Steel Challenge gear and general discussion

[JCN]

I shot my first Steel Challenge match the other month and I really enjoyed it.

It was more mentally enjoyable of a day than some of the USPSA matches for me due to limited mental bandwidth with busy work schedules these days.

I really liked the challenge of shooting within capability and with consistency.

Anyone still doing this?

I was happy to shoot all M stages in CO on my first outing.

I think I might set myself the challenge to hit A/M in all divisions.

That might keep it fresh enough for me to not dwell on trying to get too gamey with it.

I almost bought a set of steel challenge targets for my range, but I don’t want to go that far yet because I don’t want it to become an exercise in memorization.

I’m hoping by setting modest goals, I don’t have to squeeze every ounce of equipment performance out there and I can just use the random stuff I have lying around.

[45dotACP]

I shot my first Steel Challenge match the other month and I really enjoyed it.

It was more mentally enjoyable of a day than some of the USPSA matches for me due to limited mental bandwidth with busy work schedules these days.

I really liked the challenge of shooting within capability and with consistency.

Anyone still doing this?

I was happy to shoot all M stages in CO on my first outing.

I think I might set myself the challenge to hit A/M in all divisions.

That might keep it fresh enough for me to not dwell on trying to get too gamey with it.

I almost bought a set of steel challenge targets for my range, but I don’t want to go that far yet because I don’t want it to become an exercise in memorization.

I’m hoping by setting modest goals, I don’t have to squeeze every ounce of equipment performance out there and I can just use the random stuff I have lying around.

The only match I've managed to drag my ass to this year was when my brother and I did a Steel Challenge match together.

It was a lot of fun. Shot rimfire and centerfire pistols. Kept about even pace with the A class guys. Was told by the competitors that I didn't have to start hammer down on my Berettas, but it made no difference either way.

Watching some of the kids run stages was impressive. Very good transition skills, but I noticed a lot of issues with reliability for a lot of the PCC and rimfire guns.

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[AzShooter]

Bought a new 617 4 inch and set it up with my C-More with a 12 MOA dot. I've worked the trigger a little bit but it's still set at 8 pounds DA. I've got a RevUpAction Hammer on order whenever they finalize the design for the 617. It's a unique type of DA only hammer that I can't wait to try.

I normally run an Apex Mass Drive Hammer in my 6 inch 617. For some reason it wouldn't drop into the 4 inch so I can't use it there. Apex advertises you can get a 6.5 pound DA trigger pull. Best I've gotten reliably is just over 7 pounds and wow is it smooth. I can only run Federal BYOBs and Reminton Bucket O Bullets at that wait. I need to run 8 pounds with CCI Mini Mags.

I like the transition times better with the 4 inch. Made a holster for it and using an old setup for my DS-10 speed loaders. This is with the Bushnell First Strike but the C-More fits just as well.

[JCN]

Bought a new 617 4 inch and set it up with my C-More with a 12 MOA dot. I've worked the trigger a little bit but it's still set at 8 pounds DA. I've got a RevUpAction Hammer on order whenever they finalize the design for the 617. It's a unique type of DA only hammer that I can't wait to try.

I normally run an Apex Mass Drive Hammer in my 6 inch 617. For some reason it wouldn't drop into the 4 inch so I can't use it there. Apex advertises you can get a 6.5 pound DA trigger pull. Best I've gotten reliably is just over 7 pounds and wow is it smooth. I can only run Federal BYOBs and Reminton Bucket O Bullets at that wait. I need to run 8 pounds with CCI Mini Mags.

I like the transition times better with the 4 inch. Made a holster for it and using an old setup for my DS-10 speed loaders. This is with the Bushnell First Strike but the C-More fits just as well.

I’m rocking a 929 set up like the Revo USPSA national champ’s (Eli at TK does great work).

Butter smooth 5 pound DA.



The plan is to turn it into an OSR too.

[backtrail540]

I've had the pleasure of watching some top 20 steel challenge shooters at a local I shot (Lance Bratcher Jr and Adam Reno). LBJ was working toward getting 100% in every division and I believe he has since completed that task. Great to see those guys compete. And I agree with you @JCN, that would be the approach to take to keep it from getting stale and having goals to work at after initial success.

