European Cartridge Research Association (ECRA) is a nonprofit organization which aims to promote interest and knowledge about ammunition of all types and forms.
[3] The founder of ECRA, Emile Timmermans, had started collecting in 1945, and in 1964 wrote a letter to 10 other collectors in Germany, England, France and Switzerland where he described his ideas, whereupon he received 20 enthusiastic answers.
[6] On 20 September 1980, Norwegian and Swedish cartridge collectors met in the town of Grums in Sweden and agreed that a Scandinavian organization should be to established.
This led to the Scandinavian Ammunition Research Association (SARA) which was formally founded on 22 August 1981 in the city of Arvika in Sweden.
[7] SARA today has increased its activity to also include collectors from Denmark, Finland and Iceland, and as such acts as the Nordic branch of ECRA.