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Hello David. I've spoken to a number of people who share our concerns and surprise regarding the new portal. I don't recall their plans being put out to members to vote on - it just seems to have happened. Maybe I was just out of the loop.

The way things are going I may not be shooting gallery at Bisley. My MOD competence certificate expired at the end of last year. I had assumed, given my local club's membership consists of 75% NRA full members that we were affiliated and our club secretary could sign my form. Seems not - apparently affiliation would cost the club about £850 and that was seen as too much money for too few benefits. I'd have thought having so many full members would have qualified our club for a reduction - indeed 'free' would seem fair.

I now find myself having to travel all the way to Bisley to fork out about £40 for two sessions to obtain a piece of paper to prove that after some thirty years of shooting that I am still safe to shoot on MOD ranges. Given the awful traffic you have to deal with to get to Bisley and that I only usually get to shoot about once a month this latest piece of fee-based flummery has initiated thoughts of just giving up on Bisley and the NRA and simply shooting at local clubs with gallery and long-barreled pistol firearms.

The Shooting Certificate nonsense is not the idea of the NRA, I gather, but the MOD. I would agree, however, that the mechanism by which it is issued in many cases leaves a great deal to be desired. There does appear to be a tendency to make money from the process, which is definitely NOT the way to promote the sport to wider audiences. Some NRA-affiliated clubs charge a fee for the S.C., others simply issue them to the shooters who go to Bisley, who they have assessed as being competent. But £40 for a 2 day course, when the shooter has been active for the length of time you have, is taking liberties.

David.

Hi David. From what I gather it's twenty pounds a pop. However, if you intend to shoot galley and full bore then two ranges are involved - Melville and Short Siberia - two bookings = £40

I just feel that when your primary club is the NRA and you've been a member for some eighteen years paying quite substantial range fees per visit that at some point the NRA ought to offer something for FREE. Whenever there is a new set of rules / obligations my main club appears to do rather well out of the situation. And certainly when you're a member of a local club of which a high proportion of its members are NRA full members that affiliation would only incur a peppercorn fee. When you live some distance from Bisley one can't help thinking that the people that benefit the most are those well off types in Surrey and London. I pay a lot for very little use.

Um someone at your local club has got it wrong unless your local club has hundreds of members?

Club affiliation for one of the clubs I belong to (around 100 members although some not currently shooting and 80%-ish full NRA members) was

NRA £126.50
Insurance 216.50

I would suggest that you ask your club sec to give the NRA a call and see what they say as £850 is far too much if you have 75% full members. It might just be that someone has misread the form and thinks you pay £8 for each member which isn't the case.

Which club is it? You can pm me if you like

Love

Karen

Thanks Karen. I have to say that I thought £850 an insane amount. Your post even had me wondering if I had made a mistake
What me? shurely shome mishtake! :)

So I checked his email to me and what he actually said was:

"When we looked into NRA affiliation it was going to cost over £800 per annum with very little benefit to the majority of club members."

It's likely that the £850 quoted was revealed in a later discussion. I knew I hadn't plucked that figure randomly out of the sky.

In the light of your post I've forwarded on your reply for him to look at. If you could PM me with a contact point I could forward it to him so that perhaps he could get in touch and re-evaluate. Thanks.

Even at £340 odd it is only worth a club joining if it is booking MoD ranges or shooting at Bisley. Unfortunately you are over a barrel if your club wants to shoot on MoD ranges as membership is obligatory. Still pricey for a few Shooters cards.

Users need 15 posts to their name before they can use the PM system.

Meaningful posts.

Ah does that mean my PM to Dark Skies won't have worked?

Love

karen

Yes.

The email button will work though.

Um unless I post my email address on a public forum how do I email him? Or am I missing something?

Or I could wait for Dark Skies to make another 8 posts? :lol:

Love

karen