Friday Night Steel matches are held at the Fairfield Sportsmen’s Association Pistol Section located near Cincinnati, Ohio. (Get Google Map Directions).
Setup at the range will begin at 4:00 PM, and shooters may sign up any time between 4:30 pm and 7:00 pm. The match will begin every Friday Night (weather permitting) as soon as the range is ready and will consist of 3 or 4 stages that are not difficult but are also challenging. The round count will be between 55 to 75 rounds, but bring plenty of extra ammo for misses. The stages for each match will be posted on the FNS website under “Stages” at the beginning of the week.
Important notes for all divisions:
- Ammunition: We restrict calibers to “standard” defensive rounds such as 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 ACP & 38 Special. Other rounds of standard power may be used. However, magnum or high-speed rounds such as .357 mag, 44 mag, 454 Casull, 500 mag, 5.7 x 28mm and 7.62 x 25mm may NOT be used on the FNS targets. These rounds damage the steel targets resulting in dangerous splash back. If there is a question on caliber usage see the Match Director or Senior Range Officer before shooting.
- Reloading: Extra magazines for semi-automatics and speedloaders or moon clips for revolvers will be needed in order to compete. Three 8-10 round magazines or three six round speedloaders should be considered a minimum. Guns with larger capacity magazines (15 rounds or greater) may be able to complete the stage with two – depending on magazine capacity and misses. New shooters will be allowed to come to the line with less than three – but no less than two. To prevent slowdowns, we recommend recruiting assistance to reload your magazines. Magazine and/or speedloaders can be belt mounted or retrieved from the table for reloading when shooting.
- Holsters: Drawing from a holster can be done in any division. Holsters must be belt/side mounted and positioned on the competitor’s strong side. No inside-the-waistband, cross draw or shoulder holsters may be used. Serpa style holsters are not allowed. The holster must be visible to the range officer at all times and not covered by a garment. The trigger finger must not be placed inside the trigger guard until after the pistol is drawn and is oriented towards the target area. It is also recommended not to use “tactical gloves” or any hand covering when shooting.
There are multiple FNS Divisions to compete in:
- Compact Carry Standard: Centerfire handguns (pistol or revolver) with a barrel length not exceeding 3.4 inches and using only iron sights. Compact handguns with electronic sights and/or compensated/ported barrels must register in the Compact Carry Optic division. Minimum caliber .32. There are no limits on magazine capacity. Guns may start from the table or be drawn from a holster. See holster requirements above.
- Compact Carry Optic: Centerfire handguns (pistol or revolver) with a barrel length not exceeding 3.4 inches. Electronic sights and/or compensated/ported barrels are allowed. Minimum caliber .32. There are no limits on magazine capacity. Guns may start from the table or be drawn from a holster. See holster requirements above.
- Production Auto: Semi-auto centerfire pistols using only iron sights, without compensated/ported barrels or enhanced controls (extended slide stops / safeties / magazine catches). Minimum caliber 380 ACP. Production guns with flared magazine wells must register in the Custom Auto or Unlimited division. There are no limits on magazine capacity. Production guns with optics must register in the Unlimited Auto division.
- Custom Auto: Centerfire pistols using only iron sights, but include enhancements not permitted under Production Auto criteria, such as: flared magazine wells, extended slide stops / extended safeties / extended magazine releases. Minimum caliber 380 ACP. Electronic sights and compensated/ported barrels are not allowed. This division includes most USPSA Limited, IDPA ESP, IPSC Standard and custom guns. There are no limits on magazine capacity.
- Unlimited Auto: Any semi-auto centerfire handgun chambered for 380 ACP or larger caliber. Any sighting system may be used. Compensated/ported barrels are allowed. There are no limits on magazine capacity. Any centerfire pistol that also makes contact behind the wrist (includes stock-mounted Luger, High-Power, Mauser and braced pistols) must register in Modern PCC division.
- Classic Revolver: Any centerfire revolver with iron sights, limited to 6 chambers. No moon clips ports / compensators (per ICORE). Speedloaders are highly recommended.
- Open Revolver: Any centerfire revolver. Optics, moonclips, ports and compensators are all acceptable. Unlimited round count.
- Rimfire Revolver: Any revolver chambered for 22 Long Rifle. Any sighting system is allowed. Capacity is not limited. But no 22 Magnum (22WMR).
