Wednesday night steel

What ?

The Wednesday night steel program is an opportunity for BTSA club members and shooters from the broader community to experience the speed shooting sport of steel challenge. Steel challenge involves shooting 5 steel targets in 8 configurations several times each with the shooter’s cumulative time being their score. Time is added for misses and certain procedural infractions.

Steel challenge may be shot with either centre fire handguns, .22 rimfire handguns, .22 rimfire rifles, or pistol caliber carbines. No magnum calibres, steel core/steel jacketed ammo, or hyper velocity .22 (stingers, velocitors, etc.) are permitted.

Wednesday night steel is run as a 4-stage match. Shooters with current USPSA membership will be able to receive a classification, provided they complete all 4 stages, when the classification system updates the following Wednesday.

Where ?

BTSA Ranges: 1,2,3 and 4 or 5 (see schedule below). Shooters may drop their gear at the top but please park down the road or in the lot as parking at the top is needed for match staff. The main road gate and BTSA gates will be opened at about 4:30 each evening

 When ?

Every Wednesday from April 17th - September 25th

Setup/start times vary a little throughout the season but generally setup is either 5/5:30 and shooting starts 5:30/6. Please see schedule below for season plan.

***Please verify start times on Practiscore and the BTSA website each week!***

We are typically done in about 2.5 hours a few competitors sometimes remain and practice afterwards. All competitors are expected to be present for setup and to remain for tear down. Requests for exceptions show be directed to steel@btsa.ca. You must be present for the beginning of the safety briefing. If you miss the safety briefing, you cannot shoot with us that evening.

Cost ?

BTSA members- $5. per gun. Max 2 guns

Non-members- $15. per gun. Max 2 guns

Juniors (under 18, member and non-member)- First gun free

How to register?

Registration is through Practiscore. Please search BTSA Wednesday night steel and look for the correct date. Weeknight shoots are typically posted to practiscore 2-3 weeks ahead of the match and open for registration the Monday the week before the match. Shooters need to be registered by midnight on the Tuesday immediately before the match so that we can confirm squadding and load the scoring tablets. 

Who to contact with questions ?

Please email steel@btsa.club

What to bring to a match?

• Water
• Food
• Sunscreen
• Hat
• Eye/ear protection (required to participate)
• Timer if you have one
• Gun
• 5+ mags. Please pre-load your magazines at home when possible.
• Ammo: 100 rounds minimum for 4 stages. Experienced shooters should bring 150-200. Novice shooters should bring 250.
• Holster: belt holster for any Center fire handguns that fully covers the trigger. No thigh rigs are permitted. New shooters will start from low ready if they are not experienced in holster use. We can coach you in holster use once you have demonstrated basic gun handling competence. Rimfire guns are not drawn from the holster during a run but may be transported in one. A case is generally preferred for transporting rimfire pistols due to chamber flag requirements
• Gun belt if drawing from a holster
• Cash for match fee. Exact change only please.

Match results ?

Match results will be posted to PractiScore, usually the same night. If you need your results anonymized, please contact the match director well before the match.

First time competitors/new to steel challenge:

Please contact steel@btsa.club if you will be coming out for your first steel challenge. When you arrive, please leave all your gear in your vehicle and identify yourself to a match official/person in charge. We will place you on a squad with some experienced shooters to help get you started. We will likely need to split up groups of inexperienced shooters for both safety and efficiency but will try to keep families together where possible. Please note, when a family member is on the line, they are under the care of the range officer. Please do not distract them from following the RO’s instructions. If the RO is unfamiliar with your particular firearm, they will as for assistance as needed. If you would like coaching or advice while you are shooting, please let the RO know and they should be happy to oblige.

A note regarding classifications

Classifications are used to help competitors measure their success against shooter shooting with a similar ability and skill set. A D class production shooter and a Grand Master rimfire rifle open shooter can’t be equally compared. In order to earn a classification, you must be a current USPSA member and complete any 4 stages using one of the recognized equipment divisions. Most equipment will work with the exception of Center fire handguns from low ready.

Rule book

The official steel challenge rule book governs our Wednesday night matches please make sure to give it a read through so that you are familiar with the rules, commands, and equipment divisions.

https://scsa.org/rules

Safety

While no one wants to disqualify (DQ) a shooter, safety is our top priority. If you commit a serious safety infraction, as noted in the rules, you will be done shooting for the day. Any scores completed to that point will stand but you will not be able to continue shooting the match. It will be up to the match director and range master’s discretion as to whether you may remain on the range. If you are permitted to remain to watch friends/family shoot, you may not handle any uncased firearms for the remainder of the day. Example of serious, DQ-able, violation include, but are not limited to, Ammo on the safe table, loaded firearms off the firing line, negligent discharge of a firearm, muzzle sweeping yourself or others, picking up a dropped gun, and dropping a loaded gun during a course of fire.