OzFclass

There are significant challenges ahead for long range target shooting in Australia. As our population increases and development takes place around ranges, there is an increasing pressure on these ranges to close.

With the membership numbers and age demographic of the NRAA and State Rifle Associations. Do we have the membership numbers and stamina to go it alone and survive into the future?

Range security depends on having total access control over the range template. This involves owning or having a long term lease over the land involved. This takes money and plenty of it.

The NRAA and State Rifle Associations have a low membership compared to the SSAA. The SSAA has plenty of money and is expanding in its membership.

A merger could see more money available to secure range templates and develop the ranges to provide for multi discipline use.

As president of my small rifle club this concerns me. Our club membership is small and mostly older retired chaps. Residential development is taking place all around our range and I don't know how long our range will last.

In a nutshell, yes. At the very least, negotiations,discussion should be taking place. SSAA also has political clout that is benefitting ALL shooters.

I brought this up a few years ago and got sneered at . ssaa has the members and not the ranges , nraa has ranges and not many members. as a member of ssaa you get 11 mags a year insurance where ever I go (not like nraa which only covers you on a nraa range ) plus firearm coverage. also from what ive heard NRAA insure though SSAA anyway .. so I pay membership to both , double dipping on insurance . when you get told that membership of the VRA is decreasing 10% per year for the last few years its a bit worrying .
We have been looking in to turning our range in to SSAA as well just to cover our arses..
With the nraa member fees being more than double of the ssaa its hard to get new members to a rifle club when the ssaa offer so much more.. cheers Paul.

At least, we should have an arrangement/dialog/communications channel to ensure that no ranges are CLOSED. Better for the ranges to be taken up by SSAA than to see them close FOREVER.
I am a member of NSWRA and SSAA. At a local level, both organisations share the Goulburn Range. Both also share the range template. When FAR some time back required maintenance to the mantlet by the Rifle Club, the SSAA came to the party with manpower and dollars to help out. This was really appreciated.

From the point of view of strength of numbers, it would make sense. But I can't help thinking the SSAA would have more to gain than the NRAA. Apart from improved prospects in terms of holding onto and possibly building new ranges, what other pluses would there be for F-Class and TR shooters for example? I can think of plenty of minuses, including becoming a minor player in decision-making, and probably being left with less access to the ranges because of new competing uses. I would only support it if there were iron-clad guarantees that TR and F-Class would be no worse off in terms of what we currently enjoy.

Hamilton rifle range is jointly owned by the Hamilton Rifle Club and the Hamilton Smallbore Club and we lease some of it to the Hamilton Branch of the SSAA. Have been doing it for the last 25 years.

Funny thing is, the Rifle Club has more members shooting than SSAA.

Cheers

Danny

Same at Goulburn. SSAA has the members and the $'s, but the rifle club has more shooters on the mound.

Where it can happen, we coexist in Queensland.

Norm, there is strength in numbers. Alan's sentiments can be negotiated. According to my young blokes, the cost of our shooting is prohibitive to young people and they are no longer filling our ranks. We pay for a licence which is blocked in years which is a huge amount for a young person whose job tenure is mostly part time, then we have club fees which amount to hundreds of which a lot goes to State Associations, the National Association and some to the local association. The young feel they are supporting a hierarchy that has little to do with where they are at at the local level. They feel the Sporting Shooters Association gives them more bang for their buck and indemnifies them plus they get a magazine. So maybe a merger for the future of our sport is not as dumb as it sounds.

I could not help note at the last pennant shoot our association held, and I have not shot for a few years in the association that the average age was probably about 65. Not good if we want to pass on the batten. David.

Strength in numbers.

We would require the ability to keep our sport and history intact.

In some areas there would need to be a changing of the guard, those that will embrace the challenges that lay infront of our sport, instead of focusing exclusively on the past.

Constipated, cranky old men, I'm talking about you

I believe F Class numbers would massively increase, and some of their husbands might want to shoot TR , I look forward to the retorts.

Ive been a member of a club that went to ssaa. It no longer exists. The people who wanted to shoot competitively moved clubs and everyone else fell by the way side without them. I expect it wiuld be the death of high level competition.

Macca wrote:Ive been a member of a club that went to ssaa. It no longer exists. The people who wanted to shoot competitively moved clubs and everyone else fell by the way side without them. I expect it wiuld be the death of high level competition.

So you think that with a merger with the SSAA that in itself would be a reason for the death of high level competition in Australia?
Didn't the SSAA hold a very successful World Benchrest Championship at the Silverdale range in October 2013.

Yes i do. Im pretty sure this is the case but wouldnt argue it. At this point to join ssaa a club has to hand over their range so they dont own it anymore. Why would they want to change it. I mostly shoot pistols. If i had have stayed with the ssaa when i changed i couldnt go any further than a local comp. No Worlds no commonwealth games and no olympics.

I think the same would apply to target rifle and f class. Ssaa want to be the governing body in australia not just share. Maybe im just jaded from past experiences but leopards.

I still pay my ssaa membership but i would hate my local club to go down that road

We own our range, we also are an affiliated member of SSAA at $50 per annum.

Cheers
Danny

DannyS wrote:We own our range, we also are an affiliated member of SSAA at $50 per annum.

Cheers
Danny

thats why i said i wouldnt argue it because what happened with our club was 15 years ago. But leopards and all that. The other issue is they are 2 totally different types of people which never works well.
There is already a devide between f class and target rifle shooters from what i have seen. Now in the whole shooting picture they almost shoot the same thing. Most people who shoot at ssaa ranges just go there to plink. And or shoot things that are about as far away as you can get from what the nraa shoot. This will create a huge devide and both sides will think they need to shoot because they are important. From what i have seen of the nraa ranges they are generally 1 range. So you have 2 different groups that want to shoot on a sat. 1 cant