On Saturday, November 5, 2011, four Kalev Scouts went on a first-time outing to the Sharon Gun Club (SGC), courtesy of TERP.

SGC has 6 outdoor ranges, where it is possible to practise a number of International shooting disciplines, starting from 20 m Olympic pistol and ending with 300 m free rifle.

There are ranges where SGC members can sight-in their hunting rifles or even conduct Trap and Skeet competitions. A great number of possibilities exist at this club.

For this outing, TERP decided to pursue an historical theme; the boys were able to try out pistols like the WWII German Luger 9mm Parabellum, the US Colt 45 Auto, and even a 44 magnum revolver. On the long-gun side, they shot rifles like the Swedish 6.5mm mauser, which was the Swedish standard during Estonia’s War of Independence, along with more modern arms, like the Vietnam era 5.56mm AR15(M16), the 7.62 NATO calibre and the hard kicking 338 magnum among others.

This was all done under the watchful eyes of TERP shooting experts Markus Alliksaar and Urmas Sui, who thoroughly reviewed safety procedures with the young men and supervised them on a one-on-one basis on the firing line.

TERP has overall responsibility for the range in the Estonian House and has –since its inception – provided the Estonian Scout and Guide groups access to its facilities along with appropriate supervision. The primary reason behind this is to maintain the sense of pride that young Estonians feel for their country’s world class reputation in the shooting sports: in pre-WWII Estonia, our country’s marksmen joined the very top ranks of the sport. In the 1937 World Championships, Estonia’s team won 1st place in the 300m free rifle event, winning the coveted Argentina Cup. The team, consisting of Elmar Kivistik, Gustav Lokotar, Harald Kivioja, Alfred Kukk ja August Liivik, went on to repeat the feat in Lucerne, Switzerland in 1939!

During the course of years of introducing our young Scouts and Guides to the sport, some of the more talented youngsters have expressed the belief that their outstanding marksmanship was perhaps a genetically endowed one. To their coaches it seemed pointless to try to contradict such a source of self-confidence and motivation.

Participating in the trip to Sharon Gun Club were Scouts Kenni Dobson, Cam Medri, Peeter Terts, and their Scoutmaster, Nick Kasakof. Over the course of the day, it became very apparent that each and every one of them was a very capable marksman, explainable perhaps by their years of coaching at the Estonian House range. But then again might it be in their genes?

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