Introduction to Steel Challenge

It occurred to me that having a video with a basic introduction to a Steel Challenge match, with a little discussion about divisions, start positions, stages, and general scoring rules, might be a handy thing.
People often ask me what SC is like, and show-and-tell is an effective thing. :)

[@rhomel2023]

Great video with actual demonstrations and explanations. It’s very helpful for people in new to Steel Challenge like me 😍

[@PrecisionResponse]

Glad it was helpful. Steel Challenge is a ton of fun---both an excellent place to start competition shooting, and a fantastic sport all by itself, no matter the shooter's level of experience. You are going to have a great time!

[@matthewjbutch]

Agreed! I've targeting shooting for 2 decades and kept hearing about Steel Challenge but figured I never had the time or talent to do it. I was wrong. I had no idea how easy and fun it looks! My friends invited me out to one. Thanks for the video PR, this is really helpful.

[@wowitslou]

Perfect video for new people, thanks for making it.

[@PrecisionResponse]

No problem! Glad it is useful!

[@ksafe3604]

Great video. Everything I heard was spot-on. If you mentioned "Best 4 of 5 strings count for score" I missed it. At local club matches, the Match Director will many times have 2 official stages, and 2 or 3 of their own design. Join SCSA, and find a club that is affiliated with SCSA; then you can get your scores submitted to SCSA for classification. (Then you can see how you are getting better over time, and how you stack up versus shooters from across the world.)

[@PrecisionResponse]

About 1:20 I mentioned how scoring goes. :) Most local matches I've been to these days tend to have 5-6 official stages. I've heard of some clubs that sometimes use their own, true, but most I've seen at the very least have more official stages than unofficial ones (matter of fact, the only ones I know directly only sometimes at one "our-own-design" stage just to put one different thing in---but the rest are all official stages. It is certainly true that lots of different clubs do things differently. Our local club does 6 stages per match, another in our area does 5, and a new club (just started up at the end of last year) is hoping to do five. All official stages. For some people, part of the fun is knowing exactly what the stages are going to be like. It is indeed pretty cool to join USPSA/SCSA and shoot official stages---getting classified is fun, and like you said, watching your scores improve over time is a blast---and even better can give you tangible shooting goals to reach. I'm currently classified in 7 of the 13 divisions. Over time, I'll shoot some others, though I'll probably not ever hit all 13. (Just won't be shooting revolver, pretty much ever.) At the moment, I'm missing Open, Limited, the two Revolver divisions, and Pistol-Caliber Carbine Irons and Rimfire Rifle Irons. I've got a PCC upper configured for PCCI, I just haven't shot it yet. Rimfire rifle...I need to check to see if I even HAVE a rimfire rifle that doesn't have a dot or an optic on it! For Limited and Open, I'll probably borrow my wife's guns. She's the Open/Limited shooter, I'm the Production guy. :)

[@greyeyedsniper]

Thanks for this. I'm trying to get someone to start shooting matches and this is exactly what I was looking for to supplement my own explanations.

[@PrecisionResponse]

You're welcome. I'm glad it helps! SC is such a great type of shooting competition to get people started--and it keeps staying fun for experienced shooters. I love being able to work with a new shooter for an hour or two on safety and accuracy, let them borrow my .22 pistol or rifle, and have them jump right into a SC match---because they always have an absolute blast at it.

[@timpirtle3906]

Very nice video.....Thank you for taking the time to do it.

[@PrecisionResponse]

You're welcome! Glad you liked it.

[@ILicence]

This video is EXCELLENT!!!

[@bjornbylund9544]

Thanks for a great explanation!

[@PrecisionResponse]

You are welcome!

[@totallynotjohnstamos1908]

Fantastic video man! very informative and indepth... answers many questions for new shooters

[@PrecisionResponse]

Glad you liked it! [sigh] I probably need to redo it on a day where other people AREN'T shooting and killing my microphone.

[@kx8960]

This looks like fun! I've shot a decent amount over the years (I'm 57), but I'm new to gun ownership, so, I'd like to practice more and more dynamically (than just paper targets) with my guns to get more proficient with them. If I understand it correctly my Walther PPQ .45ACP and Banshee 10mm PCC will both be legal, but in 2 different classes? Is there a limit on optics? I have a Trijicon SRO on my Walther and a EOTech holo on my Banshee. Thanks!

[@AZVIDS]

Great video and explanation👍

[@PrecisionResponse]

Thanks!

[@firesharksar2250]

Good video but having live shooting in the background noise makes it hard to hear the host.

[@PrecisionResponse]

I know. :( I keep meaning to redo this video, but I can't put together enough time to make it to the range for all the stuff I need to talk about. I have a new way to record video, which DOESN'T rely on the camera microphone, so hopefully when I redo it it'll work out better.

[@ILicence]

@@PrecisionResponse Please do! My only gripe about the video was the audio quality.

[@JoeyIngles]

How large are your targets and how far away?

[@PrecisionResponse]

For Steel Challenge, the targets are 10" round plates, 12" round plates, and 18"x24" rectangles. The distances range from 7 yards to 35 yards, depending on the stage. The diagrams for the 8 official stages can be found starting on page 31 in the rulebook at this link: uspsa.org/viewer/2020-SCSA-Rulebook.pdf

[@bigmaclean]

I'm sure it's a great video with great info, but am I the only one who can't hear what he's saying?

[@TommyboyGTP]

Is .357 Sig allowed?

[@PrecisionResponse]

Sorry, just saw this. Yes, you can shoot .357SIG in the centerfire divisions.

[@Engineerboy100]

You need to make a video without shooting in the background. Period!