National Rifle Association (NRA)

The National Rifle Association was established in 1871 by two Civil War veterans, Colonel William C. Church and General George Wingate, initially to promote rifle marksmanship for scientific and sporting purposes. The founding came in response to poor marksmanship skills observed among Union soldiers during the Civil War.

With the organization's early mission focused on improving civilian shooting proficiency, the NRA received its charter from the state of New York and held its first shooting matches at Creedmoor Range on Long Island.

Timeline showing the NRA's evolution from marksmanship organization to political advocacy group

Early Focus Period

During its first century, the NRA primarily concentrated on marksmanship training, hunter safety, and competitive shooting sports. The organization worked closely with the U.S. military to improve national marksmanship and established shooting programs in schools and colleges. This focus on education and training remained the NRA's primary mission through the 1960s, with political advocacy playing a secondary role.

Political Transformation

A significant transformation occurred in 1977 during what became known as the "Cincinnati Revolt," when NRA life members staged a leadership purge at the organization's annual meeting. Following this internal reorganization, the NRA Board of Directors officially committed to opposing restrictive gun legislation, marking the organization's evolution into a major political force. This shift established the foundation for the modern NRA's dual role as both a shooting sports organization and political advocacy group.

A standard round is 25 targets shot from five stations, five targets per station. You start at station one, shoot five clays, then move right to station two.

The trap machine sits 16 yards in front of you in a concrete house, oscillating left and right within a 54-degree arc.

Charles Davis invented this in 1915 because he wanted hunting practice without live pigeons. Originally called "shooting around the clock," the sport started as a full circle until neighbors got tired of shot raining on their property. The half-circle design we use today solved that problem -- and the name "skeet" comes from Scandinavian for "shoot."

Field Layout and Mechanics

Service Rifle stays truest to the military roots--AR-15 or M1 Garand variants with iron sights. Match Rifle lets you run low-power scopes, which helps if your eyes aren't what they used to be.

Service Rifle stays truest to the military roots--skills that transfer directly to serious applications without the equipment arms race.

Match Format and Timing

A standard match fires three 10-shot strings. Slow fire gives you basically unlimited time (though practically 60-90 seconds per shot). Timed fire gives you 20 seconds to fire two 5-shot strings. Rapid fire cuts that to 10 seconds. Maximum score is 300 points.