History of the Oregon State Rifle Club
In 1943 students of Oregon State College petitioned the Associated Students of Oregon State College (ASOSC) for a rifle club to be established at the College. The petition set the stage for the establishment of the Oregon State Rifle Club the following year, 1944. When the club was first established it received funding from the Athletic Department and ammunition from the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) unit 1962 when the Army ROTC unit announced that it was no longer was able to provide ammunition for the rifle team.
It was at this time that the club filed for special funding from the Department of Educational Activities so that the team could continue to compete on both a local, and national level. Today the Oregon State Rifle Club falls under the Department of Recreational Sports, Sports and Special Programs and is the oldest Sports Club still in existence at Oregon State University (formally Oregon Agricultural College and Oregon State College).
Since rifle clubs establishment in 1944, the rifle club—and the rifle team—has not only achieved, but also maintained its status as one of the largest and most notable student-run clubs on campus. The clubs membership numbers far surpass all others sports clubs on a yearly basis and are only rivaled by the Oregon State Pistol Club, which gained official recognition by Oregon State College in 1948. The Oregon State Rifle Club and the Oregon State Pistol Club are not only two of the oldest sports clubs still in existence at Oregon State University, but are also the most popular and the most well attend sports clubs, which have contributed to making them the two largest student-run sports clubs that Oregon State University has to offer its students, staff, faculty and community members.
Oregon State University is the only university in the northwest which still maintains competitive shooting teams, let alone multiple teams. It was also the last university in the northwest to have a target range on campus, and was the only range west of the Mississippi River to have two-stories. The rifle and pistol teams have always, and will always, be open to all current rifle and pistol club members who both meet the team qualifications and who are interested in competitive shooting. The teams continue to compete locally within the Willamette Valley League, as well as on a regional and national level through the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) Intercollegiate Sectionals (held at Oregon State University) and the NRA Intercollegiate Championships (held at Fort Benning, Georgia). Both the rifle and pistol teams experience huge successes year after year in the Willamette Valley League, as well as in the NRA Intercollegiate Pistol and the NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Sectionals and Intercollegiate Championships.
The Oregon State Varsity Rifle Teams various accomplishments include numerous Willamette Valley League championships--remaining undefeated in the Willamette Valley Smallbore League since 2005, winning the National Rifle Intercollegiate Championships in 1960 and again in 1962, and producing numerous All-American rifle shooters throughout the years it has participated outside the Willamette Valley League. The rifle team only competed in the Willamette Valley Smallbore League from 1970 to 2011. For more information about the rifle teams, please visit The Teams or Team Members pages.
Written by Nicholle Miller, OSU Rifle Club President 2011-2014
February 2012
It was at this time that the club filed for special funding from the Department of Educational Activities so that the team could continue to compete on both a local, and national level. Today the Oregon State Rifle Club falls under the Department of Recreational Sports, Sports and Special Programs and is the oldest Sports Club still in existence at Oregon State University (formally Oregon Agricultural College and Oregon State College).
Since rifle clubs establishment in 1944, the rifle club—and the rifle team—has not only achieved, but also maintained its status as one of the largest and most notable student-run clubs on campus. The clubs membership numbers far surpass all others sports clubs on a yearly basis and are only rivaled by the Oregon State Pistol Club, which gained official recognition by Oregon State College in 1948. The Oregon State Rifle Club and the Oregon State Pistol Club are not only two of the oldest sports clubs still in existence at Oregon State University, but are also the most popular and the most well attend sports clubs, which have contributed to making them the two largest student-run sports clubs that Oregon State University has to offer its students, staff, faculty and community members.
Oregon State University is the only university in the northwest which still maintains competitive shooting teams, let alone multiple teams. It was also the last university in the northwest to have a target range on campus, and was the only range west of the Mississippi River to have two-stories. The rifle and pistol teams have always, and will always, be open to all current rifle and pistol club members who both meet the team qualifications and who are interested in competitive shooting. The teams continue to compete locally within the Willamette Valley League, as well as on a regional and national level through the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) Intercollegiate Sectionals (held at Oregon State University) and the NRA Intercollegiate Championships (held at Fort Benning, Georgia). Both the rifle and pistol teams experience huge successes year after year in the Willamette Valley League, as well as in the NRA Intercollegiate Pistol and the NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Sectionals and Intercollegiate Championships.
The Oregon State Varsity Rifle Teams various accomplishments include numerous Willamette Valley League championships--remaining undefeated in the Willamette Valley Smallbore League since 2005, winning the National Rifle Intercollegiate Championships in 1960 and again in 1962, and producing numerous All-American rifle shooters throughout the years it has participated outside the Willamette Valley League. The rifle team only competed in the Willamette Valley Smallbore League from 1970 to 2011. For more information about the rifle teams, please visit The Teams or Team Members pages.
Written by Nicholle Miller, OSU Rifle Club President 2011-2014
February 2012
