The New Zealand Annual National Championships are held at Trentham in February or March of each year. The premier trophy is the New Zealand Rifle Champion Belt (Ballinger Belt) which has been competed for since 1861. In 1907 it was won outright by A. Ballinger of Wellington who in 1938 presented it to the NRA for annual competition. The Collins Challenge Cup was instituted in 1907 and is awarded for the highest aggregate score gained in certain events at the national meeting. The premier teams' trophy, the District Challenge Shield, has been competed for since 1880. Each of these trophies is open to overseas competitors.

New Zealand teams have often competed at Bisley and in 1919 the Queen's Prize was won by Sergeant L. Loveday of Palmerston North. In 1897 the first New Zealand team competed for the Kolapore Cup (Imperial Challenge Cup) – for competition between the United Kingdom and the dominions – winning the cup in 1904 and 1960. The Mackinnon Challenge Cup – for international competition to encourage rapid fire from a kneeling position – has been won by New Zealand teams on two occasions, in 1953 and 1960. Again in 1960 the New Zealand team at Bisley won the Rhodes Centennial Match. After winning most of the teams' events at Bisley, the 1960 New Zealand team visited Canada where they won the Ontario Teams Match and the Canadian Commonwealth Match while Major R. Wakefield won the Governor-General's Match.