There are a number of divisions, categories, and classifications within Steel Challenge. They provide an opportunity for competing within a group, as well as against the entirety of the match. For example, as Senior can compete against other Seniors in his/her category, but also challenge for the match win. This, in essence creates many matches within the match, and groups competitors so they can compete against themselves and others with similar skill and equipment. 

Categories

All competitors compete for overall placement in the match. In addition to overall placement, competitors may also compete for category-specific awards based on personal characteristics.  Competitors may enter more than one category. For example, an individual may qualify for (and enter) both the Junior and Women’s categories. In certain cases, there me not be enough competitors in a category to include it. That will be at the discretion of the Match Director. 

Category	Description
Lady	Competitors listed as female on their government issued ID
Law Enforcement	Full-time law enforcement officers with arrest powers
Military	Military personnel on current active duty orders
Pre-Teen	All competitors under 13 years old on the first day of the event qualify. See Junior Category for additional rules and guidelines
Junior	All competitors under 18 years old on the first day of the event qualify. All competitors under the age of 18 must be accompanied by their parent or guardian throughout the competition. If the parent/guardian is competing in the event, they must be squadded together. All Junior or Pre-teen competitors must be able to safely handle a loaded firearm. A liability waiver must be signed by both the competitor and their parent or legal guardian
Senior	All competitors who are 55-64 years of age on the first day of the event qualify
Super Senior	All competitors who are 65 years of age or older on the first day of the event qualify

Classes

All competitors that are active USPSA/SCSA members may be classified in one or more divisions provide that the competitor has shot a minimum of 4 of the 8 official Steel Challenge stages. As a competitor shoots additional official steel challenge stages, the times shot on those stages will count towards classification. With this in mind it’s possible that a competitor may be classified on a range of 4 to 8 stages.

Here are the official Steel Challenge stages that may be used for classification.

Abbreviation	Stage
SC-101	Five to Go
SC-102	Showdown
SC-103	Smoke & Hope
SC-104	Outer Limits
SC-105	Accelerator
SC-106	Pendulum
SC-107	Speed Option
SC-108	Roundabout

The classification measures a competitor against the best in the world. Each stage and division has a Peak Stage Time (PST). PST’s were created by taking an average of the 2014 and 2015 World Speed Shooting Championship (WSSC) stage winning times for each stage and division. Those numbers were then further reviewed and where appropriate, modified, to create the PST’s used for calculation. The WSSC PST’s will be reviewed annually, and if appropriate, adjusted. A stage time is the aggregate time for the stage from a match (total of the best 4 of 5, or 3 of 4, times for the stage in a match). More about this later... 

Let's look at the classes.

Class	Range
GM	Grand Master - >=95%
M	Master - >=85%
A	A class - >=75%
B	B class - >= 60%
C	C class - >=40%
D	D class - >=0%
Unclassified	Never having been classified by shooting a minimum of 4 stages

Classification percentage is calculated as follows:

• Your total time for all classifier stages that you shot is added up
• The total "peak times" for the stages you shot is added up
• Your percentage is defined as total_peak_time/total_stage_time
• Your percentage is mapped to a classification

So, if you achieve 66% of the total peak times for the stages that you shot, you would be classed as a B shooter.

Divisions

Steel Challenge may be shot with a wide variety of firearms, making it ideal for most shooters. Let's look at the equipment divisions. 

