1958 – 1969
In 1958 came the first minuted meeting of the No. 1 WA Smallbore Rifle Clubs Union. Thanks to a dedicated committee, the Smallbore Rifle Clubs Union grew with various clubs embracing this challenging sport.
On the 12th December 1961, the Western Australian Smallbore Rifle Association was proclaimed.
WASRA is born.
Thanks to the drive and dedication of Les ‘Blue’ Thomas, Ron Harrington, Alan Bennett, Bill Eddy and many others, the West Australian Smallbore Rifle Association became the driving force of Smallbore Rifle Shooting in Western Australia.
Our first Range
Our first rifle range was located “out in the sticks” at Jarrah Road, Kensington.
Jarrah Road Range. Under construction and competitions.
A relocation
In 1966 our State Headquarters range was relocated to Harrison Range, Swanbourne, sharing Department of Defence land adjoining the SAS Barracks on West Coast Highway, where we stayed until 2013.
The early days at Harrison Range – Swanbourne.
1970 – 1979
1980 – 1989
WASRA celebrated it’s 25th anniversary. During the 80’s the range at Swanbourne was rebuilt.
1990 – 1999
2000 – 2009
Claremont PCY was the venue for all WASRA Air Rifle Shooting and remained so until its closure. The range hosted many State and National Air Rifle Championships and thanks to the hard work of numerous volunteers was noted as equal to the standard of many ranges around Australia.
2010 – 2019
This decade saw the last Nationals at Harrison Range in 2012. In November 2013 the contract was signed for the new range to be built at Whiteman Park.
And on the 22nd February 2016, the new WASRA State Headquarters Range at Whiteman Park was officially opened by the Hon Terry Waldron MLA on behalf of the Hon Mia Davies MLA.
National Championships
Over the years, WASRA has successfully hosted 9 Australian National Championships. These were held in 1966, 1971, 1977, 1983, 1990, 1996, 2001, 2008, 2012 and we will be again hosting in 2023. These Nationals will be the first to be held on our Whiteman Park facility.
Western Australia has also had many National Champions with our most successful being Robyn Ridley (nee Van Nus) with 14 individual National titles while shooting for WA.
