| National Rifle Association, Uk |
Article Index for National |
Website Links For National |
Information AboutNational Rifle Association, Uk |
|
The NRA, and the ranges at Bisley, are rich in history and tradition. Queen Victoria fired the opening shot of the first Imperial Meeting at Wimbledon and 30 years later the Princess of Wales, later Queen Alexandra , fired the first shot at the beginning of the 1890 Imperial Meeting at Bisley. This set the pattern for the Annual Meeting which has been held every year except during the two World Wars. The Queen's Prize remains the premier award for the rifleman and the July Imperial Meeting is internationally famous. The principal ranges used today are as originally laid out in 1890 to accommodate modern full-bore rifle shooting. Century Range provides 108 points at distances up to 600 yards. Stickledown is the largest long range in the UK with firing points from 800 to 1200 yards. There is also the Short Siberia range with points at 100 and 200 yards (Siberia was originally an 800 yard range), and the running deer range enabling the shooting of moving targets at up to 100 metres. Pistol shooting was also well accommodated with Melville, Cheylesmore and Winans ranges. The original Cheylesmore range was opened for the 1948 Olympic Games . Recently relocated, it still facilitates 30 lanes at 25 metres. To cater for the increased popularity of pistol shooting, Melville range, also offering 30 lanes for shooting at both 25 and 50 metres, was opened in 1983 and Winans with 20 lanes at 25 metres opened in 1993. The pistol ranges are now mostly used for gallery rifle and mini rifle competitions which have taken over from pistol shooting since its demise in the UK. Clay Shooting has taken place at Bisley since the early 1920s. In 2002, the facilities were greatly expanded to accommodate the Commonwealth Games when the National Clay Shooting Centrewas opened. The NCSC offers world class facilities for DTL, Skeet, ABT, Double Trap and Universal Trench. The NRA was granted a Royal Charter in 1894 . This Royal charter continues to this day (the current president is the Prince Of Wales ) for the "promotion of marksmanship in the interests of the Defence of Realm and permanence of the Volunteer Forces, Navy, Military and Air". This largely irrelevant statement in today's climate has been recognised by the present council body who made a significant shift in policy very recently and took a decision to officially encourage all shooting sports, not just full bore rifle shooting, a move that has come too late for many but is welcomed none the less. Rumours from many UK NRA members and their affiliated groups point to a merging of the NRA, the MLAGB and BASC as well as other shooting bodies into a single governing body for sports shooting in the United Kingdom, this move is intended to co-incide with the opening of the UK's national firearms register and the 2012 olympics. EXTERNAL LINKS
|