Abbreviation	Division
CO	Carry Optics - A double action or safe action/striker-fired semi-automatic pistol equipped with an optic sight. Compensators or ports are not allowed.
ISR	Iron Sight Revolver -  A revolver equipped with iron sights. Fiber optic inserts are specifically allowed.
LTD	Limited -  Any iron-sighted pistol without a compensator, barrel ports, or optical sight. Fiber optic inserts are specifically allowed.
OPN	Open -  This is the race division! All legal firearms are allowed. Optics and Compensators are specifically allowed.
OSR	Optical Sight Revolver -  A revolver equipped with Electronic / Optical Sights.
PCCI	Pistol Calibre Carbine Iron -  Any iron-sighted pistol calibre carbine without optic sights. Fiber-optic inserts are specifically allowed.
PCCO	Pistol Calibre Carbine Optics - This is the Pistol Caliber Carbine race division. All legal Pistol Caliber Carbines, to include short barreled rifles, are allowed. Optics and Compensators are specifically allowed, suppressors are not allowed.
PROD	Production - Any double action or safe action pistol on the USPSA Production gun list. Holsters must follow USPSA Handgun Rules for the Production Division except as specifically noted.
RFPI	Rimfire Pistol Iron Sights -  Any Iron-sighted Rimfire pistols without optic sights. Fiber-optic sight inserts are specifically allowed.
RFPO	Rimfire Pistol Open  - This is the Rimfire race division. All legal Rimfire firearms are allowed. Optics and Compensators are specifically allowed.
RFRI	Rimfire Rifle Iron Sights -  Any Iron-sighted Rimfire rifle without optic sights. Fiber-optic sight inserts are specifically allowed.
RFRO	Rimfire Rifle Open -  This is the Rimfire rifle race division. All legal Rimfire rifles are allowed. Optics and Compensators are specifically allowed.
SS	Single Stack -  1911 models only. Holsters must follow USPSA Handgun Rules for the Single Stack Division.

• Rimfire classes refer to .22 Long Rifle only.
• The minimum center fire calibre is 9mm/.38 special 
• Pistol calibers refer to 9mm/.38 special/.40 S&W/10 MM/.357 Sig / .45 ACP. 
  
• Unlike USPSA and IPSC, there are no minimum power factor or velocity minimums in Steel Challenge. 
  
• The Pistol Caliber Carbine Divisions (PCCI/PCCO) have a maximum velocity of 1600 feet per second. 
  
• No multiple-projectile or magnum loads allowed. 
  
• Any ammunition deemed unsafe or likely to damage the targets will be removed from use. Examples include, but are not limited to: Steel Jacketed, Steel core, tracer, and incendiary ammunition.
  

A competitor may have a different classification for each equipment division. They could be an A class shooter in RFPO, while being a B class shooter in OSR. 

Here are the current Peak Stage Times currently used for classification.

	Division	SC-101	SC-102	SC-103	SC-104	SC-105	SC-106	SC-107	SC-108
CO	Carry Optics	13.0	10.0	10.0	14.0	11.0	13.0	13.0	10.0
ISR	Iron Sight Revolver	13.5	12.0	10.5	15.0	13.0	14..0	14.0	11.0
LTD	Limited	12.5	9.5	9.5	13.5	10.5	12.5	12.5	9.5
OPN	Open	11.5	9.5	8.5	12.5	10.5	11.5	11.5	8.5
OSR	Optical Sight Revolver	12.0	10.5	10.0	14.0	13.5	13.5	12.5	10.5
PCCI	PCC Iron	11.5	9.0	8.5	12.5	10.0	11.5	11.0	9.0
PCCO	PCC Optics	10.5	8.0	7.0	11.5	9.0	10.0	10.0	8.0
PROD	Production	13.0	10.0	10.0	14.0	11.5	13.0	13.0	10.0
RFPI	Rimfire Pistol Iron	10.5	9.0	8.0	13.0	9.5	11.5	11.0	8.5
RFPO	Rimfire Pistol Open	9.0	7.5	7.0	11.5	8.5	9.5	10.0	7.5
RFRI	Rimfire Rifle Iron	11.0	8.5	8.0	12.5	9.5	11.0	10.5	8.5
RFRO	Rimfire Rifle Open	10.5	7.5	7.0	11.5	9.0	9.5	9.5	7.5
SS	Single Stack	13.5	10.5	10.5	14.5	11.5	13.5	13.5	10.5

You can read the official Steel Challenge Shooting Association (SCSA) rule book here. 

On to Shooting The Stages