22LR ammunition manufacturer, ELEY, launched the first in its Speed Steel series to the UK on Saturday (20th April 2019).

Shooters from across the country travelled to Stourport on Severn Pistol & Rifle club to compete in the first of ELEY’s Speed Steel challenges. It was an early start with doors opening at 7:30am and the first stage of the competition commencing at 9:30am.

As well as the early start, shooters also had to contend with the warm weather. In fact, it was on record as being the hottest day in April in the UK for the last 70 years!

Nevertheless, competitors fought their way through each of the courses of fire, varying in levels of difficulty. Taking on a similar format to the successful US steel challenges, the competition consisted of eight standardized stages with steel targets in three sizes; small circular, large circular and square. Competitors were scored solely by the time it took them to complete each stage, and the winner was the competitor with the lowest overall time.

Claiming the top spot was Nick Towndrow in the Mini Rifle discipline and Chris Edwards for the LBP open division. Not only did they win themselves bragging rights, but they also bagged nearly $1,000 cash prize each (£750 GBP), along with a £100 bonus because they were using ELEY ammunition. Second and third place also claimed cash prizes of £600 and £350.

Mini Rifle champion, Nick Towndrow won with a time of 83.1. His fastest time was on stage 8, Roundabout, where he took just 8.29 seconds in total. In the LBP division, the winning time was 89.7 seconds, a huge 7 seconds faster than second place!

Michael Atkinson, Brand Manager for ELEY, said: “Shooting steels is already a huge in the US and we want to replicate this in the UK. The sun was shining and there was a fantastic atmosphere at the event. It shows how much of an appetite there is for this growing sport in the UK and we’re proud at ELEY to be a part of it.

“We are producing some excellent quality practical rounds for this type of sport – smooth functioning, incredibly accurate, while still making sure they go bang every time. ELEY action is our newest product delivering reliability and performance in every round.”

There are a total of three Speed Steel events in the series with the next being held in July and final competition in October. It is at the final event that ELEY will be welcoming US Grand Master Kurt Grimes, who will be teaching the UK shooters a thing or two about ringing steels.