There are tremendous advantages to shooting practical pistol competitions for defensive-oriented gun owners. Among other benefits, shooting a practical pistol match lets you create a plan and execute it under stress, which is a vital skill for success in a violent encounter. However, practical pistol is not without its barriers to entry, one of which is ammunition cost, and another is a perceived need to buy special equipment in order to be competitive.
Overcoming those barriers (and others) is one of the reasons why Rimfire Challenge was born. According to longtime TV host and gunwriter Michael Bane, one of the driving forces behind Rimfire Challenge was to create a “top of the funnel” sport that could be used to foster interest in other shooting sports like 3-gun, IDPA and USPSA.
“Ken Jorgensen and I were at our hotel after a Steel Challenge match in Piru, CA, and Ken made the observation that our competitive shooting culture had lots of “narrow” shooting sports — Steel Challenge, USPSA, IDPA, Cowboy, etc. — and that was really great. But, he added, there wasn’t an equivalent sport to bring people into the shooting sports. I agreed and laid out some off-the-top-of-my-head ideas for such a sport. It needed to have a low barrier to entry, which included the cost of gear, the cost of the match and stage design. It had to be attractive to families and kids, and it had to be a 2-gun sport out of the box, partly because we wanted to see an open platform for 10/22 rifles since there were a bazilion of them out there.”
Origins Of The Sport
Bane went on to talk more about how sport has evolved since its creation.
“Originally, the sport was supported by Ruger and was known as the Ruger Rimfire Challenge. After several years, it went to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), who ran it as Rimfire Challenge Shooting Association (RCSA). After 5 or 6 years, NSSF wanted to hand the sport off (which is what they typically do: They are incubators, rather than competition operators). Ken and I reached out to NSSF, and they agreed to “cede” the sport to us with seed money if we would create a non-profit to run it, which we did, and now Pete Swenson runs it, and he has been a marvel.”
Pete Swenson continues the story:
“I took over as President of RCSA in August of 2022. Prior to that, I had been a member of the Board of Directors for 18 months. RCSA began on its own in 2018, after being spun off by NSSF. Getting started, there were some bumps in the road. COVID took the wind out of RCSA’s sails in 2020. We were unable to hold our 2020 World Championship match. This almost undid RCSA. Fortunately, in May of 2021, we were able to find the ORSA range near Oak Ridge, TN who agreed to host the 2021 World Championship. The match went very well, and we returned in 2022. While the ORSA range is outstanding, they were limited in the number of available bays, which limited the potential participation of shooters. In 2024, we moved the range to Cavern Cove Competitive Shooting in Woodville, AL. They have many more bays for side matches, function testing, and actual shooting arrays. This has allowed for steady growth in competitor participation. Our numbers are going up, and we’ve added our own RSO (Range Safety Officer) program, so this further deepens our credibility in the shooting sports.”
Specialized firearms are popular for Rimfire Challenge, but not a requirement
Has this worked? I had a chance to talk with Travis Taves, one of the competitors in the 2024 RSCA World Championships.
“My son and I have been shooting rimfire challenge for 3 years now. We started when he was 8, and he is 11 years old. We shoot Volquartsen guns. His pistols are Mamba X pistols from Volquartsen, and his rifles are Volquartsen Superlite actions sitting in Luth-AR modular chassis. As of this year, Layton was welcomed to the Volquartsen shooting team. He is also sponsored by Creekside Custom Lasering, Steel Target Paint and Hunters HD Gold shooting glasses. My son loves shooting in general, and he loves shooting RCSA events. Through a lot of practice, he has seen success early on and is working to be better with every round fired. Everyone is always nice and willing to help each other out. It is like a second family.”
It’s A Family Affair
Travis’ experience reflects that of Kristy Wilkins, another competitor at the 2024 World Championships.
“I became a Worship leader at a church. I was asked to find ways to bond with the congregation and someone had mentioned that a large group of people who attend are into competitive shooting. I attended my first Rimfire match around 2016 and have been sold ever since. Right now my rifle is a Thompson Center TCR-22 with a Vortex Crossfire red-dot sight on it, and for pistols, I bounce between my friend’s 4.5-inch Scorpion X with a SIG Sauer Romeo XL red dot and I also shoot my Smith & Wesson Victory with Tandemkross upgrades and a C-More red dot. My experience within the shooting sport has been nothing but positive, I would even say life changing. I have met some of my closest friends shooting this sport. I have never seen such a positive and supportive community. Everyone is quick to help and cheer each other on. I can’t think of another sport that is quick to drop everything and help out or give advice to someone on how to improve skills or gear.”
If you’re looking for a shooting sport that combines your interest in armed self-defense with opportunities for your loved ones to be involved in what you do, the Rimfire Challenge Shooting Association might just be what you’re looking for. More information on how to get involved in this sport is available at rimfirechallenge.org.
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