National Target Shotgun Association

[IainWR]

Nice to have a choice, as I'm already a member of the NRA all bases seem to be covered. What I would not do is participate in any events or competitions where there was a requirement to be a member of an additional association as that would seem to be a self satisfying requirement rather than a need.

As Target Shotgun shot at Bisley requires the individual to have a SSC Card as it’s a MoD Danger Area Range, are the NTSA able to issue SSC Cards (endorsed by the NRA as it's their scheme) for use on ranges North of Watford or are the matches predominantly shot on private ground and not MoD Ranges.

The governing body for Target Shotgun is the National Rifle Association. Please do remember NRA rule 131 "outside competition, NRA members may use any combination of firearm, ammunition, target, equipment and technique that falls within the safety regulations of the range in use." The NRA does not seek to restrict any shooting more than is strictly necessary to be safe and legal.

Unfortunately I don't know if NTSA can do what you suggest. For a club-issued SSC to be valid it must be issued by a Home Office Approved Club affiliated to the relevant NGB, and I do not know if they are either of these. Now I know that's a nonsense in regard to shotguns, but neither I nor the NRA made the rules - MoD did that. And thus the SSC scheme is the NRAs only in the sense that we were the NGB that renegotiated the access deal with MoD and thus accepted the task that MoD insisted upon in the negotiation. It costs the NRA to do this, but without it access to MoD ranges could have been lost altogether.

Iain

[John MH]

Is the NTSA affiliated to the NRA?

[IainWR]

If that's for me, as I said above, I don't know.

[JSHarris]

do we need two organisations for the same thing ?

precisely my earlier point.


There is absolutely nothing stopping any club from running a TS match to the NRA rules and having it recognised as a classified event.

As for there not being a "presence outside Bisley" that is a fair comment.

It is worth noting however that prior to this year there was no rule book to run such events to anyway!!

[John MH]

Whats a classified event?

[JSHarris]

one which is run in accordance with the NGB rules and is recognised in advance. This then enables natonal records to be set and recorded as being such.

[John MH]

Is there such as scheme, lots of Gallery Rifle Matches are held all over the UK that are not necessarily classified. The USA NRA Classification system is well established and the rules and requirements to run 'Classified' match are published in the NRA Rule Books, I'm not aware of any guidance form the NRA. Additionally in the USA the awards and prize lists are also usually grouped by classification such as "Sharpshooter", "Expert" and "Master" etc.

[JSHarris]

Hi John,
yes there is such a scheme, the classifications are compiled by the GR&P crowd/team/shooters etc and are visible on their website. Grades are X,A,B,C,D. If i am correct once you achieve a grade you retain it.
yes there are a lot of GR&P matches that are held that are not classifiers, simply because unless you are trying for a national team or like the feeling of being an X/A etc shooter then there is little reason to shoot a classifier.

I will now stray a little out of my comfort zone and mention CSR......

Does the CSR league have classifiers? do your matches all count to an end of season ranking etc? And if they do or dont would it make a difference to your enjoyment/motivation if they didnt/did?

Not trying to provoke the ginger one but just interested.

[John MH]

No classifications in CSR.

Thing is I personally like the USA NRA style classification system as I think it encourages personal improvement and greater participation in the matches, especially when there are awards presented in each class. I managed to achieve High Master in 1500 when we shot pistols and managed on occasion to shoot High Master scores in Highpower. The HRA used to submit scores to the USA NRA for the Highpower Matches that were shot in the UK and as a result I still retain a Highpower and PPC classifications on the USA NRA databases.

Problem with awards over several classifications (grades) when the matches already have different classes (of firearms) is that it soon gets very complicated for the guys or girls running the database. I an the HRA classification database for about 3 years, a thankless task that when I had to give up for service reasons no one was prepared to take it on, as a result its withered and cannot even be found on the www anymore.

[JSHarris]

Is the NTSA affiliated to the NRA?

No