Competitors’ Corner: December 2023

At the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, Sagen Maddalena and Mary Tucker topped the Women’s 50m Smallbore Rifle leaderboard, the former taking silver and the latter winning gold.

At the 2023 Pan American Games held in Santiago, Chile, this past October, United States pistol, rifle and shotgun athletes brought home 18 shooting event medals, more than any other country at the competition. The Pan American Games, a multi-sport event open to athletes from all nations of the Americas, occurs every four years during the year prior to the Summer Olympics. Along with earning five gold, five silver and eight bronze medals, USA Shooting athletes also secured three Paris 2024 Olympic Games quotas for the United States. Read our match report (page 18) for a full breakdown of Team USA’s triumphant 2023 Pan American Games shooting event performances.

In Product Focus, Field Editor Art Merrill evaluates Federal’s new Gold Medal Action Pistol ammunition (page 12). Purpose-made for meeting power factor requirements in action shooting competitions, in his article Merrill put the new Federal Premium Gold Medal Action Pistol 147-grain 9 mm load to task, including velocity data via chronograph, plus function and accuracy testing results.

 

Field Editor Chris Christian explains why you should shoot Steel Challenge in his article this month (page 24). The perfect sport for new competitors to build critical shooting skills, Christian said, “The simplified nature of Steel Challenge makes it an ideal way to introduce new shooters to the action shooting sports.” As a discipline, Steel Challenge requires little in the way of shooter movement for each of its eight stages, which is one of many factors responsible for its rapid rise in popularity among competitors over the last decade.

 

While the Remington 513-T Matchmaster .22 match rifle arrived on the scene more than eight decades ago, it can still hold its own against modern rifles. This month, Field Editor Art Merrill provides an in-depth look at the history of this classic rifle (page 30), which he said can “still go toe-to-toe with some of today’s best offerings.” In addition to sharing where to source parts, Merrill proves that the Remington 513-T Matchmaster is still a contender for NRA Smallbore Rifle competition after shooting one-hole groups at 50 meters with Lapua Midas+ ammunition.

At this year’s International Defensive Pistol Association World Championship, held at the CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park in Talladega, Ala., in October, 385 shooters competed in 15 stages over three days that tested their skills in simulated self-defense scenarios. Don’t miss our match report (page 36) for highlights from the competition, which featured all eight IDPA divisions.

Finally, a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all readers. Your support is appreciated by all of us here at Shooting Sports USA. Here’s to good shooting and another great year in 2024.

John Parker
Editor-in-Chief, Shooting Sports USA

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