The fastest gun alive...a phrase that has echoed down from the days of the Old West, part and parcel of American mythology.
Once again this August, the greatest shooters in the world will gather in the hills above Los Angeles to test themselves, with the World Speed Shooting Championship on the line, and Kelly Gage of Buckeye, Frank D’Amato, Angus Hobdell, Vic Pickett and Ray Solomon of Mesa, Harley and Dianne Reagan of Paradise Valley, Naim Saiti of Peoria and Jeff Nicholson of Scottsdale will be joining them. Since its founding in 1981, the Steel Challenge has grown into the premier, and with more than $350,000 at stake, the most lucrative shooting match in the world.
The Steel Challenge's format is simplicity in itself. More than 200 competitors from 19 states and 4 foreign countries will face the clock on eight stages of fire, each with a different array of steel targets electronically timed to 1/100th of a second. All a competitor has to do is run each stage five times, with the worst run thrown out. The competitor's score is the combined times of all eight stages.
"The Steel Challenge is simple in its concept," says Michael Bane, a leading shooting sports expert and host of SHOOTING GALLERY on the Outdoor Channel which is covering the match, "but it's brutally hard to shoot well. The best times are nothing short of amazing, almost unbelievable. In fact, it's safe to say that the fastest guns who have ever lived are alive today and shooting this match."
The Steel Challenge features numerous divisions, including Women's, Pre-Teen, Junior, Senior, Super Senior and Law Enforcement divisions in several categories such as Rimfire, Shotgun, Single Action Revolver, Revolver, Stock Pistol and Open Pistol — the Formula-1 equivalent in the shooting sports.
More than 65,000 rounds of ammunition will be put downrange in Piru, California in the quest to be the fastest. The Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships will be held Thursday through Saturday, August 14th-16th.