Ryan McKinnon emerged victorious in the latest round of the Guyana Sport Shooting Federation (GSSF) Steel Challenge Shooting held on Saturday at the GDF Timehri Ranges.
McKinnon (50.47) won ahead of Pravesh Harry (65.98) and Ray Beharry (72.04) who finished second and third respectively after two rounds of shooting. According to the GSSF, the challenging first stage ‘Speed Option’ featured the stop plate located about 35 yards away from the competitors, making hitting easy for match favourite McKinnon who set the bar high causing the other competitors to follow sometimes doubling and even tripling his time total. Needless to say, a lot of extra rounds were needed as several seasoned competitors relentlessly strove to secure hits on the steel plates thus causing them to ring with that ‘ping’.
Despite the heavy downpour, local handgun shooters made their way to the Range to hear the melodic pings of lead impacting steel. The GSSF, through its affiliation with the Steel Challenge Shooting Association (SCSA) continues to pioneer this area of sport shooting to members by organizing such matches on a regular basis.
Steel Challenge is considered one of the fastest shooting competitions in the world. The competition on Saturday consisted of two stages: in one stage competitors were required to shoot five different steel targets set out at various angles and distances, one of which is designated as a “stop plate” which is shot last. Registering a hit on the plate stops the time. The total time it takes to hit all five plates is used for the score (your time is your score.) Misses and penalties add 3 seconds to the time for each. Competitors are scored using an electronic timing device which records the time that every shot is fired. The shooter with lowest time wins.
In his pre-tournament remarks match director, Dr Pravesh Harry welcomed members who braved the inclement weather to participate in the event and encouraged shooters to have fun while keeping safety paramount throughout the match. Range Master McKinnon reviewed the Rules of Steel Challenge and reminded everyone of the safety rules. The competition requirements were as simple as the scoring, the shooter would assume his/her position in the shooting box with hands up above their shoulders, upon the audible beep of the timer, draw their firearm and shoot at the targets, timer stops when the shooter hits what is designated to be the stop plate.
The second stage named “Roundabout” saw targets set at closer distances but in somewhat of a tricky arrangement. This upped the challenge, causing shooters to engage them in random orders as they each felt was best. Beharry won this stage by showing resilience and not backing down from the challenge of the dominating McKinnon. The competitor’s best four scores out of five strings of fire on each stage were added together for collective score. The lowest total time/score for all stages wins the overall match.
Stage 1 Speed Option: first Ryan McKinnon – 26.9 second Pravesh Harry – 37.03 third Ray Beharry – 48.77 Stage 2 Roundabout: first Ray Beharry – 23.27 second Ryan McKinnon – 23.57 third Pravesh Harry – 28.95.
