A rifle range existed at East Moors as early as 1861 when local newspaper reports referred to competitions there (The Cardiff Times 18.10.1861). The Ordnance Survey first-edition map (1880) portrays four firing lines of 800 yards, 400 yards, 300 yards and 200 yards, all set between the Tharsis Copper Works and the Severn estuary shoreline. All firing lines are aligned roughly north-east by south-west, targets set at the north-east.
By 1901 (second edition) the range had gone as the area around Cardiff Bay underwent further industrial development, in particular the construction of numerous railway tracks.

David Leighton, RCAHMW, 5 July 2017