danjordan78

It seems a lot of people shooting open cause themselves more problems by tinkering with things. Buy a gun, keep it stock, and put ammo in it. Everyone I know that starts messing with every little thing to pick up a little here and a little there could be spending their time getting better at stage planning and movement. You don't need to work up loads with X number of powders and try every kind of bullet you can find to be good. Just shoot the darn thing and enjoy it. When you need the last 1-2% to make GM, then start messing with stuff. Like they always say, it's the Indian, not the arrow. Load it, shoot it, call it good!

Not that bad actually. Pick a powder you have available, a bullet you want to shoot, and follow the instructions that come with the press for how to set up your dies. Load some up, make sure you are at power factor, and shoot a bunch to make sure it runs. Can it be time consuming and a huge pain in the ass to try different loads, sure. But it can also be super easy. Depends on what my goal is as to how much time I spend on a load. For pistol loads that don't require tons of accuracy who cares. My rifle loads are something different. I have a Dillon 550. Can load 300 rounds an hour and it makes my 9mm less than $10/100 depending on the powder. Paid for itself pretty darn quick!

Only load 10 for SC but the FTEs don't come when the mags are topped off. Just randomly in the middle of stages. Mags are probably only half full at that point so close to where they are when shooting steel. And it's not one particular mag either.

It has a 90 degree cmore mount on it. My thumb can't even touch the slide. Weird. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Same load, same everything.

Have an STI Steelmaster. Shoot minor with it. Have never had a single issue with it shooting Steel Challenge. No jams, FTEs, FTFs, nothing, not a single one. But... When I shoot USPSA with it I've had 4 FTEs now. Any ideas? My thoughts are possible loosening of the grip in awkward positions? Friend suggested an Aftec. Hate to mess with it as I primarily focus on steel, but I'd like it to work when I want to shoot USPSA. Thanks!

It's really hard to tell without being there. My finger is still bent, and just outside of the trigger guard. Not up on the side of the gun. If you were to see a picture or video you would probably say it was in the trigger guard, but when you actually look at it, it's not. Pictures can be deceiving.

haven't seen any 2016 dates but I will add them when they announce. I have this years matches in the 2015 thread. thanks

Not many, but here is what I know. February 5-6 8 stage steel challenge match Griffin Gun Club - Griffin, Georgia March 5 8 stage steel challenge match Port Malabar R&P Club - Port Malabar, FL April 21-24 PSA Steel Shootout Palmyra Sportsmans Assoc. - Palmyra, PA (All knockdown steel, check out the website, it's cool) June 11-12 World Class Steel/Speed on Steel Old Bridge R&P Club - East Brunswick, NJ

Agreed. I already have 5 high cap mags. Why spend another $500 on mags to shoot one match a year if you don't live in a state that restricts them. Can't bring myself to go to a match in California. That's why I started looking for matches else where and compiling a list of matches in 2015 and 2016. Plenty of other good ones out there.

Updated with those matches. Don't mind if they aren't sanctioned. With the current state of SC lots of clubs aren't registering them. Will start a new thread for 2016 matches tonight and add the Georgia match to it.

I travel quite a bit so I'm always looking to see what steel matches are around where I'm headed. Was able to hook on to one this trip and had a great time shooting at a new range and with a different group of people. I have to search around quite a bit on the internet to find ranges in the area, where they are, what kinds of matches, etc. Thought it might be nice to have a compilation of matches that people can look for easily. Maybe we can get this pinned in the Steel Challenge forum (and one for 2016 matches) since there don't seem to be many steel match announcements in the general match announcement folder. You can look at SteelChallenge.com but not everyone posts there and that doesn't include ISI and NSSF matches either I'm trying to keep this to full 8 stage steel matches (no monthly 4/5 stage outlaw matches please), Regional, State Champs, NSSF Regional and Nationals, larger ISI matches, Etc. Let me know what you've got if I don't have it on here and I will add it. June 27-28 West Coast Steel Championships Wes Thompson Ranges - Piru, CA July 25 Eastern PA Steel Challenge Match Guthsville R&G Club - Orefield, PA August July 31- Aug 2 Colorado State Steel Championships Weld County F&G -Ault, CO September 5 Port Malabar R&P club 8 stage match - Port Malabar, FL 25-27 Tom Benjamin Memorial Steel Challenge Championship Guthsville R&G Club - Orefield, PA October 9-11 NSSF Rimfire Challenge World Championships Old Fort Gun Club - Fort Smith, AR 17 Indiana State Steel Challenge Championships 23-24 South Carolina State Steel Championships Palmetto Gun Club - Charleston, SC November 6-8 Mississippi State Steel Challenge Championships Gulf Coast R&P Club 12-14 World Speed Shooting Championships Houge Ranges - San Louis Obispo, CA ***Tentative/Rumor***

Will do Mark. You will have to contact ToddKS for the power point one.

