Memorial Weekend Steel Match

The Black Creek Shooters held a special Memorial Weekend match on Saturday. It's been many months since I was able to get down there for a steel match and was looking forward to it very much. It was a small crowd, just 57 shooters total. The small crowd meant a quick match, and I was on my home by 12:30. Still plenty of time to do some chores before settling in for the rest of the three day weekend!

The entire match consisted of falling or swinging steel, with the lone exception of 2 static targets. There were four stages in all, for a total of 109 rounds minimum.

Stage 4, where my squad started, was a quick stage requiring just 18 shots. Multiple shots on two static targets, as well as some spring-loaded targets, and a dueling tree. Let me just say, those dueling tree plates are small! Without really thinking I shot the plates from top to bottom. That wasn't the most logical way to do it, as I was working against the recoil to bring the gun down to the next target. Shooting from bottom up would work with the recoil. On the last static plate which required 3 hits, I wasn't calling my shots well and was not sure I was hitting, so I ended up taking 5 shots. When I was done I asked if I had hit it three or four times. "You hit it five times" was the reply. Despite that, this was my best stage of the match, finishing 14th out of 36 in my division.

Stage 1 required engaging a plate rack through a low port, then 6 poppers and another dueling tree from the middle of the bay, and finally moving to another position with another plate rack. This time I remembered to shoot the dueling tree from bottom to top. It was a fun stage with a good mix of targets. Stage 2 consisted of a mix of falling poppers, including split versions of both sizes, to be shot from 5 different shooting boxes. I struggled on this stage, not seeming to be able to get my shots on target. Those small split poppers were mocking me I'm sure! Stage 3 was the largest of the stages, in shot count, requiring a minimum of 35 shots. All the steel was shot from a single position.

It was a fun match. I still need to work on consistancy when shooting these steel matches. I suspect I may be looking over the gun to see the steel hit when I shoot. The last time I shot a steel match was in October of last year, and then as far back as April prior to that. Overall, I finished 25th out of 36. I need to get to more of these matches and spend more time shooting the various steel targets. I probably need to devote more time to dry firing as well.

As I was waiting for the match to start, I saw a familiar face walk by. It was someone I recognized from church who also happened to be shooting the match. We ended up on the same squad so got to spend some time chatting. It was a nice surprise, and it turns out we have mutual friends who are also shooting enthusiasts. It really is a small world!

Stage 3. Photo by Black Creek Steel Shooters.