- Classic Rimfire: Any pistol chambered for 22 Long Rifle and using only iron sights. Rimfire pistols with electronic sights and compensated/ported barrels must register in Open Rimfire Division. There are no limits on magazine capacity. Any rimfire pistol that also makes contact behind the wrist must register in Rimfire Rifle division.
- Open Rimfire: Any pistol chambered for 22 Long Rifle. Rimfire pistols may use any sighting system. Compensated/ported barrels are allowed. There are no limits on magazine capacity. Any rimfire pistol that also makes contact behind the wrist must register in Rimfire Rifle division.
- Rimfire Rifle – any semi-automatic rimfire rifle chambered for 22 Long Rifle, that uses a detachable magazine. Competitors accept that timers may not register all shots despite the best efforts of the timer operator. The competitor may be required to re-shoot at the discretion of the timer operator. For this reason, competitors should consider bringing supplemental ammunition.
- Classic Pistol Caliber Carbine (PCC) – Centerfire pistol cartridges only:
- Any manually operated carbine/rifle.
- Minimum caliber: .32
- Maximum allowed velocity: 1400 ft/s. Full power magnum ammunition will exceed this limit and is not allowed. Competitor disqualification may apply.
- Iron sights only
- Lever-action or slide action firearms must have a loading gate no further forward than the rifle’s chamber. Modern Henry rifles and copies of the 1860 design are not permitted.
- Competitors using rifles with fixed magazines will fulfill the reload requirement by introducing at least one fresh cartridge through the loading gate or ejection port.
- It is the competitors’ responsibility to use ammunition that produces a loud enough report to be registered by the timer. Competitors accept that timers may not register all shots despite the best efforts of the timer operator. The competitor may be required to reshoot at the discretion of the timer operator. For this reason, competitors should consider bringing supplemental ammunition.
- Modern Pistol Caliber Carbine (PCC):
- Maximum allowed velocity: 1400 ft/s.
- Minimum caliber 32, pistol calibers only
- No magazine capacity limit.
- Any Classic PCC may shoot in Modern PCC
- It is the competitors’ responsibility to use ammunition that produces a loud enough report to be registered by the timer. Competitors accept that timers may not register all shots despite the best efforts of the timer operator. The competitor may be required to reshoot at the discretion of the timer operator. For this reason, competitors should consider bringing supplemental ammunition.
- Reminder: Fully automatic fire is prohibited on all FSA ranges.
- Binary triggers are not allowed.
Cost and Registration:
When registering on the computer, record your shooter number and division on a slip of paper. This paper will then be handed to the scorekeeper at each stage to be added to the queue to shoot that stage. Cost to shoot is $5 per entry. An ‘entry’ is a firearm and includes shooting all 3/4 stages with that firearm. Two firearms can be shot consecutively. Additional entries can be made after the first 2 are completed on all 3/4 stages. Tablets are now used to enter the scores as they happen. Your scores can be reviewed at the main laptop at any time.
If the tablets fail then paper scorecards will be used as a backup. They must be marked with the shooter’s name and the division in which he/she is shooting. Any cards without this information will not be scored. Scorecards are to be turned in to the collection point as soon as possible after shooting is completed in order to facilitate scoring.
Prizes:
The Lewis Class System will be used to determine prize distribution in each division. Payouts will be based on the number of competitors in a particular division. A shooter may enter multiple times if desired. A shooter who “Did Not Finish” DNF will not be awarded a prize.
Scoring:
Scoring is time-based. The competitor must follow the course of fire posted at each stage. A three (3) second penalty will be added to the competitor’s time for each miss that is not made up, and a ten (10) second will be added for any procedural error(s). Decisions made by the timer/range officer will be final, but it can be appealed to the match director but this should be within the boundaries of good sportsmanship. The Timer/SO will always explain the course and procedures to the shooter if there are questions.
Check out the Rules page for the particulars.
Scores will be posted on this website as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours. The website also will post upcoming Stages, We will try to post the stages for the Friday match earlier in the week so shooters have a chance to look them over.
Please read and understand the Rules, if you have any questions regarding FNS rules or procedures please ask the Match Director or a Senior Range Officer before attempting anything the may be in doubt. To receive emails with Friday Night Steel news, announcements, match results, etc. click here to register for our mailing list.
Good Shooting!!!