The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

dromia wrote:A national shooting organisation with only 6,000 members out of nigh on quarter of a million FAC holders,that surely tells the tale.

Probably closer to 150,000 FAC holders in the UK. We are a minority, hell there are more lesbians than FAC holders in the UK!

Just checked my addy ups again and its actually circa 170,000 including Scotland, regardless 6.000 members for a "National" shooting body is stil an embarrassment.

6,000 out of 170,000 that should of started some alarm bells ringing a long time ago to late to turn it around now me thinks.

ovenpaa wrote:

dromia wrote:A national shooting organisation with only 6,000 members out of nigh on quarter of a million FAC holders,that surely tells the tale.

Probably closer to 150,000 FAC holders in the UK. We are a minority, hell there are more lesbians than FAC holders in the UK!

Is there anyway we could combine these two variables? This, I apotheosize, would increase our numbers.

and most of those 6000 members are around bisley
and have easy access in my opinion we should have regional shooting centers with down south as hq

greenshoots

greenshoots wrote:and most of those 6000 members are around bisley
and have easy access in my opinion we should have regional shooting centers with down south as hq

greenshoots

Absolutely. What do we have in Scotland? A few Disjointed clubs.

Absolutely - if you can find someone to pay for it we will do it!

Love

Karen

If we could find someone to pay for it then we wouldn't need the NRA to do it.

My view is that the NRA needs to have vision and show national leadership it developing regional centres, this would be a long term aim but would need to worked for centrally and stated as an aim with time scales and a plan. The NRA however could immediately be seen as useful to shooters beyond Bisley by taking the great resource it has in knowledge, experience and administrative capacity and sharing that across the country. You obviously have no idea how galling it is for shooters out with the Bisley catchment to see all the courses and training that is available to shooters who can get to Bisley but is not available to those further away. That is the sort of thing that promotes resistance to joining because people see their money being used exclusively for the benefit of shooters in the Bisley area. I think most people are realistic enough about how difficult the creation of regional centres is, but unless the NRA does more outside Bisley in other ways then it will always be Bisley shooting ground and never a national organisation.

What a gift that god would gie us, to see ourselves as others see us.

While I love going to Bisley, it is at best an 8 hour drive for me to get there...then the same, or worse for the return trip

Several club members shoot there in the Gallery Rifle comps, etc.
They leave Scotland at 10 or 11 pm, travel through the night to avoid traffic delays, then arrive at Bisley early in the morning...have a quick breakfast THEN go to the ranges to compete.
Far from ideal...

While the NRA cannot do anything about being located at Bisley, or change where Bisley is geographically to a more convenient location, they MUST start doing more for the non-M25 based shooters...of which there are quite a number, as has been said.
If they cannot - then I propose they change their name to one more fit to task - Home Counties Rifle Association comes to mind!
The 164,000 non-NRA FAC holders will then be free to start a real NATIONAL Rifle Association: even if only 5% of FAC holders joined a new Association, that would be 2,200 more members than the present NRA has.

As an aside
The NRA lost my support when they failed to protest at the self loading rifle ban, as rightly or wrongly, they were entrenched in the doctrine of "bolt-action" target shooting only...even though, from it's inception, the NRA in alliance with the Volunteer Rifle movement - had been based around the use of as-ISSUED service rifle (or close variations of the same). The failure to change platform to the then newly-issued SLR was when the NRA stopped supporting the average club shooter
The post-war NRA has always come across, to me at least, as an extension of the public school old-boys network; carrying on the traditions, right or wrong, as that's how things have always been done & if it was good enough in my day then it's good enough now.

For a polar opposite idea of what target shooting could still be in the UK - look at the Hi-Power matches shot in the USA with approved AR15 designs.
Or, what about the USA Appleseed shoots for .22 rifles? How well would they go down at club open days here (with a few obvious changes, or not...)

Ok in the last 20 years I have lived in Northern Ireland, Newquay and Inverness - places that could not be further from Bisley!

During that time I spent more time shooting at Bisley than I do now.

I once spent longer driving from Clapham to Bisley (four hours) than flying from Belfast (three hours)

So I do understand your problems

The NRA DO run courses in the regions - you just have to get the 'audience' together and ask the NRA and we will see what we can do.

I was an RCO assessor who ran several courses on behalf of the NRA in Northern Ireland

I repeat if we had the money we would be doing a LOT more!

Love

karen