Southern Highlands Rifle Club
Welcome
The Southern Highlands Rifle Club offers a wide range of shooting activities for both beginner and experienced shooters. The Club also offers Firearms Safety Training Courses for those seeking to obtain their licence.
The 800m range is a "Classification Range" as defined by NSW Firearms Registry. It has a narrower danger template that allows for long range shooting at distances from 100 metres to 800 metres at 100 metre intervals.
Club events include activities for rifle calibers ranging from air rifle through to 8mm centrefire rifles. The Club also holds special events on the 5th Saturdays of the month including Lever Action Rifles.
The Club is open to the general public interested in joining the Club and to take part in the events we offer our members.
You do not need to have a firearms license to attend the range, but you will need to sign in both at the Southern Highlands Regional Shooting Complex Office and the Club.
The club operates most Saturdays at the Hill Top range by hiring the range facility from The Southern Highlands Regional Shooting Complex, which is a separate entity from The Southern Highlands Rifle Club.
Please note that the range is based in the Nattai National Park and access may be restricted due to bush fire ratings. Ratings are displayed on this home page.
Continue for more information on the club's history and facilities, and look on other pages for information on becoming a club member, shooting fees, the different shooting disciplines, and how to get a shooting licence.
Club History and Facilities
The Southern Highlands Rifle club has a long history within the Southern Highlands region, with the club being an amalgamation of Moss Vale and Burrawang Rifle Clubs which were both formed in 1898, and eventually joining forces with Bowral and Mittagong Rifle Clubs. Through research it is believed that the Moss Vale Club was originally formed in 1890 as the Moss Vale Rifle Reserve Rifle Club. All of these clubs then became the Bowral-Mittagong Rifle Club and subsequently amalgamated in July 1932. The club colours were black and yellow.
Shooting at this time was held on the old Welby Rifle Range with the area being gazetted for recreational purposes in 1886. There was a cessation of shooting during World War II and the club re-commenced its activities again at Welby in 1946/47.
On the clubs eventual move to Hilltop the name was changed to Southern Highlands Rifle Club (SHRC) to represent all of the previous clubs that were part of the area's history. The current club colours were a gift from the members of the prestigious Parramatta Rifle Club which ceased shooting in 1988 after a hundred years.
The club has it's own modern clubhouse with toilets, showers and disability access. The club has small quantities of ammunition, reloading supplies and cleaning equipment available. Please note that stores are not kept on the premises and all items may not be available unless previously requested.
The Southern Mail (Bowral, NSW : 1889-1954)
Fri 19 Aug 1949
Club Mission Statement
Promote and develop the sport of target shooting in the Southern Highlands, by:
- giving instruction in the safe and efficient handling of firearms and related activities;
- promoting practice and competitions aimed at proficiency in target shooting;
- furthering the sport of competitive target shooting;
- giving instruction in and encourage responsible and environmentally sustainable recreational hunting practices;
- promoting an appreciation of the history and role of firearms in society through interest in the activity of firearms collecting;
- using all available means to place competitive target shooting generally and all other activities of the Club before the public in a favourable manner;
- promoting good citizenship within the Southern Highlands district;
- setting down and enforce the basic requirements and rules for all activities to be conducted by the Club.