Steel challenge practice

[Pasley]

I have hit a plateau or at least my progress has slowed to a crawl. As I understand the new classification system I would be barely into B class. My best times for the six classifier stages add up to 112.

Normal practice is to set up a stage with paper targets and shoot that.

I'm wondering if I would be better off shooting different drills of some type instead. If so, what?

[b1gcountry]

I have some drills I do for steel matches that are more generic.

Dry

One shot draw. I practice on a decent sized plate, then I try to maintain the same time on a smaller plate.

Metronome Transitions. Set up 5 decent sized plates and get a sight picture on each. Time yourself by the clicks on a metronome. Go back and forth. Space the plates father apart and leave the tempo the same. Also stagger the plates at different widths once you start improving.

Change up. Two small plates two large. Practice going from hard to soft sight picture.

These are what I have been doing in dry fire and they have been helping immensely. Will post my love fire favorites later

[danjordan78]

If we want to figure out the best way to improve, we obviously need to look at the best way to train. I have heard people say the best way to train Steel Challenge is to just set up the stages and shoot them a lot. I can't disagree more. Do USPSA shooters just set up stages and run them constantly thinking it will make them better? No way! They break down each skill, and set up specific drills to address each of those things isolated from everything else. After working on each of the skills, they put them all together into a stage. Draws, transitions, table starts, entering positions, exiting position, long runs, short runs, splits on targets, close targets, far targets, strong hand, weak hand, etc etc etc.

Work on the parts and pieces, and the whole will come together. People like Ben Stoegger and Steve Anderson have written several training and dryfire books on exactly this concept. Why then should we not follow this same line of thinking for SC? Good steel shooters are good at all steel shooting, not just the official 8 stages. Why? Because they have the skills necessary to shoot steel stages well. Doesn't matter if they are the official 8, or outlaw, or ISSA, or NSSF/Ruger Rimfire.

So what are the skills we need for Steel Challenge/steel shooting? Everyone will tell you it's draws and transitions. Sounds simple right? Not so much... Let's break those two things down and see how we can work on them.

Draws:

Position of the holster

---Is it adjusted perfectly to fit our hand as it comes down to the gun

---Do we have the proper holster that fits us best

Proper grip

---How hard to we hit the backstrap on the way down, or do we sweep the gun out of the holster

---Where and when does our support hand build the grip

---How tight do we grip the gun when presented to the target

---When does our trigger finger get on the trigger

Proper presentation of the gun to our eyeline

---Up to the eyeline and out to the target or straight up to the target

---When and how do we acquire the dot or front sight as it comes up to the target

---What are our shoulders and other muscles doing?

Rimfire low ready

---How tight to grip

---What to focus on

---Snapping up to the first target

To targets straight in front of us

To targets to the right

---How do we stand (feet vs hips vs shoulders)

---What is our reference point on each stage

To targets to the left

---How do we stand (feet vs hips vs shoulders)

---What is our reference point on each stage

To close big targets

---Faster target acquisition and aggressive on the trigger

---Target focus

To far away small targets

---Slower acquisition and smoother on the trigger

---Harder front sight focus

Transitions:

Right to Left

---Small distance

---Large distance

---only 2 targets or multiple targets?

Left to Right

---Small distance

---Large distance

---only 2 targets or multiple targets?

First shot to second shot

---Easy to practice draw to first shot, but making sure you shoot a quality first shot before moving on to the second target is a skill

Alternating directions

--- Most SC stages require you to transition back and forth.

Close targets to far targets, Far targets to close targets

---change in focus and visual depth perception

Speed of transitions

---It's not just about moving the gun faster, but moving the EYES faster!!! Start slow, eyes then sights, eyes then sights, eyes then sights. Then speed it up keeping this pattern.

---metronomes are great for getting used to a faster pace

LOTS to work on other than just shooting the stages!!! If all we do is shoot the stages over and over again, we miss the opportunity to develop each of these skills on their own. Sure actually shooting the stages is a great way to supplement your training, but there is so much more to it. With a list like that too, our training doesn't have to be boring, doing the same thing over, and over, and over, day after day. Come up with drills to work on each of these skills and you have your hands full.

I dryfire 90% of my training and can work on each and every one of these skills. My live fire training is then able to reinforce those skills and see if they hold up under actual conditions and with the associated recoil. I barely get to shoot the actual stages at all and I'm still set to make GM in RFPO and Master in CFPO after only a year or two of dedicated dry fire practice. I don't even have the option as I live in a place where it's perpetual winter for 8 months of the year and WAY TOO COLD to get outside and train. Almost all of my live fire is indoors thru the winter on a 50' range.

