National Smallbore Rifle Association
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| Abbreviation | NSRA |
|---|---|
| Motto | Look Forward |
| Predecessor |
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| Formation | 1901 |
| Founder | Major General Charles Edward Luard |
| Merger of | The British Rifle League (1903) |
| Type | National Governing Body |
| Registration no. | 76008 |
| Legal status | Company Limited by Guarantee |
| Headquarters | Lord Roberts Centre, Bisley Camp |
| Coordinates | 51°18′29″N 0°39′24″W / 51.308168°N 0.656776°W |
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Region
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United Kingdom |
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CEO
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Iain Root |
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Chairman
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Robert Newman |
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Shooting Manager
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Phil Martin |
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Main organ
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The Rifleman |
| Subsidiaries |
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| Affiliations |
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| Website | nsra |
The National Smallbore Rifle Association, the NSRA, is the national governing body for all Small-bore Rifle and Pistol Target Shooting in the United Kingdom, including Airgun and Match Crossbow Shooting.
The NSRA is based at The Lord Roberts Centre, within the grounds of the National Shooting Centre, Bisley Camp, Surrey. National postal competitions are organised all year round, together with a series of meetings, culminating in the Bisley Rifle Meeting, or National Meeting in August, preceded by the Scottish Rifle Meeting in June/July.
In 2006, the NSRA founded the National Association of Target Shooting Sports (NATSS) working group in association with the National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom and Clay Pigeon Shooting Association, to explore the practicalities and benefits of a merger between the bodies. The project was shelved in July 2009 following the withdrawal of the CPSA, followed by the NRA.
The NSRA was originally formed in 1901 as the Society of Working Mens Rifle Clubs (SWMRC). A series of heavy defeats during 1899 in the Second Boer War had demonstrated a lack of marksmanship ability amongst British military-age men, whilst the Boers had been able to pick off British officers at ranges in excess of 1,000yards. Although the National Rifle Association had been founded in 1859, ranges suitable for large-calibre service rifles were necessarily rural and costly to travel to. Cost of ammunition for civilians was also a limitation. With the development of the cheap .22 Long Rifle cartridge in 1887 it became apparent that principles of marksmanship could be taught and trained using these small calibre “miniature” rifles on local or even indoor ranges located in towns and cities.
Major General Charles Edward Luard was at the forefront of this line of thinking and pressured the British Government to sponsor such a movement from 1899 until the 23rd of March 1901 when a meeting of MPs, city Mayors and dignitaries representing many Working Men’s Clubs, passed a resolution stating “That the foundation of THE SOCIETY OF WORKING MEN’S RIFLE CLUBS, for facilitating rifle shooting, more especially in the evening, with small-bore rifles and inexpensive ammunition, as an ordinary branch of recreation by working men’s and working boys’ clubs and institutes, be now proceeded with”
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Wikipedia