KARACHI, June 1 Attention! three, two, one, start!, cautioned a range officer as a shooter wearing earplugs raised his pistol, took aim and fired five shots at five different targets exactly 25 metres away within four seconds each with a loud bang.

It was a weekday at the Pakistan Navy Sports Shooting Club, which is open to the general public, and practice was in full swing. Young men and women exhibited precision, concentration and accuracy by hitting every shot on target, mostly on the bull's eye. They were enthusiastic about trials for the South Asian Shooting Championship to be held in Dhaka on July 3.

The sharpshooters participating in the rapid pistol match seemed to be in high spirits when they said four seconds were good enough to hit five targets.

“It's entirely a human attribute that they expand or squeeze their tasks according to the time they have,” explained Maqbool Hussain Tabassum, who has 50 national and international medals to his credit during his six-year career in the navy.

He said the navy's range in Karachi could be considered the best out of all four shooting clubs in the country, the others situated at Lahore, Jhelum and Islamabad.

Built on a 15-acre piece of land in the Karsaz area, the shooting club's membership is only granted to holders of arms licences.

It comprises five different firing ranges which are 300 metres, 50 metres, 25 metres, 10 metres and a trap and skeet range. The ranges are equipped with an electronic target system, running target system and auto-machines.

Built under the guidance of the international military sports council in 1995, safety is ensured at the ranges with walls and screens provided to prevent the escape of bullets.

“There has never been a single accident at the club,” said Fleet Chief Petty Officer of the Pakistan Navy Ghulam Murtaza while attributing the club's success to the emphasis on the safety of its members.

He said tanner rifle is used at the 300 metre range, which is equipped with an electronic target system. “Under this system, a computer gauges the bullet-hit portion with the help of a microphone fitted on the targets and calculates the score according to the shot's accuracy. The scores are then displayed on monitors placed near each shooter,” he explained.

Weapons and bullets

A naval official at the club told Dawn that members brought their own weapons and bullets, whereas targets, including clay birds for both trap and skeet shooting, proper ranges and scoring facilities were provided at the club.

He said that weapons used at the 300 metre range were 7mm and tanner rifles equipped with telescope. Similarly, .22 rifles were generally used at the 50 metre range, .22 pistols and big bore pistols were used at the 25 metre range, and air guns and pistols were used to hit a target at a distance of 10 metres. For both trap and skeet shooting, 12 bore rifles were used. This range is mostly used by hunting enthusiasts.

When Lt-Commander Mujahid Ovais, officer-in-command of the shooting range, was asked about the chances of any misuse of the facilities being provided in the heart of the city, he said there's no such chance because sensitive agencies gave security clearance of an applicant before membership was granted to them. Besides, he said, the membership of an applicant was approved only when they had a proper licensed weapon.

Talking about the performance of navy shooters in national and international events, he said with the meagre resources at its disposal this club had produced players who had won international medals. However, he regretted that the Pakistan Sports Board, which had always supported cricket and hockey, had never encouraged this sport.

He was confident that the club could perform even better if the sports board provided a little assistance to it. He recalled that a coach from Ukraine trained the players for a few months some years ago and they won several medals at the Commonwealth Games, South Asian Games and Asian Games.

“There's no doubt that with a little assistance the country could compete with any other in shooting”, he added.