Rural shooting range in Normandy: World-class international complex under the direction of a multiple world champion.
Competitions Organized on the Stand
The stand regularly hosts major national and international competitions. The complex is a recognized arena for Sporting tournaments (Hunting Course, 120 targets), and is also famous for organizing innovative club formats, such as "Clay Snooker", which confirms its adaptability and high status.
Introduction
The La Rapée Ball Trap shooting complex, strategically located in the Eure department in Normandy, is a recognized center for elite sport shooting, combining prestige, safety, and high-tech infrastructure. The key asset of the complex is its founder, Christophe Auvret, a multiple World Champion, whose personal experience ensures uncompromising quality in trajectory settings and training processes. The complex offers an ideal environment for preparing professionals, practicing hunting, and organizing large-scale corporate events, being just an hour's drive from major cities like Paris and Rouen.
Location and World-Class Infrastructure
General Information and Target Audience
La Rapée Ball Trap is a professional shooting range located in the commune of Saint-Denis-le-Ferment (27140). The complex attracts visitors thanks to its location in a relatively calm but accessible area of Normandy, ensuring a balance between rural atmosphere and logistical ease.
The stand targets three main groups. First, professional athletes (Competitors) who require world-class training standards. Second, hunters (Hunters) who can hone specialized skills. Third, families and corporate groups (Families) who appreciate a highly developed social infrastructure and the opportunity to spend a day in nature in a safe and controlled environment.
Key Advantage: Leadership of a Champion
The main competitive advantage (USP) of La Rapée is the direct management and ideology implemented by the complex's owner, Christophe Auvret. His status as a multiple World Champion in key disciplines (FITASC Sporting, Compak Sporting, Sportrap) transforms the stand from a simple shooting field into a reference preparation center. The personal presence and mentoring by Auvret and his daughter Lya provide constant expert analysis of errors and essential trajectory adjustments for shooters aiming for international titles.
Infrastructure Details
Shooting Stations and Disciplines
The stand offers the most important Ball Trap disciplines, necessary for preparing athletes and hunters:
Sporting Clays (Hunting Course): Includes 8 active shooting stations (Pull Clays), specially designed to imitate complex game flights. The courses integrate different types of targets (tower of 10, incoming tower from 25 m, rabbit, chandelle, battue, louppeur), implying about 7 different fixed trajectories for maximum realism.
Trench (Trench): 2 complete trenches are available. Each trench is equipped with 5 throwing machines located under the shooters' feet, which provide varied trajectories – low, high, left, and right.
Stand for Hunters: Specialized 40-meter line for shooting at Running Boar (Running Boar). The silhouette of a boar or deer is attached to a rail and can move at high speed, allowing hunters to effectively practice their moving target shooting skills.
Equipment and Automation
La Rapée's technical equipment meets the highest international standards. The throwing machine fleet consists of more than 150 units. This equipment redundancy, including machines from leading brands Promatic and Laporte, is the sign of a premium professional stand. The large number of machines ensures that the course can be set with maximum variability and that any malfunction can be quickly resolved by element replacement, without disrupting the schedule of major competitions.
Shot series control is performed using modern Baron electronic consoles, ensuring reliability and precision in control. For targets, only biodegradable plates from the Laporte brand are used, highlighting the complex's environmental responsibility.
Social Infrastructure
La Rapée's infrastructure is designed for the comfort of athletes and their companions.
Club House: A large heated club-house of about 150 m², serving as a central relaxation point. In winter, a warm atmosphere is maintained thanks to the presence of a stove.
Relaxation and Dining Area: A large outdoor terrace of about 200 m² is the ideal place for breaks and exchanges during the warm season. The club holds the Licence IV (full alcohol sales license), which allows organizing official receptions, banquets, and corporate events, ensuring significant social and economic potential for the establishment.
Services: A B.T.C. La Rapée gun shop/armory is available on site, where a wide range of shooting accessories and ammunition can be purchased, including from the Tunet brand, suitable for amateurs and professionals alike.
Relief, Trajectory Complexity, and Climate
The stand is located on terrain with strongly undulating relief, typical of Saint-Denis-le-Ferment, with altitudes varying from 54 to 137 meters above sea level. This elevation difference (83 meters) is a strategic asset. Unlike most flat stands, La Rapée's landscape allows creating extreme trajectories that perfectly imitate difficult hunting conditions, with targets emerging from behind hills or diving into hollows (chandelles, battues). This offers shooters training for FITASC Sporting valuable experience in adapting to irregular terrain.
