The Steel Challenge is a speed shooting championship and governed by the Steel Challenge Shooting Association (SCSA). The competition was founded by Mike Dalton and Mike Fichman. The targets, made of steel, range in size from 10" round plates to 18"x24" square plates. The match is held every year in Piru, California and draws shooters from around the world.

History

The Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships have grown to one of the largest professional pistol competitions in America. In 2007 more than 220 competitors from the United States and around the world competed for a portion of the $390,000 in cash and prizes - the largest purse in competitive pistol shooting.

Competitors are scored based solely on the time it takes them to shoot each stage. The last target that is shot is known as the "stop plate", which stops the timer. All primary target hits made after the stop plate has been struck, will be scored with a 3 second penalty each. The maximum time permitted for a run is 30 seconds and a competitor will be stopped and asked to reload if they reach the 30 second limit. Each competitor shoots each stage five times, with their slowest run dropped, excluding the stage Outer Limits where only four runs are shot and the top three counted. The competitor's best four out of five runs are totaled for their stage score and the eight stage scores are added together to establish the competitor's match score. The winner is the competitor with the lowest overall time.

Seventy shooters competed in the first Steel Challenge in 1981. John Shaw claimed the first ‘World’s Fastest Shooter’ title along with his share of the $20,000 in cash and prizes.

In the winter of 2007, Dalton and Fichman sold the Steel Challenge to the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA

USPSA

USPSA may refer to:* United States Practical Shooting Association* United States Power Soccer Association...

) which is the US sanctioning body of IPSC

International Practical Shooting Confederation

The International Practical Shooting Confederation is a shooting sport based on the concept of practical shooting. Accuracy, power and speed are all required to achieve a maximum score.-Founding and organization:...

.

The Steel Challenge Stages

The Steel Challenge comprises eight courses of fire called 'stages.' They are:

• Pendulum (diagram)
• Roundabout (diagram)
• Showdown (diagram)
• Five To Go (diagram)
• Speed Option (diagram)
• Smoke & Hope (diagram)
• Outer Limits (diagram)
• Accelerator (diagram)

Steel Challenge Men's World Records

Stage	Shooter	Time	Avg. Run	Year
Pendulum	Jerry Miculek Jerry Miculek Jerry Miculek is a speed shooter and competition shooting instructor, experienced in nearly every type of firearm made. He is renowned as one of the fastest revolver shooters in the world, emptying a five-shot revolver in 0.57 seconds in a group the size of a playing card. Miculek currently holds...	10.72	2.68	2008
Roundabout	JJ Racaza	8.08	2.02	2008
Showdown	BJ Norris	8.11	2.02	2007
Five To Go	Max Michel	9.58	2.39	2007
Speed Option	KC Eusebio	9.72	2.43	2010
Smoke & Hope	KC Eusebio	7.39	1.84	2004
Outer Limits	BJ Norris	11.14	3.71	2008
Accelerator	Max Michel	8.94	2.23	2007

Steel Challenge Women's World Records

Stage	Shooter	Time	Avg. Run	Year
Pendulum	Kay Clark-Miculek	12.58	3.14	2005
Roundabout	Kay Clark-Miculek	10.01	2.50	2006
Showdown	Kay Clark-Miculek	10.85	2.71	2008
Five To Go	Kay Clark-Miculek	11.95	2.98	2006
Speed Option	Kay Clark-Miculek	12.70	3.17	2008
Smoke & Hope	Kay Clark-Miculek	9.25	2.31	2008
Outer Limits	Kay Clark-Miculek	14.62	4.87	2008
Accelerator	Kay Clark-Miculek	11.56	2.89	2007

Past Champions

Year	Top Overall	Top Woman
2010	KC Eusebio	Jessie Abbate
2009	Max Michel	Jessie Abbate
2008	KC Eusebio	Kay Clark-Miculek
2007	Max Michel	Jessie Abbate
2006	JJ Racaza	Kay Clark-Miculek
2005	Max Michel	Kay Clark-Miculek
2004	Tatsuya Sakai	Kay Clark-Miculek
2003	KC Eusebio	Athena Lee
2002	Rob Leatham Rob Leatham Robert Jennings Leatham , also known as "TGO" is a successful professional shooter...	Athena Lee
2001	Doug Koenig	Kay Clark-Miculek
2000	Doug Koenig	Kay Clark-Miculek
1999	Doug Koenig	Julie Goloski
1998	Jerry Barnhart	Cathy Levanza
1997	Ross Newell	Kay Clark-Miculek
1993	Jethro Dionsio	Valerie Levanza
1992	Jethro Dionsio	Valerie Levanza
1991	Jerry Barnhart	Judy Woolley
1990	Jethro Dionsio	Judy Woolley
1989	Angelo Spagnoli	Shirley Hamilton
1988	Chip McCormick	Suzan Cooper
1987	Jerry Barnhart	Michelle Griggs
1986	Chip McCormick	Jo Anne Hall
1985	Rob Leatham Rob Leatham Robert Jennings Leatham , also known as "TGO" is a successful professional shooter...	Lee Cole
1984	Nick Pruitt	Lee Cole
1983	Mickey Fowler	Linda Zubiena
1982	J. Michael Plaxco	Pamela Morris
1981	John Shaw	Melba Pruitt

Press Coverage Over The Years

Since at least 2003, the Shooting Gallery show on the nationally syndicated Outdoor Channel has covered each Steel Challenge championship. It has also been covered in other press, including notable articles in American Handgunner

American Handgunner

American Handgunner is a magazine dedicated to handguns, handgun hunting, competition shooting, reloading, tactical knives and other shooting-related activities in the United States...

, GunWeek, and Outdoor Life.