Steel Challenge - I've seen the light

R

rdtompki

New member
Wife and I have been shooting steel challenge for less than a year. We're determined super seniors, no world records in this life, but are practicing twice a week and working to improve.

I'm a former geek and probably too mindful of plotting scores and looking at data. Unlike other action pistol sports the stages are always the same so there is no escaping the good, bad and ugly. The big challenge is consistency, but the desire to go faster is hard to resist.

At last weekend's match I was a bit up and down, but shot Pendulum and Five to Go very well, perhaps one miss total in each of the two stages and a good sight picture and trigger on every target. Got home, looked at the data from the last several matches for those stages, and wasn't all that surprised that I actually had previously shot those two stages somewhat faster, if not better.

Here's the light going off moment: The past performances all had one bad string and I'm sure I was a hair's breadth away from a really bad score. Going faster than your software supports can get you a slightly better time on one stage, but you would be challenged to use that performance as the basis of improvement and shooting eight stages like that is bound to produce 1-2 bad stages.

If I shoot ever stage under control concentrating on sight picture and trigger I might no beat my best total score immediately, but I have absolutely no doubt I could refine my technique and bump up my average transition by .1 sec or so which would, over time, produce a 16 second reduction in total time.

This is the first of our 12-15 matches where I experienced a couple of "perfect" strings - no luck involved. We had some very good steel challenge instruction several months ago and our instructor hammered us with the importance of hitting the target; it's only taken me several months to get the message.
 
I've been shooting Steel Challenge matches since they started. I even bring a S&W 617 .22 caliber to shoot. You don't have to draw the .22.

One thing I learned and tell many shooters is to make each shot count. Five targets per string means you should only have to shoot five times. Maybe six or you are loosing time.

I've seen guys try to go too fast and miss a bunch. That adds .5 to 1 second per run and eats up your total score.

I started with a 625 in .45 ACP. Hated to have to do a reload. That was an easy 2 - 3 seconds added to the run. But I would only have to do a reload once or twice in the entire match.

Now I shoot with an 8 shot revolver and I better not have to reload. Just take your time, one shot per target and you will beat the other guys going for speed.

Good Luck and Good Shooting.:p
 
Yep, there's "book" learning and there's learning. There isn't a single shot in SC that can't be hit in controlled fire 50 times in a row, but add a tiny bit of distraction and thoughts of slow is fast are fleeting. What started me on the right path a few matches ago was a very experienced (revolver as happens) shooter who said he treated Pendulum like bullseye shooting; now he was moving along mind you, but that was his mind set. The light went on after those two stages; Every shot but 1 of 26 was a certainty.

Anyway, you don't get better by practicing to miss fast or by missing fast in a match. I have seen the light.
 
Yeah, for some reason misses don't count.
Funny thing, that.
Wish there were steel challenge matches near us.
We used to do them a lot where we used to live.
Great fun and they really sharpen up skills.
And one of the very few action games that include rimfire.
But they can be hard to find - maybe the cost of all that steel is the cause.
Enjoy and thanks for the report.
 
You can fake it easily,,,

You can fake it easily,,,
By faking it, I mean fake steel challenge targets.

I made some wire loops from clothes hangers,,,
Then I use cheap spring clips to attach paper plates to them.

Attach those to PVC pipe poles and you can "fake" any of the standard stages.

Personally, I think those stages are a true blast to run,,,
They force you to pay attention to your sights,,,
And to get your shots off quickly.

Nothing is better for informal plinking competition between friends.

Aarond

.
 
My wife and I practice at a cowboy range with our own AR500 steel. The range is only 15 yards deep so we use mostly 8" and 10" targets on scaled down stages. No public ranges in our area of California will allow drawing from a holster or rapid fire:(, but we're good for now. Other, friendlier states, loom large, however.
 
Unfortunately it's not just California with those range restrictions.
About the only way I can play steel challenge on my own is with airguns in the garage.
We had a members only club that allowed us to set up steel targets without restrictions, but some less than competent folks sent rounds out of the ball park and forced rules changes to the worse.
As usual the rest of us suffered for their irresponsibility.
 
As we tell newer shooters, slow down and you will shoot faster. Had a shooter (new to the game)and he was pushing hard to shoot fast ( missed a lot). I got him to slow down and low and behold by the 3rd string he shaved 3+ seconds off his raw time because he needed NO make up shots. All I can add is shoot as fast as your accuracy allows, You can always shoot fast enough to miss.
 
My first handgun competition was pin matches there was a gentleman that gave me some very good advice and it was don't practices misses.

He said you only have 5 pins on a table so when you practice load only 5 rounds if you miss stop reset the pins, top your mag back off to 5 rounds and start your run again.
I did what he said and with some practice I was hitting 5 for 5, I worked hard.practiced a lot and developed the speed required to run with the big dogs.

Besides shooting in all the big pin matches I've competed in both types of steel matches (reactive and bang an clang) loved them both, but pin matches was my true love.
 
Ah, a fellow pin head.
The rimfire division was my favorite.
Had to hit them in their head, sometimes more than once to knock them over.
Very challenging and great fun.
And no ammo reloading required, or chasing brass.
The same with steel challenge, only it's easier.
Don't have to knock them down, just ring 'em loud and clear.
 
The bigger pin matches did have a 22 event, it was pin tops, 6 of them, 3 on the top shelf three on the bottom and your run time did not stop until the last pin top of the string was laying on the ground.

At times it got to be quite amusing as the regulation pin tables all had full height and depth end plates and those pin tops would start bouncing from one end plate to the other depending on where they were hit, kind of like watching a one man ping pong match.:D

The gentleman that gave me the advice on practicing was Ken Tapp, one of the most respected competition shooters of all time, he was quite a fellow and one heck of a competitor.
 
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