Thursday, September 14 is the kickoff date for the ultimate shooting sports challenge, the NRA World Shooting Championship. The match, in its fourth year, will be held at the Peacemaker National Training Center in West Virginia. For 2017, the NRA has switched the stages around a bit. This guide will help both newcomers and NRA World Shoot veterans with the 12 stages slated for this year’s event.
Stage 1: NRA WSC 2-Gun
NRA 2-Gun is just like 3-Gun, only minus the shotgun. For this stage, shooters begin from the start box to table with a ready pistol firing at a Texas star. After the first star is done, the pistol is made safe and dropped in a bucket and the shooter runs to the rifle table to engage paper targets. After the rifle is made safe and placed in the barrel, the shooter heads back to the pistol table to finish the second Texas star and the stage. Failure to follow the course as designed will result in a stiff procedural penalty that accumulates with every shot fired. The stage has a round count of 30, and 180 second par time.
Stage 2: NRA WSC 3-Gun
The NRA 3-Gun stage will be familiar to those who shoot the sport. Competitors will first fire a rifle at a distant plate rack for box one, with no prone or sitting allowed. After the plate rack the rifle is made safe and placed in the dump barrel, and the shooter then proceeds to engage clay targets with a shotgun at box two. After hitting all the clay targets, the shotgun is safed and put in the dump barrel where the shooter then runs to box three to engage steel targets with a pistol. The stage has a round count of 24 for the same number of targets.
Stage 3: NRA Precision Pistol
The bullseye pistol stage at the match. Shooters have a preparation period of two minutes that allows for three sighters. For record, shooters have five minutes to fire 10 slow fire shots at the bottom target. Next, shooters have an additional five minutes to shoot the same string on the bottom target. All shots are to be strong hand only, and all the targets are at a 25-yard distance. For targets with more than 10 shots, only the highest 10 shots will be counted for scoring. Round count is 23.
Stage 4: NRA Bianchi Falling Plates
The action pistol stage at this year’s championship is an adaptation of the famed Bianchi Cup Falling Plate Event. It’s an adaptation because shooters can only take their record shots from the standing position, no prone shots will count. Shooters will be given time for sighters prior to the start of the stage. For record, starting at 20 yards competitors shoot one round each at an six-plate rack in 8 seconds―twice. At 25 yards, conditions are the same except for 9 seconds allowed instead of 8. All penalties will cost the shooter 10 points. All steel plates knocked down count for scoring. Round count is 26 for 24 total targets.
Stage 5: USPSA
Shooters will start in a box facing down range, with pistol loaded and pointed at the ready cone. Spare mags are staged at barrels that are chosen by the competitor. There is a choice of left or right sides to start. Upon the audible start signal, all targets are engaged from inside a designated area. Shooters can only reload from the staged barrels, staged magazines may not be carried for this course of fire. Steel targets must fall to score. Round count is 22 for 11 total targets.
Stage 6: NRA WSC .22 Rimfire Challenge
Competitors start with their palms on designated marks on the table. After the “shooter ready … standby” command and subsequent buzzer sound, the shooter will start the timer with a button press, pick up the rifle off the start table and shoot the steel targets in any order they want, as long as the red stop plate is last. The timer is stopped by the shooter by pressing the button a second time with the rifle still pointed down range. This is repeated four times for record. The total of the top three times will be will be the final score for the stage. Shooters may not reload while the clock is running. Round count is 20.
Stage 7: NRA WSC Cowboy Action
Shooters begin at Box A, with a pistol loaded on the table with the hammer down. Steel plates are to be shot starting from left or right in a 2-1-2 sequence. After hitting the targets, the pistol is made safe placed on the table. The shooter then proceeds to Box B, engaging rifle steel targets with 10 rounds. Starting from the left or right is allowed again in this order: 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1. After shooting the rifle steel targets, the rifle is safed on the table with the action open. Next is Box 3 with a loaded pistol on the table. The shooter then proceeds to hit the steel targets in any order. Round count is 20 for 18 total targets.
Stage 8: Precision Rifle Series
Competitors start behind rifle with the magazine inserted and an open bolt. Two sighters from the prone position are allowed before time begins, with a spotter calling impact placement for the sighter shots only. At the start signal, the shooter goes prone to hit targets on Plate Rack A from left to right, one shot each hit or miss. The rifle bolt is then opened, and the shooter will move to the left side of the PRS barricade to engage Target B with two shots from both positions hit or miss. The rifle bolt must be open when moving from prone to barricade and when moving to the second position on the barricade.
Stage 9: NRA WSC DMR Challenge
Shooters begin with their feet at the designated marks at the low ready, with magazine inserted, safety on and chamber flag inserted. Two sighter shots from the table are allowed before time begins. At the start signal, the competitor moves to the VTAC barricade to hit targets 1 to 3 in order. The shooter then will move to the blue barrel to engage the targets in numerical order again. Next, the shooter moves to the sand bag bunker to again shoot the targets in numerical order. Rifles must be on safe when moving from position to position. The top of the props may be used as support, and no prone shooting next to props. The round count is 15 for three targets, with a total of nine scored hits for record.
Stage 10: NRA America’s Rifle Challenge
Shooters begin similar to the DMR challenge with heels in the marked area and rifle at low ready, magazine inserted, empty chamber indicator inserted and the safety on. At the start signal, the shooters engages paper targets and must get two hits each. Then they move to the spool to hit long range flash targets 1 to 3, they must make each long range target flash to score. The round count is 20, with six targets and nine scored hits for record.
Stage 11: Wobble Clays
Squads of five shooters will receive one visible clay target throw prior to beginning the stage. Shooters proceed to shoot in order from box 1 to 5, with 25 thrown birds at 22 yards for record. If a shooter calls “pull” and there’s an audible click from the pull of the trigger, the shooter is to leave the action closed while a Range Officer comes to inspect the shell primer. If there is a visible dent in the primer, the shooter will receive one more round and a new bird will be thrown. Visible breaks will be scored as hits.
Stage 12: Five Stand
Squads of five begin at their designated station. Shooters carry 25+5 shells for all five stations. Distances range from 10 to 45 yards. Upon audible signal from the trapper, shooters will shoot a single target as indicated on their stations menu. Next, a report pair in the same fashion is engaged by each shooter. The final sequence will be a true pair. The entire course consists of 25 target presentations from all five stations. Two rounds for every presentation should be loaded. For singles, shooters will have a second shot option. Shooters transitioning from Station 5 to Station 1 must walk behind the station lines with their shotgun unloaded.
Thank you also to all the match sponsors for their belief in this championship and true support of the competitors and NRA. A very special thank you to all match staff, whether employee or volunteer―all who contribute to this championship should know how much their hard work is appreciated!
For more information, please go to the NRA World Shooting Championship website at wsc.nra.org