Change your training and your times and performance will improve! It works!

[b1gcountry]

In live fire I have been working on accuracy stuff the past two sessions.

Dot drill. Shooting at the same target 6x doesn't sounds appropriate for steel but it teaches you Trigger control and focus

25 yard plate rack. Hitting an 8" target at 25yd will make the 12" plates look big. Shooting it under a time constraint gives you a lot of match pressure and builds confidence.

Call it on paper. Set up a stage with paper targets. Shoot it 5x. Makeup Any shot you call as a miss. You can use a timer for the beep, but don't worry about time. Your goal is to finish with exactly 5 holes in each plate.

Edited October 6, 2015 by b1gcountry

[Pasley]

Thanks for all the ideas. I'm definitely going to try some new things this month.

[photoracer]

BJ told me this last year. If they put in a new stage he says he needs 5k rounds on it to perfect it. That means shooting it everyway possible to find out what works best.Think of it this way unless your physical skills are at the top you need to practice drills to improve your transitions, draws, etc. If all that is already working then all you need to do is to develop the body moves to put your gun on the target. He once told me he could tell when the target was slightly out of dimension by where his hits were striking the target. If they are not striking the center of the target either the target is placed slightly off or the gun's sight is off. KC once told me essentially the same thing back in 2010. Obviously 99% of us need to practice shooting drills first.

I shoot 8s instead of 10s and 10s instead of 12s at the farm. As for the big plates I tend to point shoot them even in Accelerator, Speed Option, Outer Limits, and Showdown. I need to do more pistol practice. My RFRO classifiers are about 53s right now and my RFPO is a slow 65ish although I have not integrated my latest scores from the PA State where I had 2 personal best in the pistol and only 1 in the rifle. Just not getting enough practice.

Off to the 2015 NSSF Rimfire WC on Wednesday, My favorite event. Tough squad though, BJ, Ron Oliver, John Nagel, and Mike Shoemaker. Lucky for me I am concentrating on the Senior title (3rd the last 2 years), but there are over 40 seniors entered this year. Going to have to shoot really well for me. I like it because its a level plating field as no one has seen the stages before. As a result even the pros can't win every stage. Even Mike S. who finished 9th last year outshot BJ on 2 stages.

Edited October 6, 2015 by photoracer

[b1gcountry]

Try them out and let us know what other drills you find useful. I am trying to improve, and these are just the drills I find useful right now. Most of the drills I see are geared for uspsa, so I'm not afraid to change them up a little to be more steel specific.

For me, shooting the paper stages was a little of an eye opener because it forces you to trust in your sight picture. So it improves your shot calling. It also takes away that audio feedback, so I don't wait around to hear the ding; I start my transition sooner

[GunBugBit]

I put together a PowerPoint slide deck of stage photographs that I'll use on my family room TV, connected to a laptop, to do dry fire practice for the Steel Challenge stages.

[photoracer]

All that is well and good but if you ask the top SC shooters like BJ for instance he will tell you, one, you need to develop the physical and mental skills to shoot fast, and two you need to send about 5k rounds at each stage to perfect perception of where the plates are.

I have been told by a couple of the Top 5 that they can tell when the plates are out of position by where the bullets hit in a practice run. Meaning they shoot where their body and brain says the plate is supposed to be. Some of that can be gained by dry-fire or reduced distance practice targets indoors. While I practice drawing drills (CF) and low ready drills (RF), various Bill Drill combinations, I am relying mainly on the fact that I have a single stage setup behind my house at the farm and I practice till I get better, working on the stages I need help most on. I have had Pendulum setup for almost 2 months and will switch to 5 to Go after the 1st of April. I start out with reduced plate sizes to work on accuracy and placement then shift to the correct size to work on more speed. In spite of that I am betting I will learn a lot more in Max's class in May.

[AzShooter]

Accuracy is the key. You can't miss fast enough to win. That's where I'm at now, slowing down and making my hits. One shot one hit. Speed will come with more practice.

I shoot revolver and only have 8 shots in the gun. When all there were were 6 shooters my biggest goal was to never have to do a reload on the stage. Now I'm getting sloppy. At the last steel challenge match I had a number of empty moons when I was finished. I need to go back to making the shots count and not having extra shots. Having to reload during a string is a real killer.

Edited March 23, 2016 by AzShooter

[GunBugBit]

I know what you're talking about, AzShooter. The scorecard really shows it when sloppiness creeps in.

[b1gcountry]

Revolver shooters need to be especially accurate! I rarey have more than 3 misses in 5 strings, but it is nice to know the shots are there if I need to take them.

