This past weekend was my first time to attend the Alabama Steel Challenge Championship presented by Veterans 3 Gun. It was a long trip down I-20 for us coming from Texas. However, I was looking forward to shooting at the CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park again. If you haven’t had a chance to visit, try to soon. It is a nice range.
My first day at the range was on Friday. My sister Bridget wasn’t able to join my dad and I that day. She had to work on writing her college essays. We hit the range early mainly to check our rifle and pistol sights. We also met with Mr. Brian at the Hunters HD Gold booth. We all shared two slices of pizza for lunch, which my food lover heart was happy about.
After lunch, we hung out with several others at the range and talked about what has happened since we last saw each other. I mean, it had been 3 whole months so we had plenty to catch up on. After a few hours of hanging out with everyone my dad and I headed back to Cheaha State Park.
On Saturday Bridget, my dad, and I headed back to the range. We shot our rimfire pistols (RFPO/RFPI) that morning. It felt good when I was shooting my pistols. There was a little breeze almost the whole day. I shot a few personal best with my RFPI.
Once we finished shooting, we headed for lunch. They had many different types of sandwiches and chicken salads. I got a BLT on the croissant. If you’ve never had one I recommend that you try it one day. It was the best BLT in the history of BLT’s (sorry Mom yours is still amazing).
After lunch Bridget and I visited with several friends. Marcus (lense maker of Hunters HD Gold) came to the range with his family. When they got there, they were given a VIP tour of the range, and got treated like celebrities while Marcus realized how many people were wearing Hunters HD Gold eyewear.
On Sunday morning we shot our rimfire rifles (RFRO/RFRI). I shot well with my rifles until I got to Smoke and Hope. I accidently used the same mag twice so the second time I tried to shoot the mag went dry. Also, my runs just weren’t my best. I ended up adding three seconds just from the one stage!
After we finished our flight, I was asked to drive the golf cart. Sadly, it took Bridget and I about 4 minutes to figure out how to start it. Turns out it’s not like a truck and turning the key to “on” doesn’t start the engine. Once we figured it out, I drove it up to the clubhouse.
Congratulations to all of the competitors. Chris Barrett shot amazing and timed into the 50’s! Congratulations to my sister Bridget for placing amazingly and receiving nine plaques, and to Ryan Flowers for getting eight!
Special thanks for those that put this wonderful match on. The ROs did an exceptional job! Thank you to all the match sponsors.
Emily Cunningham 