History of the BFDA

The BFDA was first founded in 1974 by myself and one or two others of a like minded nature as a break away from The British Westerners Assoc., (I ran my own fast draw club at the time called "The Vaqueros".)

The British Westerners Assoc., staged the first ever National fast draw championships in 1974 at Stone in Staffordshire, but they were mainly interested in the wider aspects of the American West, so the BFDA was founded to concentrate solely on fast draw.

We soon had members from all over the country, thanks to newspaper and TV coverage and started staging regional events in all parts of the country plus National Championships. Over the next few years the Assoc., grew rapidly and we had several hundred members. I retired in 1980 to concentrate on business and to finally emigrate out to Salt Lake City in the USA.

The BFDA moved out of my hands and appeared to prosper for a while but then seemed to disappear. When I came back from the States a couple of years ago I got back involved in the western scene again and was surprised at how popular it was with clubs all over the country all shooting fast draw but all using different rules and regulations.

I thought it would be nice to try to bring fast draw back under a national banner and so with consultation the BFDA was reformed. Our first inaugural meeting took place at a large Western weekend at Wattlehurst Farm, Kingsfold, West Sussex on Saturday August 17th 2002 where the rules and conditions were finalized. Committee elections took place and a full committee established.

Sunday morning all shooters present shot against the timer to establish which class they would shoot in in up coming BFDA competitions. After our first full committee meeting the first area competition will be set up, probably for the Southern Championships, followed by other regional events leading up to the Nationals.

I hope the above has given you a brief insight into fast draw in this country. Should you wish to apply for membership you can do so by downloading the application form and posting it with the neccesary items to the address shown on the form.

David C. Rio