The Tennessee State Steel Challenge Championship at Dead Zero Shooting Park

This past weekend I attended the first-ever Tennessee State Steel Challenge Champion, held at Dead Zero Shooting Park in Spencer, TN.  The match was significant for not only being the first Level II Steel Challenge State Championship match in the state of Tennessee, but it was also signficant for me in that I decided to shoot in two new divisions in which I’ve never competed, bringing the total number of divisions in which I competed in to four.  In addition to Carry Opics (CO) and PCC Open (PCCO) I signed up for Production (PROD) and Rimfire Rifle Optics (RFRO).  This would also be my last match Steel Challenge major mach for the 2018 shooting season, so I made several changes in my dry and live fire training in the weeks leading up to the match in order to close out the season with a strong finish.

The Dead Zero Shooting Park was quite impressive – easily a top 5 shooting venue at which I’ve ever had the pleasure of frequenting.  It’s a bit of a challenging drive from where I’m located in Ohio, as at least half of the six-hour drive is spent on non-expressway “back roads.”   The nearest hotels where located appromately 30 minutes from the range, and next to no cell phone service was had on the range itself, which is both a blessing and curse.  But the facility is so nice that the Spencer, TN area is now on the list of places to consider moving to in retirement.

On the negative side, equipment failure did impact me in one division (RFRO) – I was trying out a new trigger in my S&W M&P 15-22, which did not want to cooperate.  In the rest of the divisions in which I competed however, I was quite successful.  In CO, I had the best match of my 2018 season shooting a career low score of 135.35 seconds, and lowered my classification times on three different stages.  I finished in first place in CO B Class, and 2nd in the CO division.  My previous best score on 8 stages was the 2018 Indiana Steel Challenge State Championship, which was 142.25 seconds.

In the PCCO division, I experienced cruel irony.  In the Area 5 Championship match, I shot a career-best of 100.58 seconds.  For the remainder of the 2018 afterwards, I attempted to break 100 seconds on eight stages.  In Tennessee, I again shot a 100.58 seconds…exactly.  I did capture 2nd place in PCCO A class which was certainly welcome, and did improve my classification scores on three stages.

Much to my surprised, I was the highest unclassified PROD shooter, placing 5th out of 14 in the division.  It was a mid level C Class performance, which is not much worse than the first time I competed in Steel Challenge in Carry Optics.  I pretty much bombed Pendulum, but had strong performance on the other stages, and even had some strong B stages.  I have no doubt I’ll make B class early next year.

All told, the Tennessee State Steel Challenge Championship was my best Steel Challenge major of 2018.

Special thanks go out to many who contributed to my success in Tennessee.  Thank you VERY much to my match ammunition sponsor Target Barn for the Federal Syntech Action Pistol 150gr. 9mm ammunition which I used in both CO, PROD, as well as in my PCCO.  Please do consider them when next you put in an order for ammunition.

I’d also like to give a huge shout and recognition to some companies whose products were integral to my success, and are great supporters of the practical shooting sports.  Chief among those is Brian Conley and Hunter’s HD Gold.  My Hunter’s HD Gold shooting glasses provide me the best possible sight picture, and protect my eyes from the hazards of shooting at steel targets, which will allow me to enjoy the shooting sports for many years to come.  Brian has personally traveled to and supported nearly 30 matches in 2018 – an order of magnitude more than any other sponsor.  Perhaps the best endorsement of their glasses I can make is to point out that if you’re involved in shooting sports and not wearing Hunter’s HD Gold, you probobly got beat by either me, or someone else who is.  It’s not a coincidence.  Special thanks too to Steel Target Paint  – they also were a sponsor of every major mach I shot this year.

The Tennessee match was inaugural voyage of my new Range Tactical Gear RangeRunner XL – it performed flawlessly and made the match so much more enjoyable.

I’d also like to give special thanks to SIG Sauer.  I shoot very successfully with many of their firearms and will continue to do so in the coming years.  SIG has also been a headline sponsor for many top events this, and will do so again next year, as has recently been announced:

Finally, I’m thankful for my wife Karen who supports my competitve shooting endeavors.  Thanks to Zack Jones, the Director of Steel Challenge, whom I finally got the opportunity to shoot with in Tennessee.  Zack has worked VERY hard to make Steel Challenge a success in 2018 and deserves all our thanks. I’m also very thankful to God for all the blessings he’s given me which help me participate and excel in this sport.