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[GunBugBit]

BJ told me this last year. If they put in a new stage he says he needs 5k rounds on it to perfect it...

I can scarcely imagine what it must take to get to BJ's level of proficiency with the Steel Challenge stages. He and the others at the top of this game are hitting the targets literally faster than the average person can snap their eyes from target to target just standing there and looking.

[mwx40x40]

BJ told me this last year. If they put in a new stage he says he needs 5k rounds on it to perfect it...

I can scarcely imagine what it must take to get to BJ's level of proficiency with the Steel Challenge stages. He and the others at the top of this game are hitting the targets literally faster than the average person can snap their eyes from target to target just standing there and looking.

Yep, especially noteworthy this year was Max's Production run on Smoke and Hope a sizzling 6.38. Think about it......he averaged 1.55 seconds per string . With a plastic striker fired gun

[GunBugBit]

Max is a machine!

[photoracer]

He ought to get a kick when I show up at his SC class in May shooting a G34 open gun instead of my STI.

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[drysideshooter]

What has worked well for my son and I for a variety of disciplines, including USPSA, Steel Challenge, ISSA, etc. is to practice draws to one target, and transitions.

We will set up a single target and practice drawing and getting one hit as quickly as possible. We will set up first target in a variety of locations and at a variety of distances. You can pick up quite a bit of time if you practice and figure out the best way for you to get that first hit. Try different indexing positions and see what works best for you.

We will also set up two or more targets and work on transition times. We usually start with two targets and then add more.

Something a lot of folks don't give consideration to, especially in steel matches where you are typically standing in one box, is their body/index position relative to the targets. On a stage with the targets spread fairly widely some folks shoot it fastest if they are indexed somewhere towards the middle of the targets. Others shoot it faster if they are indexed more towards their first target for a fast draw and first hit. Others may prefer to be indexed more towards the stop plate, especially if it's a distant or challenging target. For Steel Challenge it's fairly easy since you know the stages. You can figure out your best positioning for each stage.

[Nimitz]

The super squad was in front of my squad on Friday and I watched several shooters ... KC & Duff post sub 1.5 strings on S&H, makes my 1.8 runs look pretty disappointing by comparison ...

[ZackJones]

The super squad was in front of my squad on Friday and I watched several shooters ... KC & Duff post sub 1.5 strings on S&H, makes my 1.8 runs look pretty disappointing by comparison ...

Sub-2 and you're complaining - give me a break .

[GunBugBit]

The super squad was in front of my squad on Friday and I watched several shooters ... KC & Duff post sub 1.5 strings on S&H, makes my 1.8 runs look pretty disappointing by comparison ...

Dang you're slow! ( totally kidding )

[photoracer]

I'd love to get below 2.0 but so far that is my plateau in S&H. I'm faster overall in Showdown than S&H. But right now I am concentrating on the stages I shoot at 10.0s and over not the ones I am shooting in the mid 8's and low 9's. I find the more I practice my slow stages the faster my fast stages get also even without practicing them.

Edited March 24, 2016 by photoracer

[Nimitz]

The super squad was in front of my squad on Friday and I watched several shooters ... KC & Duff post sub 1.5 strings on S&H, makes my 1.8 runs look pretty disappointing by comparison ...

Not complaining, just stating a fact that I still have a long way to go relative to the super squad ... If they would just stop improving this wouldn't be so hard ...

It wasn't that long ago that a 1.8 would have been something special ....

[Bamboo]

Heck, 1.8 second runs on Smoke and Hope are pretty dang respectable, especially if you can do it consistently!

I can pull off sub 2.00 runs on occasion (like 1.95ish), which always makes me feel like a stud...but I certainly don't have the chops to do it consistently coming out of a holster. I saw that Mr. Max Michel ran a 6.86 with a production gun! Holy cow! I'm guessing it was a Sig, anybody know what production gun he ran?

[scottlep]

The super squad was in front of my squad on Friday and I watched several shooters ... KC & Duff post sub 1.5 strings on S&H, makes my 1.8 runs look pretty disappointing by comparison ...

I assume you are talking about rimfire?

Nevermind, I missed the Friday part...where almost everyone was shooting rimfire

Edited March 25, 2016 by scottlep

[scottlep]

Heck, 1.8 second runs on Smoke and Hope are pretty dang respectable, especially if you can do it consistently!

I can pull off sub 2.00 runs on occasion (like 1.95ish), which always makes me feel like a stud...but I certainly don't have the chops to do it consistently coming out of a holster. I saw that Mr. Max Michel ran a 6.86 with a production gun! Holy cow! I'm guessing it was a Sig, anybody know what production gun he ran?

He was shooting his P320.