This year, the European Steel Challenge (ESC) celebrated a big birthday. Ten years have passed since this kind of action shooting on steel plates took place in Holland. Congratulation!
As every year, the organizers chose from eight possible exercises the Steel Challenge has to offer. The five challenges of ESC 2017 were: Hope & Smoke, Five to Go, Roundabout, Outer Limits and Speed Option.
European Steel Challenge 2017 competitors
The shooting range in the Dutch city of Winterswijk, which is only a proverbial stone throw from the German border, is located in the cellar of the sports center. So you can follow the course of your sport regardless of the weather.
A total of 298 shooters from 13 countries competed for a hundredths of a second in a sporty, fair comparison. Even from overseas, more precisely from the USA and Brazil, shooters were aroused to attend this spectacle.
As in previous years, the Standard Pistol Division with 110 starters was the most popular. After that, the Open Pistol Division already followed with 70 participants. The Open Rimfire Division, in which preferably starts with small caliber guns with red dot sight, recorded 41 shooters. Plus 35 shooters with mechanical sights. Thus, small caliber occupies almost a quarter of all starting places, with a presumably further upward trend.
European Steel Challenge 2017 match report
A total of about 45,000 rounds were fired, until Sunday afternoon on the way to victory. The results of the top five in each category are summarized in the tables, all further results can be found on the organizer's website at www.europeansteelchallenge.eu.
The European Steel Challenge is also characterized by a fairly large price. A total of five handguns from GLOCK, Schmeisser and Tanfoglio went to the top finishers of each category. For each participant there was again a can of Vihtavuori reloading powder, which allows to refill the cartridges.
Moreover, brands like Aimpoint, Guga Ribas, Blackhawk!, Brunox, Hornady, Hendricks Wappen & Munitie, SAM Wappenmagazine, Bunker 501, Dutch Shooting Supply, S.B.Jaspers, Ladyjoy.nl, Dillon Precision, Van Mulekom, S.P.S, Hofman Top Sport, Lapua, Hepta, Dutch Firearms Trading, TDM, Caliber, Double Alpha Academy, Ghost Holster, Sellier & Bellot, Wapenhandel Slender and 5.11 Tactical made sure that the price table was richly covered.
Top 5 category results of the European Steel Challenge 2017
Open Pistol
| 1. | Saul Kirsch | 65,91 |
| 2. | Augusto Ribas | 70,49 |
| 3. | Jan ter Borg | 71,90 |
| 4. | Dennis Wagenaars | 72,63 |
| 5. | Trenton Mitsuoka | 77,25 |
Open Revolver
| 1. | Sascha Back | 73,25 |
| 2. | Markus Schneider | 80,51 |
| 3. | Chi Hong Ho | 81,46 |
| 4. | Harry ter Borg | 84,18 |
| 5. | Thomas Exner | 86,56 |
Open Rimfire
| 1. | Augusto Ribas | 53,66 |
| 2. | Endre Laszlo | 58,02 |
| 3. | Kahraman Selcuk | 59,91 |
| 4. | József Kiss | 60,29 |
| 5. | Jan ter Borg | 61,70 |
Standard Pistol
| 1. | József Kiss | 80,20 |
| 2. | Sascha Back | 84,90 |
| 3. | Gabor Tanacs | 87,93 |
| 4. | Tino Schmidt | 88,59 |
| 5. | Peter Szarvas | 89,60 |
Standard Revolver
| 1. | Sascha Back | 84,01 |
| 2. | Markus Schneider | 86,84 |
| 3. | Harry ter Borg | 94,47 |
| 4. | Thomas Exner | 96,17 |
| 5. | Chi Hong Ho | 104,95 |
Standard Rimfire
| 1. | Endre Laszlo | 58,40 |
| 2. | József Kiss | 61,55 |
| 3. | Gabor Tanacs | 62,03 |
| 4. | Laurent Perrot | 73,48 |
| 5. | Philipp Wessels | 76,04 |
