First Texarkana Steel Challenge Match This Weekend: Weaver Un-Muzzled

Last night my son Tyler and I finished the first 100 rounds (pictured below) of hand-loaded ammunition just in time for this weekends first ever Steel Challenge match at the Texarkana Gun Club. We still have to produce at least another 100 before the week is over and I want to have 1000 rounds in boxes before the USPSA matches resume for 2012 in March. Lofty goals I know, but it would be nice to not have to run to Academy or Walmart the day before every match to buy four more boxes of ammo for match day.

The average person would look at that number and think, wow, that's a lot of ammunition. Well not really. Just in matches alone I will shoot over 3000 rounds this year if all goes according to plan. That doesn't include practice time. Plus I'm hoping to go to a couple of regional matches this year if we can find it in the budget for me to do so.

Now, about the Steel Challenge! This is family shooting fun at it's finest. My son Tyler is 10 years old and will be competing in this weekends match. There will be many other children and some "seasoned shooters" competing as well. The reasons are simple. You can use .22 pistols and .22 rifles to compete with and there's no movement. Using .22's is the most cost effective way to compete, I will be using this as a way to practice for my USPSA competitions so I will be shooting 9mm Center Fire. The "Boy" will be shooting .22 Long Rifle in a Ruger 10/22 rifle with a red dot sight.

This is not a run and gun event like USPSA, you stand in one place, deliver 5 strings of fire, your slowest time is thrown out. The remaining times are added together for your score on that stage. There will be 5 stages in the contest and 4 divisions will compete;

1. .22 Rim Fire Iron Sight: pistol or rifle
2. .22 Rim Fire Optic: pistol or rifle using a red dot or similar sight
3. Center Fire Iron Sight: 9mm - .45 pistols only (no optic)
4. Center Fire Optic: 9mm - .45 pistols only (optic)

Sorry, no rifles are allowed in the Center Fire division.

Entry fee is $5 for Texarkana Gun Club members, $10 for non-members. You must also have 5 mags, speed loaders, moon clips or at least 3 high capacity magazines so reload times are minimized on the firing line. The round count will be 125 minimum. Set up time will be 8:30am, sign-up begins around 9:30am and shooting will start about 10:00am.

There will literally be everyone from beginners to professional shooters at this match and every skill level in between. The main object is for everyone to have fun and enjoy a day of shooting safely.

The Steel Challenge matches will be held on the 2nd Saturday of each month through October. Click on the website below to find out more. Be sure you watch the video below as well, it will give you an idea of how the Steel Challenge match works.

Thanks for reading and we hope you'll join us.

As always, if your looking for a great place to shoot in the Ark-La-Tex, a local instructor or some new friends to shoot with, you’ll find it all at TexarkanaGunClub.org.

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