Steel Challenge, Another Fun Way To Spend a Sunday

Continuing on my previous post regarding shooting competitions, I will now give a quick tutorial on Steel Challenge. This is the most simple and least physically demanding of all types of shooting competitions I have engaged in. It’s a great way to dip your toe into this type of sport, so to speak. For this sport, there is generally no running, no movement of any kind. If you already shoot USPSA, or read my previous post regarding USPSA, the equipment required for both is the same.

For a first time competitor, its a much easier way to get started than USPSA as well. All of the running, speed reloads, stage planning, and shooting on the move is taken out.  Unless you empty a magazine while shooting these 5 targets, all reloads between strings of fire are done off the clock, removing the need to do that fast from the equation.

First, the course of fire. You will see in front of you 5 steel targets of various sizes and shapes. All will be on stands that are generally about chest height for most people. The targets will be painted white, and the stands will be bare 2×4 posts, with the exception of the “stop plate”, which will have it’s post painted red. No matter where the stop plate is located in the order of plates, it must be shot last. Shoot the stop plate before shooting all 4 other targets and you will get a 3 second penalty for each missed plate.

Considering many competitors shoot all 5 plates in under 3 seconds total on some stages, this is a lot of time. When it’s your turn, you will step into a 3 foot square box on the ground, and keep your hands at your sides. When told to do so by the Range Officer (hereafter, RO) you will draw your pistol and make ready, then reholster. Occasionally, you will come across a stage with two boxes, and the requirement that you shoot the first two targets from one box, move to the next, and shoot the remaining targets. These aren’t very common at my club, but you’ll see one every now and then. You will start each string of fire from the ‘surrender’ position, wrists above your shoulders, palms facing forward.

Upon the start signal, you will draw and fire until you hit all 5 targets, with the last one being the stop plate. Aside from the requirement to shoot the stop plate last, you can shoot them in any order. For most people, the fastest way is left to right for right handed shooters, right to left for left handed shooters. Your time stops when the shot timer records your last shot. Once you have hit all 5 targets, the RO will tell you to make ready for the next string. You can change mags if needed, and then reholster. There will be a table of some sort next to the firing box to allow you to place your used mags on, so you don’t have to needlessly drop them on the dirt. Do not place half spent mags back on your belt, or you may forget to reload them and wind up with a dumb look on your face when you realize a mag you was full only had 7 rounds in it.

Ask me how I know that. You will shoot 5 strings at each stage. My local matches have 5 stages. 5 targets shot 5 times on 5 stages means 125 rounds total, if you don’t miss. Show up with 200 rounds minimum, and you won’t run out, and SHOULD have some leftover ammo. After each person shoots, the rest should be spray painting the targets for the next shooter. Your time from each string is recorded, with your worst one dropped. Your score for each stage will be the times from your best 4 strings added together.

Next up, equipment. As stated above, all USPSA divisions and equipment rules apply. You’ll need the same equipment, minus all the magazine carriers. I still use the same belt, but usually only bother with 3 mags. I can get 5 strings done with one 22 round magazine most days, so I usually only use two. Since reloads are done off the clock, you can get away with just sticking the extra mags in your pockets, and some people do just that.

In addition to the divisions listed in my USPSA post, Steel Challenge has various divisions with the 22LR round. There are rifle and pistol divisions for guns with and without optics. These rimfire pistols aren’t allowed to use holsters, so you start from the ‘low ready’ position, aiming at a sign on the ground. As you can imagine, this gives them a significant head start on time, since they aren’t having to draw from a holster starting from the surrender position, and are already looking at their sights. With this sport, its better to judge how well you did based on how you placed within your division rather than overall, as some divisions start off with a pretty big speed advantage with not having to draw from a holster.

Since I do this to improve my drawing, sight, and target aquisition with a pistol similar to what I carry, I stick with a pistol with iron sights. One of the skills this type of shooting has drastically improved for me is the ability to point shoot. By this I mean I can draw and hit the close targets without using my sights. My best 5 shot string is 2.9 seconds. I only used the sights on the most distant plate. This is a good skill to have because it will allow you to shave a little time off that first shot should you even have such a hostile encounter. As with USPSA, I only use my sights about half the time. For your first time though, draw, find your front sight, and take your time.

Finally, some general safety and courtesy guidelines to follow. Unless you are at a ‘safe table’, which will be set up around the range in several places, do not touch or handle your firearm unless specifically told to do so by the RO when its your turn to shoot. You will approach the box, and leave the box, with a clear and holstered firearm. If shooting one of the various long gun categories, you will approach and leave with a chamber flag in place, and the muzzle pointed straight up. This is the same as USPSA. If you drop your gun, DO NOT attempt to catch it.

Let it hit the ground, and take a step back. Plenty of people have done so and ‘caught’ the trigger and fired the gun in a random direction. The rules for both competitions state that only the RO will retrieve a dropped firearm. If you drop your gun on the ground, you will be DQ’d. Not the end of the world, I’ve seen it happen, usually when someone falls. A few rules on courtesy. In this and all others, you’ll usually have a group of about 10 shooters, and the day goes by a lot faster if everyone helps reset the stages between shooters.

Especially if you are new to a club, people WILL notice if you hang out in the back and enjoy a cigar or goof off on your phone the entire time. While there are some really old and/or out of shape guys that spend most of their time sitting down in the shade when they aren’t shooting, unless you are one of those, always help out. Being young and fit, at USPSA  I usually head straight to the heavy steel poppers and set them back in place. The older guys will notice and appreciate it. A lot of people reload and want to collect their brass. You can do so, but be quick about it.

One guy spending too much time looking for those last couple shells slows the whole group down, which due to you rotating in 5 groups between 5 stages, means you are slowing the entire match down. Eye and hearing protection is a must, obviously, but eye protection even when not shooting and well behind the guy that is shooting is really important here. You will see guys shooting hot loads out of a .38 super at steel at close range, and this results in the occasional ricochet. The bullet splits apart on the steel, and I’ve been hit by small pieces of them several times. I’ve seen them hit a guy hard enough to make him bleed.

Trust me, you do not want that hitting you in the eye. There is one guy in particular that seems to think he needs to be able to knock out an armored car with his pistol. When he is shooting I always take an extra few steps back. As I said above, you don’t generally need to bring as many magazines to these, but make sure you still bring enough to hold the rounds required to hit all 25 targets with some misses. Nothing makes people more irritated than having to wait for a guy to reload one of the two mags he brought with him because he can’t finish a stage with out reloading them.

As with all of these competitions, feel free to ask questions. Most of the people you will encounter there are among the friendliest and most helpful people you will meet, and are happy to see knew people show up as it means their sport is growing. Some of them are so helpful you won’t be able to shut them up once you ask a question. I’ll check back and answer any questions you have in the comment section, or you can check the rulebook yourself at Steelchallenge.com. Hope to see you all out there.