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

How true is it they are not the best of friends?

Who are NSC

National Shooting Centre, the organisation that runs Bisley ranges. I thought that they were set up to be a separate profit making organisation to manage and develop Bisley with the profits going into the NRA to help support shooting. Unfortunately they are not as separate as they could be as the NRA/NSC has now gone backwards again to being a Surrey shooting club. If you don't shoot at Bisley by booking your range as an individual then there is absolutely no reason to be an NRA member.

Not sure what Dodgy Rog is talking about specifically but there has been rumours of tensions abounding since the whole "separation" took place.

It grieves me that the NRA and the NSC just seem so introverted and wrapped up in themselves at the expense of UK shooters. :(

I've said it before and I'll say it again for the NRA to work properly it needs to move away from Bisley so that it can be seen for what it should be, an organisation that represents and promotes shooting and gun ownership nationally. Its inactivity is hidden by Bisley ranges, which is a fantastic resource, having a buzz that the NRA rides on the back of.

Take Bisley away and what is the NRA?

However I'm certain that the vested interests down there will ensure that never happens, to the detriment of us all. :(

I don't know about moving away but there is a good argument for them having serious ranges in other parts of the country.

It's a clear case of strategy and structure...I suspect the old guard is live and well at the top and there will be no changing them because doubtless they have made it difficult for anyone to oust them from their dictatorship.

For me moving out is the key to changing the NRA mind set that will allow for proper regional development, the NRA's lack of achievement is disguised by its association with Bisley ranges and the activity there. The NRA needs better accountability to its membership, which should drive its policy and strategic direction along with target setting and measuring performance. Hells teeth we've just had another year of financial overspend that can only be put down to poor management, but where is the accountability?

The country's dependance on the use of MoD ranges for full bore shooting is the biggest and most imminent threat facing us. We have not been interdependant with the MoD for decades but the NRA has done nothing to make us independant.

Once COC's cuts start to bite we will see our opportunities to shoot full bore severly diminshed, where shooting and the NRA then?

While shooting at Short Siberia on Sunday I carried out a small poll of shooters. Not one had a good word for the NRA.
The range (Short Siberia) was full - booked by clubs not individuals, Century on the other hand wasn't full (to put it nicely). Where were all the target shooters who the NRA are so keen to represent?
The clay pigeon seemed busy though.
I cannot for Cheylesmore or Melville as I didn't wander that far.
Perhaps the membership fees etc are just too high now and the law of diminishing returns has kicked in.

dodgyrog wrote:Where were all the target shooters who the NRA are so keen to represent?

TR shooting is seasonal. The TR/MR season hasn't started yet. TR shooters are typically either shooting indoors or are on a training break. Perhaps I could carry out a similar poll amongst my club or team. I'm sure that the results would be quite (but not completely) different. It would merely prove that neither poll is representative.

..

Robin128 wrote:
It's a clear case of strategy and structure...I suspect the old guard is live and well at the top and there will be no changing them because doubtless they have made it difficult for anyone to oust them from their dictatorship.

Sorry but thats rubbish!

Every single member of the NRA can put themselves up for General Council, Trusteeship or even Chairman. However every time we ask for volunteers for these positions we get hardly any volunteers.

The majority of people currently in these positions work EXTREMELY hard for no reward - if you want to make a difference put yourself up for election.

There may very well have been that mentality in the distant past but I can assure you that it no longer exists.

Love

karen

In any poll I think testing the understanding of the the difference 'tween the NRA and the NSC would be useful. Also I would be surprised if target rifle shooters shooting at Bisley didn't have a better view of the NRA than the rest of the rifle shooting community as target rifle is all that the NRA is really about and understands.

So maybe the NRA just needs to be honest and admit that they are a target/match rifle Surrey shooting club. Then at least I could respect the NRA's honesty rather than being decieved and frustrated by their dishonesty in pretending to represent full bore shooters and building false hopes in the shooting community.

Karen, I don't doubt that all involved work very hard and are committed in their own way. However this hard work doesn't produce the results because there is a lack of vision and clearly articulated, tangible, defined outcomes that people can come behind and help deliver on.

Surely the test is that despite the structure, committment and energy expended by the NRA it isn't delivering for UK shooters, there is something wrong somewhere when that is happening.