2026 THS Steel Challenge: A PRS Match Recap

"Surviving" a two day National Qualifier PRS Match is not the language to use, or the language most participants would use to describe their experience, playing and having fun in the sun for two and a half days of long distance riflery, while climbing on barricades, belly flopping in the dirt, breathing dirt, squinting into the 100 degree sun, burning hands on barrels and suppressors after expending ten rounds in two minutes twenty times in two days, fighting for cognitive clarity while struggling through heat fatigue and dehydration.

It has been said that if there is a PRS event within a five hour drive of your house - it ain't gonna get any closer - so you better go! This one was five and a half hours from home, so I went.

I wanted to shoot something different and haven't shot a 6.5 Creedmoor in a PRS match since 2017, so the one barrel I had that was useful for that was again put into service. "Again?" Yup. A few years ago I wanted a 30" 1.25" truck axle and ended up with a BRUX 8 twist from somewhere in Arizona.

That barrel got stuck on a single shot action with the intent of shooting F Class with it. It didn't shoot - any - factory ammo very well, so it got stuck in the corner for a couple of years. A bargain on Lapua SRP brass showed up and ten 140s got stuck into ten new Lapua cases and painted the proverbial "One Hole" group.

K. Cool. The barrel was actually good. Back it went back in the corner for another year and along comes an action manufacturer wanting an opinion on their action, so the tenon was rethreaded/chambered back to 6.5 Creedmoor. It did pretty well as a loaner at a Dakota 600 match at Mandan, got pulled and stuck in a box, once more.

A couple of weeks ago the big bugger Brux screwed itself into an Impact Precision 737R action, and went to another Dakota 600 match where it did much better than its driver. So it was deemed a good candidate for a PRS barrel and slid down to South Dakota in anticipation of getting rode hard, and put away hot.

Impact Scoring's review doesn't tell the whole story. The real story is that that barrel slew everything it was pointed at. If I wobbled, it didn't happen. If I was too slow, it didn't happen. If I forgot to load all ten into my magazine, it didn't happen. But none of the stuff that didn't happen was the fault of a rifle that operated fault-les-ly for Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Chris Opfer's 2026 THS Steel Challenge.