Shooting at Al Forsan

We went with a couple of friends to the Al Forsan International Sports Resort. The resort is awesome. It has shooting, wake boarding, karting, paint balling, equestrian sports, off roading, plus a pool and leisure club.

We were invited to go shooting, something we had done before at The Caracal Shooting Club and enjoyed it, so we thought we would go -and I was interested to see how Al Forsan had developed since I visited it while under construction.

There were more lanes at the club than Caracal, but I don't think the quality of the instruction was as good. 

There is a better choice of weapons here - I chose the .38 Smith & Wesson - for that authentic Cowboy and Indians feel!

Not a bad result I guess - especially pleased with the bullseye! 

Next time though I think I am having one of these! Telescopic, laser sight - yes! Always wanted to strike that crawling Action Man pose!

This weekend there is a World Championship Wakeboarding event going on, which looked pretty cool.

The karting track looks like it needs a go too!

There was some camel racing going on, on the TV inside. It shows the camels with the robot riders. When we went they had real jockeys, this was fun to watch.

Caracal Shooting Club

Today we decided to check out the recently opened Caracal Shooting Club at The Officer's Club in Abu Dhabi. Caracal are a UAE manufacturer of small firearms. The experience was a very pleasant one. There is a nice coffee shop if you have to wait your turn (which at c.4pm on Fri we didn't) and the overall customer service was good. They issue you with ear defenders and safety glasses, both of which are necessary because of the noise and the spent bullets flying everywhere. There is a viewing area outside where you can watch the action without the need of the safety gear.

We went on the 25M range to shoot .22 and 9mm pistols. Caz went first and she did rather well with the .22. The instructor (who was very good and had a good sense of humour) marked her target in the centre with chalk and told her that if she hit it she could keep the gun! He started to get a bit worried when she came pretty close, so he had to clarify that he was actually joking.

He told me the .22s were for girls and gave me a 9mm! I've only ever used a shot gun before, shooting clay pigeons, so a pistol was new for me. I didn't do too bad I don't think, hitting the bull about 5 times.

There is also a simulation machine with a laser gun where you can use lots of pre-set situations to test your shooting skills, which we said we might try on another occasion.

I think Caz shot 25 rounds and I did 50 and it cost us Dhs500 (c£80), so it wasn't cheap for the half an hour or so we were in there, but it was good fun and worth it for the experience.

Here's some pics...

Caracal Shooting Range