I attended my first Steel Challenge match in January 2018 and I was instantly hooked. I wasn’t very good, and struggled quite a bit trying to go faster than my abilities as I tried racing everyone else on my squad. I soon learned that the best part of this sport is that it is a race against the clock, and better yet, it is really competing with yourself. I shot 2 more matches with the same setup and improved each time – still scoring near the very bottom of the pack.
That summer, I purchased a Ruger 10/22 and a Ruger Mark IV 22/45 because I had a feeling this would be an activity that I would be putting a lot of effort towards, and I needed to do it in a more cost-effective manner with more affordable .22LR rimfire ammunition instead of centerfire. I joined various forums and read countless threads on what the optimal setups would be. There is no one answer to this, as everyone has a different opinion. What I did learn, though, is that there are some very passionate folks in the industry about this sport that are innovating left and right.
Being a left-handed shooter, finding ways to customize my firearms just how I like them can get quite difficult due to limited options. I reached out to Bill Striplin at Striplin Custom Gunworks about the possibility of making a custom left-handed thumbrest for the Ruger 22/45, since I was already using his fantastic 90 degree C-More mounts. After discussing the project with him, he made a prototype and sent it to me to test. I’ve been using it ever since. I also needed some steel of my own to practice with. Enter ShootingTargets7 – I was able to partner with Mark Leenheer to get set up with a bunch of steel plates and hangers to setup various Steel Challenge stages at the range and practice.
In late 2018 I had the harebrained idea to set a personal goal of achieving the Grand Master (GM) classification in Steel Challenge for Rimfire Rifle Open (RFRO). I hadn’t even shot an official match yet with my new 10/22 and here I was setting my sights on the top rank. And thus the internal competition began.
After the first match I shot in RFRO I was classified as a ‘B’. The next match I was able to achieve ‘A’. Five matches later I achieved Master or the ‘M’ classification. It was then that I started getting some of the fastest overall times at the local clubs. Thirteen matches later, on my 20th Steel Challenge match shooting RFRO, I did it! I achieved my goal of Grand Master in RFRO.
Once I hit GM in RFRO I didn’t want to stop; I wanted to expand. It was at this time that I knew this wasn’t just a phase, and that these competitions were my new ‘thing’. I started to travel to more matches outside my home range, and experience other clubs and shoot alongside several other highly talented individuals. I began to plateau with my rifle, which was still mostly stock, which also meant heavy. It was time to begin investing in my equipment, to see just how much difference there would be between something pretty simple and stock versus something built specifically for speed.
On a fateful Saturday in early January 2020 I reached out to Todd Syssa at Wiland USA, essentially cold-calling him, inquiring on if he might be up for a partnership. I had seen his barrels online as a fantastic way to not only reduce weight, but reduce it where it was most impactful, at the end of the rifle. I shared a bit of my back story, my aspirations for the next shooting season, and we went from there. We talked on the phone for quite a while talking about topics from Steel Challenge to weight distribution to manufacturing materials. A few days later, a package arrived from South Carolina, this would mark the start of the next phase of my shooting journey.
Since that fateful day I have built up multiple new race guns, with the help of the partners listed above, which enabled me to achieve other GM and M classifications in Steel Challenge. I have continued my relationship with Wiland USA over the last few years and regularly provide feedback and test out new products for various companies. I have expanded on the amount of clubs that I shoot with on a regular basis, including helping out a new club get up and running. I am one of the local Match Directors for my home range and continue to encourage new shooters to come out whenever possible. I always have multiple spare firearms and sets of magazines ready to lend out at any match to ensure that folks have a great and lasting experience, in hopes that they catch the bug just like I did.
Seeing others go through a similar realization and transformation in the way they view firearms and shooting sports has been a very rewarding experience. Now when I go to the local matches I see virtual carbon copies of my firearms. I hear their stories of excitement when they set a new personal best on a stage that has been giving them problems. There are so many familiar faces now at the local matches and I am really grateful to be part of such a warm and inviting community.