge the tests, if you prefer.

 

[randas]

Sounds like your already familiar with guns. Read the PDF Safety course manual and challenge the tests!

 

[pdubois64]

When I asked about challenging the course it was the same price as taking the course....so I took the course. He doesn't sound familiar with pistols.

 

[Bender]

Yes, I'm very familiar with guns, I'm not worried about passing the tests in any way, shape, or form. I've fired plenty of pistols at TSE, however I prefer shooting rifles and shotguns, and I really enjoy tactical or military shotguns. The first shotgun I ever fired was a little Fabarm 14" barreled pump action, that was way back when I was 13.
My problem is, I can't find a lot of places to shoot buckshot out of one besides TSE, and to be fair, the rifle range there is pretty cramped at 50 yards, especially given the price of membership.

I did not know you could simple challenge the test... however if it is the same price I'll take the course as well, just to make sure I know what I'm doing. Thanks for the advice guys.