About us

The West London Shooting School was founded in 1901 by Richmond Watson. With the sport enjoying unprecedented popularity in Edwardian England, he identified a need to improve accuracy and style, together with correct gun-fit.

The School was originally based at Perivale, where the Hoover Building now stands, but vacated this site in 1931 when the A40 Western Avenue was built and took up residence at its current home in Northolt. The School remained open throughout the Second World War and in 1947 sporting champion Percy Stanbury (Stan) followed up a distinguished wartime career by becoming head instructor and manager, remaining until his retirement in 1970.

The distinctive style of shooting and tuition developed by Richmond Watson and Stan, encouraging beginner and established shot alike to progress and develop their own style, has been continued by Alan Rose and our team of instructors, who combine Stan’s basic principles with techniques from other mainstream sports, particularly tennis and golf.

The School has been closely involved in clay shooting since its inception and hosts both a FITASC series and a major competition annually, staging the British Open Sporting Championship from its inception until the 1980s.

Whilst the layout of the shooting grounds is essentially the same as it was in the 1930s, many improvements have been made, including the use of bunding to increase safe capacity and to accommodate popular corporate layouts. The number of traps has steadily grown to over 100 to cover all types of sporting targets and also to allow the development of the FITASC and sporting courses, usually shot over 100 clays with a guide.

For more than 25 years the West London Gun Room has been open to provide a comprehensive range of clothing, guns and ammunition to our clients. We have expert staff on hand to advise on any sporting query.

Please contact us for any further information.