Imperial Meeting

The Imperial Meeting is a target shooting competition organised by the National Rifle Association annually at the Bisley Ranges in England.

In 1878, the society biographer and journalist Edward Walford wrote: These annual gatherings are attended by the élite of fashion, and always include a large number of ladies, who generally evince the greatest interest in the target practice of the various competitors, whether it be for the honour of carrying off the Elcho Shield, the Queen's or the Prince of Wales's Prize, or the shield shot for by our great Public Schools, or the Annual Rifle Match between the Houses of Lords and Commons.

[10] In 1897 the Dominion of Canada Rifle Association built a pavilion on Bisley Camp to accommodate the Canadian national team whilst competing at the meeting.

[11] In the first half of the twentieth century, the meeting was extensively covered by newsreels including Pathé and Movietone, resulting in an unusually rich heritage of archival footage.

[16] This included the Queen's Prize, which featured a reduced number of finalists qualifying to allow wider spacing on the firing point for social distancing.

[17] The Imperial Meeting officially takes place during two weeks of July, although there is a build-up of other events including inter-services matches through late June, not all of which are run by the NRA.

The Target Rifle Imperial runs for nine days through Middle Weekend and Week 2, and is attended by international teams from around the world, with a particular emphasis on Commonwealth nations.