Disciplines 

Practical shooting is a sport in which competitors are required to combine accuracy, speed and power to successfully complete many different types of shooting "problems". Competitors use centerfire handguns in large calibers (9mm/.38 special is the minimum allowed) and shoot full-power loads. These handguns are carried in belt holsters and are accompanied by spare magazines or speedloaders in pouches also attached to the belt.  

At any given match a shooter may be required to shoot targets 2 meters away in one event, and 50 meters away in the next. Sometimes the targets are paper, sometimes they are steel. Often "no-shoot" penalty targets are placed near "shoot" targets. Realistic props are used to simulate a scenario that the shooter must complete. Shooting may be done from freestyle, strong hand, weak hand, prone, or any other imaginable position, depending on the course of fire. Since scoring uses both total points and elapsed time, the shooters strive to find the best combination of accuracy, speed, and power to win.

“3 Gun” uses many of the same principles as Action Shooting.  In addition to shooting pistol, competitors will add long guns to the mix.  While 3 gun implies pistol, rifle and shotgun, any combination can be used in a course.  Competitors will be presented with stages that require the use of one to three guns on the same course.  Stages are "problems" that the shooter must solve under a timed format where accuracy and firearm power are factors.  A sling is recommended for long guns.

The Steel Challenge started in the US in 1981 and over the next few years migrated to NZ. The first NZ Nationals are recorded as being held in 1987.

THE US STEEL CHALLENGE.. where it all started

The Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships are one of the crown jewels of the shooting circuit and the premier professional pistol competition in America

In NZ the format is the same, your time is your score. He who has the least will win! 5 runs and keep your best 4 to count (Outer limits has 4 runs and keep your best 3) so the scoring couldn’t be simpler. All penalties are +3 seconds to your time, max time allowed on a single string is 30 seconds. So you can see in practice exactly what you are capable of. This is markedly different to IPSC, where your score is a percentage of someone else’s score.

Speed Shooting as it is known in NZ began in 1987 and has run ever since. The stages run in the states have changed several times & at one stage were changing every year. Today, the stages shot in New Zealand are exactly the same as shot by the Steel Challenge Shooting Association (SCSA) in the USA.

These are Roundabout, Pendulum, Smoke and Hope, Outer Limits, Speed Option, Accelerator, Five to Go and Showdown

KPC runs a modified version of this every Wednesday evening during daylight saving.