[rdtompki]

From my perspective one of the Steel Challenge facts of life is the vanishing participation in certain divisions. The Idaho State Championship was just held in Nampa, ID. The gate comprised 114 guns and far fewer competitors. Limited, Open, Revolver, Production, Single Stack added up to 15 of the 114. Production was a big zero and Single Stack one entry. Rimfire added up to 71 of the 114 guns. I posted over at the Brian Enos forum the question of rejiggering the SC divisions to consolidate iron sights into autoloader and revolver divisions. It's just no longer interesting running Single Stack or Production in Steel Challenge if your into competition vs. self-improvement.

[JCN]

From my perspective one of the Steel Challenge facts of life is the vanishing participation in certain divisions. The Idaho State Championship was just held in Nampa, ID. The gate comprised 114 guns and far fewer competitors. Limited, Open, Revolver, Production, Single Stack added up to 15 of the 114. Production was a big zero and Single Stack one entry. Rimfire added up to 71 of the 114 guns. I posted over at the Brian Enos forum the question of rejiggering the SC divisions to consolidate iron sights into autoloader and revolver divisions. It's just no longer interesting running Single Stack or Production in Steel Challenge if your into competition vs. self-improvement.

Can you expand on this a little?

I always thought this was kind of the draw of Steel Challenge that you could compete against the published standard par times and go for a personal best and compare across divisions that way.

I know you don’t get a trophy but you still kind of get to compare.

Unlike a USPSA event where you literally have no idea how you stack up against someone else on a novel field course unless you’re at the event with them.

On the PractiScore competitor app it even ranks people based off their division percent.

So for example, on PractiScore my raw time was well behind rimfire guys when I shot centerfire.

But on the PractiScore app it ranked us in relation to our performance percent of our division pars which I thought was cool.

[rdtompki]

Can you expand on this a little?

I always thought this was kind of the draw of Steel Challenge that you could compete against the published standard par times and go for a personal best and compare across divisions that way.

I know you don’t get a trophy but you still kind of get to compare.

Unlike a USPSA event where you literally have no idea how you stack up against someone else on a novel field course unless you’re at the event with them.

On the PractiScore competitor app it even ranks people based off their division percent.

So for example, on PractiScore my raw time was well behind rimfire guys when I shot centerfire.

But on the PractiScore app it ranked us in relation to our performance percent of our division pars which I thought was cool.

The par (or peak) times are a very nice system and make the sport attractive to competitors of all experience levels. My wife and I go to 1-2 weekly 4 stage matches each week and pay little attention to others' scores, simply trying to improve despite advancing age. The larger matches might be less interesting given travel and hotel expenses for those shooting centerfire autoloader irons; The area 1 championship had 234 entries (guns) with 12 production, 11 limited and 2 single stack (plus 8 Open). Limited, which used to be a pretty hot division, had one Master level shooter, the rest B's and C's, which I expect is due to the migration to carry optics. So, my opinion: it's a great sport that is safe enough for beginners and challenging enough to compete in for decades. I'd like to see USPSA perhaps retain the centerfire irons divisions for classification purposes but aggregate the autoloaders into a single competitive division. Carry Optics is almost such and aggregated division; while not allowing single action handguns, the allowable modifications are substantial and include handguns that I expect nobody would actually carry. For the time being Steel Challenge is constrained to be in lock step with USPSA which, IMO, doesn't make sense.

[JCN]

I think I might set myself the challenge to hit A/M in all divisions.

That might keep it fresh enough for me to not dwell on trying to get too gamey with it.

9 month update:



Also just picked up M in RFPO.

Having a lot of reliability issues in the JP22 so going to try an MCX
-CMMG conversion.

I like heavier guns because of the applicability to other sports and disciplines.

[Archer1440]

For me, the very best things about Steel Challenge is seeing friends, kids and families participating. Some of the most talented shooters I have ever seen are in their early teens and blow the doors off all the adults including some paper GM’s.

I have several friends who I brought into competition through SC and some have gone on to be serious USPSA competitors after the “entry level” experience.

I helped run stages at my area match earlier this year and some of the kids were simply amazing. And every one of them had great manners and sportsmanship. Kind of gives you hope for the future.