We do indoor rim fire steel in the winter. Here's a thread I posted on it. Works great! http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=209978 Might move into center fire. Haven't decided yet if I want to deal with that much frag.

A double stack 9mm can be used for 3 gun as well. Not so much with the 1911. A little easier to find used ones or a bigger market if you are trying to sell it later. That's one reason I went with an STI eagle. Not much good for limited in USPSA since its minor PF but could still be used.

I shoot a Steelmaster for open. Wanted the same feel for a limited gun so got an STI Eagle 2011. Love having the same feel for both guns. I used to shoot a Springfield 1911 in 9mm for limited but didn't like the different grip sizes and balance points. Your M&P will work fine and it's pretty cheap to build up two or three of them for different divisions if you like. I much prefer 9mm to any other caliber. Easy to load, small charges of powder, lots of bullet options, and brass is cheap. When I can buy a large flat rate box of once fired for $120 (about 5000 pieces) I don't bother picking my brass up if I don't feel like it. Not to mention loaded rounds are smaller and lighter making travel and carrying much easier.

Interesting... I will have to talk to or steel shooters and see what they think. Certainly saves time to not paint but I would still prefer it for the reasons I mentioned above. You can always offer the option though. Still don't like back to back though unless it's pistol and rifle. Different enough it doesn't matter.

No offense taken by me since I am one of the ones with a differing opinion. I like discussion like this, but a couple of things to think about: Practicing before the match does not "give" the competitor an advantage. It is an advantage that is "earned" by doing extra work. Big difference in my opinion. Someone getting to shoot the stage 10 times in a row is certainly "given" an advantage that not everyone else is entitled to. Matches are matches. Some people like to have more fun, some people like to keep them as serious as they can. No matter which side of the game you are on it should be the same rules for everyone. To not paint for someone that is trying to possibly get good and actually improve themselves in hopes of doing well at the Nationals or Worlds should be able to have as close to the same conditions as possible. I totally get it that there are people that just want to have fun, but that shouldn't be at the expense of someone that wants to take it serious. If the club can't afford paint, charge more for entry fees or make competitors bring a can as part of their entry fee (I've seen clubs do that). Here's an example of why I think someone shooting back to back is not right/fair. Would you consider it right/fair at a 3gun or USPSA match if some of the competitors got to shoot the stage a time or two as a warm up and then go for score on their last run? But you only get to shoot it once and that's your score? That's the way I see shooting back to back in steel. A major part of the game is making the five runs you have count, from a cold start. We already get one throw away, no more, no less. If I were to shoot my open 9mm and then my open .22 gun it would be a major advantage because the two are so close. I'm one of the people that treat my matches as matches. They are not practices to me. Those I do at home and on my own time. I really do want to do well at this sport and I work very hard at it. Any match I go to I would expect there are others there that believe the same thing. If I have to bring my own $5 can of spray paint and ask to paint before I shoot to make that happen I will.

Paint between every shooter no matter the match. It's only fair for the shooter to be able to see their hits and be able to challenge a call. That's like not taping between each shooter in a uspsa match or not painting poppers. We may not have calibration but we do have 3 second penalties for misses. If people are shooting two guns separate them. Have at least a couple of people go between them. Let's them reload mags and no muscle or mental memory from just sorting it. Definite advantage.

Regardless of where and when it is, I'm going to be hard pressed to show any support and go to that match. Until a new president is I place that actually gives a damn about steel challenge why should any of us show them any love? There are so many other high quality steel matches out there now with people that are working hard to build them up, get awesome sponsors and prize tables, and who actually care, we should be supporting them as much as we can. Not a second rate match that is an after thought by uspsa.

Great idea!. Hold a match that is great for getting youth involved and do it during the school year. That won't hurt attendance at all. And no kidding trying to get a match together at this point in time would end up with a sub par event. That's why they should have been working on it for six months...

If you know your draw to first shot splits for both holster and low ready just take the difference and ask if they can add it on to each run. For instance. If you have a 0.8 from the low ready and 1.2 from the holster, add 0.5 to each run. If it's done on paper you could just add 2 seconds on to the total time for each stage. I'm in a wheelchair so do this for non movement between boxes on outer limits.

From the looks of the May agenda that's posted on USPSA the BOD doesn't seem too happy with the pres either. When is the election? Can't come soon enough!!!

Any kind of prize table for the match?

So far no body knows anything about Steel Challenge. I can't even find out what days they are actually shooting. Might stop by and shoot the state match on my way thru!