A brief history of shooting in Victoria and how MISC came into existence.

Target shooting with rifles and pistols – and with bows and crossbows before the invention of firearms – is one of the oldest and most popular sports. Target shooting is an Olympic sport that has been on the program of the Modern Olympic Games (since 1896) and is also included in the Commonwealth Games.

Even though this is a relatively new sport in Australia, our shooters are competing with increased success in the various international events and have won a number of medals at Olympic and Commonwealth Games as well as at World Championships.

In 1955 pistol shooting was recognised as a sport in Victoria and the Melbourne Pistol Club was formed. Because of the Melbourne Olympic Games, the law in Victoria was changed to allow the ownership of target pistols. At that time the Olympic program contained only two pistol events whereas there are now five events included.

The original Melbourne Pistol Club was split into smaller clubs with the Victorian Amateur Pistol Association [VAPA] formed as the governing administrative body of pistol shooting in this state.

Melbourne Pistol Club combined with the Springvale International Shooting Club to form Melbourne International Shooting Club Inc (MISC). The club commenced building the current facilities at Port Melbourne in 1976 to cater for both pistol and smallbore rifle shooting.

The purchase of the site in 1992 ensured continuity and security of tenure necessary for our future and for the continued development and improvement of the six acres of land for the benefit of our members. Since 1994 smallbore rifle shooting has also been included in the main shooting activities of the club, and several of our international representatives have used the club as their training base.

The club is affiliated with several umbrella bodies which are:

• Victorian Amateur Pistol Association [VAPA];
• Target Rifle Victoria [TRV]; and
• International Practical Shooting Confederation Australia [IPSC].

These associations cater for people interested in International Shooting Sport Federation [ISSF] Smallbore rifle shooting or pistol shooting, and practical pistol shooting.  A few of our members participate in modern pentathlon and use our facility to train for the shooting component of this event. A number of members also compete in biathlon and use our facility to train for the shooting component of this sport.

The club has a policy of continuous improvement to upgrade its facilities and was the venue for the pistol and rifle shooting at the 2006 Commonwealth Games with several members representing Australia at this event. We now have an international standard facility and one of the very best in the country.