Richard Halsall AICSI (Lead Instructor)
About Guns & Clays
Independent information, professional shooting services and decades of practical experience.
About Guns & Clays
Independent information, practical shooting knowledge and professional services for the UK shotgun community.
Investigation & Information Service
Guns & Clays is developing an independent information and investigation service focused specifically on matters affecting shotgun users in the United Kingdom.
The aim is simple: ask sensible questions, obtain the available evidence and publish the answers in a form ordinary shotgun owners can understand.
We are not here to represent shooters, replace existing organisations or stand on the toes of governing bodies, associations or shooting organisations. Many of those organisations perform important work for the sport.
Our role is different. We want to provide an additional, independent source of information and investigate subjects that shotgun users genuinely want answers to.
Ask the Questions
We can use Freedom of Information requests, published documents, official statistics and direct enquiries to ask questions that matter to UK shotgun users.
Publish the Evidence
Where information is available, we want to publish it clearly — including the source, the response and the limitations of the information supplied.
Let Shooters Decide
Our purpose is not to tell shotgun owners what to think. We provide the information so readers can consider the evidence and reach their own conclusions.
Independent means independent.
Guns & Clays has no interest in producing information to satisfy a political party, government department, manufacturer, trade organisation, governing body or pressure group.
Shooting organisations and manufacturers are welcome to provide information, corrections, technical knowledge and evidence. Their expertise can be extremely valuable.
However, contributing information does not purchase editorial control. Where commercial, governmental or organisational pressures make a subject difficult to discuss, we believe there is value in having an independent place where the evidence can still be examined.
Where we get something wrong, we want to correct it. Where evidence conflicts, we want to show that too.
Suggest an Investigation or Information Request
Some of the best questions will come from the people actually involved in shooting.
If there is a shotgun-related subject you believe deserves investigation, an official question that should be asked, data that should be obtained, or information that is unnecessarily difficult to find, tell us.
Suggestions can come from individual shooters, shooting grounds, instructors, clubs, manufacturers, retailers, organisations or anyone with genuine knowledge that could help the UK shotgun community.
Our investigation and information work is currently focused on shotguns and shotgun shooting.
Suggest a SubjectAbout Guns & Clays
Guns & Clays began as a shooting instruction business with a straightforward aim: help people enjoy clay pigeon shooting safely, confidently and properly.
It has since grown into something much broader. Alongside professional shooting instruction we provide experience days, skills training, specialist services, independent advice and an expanding library of practical information for shooters.
We are based in Cambridgeshire and work with complete beginners, experienced shooters, individuals, groups and businesses.
Clay Shooting Experience Days
Professionally instructed clay pigeon shooting experiences for individuals and groups.
Experience Days →Private Shooting Tuition
Individual tuition designed around the shooter's experience, technique and objectives.
Shooting Tuition →CPSA Shotgun Skills
Structured shotgun skills training for shooters wishing to improve their knowledge, safety and practical ability.
Shotgun Skills →Teams, Hen & Stag Groups
Organised shooting sessions for businesses, celebrations and groups looking for something genuinely different.
Group Shooting →Independent Shooting Advice
Straightforward telephone advice covering shooting, licensing and shotgun-related questions.
Shooting Advice →Book a Loader
Professional loading assistance for game shooting and specialist shooting occasions.
Book a Loader →We do not sell guns.
Guns & Clays is an instruction, experience, advice and information business. We do not sell, supply or transfer shotguns, firearms or ammunition.
That separation is important to us. Advice should be based on what is appropriate for the shooter rather than on a need to sell a particular gun or product.
About Richard Halsall
Richard Halsall has been involved with shooting since childhood, growing up around the countryside and developing a lifelong interest in both clay and game shooting.
That practical experience eventually developed into professional shooting instruction and the creation of Guns & Clays.
His approach to instruction is deliberately straightforward. Shooting can become unnecessarily complicated very quickly. Good instruction should explain why something works, identify what needs changing and help the shooter understand how to reproduce the result themselves.
Richard's background is not limited to shooting. He has also spent many years in business, including founding and serving as Managing Director of UKCRBS. That combination of shooting, training and business experience increasingly shapes the information and investigation work now being developed through Guns & Clays.
Shooting & Training Qualifications
Richard remains first and foremost a practical shooter and instructor. The objective of Guns & Clays is not to pretend that one person has every answer. Where specialist knowledge is needed, the sensible approach is to seek it from people who genuinely understand the subject.
That same principle applies to our information work: ask, investigate, verify and then publish.
Explore Guns & Clays
Whether you are completely new to shotgun shooting, looking to improve your technique or simply want clear information about issues affecting UK shotgun users, have a look around the site.
