1970 Milnerton Shooting Association (MSA) started way back in 1970, as the Thumbusters Club for Black Power on a Range in Hout Bay. The first Chairman and Secretary were Louis De Heer Kloots and Johan Fick.
1974 The Club name was changed to Cape Pistol Club (CPC) on 9th November 1974, due to an increase in Membership and the fact that not only Black Powder but also Cartridge pistols were now being used.
1975 On the 19th March1975, Bernie Griffen was appointed Secretary and in the same year the South Africa Police (SAP) commandeered the Range for themselves. They were able to do this because CPC had no written lease or any legal right to the Range. A new site was then sought and at the time Louis de Heer Kloots worked for the Milnerton Municipality. He made enquiries and two sites in the Milnerton area were proposed. An inspection of the first site was held on the 17th August 1975 but rejected, since there was no access road and the Municipality was not prepared to build one. The second site was situated alongside the service road to the Municipal Rubbish Dump and was accepted on 13th June 1976. This land belonged to Sir De Villiers Graaf and was leased to CPC through Graaf’s Trust for R1.00 per year, the lease initially being for 10 years.
1976 The new range was opened by the Mayor of Milnerton (Mr. T. Marais) on 11th December 1976. At this event, a black powder cannon was fired, supposedly the first time that a cannon was fired on a private Shooting Range. With the new Range came a new name – the Peninsula Pistol Association (PPA) and a new badge
1977 Membership was up to 150 members, with Combat Pistol attracting quite a following.
1978 It was decided that a Club House was required, to provide a place to socialize at the end of the days shooting. Until then, the only building besides the roof covering on the Founders Range was a small shed where target frames were kept.
1979 January, a concrete garage was purchased, made secure and was used as a Club House. From that time onwards other Clubs referred to PPA as the social Club, a reputation that it retains to this day. Since it got dark early during the winter months, gaslights were fitted and a 3-plate gas stove.
1980 Practical Pistol shooters were the majority of members at the Club and the Founder Members were becoming a little concerned bearing in mind what had happened in Hout Bay. This caused a split in the Club, with the Practical Pistol Shooters wanting a new name and badge (Milnerton Practical Pistol Club).
1981 At the AGM in February, a vote was taken as to whether the Club was to be closed or carry on with the existing name. B. Griffen and L. de Heer Kloots felt that the land belonged to them, since they had arranged the lease of the grounds and their signatures were on the document. Since nobody really wanted to test this, or cause any more unpleasantness, it was agreed to carry on with the existing Club name. The Membership entrance fee were increased from R40 to R100 at this time.
1982 An investigation into building a new Club House and a Center-Fire Rifle Range was carried out and an additional R10 was added to the subs, as a levy to raise funds for these projects. At the AGM in March, Clive Bloom suggested that the Committee be elected annually at the AGM by the majority of Members present. This necessitated a change to the Constitution, since the original Club Constitution stated that the present Committee was elected in position for life and selected new Committee Members when positions became vacant. It was also proposed that one range (Founders’ Range) be made available to the public at a fee. Once again, many of the Founder Members were against this, feeling that the Range should only be used by Club Members. These proposals were voted on and the motions were carried. As a result, two camps of opinions were formed within the Club. In April, the Club was closed because of the lack of a perimeter fence and signs. A Special General Meeting was held, with 42 Members attending, at which the Club was reopened since all requirements had been met. The changes to the Constitution were then tabled, whereupon resignations were proferred by B. Griffen, J. Fick, G.Lehy and E.Lehy. Bernie Griffen then requested that the SGM be closed and a new Meeting was opened 30 minutes later for the re-election of Committee office bearers. Membership was also increased from R150 to R200, and a probationary period for new Members instituted.
1983 The Club House was built. Electricity was supplied by a generator; a number of which were tried but all gave some kind of problem. Water was brought to the Club in 20 litre containers and poured into a 90 litre tank on the Club House roof. This became a hassle and a pipe was then taken from a tank on the roadside. This was filled by the fire brigade iniatially and subsequently by the Municipality. It also supplied the local squatters.
1984 The Club Membership growth continued from strength to strength. Another name change was prompted by Members experiencing problems when applying for licences for rifles or shotguns, with the South Africa Police querying the requests for such weapons by people belonging to a Pistol Club. The name of Milnerton Shooting Association (MSA) was adopted because the Municipality of Milnerton had given much assistance in the way of creating the necessary side banks and back-stops for the various ranges and granted additional land without too much ado. The new Milnerton Shooting Association, implemented in July, was to cater for all shooting disciplines.
1989 The ladies needed a toilet. A special type of long drop was built and was used, under protest, until 1995.
1992 Saw the construction of the Air Pistol Range that eventually became used more for storage than shooting. A large 15kw diesel generator was purchased in this year and was to be the end of the electrical supply problem.
1993 The Rim-Fire and Center-Fire Rifle Ranges were roofed over.
1994 The braai area in front of the Club House was built.
1995 Flush toilets were built for both men and women and the generator was given its own home a little distance from the Clubhouse to eliminate the engine noise. The tank that supplied water to the toilets was also piped into the Club House, eliminating the problems with the tank on the roadside. The Sporting Shotgun Range was also built in that year.
1996 The Black Powder Range Shooting Station and roof was completed.
During all these years the Club adopted a number of shooting disciplines, such as Metal Silhouette, Practical Pistol, Bianchi, Center-fire Rifle, Shotgun, Pin Shooting, Air Pistol, Casual Shooting and even Archery, in order to satisfy all of its members. Equipment for all the above disciplines was been acquired over the years and much money was spent on improving the various Ranges, Shooting Stations and purchasing other equipment related to the shooting sports. In 1976 the Club had about 60 members and the Range consisted of approximately 3,600 sq. meters.
1997 21 years later, the Membership was in the region of 650 and the Ranges covered some 215 000 sq. meters, an increase of nearly six thousand percent!
2001 Housing development in Parklands encroached substantially and the area cleared for development was only 500 metres from the Range. The access road to the range was also in a poor condition as the Municipality intended closing the tip site and were not prepared to repair the road. This caused a reduction in participating Members and visitors. MSA was informed that the Municipality would only give the Club three months notice when the time came to close and vacate the premises. The Western Cape Shooting Union (WCSU) was formed with the purpose of finding new facilities where all Clubs in the Western Cape could affiliate and form one Shooting Union.