The region enjoys a temperate oceanic climate. Dominant winds blow from the western sector at an average speed of 16 km/h, adding unpredictability to target trajectories, ensuring training conditions as close as possible to those of competitions, where the athlete must adapt to changing weather factors.
Expertise and Training Process (The School of Champions)
Training and Instruction
The training process at La Rapée Ball Trap is based on a deep understanding of competition shooting, guaranteed by the coaching team led by Christophe Auvret.
Coach/Owner's Titles
Christophe Auvret is one of the most titled shooters in the world, which has established the stand's reputation as "The School of Champions". His achievements include four World Championship titles: Compak Sporting in 2010, FITASC Sporting in 2011 and 2018, and Sportrap in 2016. His experience also covers numerous European and French Championship titles.
Events and Competitions
La Rapée Ball Trap is an important site in the French competition calendar. The stand regularly hosts major competitions, focused on Sporting (Hunting Course), which can last several days.
Options for Events
The complex offers developed event hosting capabilities:
Corporate Events and Team Building: The presence of the Club House and a large terrace allows organizing events for large groups. The use of the full Licence IV in the Club House enables high-end receptions and banquet services for corporate clients.
Innovative Formats: The complex is known for its flexibility and willingness to experiment, as evidenced by the organization of non-standard and media-covered competitions such as "Clay Snooker".
Institutional Role and Safety
The operation of La Rapée Ball Trap is deeply integrated into the national sports structure. Initiations and training of novices are conducted through the federal club. This status ensures strict adherence to official rules, high safety protocols, and issuance of licenses, enhancing the club's authority as a center for sport shooting development. This also ensures priority in hosting national competition stages.
The central element of the "uncompromising safety culture" is the mandatory requirement to use the club's ammunition during shooting. This protocol, supplemented by the sale of verified ammunition, including from the Tunet brand, excludes risks related to poor-quality or inappropriate ammunition (e.g., misfires or weapon damage). This ensures both the safety of shooters and equipment, as well as the ballistic stability necessary for precise training processes.
Summary for the Client and Advantages
Ideal Target Audience
Professional Athletes and National Teams: Focused on world-class training standards provided by a multiple world champion and through the use of complex natural relief.
International Competition Organizers (e.g., FITASC): The complex is ideal for organizing major tournaments thanks to the presence of powerful and reliable infrastructure, including more than 150 throwing machines.
Hunting Community: For high-quality off-season preparation, especially for practicing moving target shooting on the specialized 40-meter "running boar" line.
High-Level Corporate Clients: Thanks to easy logistics from Paris, combined with prestigious social areas (Club House, Licence IV) and a unique rural atmosphere.
Competitive Advantages
Unmatched Owner Expertise: The quality of shooting course settings, consultations, and training philosophy are based on Christophe Auvret's experience as a multiple World Champion.
Abundance of Technical Resources: A large fleet of more than 150 modern Promatic and Laporte machines ensures maximum reliability and trajectory variability.
Realistic Training Relief: Use of Normandy's significant elevation differences to create extremely complex and unpredictable trajectories, perfectly imitating hunting conditions.
High Standards of Safety and Control: Mandatory adherence to protocols and use of club ammunition ensure safety and ballistic stability for precise training.
Enhanced Social Infrastructure: A comfortable Club House (150 m²) with full Licence IV and a large terrace, supporting high-level corporate and social functions.
Additional Local Charm: The presence of the family apiary "Le Miel de Chriska" gives the complex a unique local element and the opportunity to purchase seasonal products.
Contact Information and Logistics
Address and Opening Hours
City: Saint-Denis-le-Ferment
Address: 2 Rue de la Rapée, 27140 Saint-Denis-le-Ferment, France.
Opening Hours:
The operation of the La Rapée Ball Trap stand follows a schedule that takes into account athletes' needs in the midweek afternoons and full occupancy on weekends.
Tuesday - Closed
Wednesday - 14:00–18:00
Thursday – Monday - 09:00–12:00 and 14:00–18:00
Note: The stand is open on most public holidays, except Christmas and New Year's Day.
Contact Information
