The Prince George Rod and Gun Club is a great place to have fun while learning a new skill - just ask current club president, Taylor Sapergia.
Incorporated in 1946, the club includes indoor and outdoor ranges on a 100-acre site west of Prince George on Hartman Road.
Sapergia has been a firearms enthusiast ever since his first shot.
"The first gun I ever shot was a Cooey .22. It's a Canadian rifle, and it belonged to my dad. I was probably 12 or 13," said Sapergia. "[My dad] wasn't a gun nut at all, but he showed my brother and I how to shoot."
Sapergia describes himself as an artisan, and after seeing the collection of firearms he's built, it's impossible to argue with him.
His guns are as beautiful as they are powerful.
"I was 14 when I built my first pistol. I had a picture of a dueling pistol that I got from a book and used it as my blueprint... my dad encouraged me and taught me how to build all the screws, make a screw and a thread that would fit it, how to drill and tap a hole, how to make springs and temper them," said Sapergia.
Sapergia just completed his 98th firearm.
"It's a recreation of a rifle that was made in Pennsylvania at the turn of the century," he said. "The rifle itself is about 65 inches long and the barrel itself is 48 inches long and it weighs 7 and 3/4 lbs."
Sapergia brings his passion to the Prince George Rod and Gun Club, along with its 500 other members. Memberships cost $100 a year for one person or $125 for a family, or just try the sport out with a day pass for $20.
"There's lots of camaraderie and sharing of ideas and fun. Everyone is safe, on the same page and it's a good family activity," said Sapergia, who had his two daughters out shooting before they were 10 years old.
Handguns are the most popular firearms at the club, and use of handguns in Canada is only permitted in government certified rod and gun clubs. So the incentive to have fun in a safe environment is twofold.
"We encourage people to come out and experience firearms in a safe and controlled way so they can leave with a positive experience and dispel some of the fear and preconceptions," said Sapergia.
"And if they wish they can expand of that by joining our club or coming out again and increasing their experience. We encourage members to join us all the time."
The club holds regular evenings for various types of shooting sports.
Throughout the month of August, every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and every Tuesday from 6 to 10 p.m., members can enjoy cowboy action shooting.
The competition is a multi-faceted shooting sport in which contestants compete with firearms typical of those used in the taming of the Old West: single action revolvers, pistol caliber lever action rifles, and old time shotguns.
It is a timed sport in which shooters compete for prestige on a course of different shooting stages.
And every Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to dusk, locals can try their hand at sporting clay practice.
"If you don't have equipment come out and give it a try, we have guns to loan," said organizer Tony Manuge.
Bring eye and ear protection, or borrow the club's equipment. The cost is $5 per round of 25 birds, and shells are available.
Every Wednesday, the club hosts IPSC (International Practical Shooting Confederation), or action shooting - one of the fastest growing shooting sports in the world.
A dynamic and challenging sport, courses of fire use many aspects not found in the other more traditional shooting disciplines, such as movement by the shooter, drawing from the holster, moving targets, multiple targets, and the freedom for the shooter to solve the shooting problems presented by the stage design.
For more information or to join, go to www.pgrgclub.ca, email [email protected] or call 250-964-7046.
