With its headquarters in Inverness, it was recruited for home defence from a number of shires in the northern Scottish Highlands.

[7][21] On 1 February 1890 the unit was redesignated the Highland Artillery Volunteers with the '(Inverness, Cromarty, Nairn, Ross and Elgin)' subtitle restored the following year.

It carried out its training and gun-practice at camp, and used the rifle range of the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the Cameron Highlanders at Longman, Inverness.

In 1894 No 1 Position Battery won the Queen's Cup at the Scottish National Artillery Association's camp at Barry Buddon.

[8] When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908,[25][26][27] the Highland RGA was broken up, but its various shire contingents contributed experienced men to a number of newly formed TF units:[9][28][29] The original uniform of the 1st Inverness AVC was a blue tunic with long skirts, scarlet collar and cuffs, black braiding round the edges, five rows of black lace across the chest and a black Austrian knot on the sleeve.

The shako plate had the intertwined letters 'NAV' over the county precedence number 45 above a gun, all within a wreath on an eight-pointed star surmounted by a crown.