Sport shooting in the United Kingdom
British Shooting is the target-shooting governing body in Great Britain that the ISSF, the British Olympic and Paralympic Associations and UK Sport recognise. The NRA, founded in 1859, is based at Bisley, where its Imperial Meeting — first held on Wimbledon Common in 1860, when Queen Victoria fired the first shot — still crowns its top shot with the King’s Prize.
In Great Britain, members of an approved club may shoot rifles at the club without a certificate of their own; the NRA, the largest such club, takes newcomers over 14 as probationary members after a police check. Owning a rifle or pistol, other than a low-powered air gun, needs a firearm certificate from the police, with club membership generally the core of a target shooter’s good reason, and since 1997 the law prohibits small firearms — in general, handguns other than ordinary air pistols and muzzle-loaders.
Gun licence in the United Kingdom
- In Great Britain, a target rifle or muzzle-loading pistol needs a police firearm certificate, a good reason for each gun, and membership of an approved club named on it.
- Since 1997 Great Britain has prohibited firearms with a barrel under 30 cm or under 60 cm overall; long-barrelled pistols, muzzle-loaders and low-powered air pistols are not.
- A certificate lasts five years. The Home Office guide expects regular use, say three or more times a year, and clubs report members who have not shot for 12 months.
Federations
- NSRA ·
Targets
NSRA
Founded in 1901 and named the National Small-bore Rifle Association in 1947: the governing body for British small-bore and air rifle and pistol shooting, and for crossbow.
Sources: British Shooting; NRA (UK), “About the NRA”; NRA (UK), “The Imperial Meeting”; NRA (UK), “Get into shooting”; Home Office, Guide on Firearms Licensing Law (September 2026), paras 2.42, 2.45, 3.3, 12.49 and 17.3; GOV.UK, “Shotgun and firearm certificates”; NSRA, “Our history”; NSRA, “Who we are”, read on .