The 2023 Steel Challenge

The 2023 Steel Challenge 

Stand and shoot five steel targets with the time as your score. The traditional stage designs for the Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships are the fastest in the shooting sports.  And are now expanded from centerfire pistol to include rimfire handgun and rifle, plus Pistol Caliber Carbine divisions. Most everything in your gun safe can now compete in the Steel Challenge, with World Records being set on every stage of fire.

We’ve said it time and again, but it sums up steel shooting perfectly, it’s drag racing with guns. How fast can you stand and shoot five steel targets? It turns out year-over-year the bar for excellence has risen consistently. The world championship of steel target shooting is known as the Steel Challenge. Once again the match is registered to capacity, The eight well-known courses of fire are set at the CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park action ranges. 

When opened for registration, more than 700 slots filled in just 12 minutes.  Due in large part that nearly every gun out there can compete in one of the 13 divisions of competition. Any rimfire gun can compete, any centerfire handgun can compete, and then we’ve got the Pistol Caliber Carbine divisions with optics or iron sights. So, if you’ve got it, you can likely shoot it, in one of the divisions.

The other broad appeal is the simplicity of this sport. On the start signal, shoot the four-target steel first, then the stop plate. Your score is your time of the best three strings of fire. And you get to throw out your worst string time. At the elite levels, the times are really-really fast. 

More information from Steel Challenge Shooting Association

More information on The CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park

History’s Guns - Walther PPK

No question, Hollywood and the movies make some guns famous. When an iconic character has a specific firearm, that notoriety transcends. If it’s the world’s most famous secret agent, you know the name Bond, you likely also know the Walther PPK, that’s now one of History’s Guns.

CMP 3D Archery

The CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park is a state-of-the-art facility offering something for just about every shooting discipline. But the CMP Managers and Instructors are not about to rest on their laurels. There is a new area of the park being utilized for one of the oldest forms of marksmanship. The CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park has added another page to their catalogue of marksmanship challenges. They now offer archery.

More information on CMP Archery

We’ve remodeled the Gun Room using Hornady’s new Square-Lok^TM wall system that now shows off more of the collection of black guns. The Gun Room is a high security environment allowing open display of firearms.

Hornady’s Square-Lok^TM organization system uses wall mounted vertical panels to hold a selection of shelves and hooks. Users can customize the placement of these accessories to organize their guns and gear to their liking.

The base of the system is vertically mounted metal panels. These panels are covered in holes that accept the accessories. The panels are available in two sizes - 12x18 MSRP $66.99 and 18x36 MSRP $159.99.

Once the panels are mounted to the wall, the organizing can begin. Accessory prices range from $9.99 for a two-piece horizontal gun rack, to $94.99 for a storage drawer. These accessories are also compatible with Hornady’s Ammo Cabinet, which utilizes the Square-Lok^TM system.

More information from Hornady

Ruger Precision Rimfire Rifle 

It’s been a little over a year since we received the Ruger Precision Rimfire rifle and, so far, the reviews are favorable for an out of the box option to compete in rimfire precision competition. Fully competitive, with a price point of about $620, this rifle is hard to beat. Ours is happy running standard velocity as well as mini mag and that makes it a fun choice for local matches or just plinking. 

More Information from Ruger

Coda Evolution Carbon Fiber Handguard
Now to the latest upgrade to the Ruger RPR. It’s a carbon fiber fore-end from Coda Evolution. The benefits of this go far beyond the weight savings. The biggest benefit is heat resistance, but not from a hot barrel. This is rimfire. On a hot summer day the factory aluminum hand guard would get hot from the sun. That is not a problem with the Coda 3K Carbon fiber guard. There’s M-lok slots underneath and on both sides to mount your accessories. And there is no denying the aesthetic appeal. It’s Carbon Fiber. One more thing about Coda Evolution, they offer a no questions asked 60-day return policy. So, try it for two months. If you don’t like it, send it back, they’ll send you your money back. But you will like it. The Coda Evolution Carbon Fiber Handguard for Ruger Precision Rimfire rifle is $299. 

More Info from Coda Evolution

EO Tech Vudu 5-25x50
Of course, a quality optic is a must for the Ruger and the EO Tech Vudu 5 to 25 fits that bill nicely. The price is out of line with the cost of the rifle, but we had it available to mount. MSRP $2,200. 

More Info from EO Tech

A good shooting tripod is not cheap and the last thing you want to do is just throw it in the bed of your truck on top of your rifle case. The good people at Armageddon Gear, have answered the call with their Perfect Tripod Case. It’s fully reinforced so it stands up on its own with velcro sections inside, so you can make space for your tripod, all of your accessories, and your spotting scope. All of this is available in black or Coyote tan. And it’s made in Buna Vista, Georgia from materials made in the United States. In this day and age, that means something. Available direct on the AG website, for about 260 bucks.

More Info from Armageddon Gear

There are challenges in Shooting Sports competition that have less to do with basic gun-handling and more to do with the competitive set-up to start a stage of fire. Sometimes within the competition there are elements that require special preparation, like starting from a table. That is what Colt Pro Shooter Mark Redl is unpacking in this Pro Tip.

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