In mid-September it was finally time. The Tactical Combat Academy (TCA) hosted its first own tactical shooting competition. The Combat Challenge Jasná, as the name suggests, took place in Jasná - Slovakia. The location may already be known to some, as the annual summer and winter camps of the TCA also take place there. But what can we expect from their first competition?
The day before
On the day before the actual competition, you could arrive comfortably and check into your accommodation. Accommodation and breakfast could be booked separately, which is always worthwhile and recommended for such events. Especially since the accommodation is only about five minutes away from the range.
Comfortable rooms, some in a wooden look resembling a ski lodge or hunting lodge, while others in a freshly renovated house, awaited you. After registration, you find out which room you were accommodated in. You also received a goodie bag.
Comprehensive - 2 patches, stickers, pens, 2 t-shirts, a challenge coin, as well as a safety flag and raffle tickets were included.
Since there was still some time, we took the opportunity to take a look at the range. Here is the layout of the Shooting range - Jasná. Quite large.
But there wasn't much more to see. Because a small special feature - all stages are "Blind" Stages. Visibility was largely prevented so that the chances are equal for all participants and some surprise effects were waiting.
So back to the accommodation - dinner was already waiting there. A wide variety was served. Spare ribs, schnitzel, various pork dishes as well as side dishes and salads - there was something for everyone and it was excellent as well.
Afterwards, a short welcome and briefing took place, as well as information on when exactly things would start the next morning. Due to the weather, some arrived late for registration, as there was heavy rain in Austria and Germany, leading to some flooding. Therefore, those who missed registration could catch up later, or comfortably register the next morning.
Competition day
Breakfast the next day. We also don't want to withhold that from you. As a participant, it's time to dig in. Energy is needed for the day!
After breakfast, it was finally time. Park the car, change clothes, and put on the equipment. A welcome at the shooting range, safety instructions, initial briefings, and team assignments followed. The majority speaks Slovak, so those who do not speak Slovak are placed in Team Number One. Practical, so you can talk to each other and meet familiar faces.
Stage 1
The sight at the start of the first stage. From a car, you have to fire five shots through the windshield with the pistol at a steel target. Then get out, grab the rifle from the back seat, and enter divided rooms. There, you must find the shooting openings from one to three and shoot the targets with the marked weapon there.
Inside, the room was somewhat twisted, but the first window was quickly found and shots were fired at the targets. It was important to make good use of the openings and look around to not overlook any targets.
Besides steel targets and classic cardboard targets, there were also printed targets on the stages. Here it was important to recognize the targets as threats and also hit within the white marked area. Some targets had ballistic protection, so the target area was accordingly smaller.
Stage 2
After successfully completing the first stage, you moved on to the second stage immediately. You had to leave the rifle before starting. The pistol was placed on the table with a magazine, next to a knife. Then your hands were lightly fixed with tape.
At the start, you had to sit on the chair. Upon the signal, ram the knife into a glove and a wooden plate underneath. If the knife fell by the end of the stage, there were penalty points. Load the pistol and start to shoot the targets.
After the first sector, you had to proceed. In the second sector, caution was required. Targets had to be shot according to priority. Hostage takers first. There were also no-shoots behind some targets that you should not hit.
Lastly, you had to operate a pump-action shotgun and shoot three steel poppers.
Stage 3
Stage Three also had three zones. At the start, you had to run into the first zone and shoot all the red targets. Not just cardboard targets in the car, but also more steel targets behind them.
Then move to the Blue Zone. There, hit all the blue targets and activate a swinger, shooting only through the rear passenger window.
Finally, in the last zone, you were allowed to shoot only with the pistol. Shoot a steel popper, again a swinger, and more paper targets. Here again, it was important to look through the openings carefully to not overlook any targets that may be on the sides.
Lunch break
For the first time, there was a unified lunch break at a competition. You could strengthen with goulash for the afternoon and also visit some exhibitors.
Municak offered various accessories. From holsters, optics to other textile equipment, almost everything was available.
Gunster showcased some nice guns, as well as various accessories for them. Also Toor knives and food from Tactical Foodpack.
Also present was Grand Power. In addition to the well-known Stribog line, there were also two new rifles to examine.
Above, almost an Ar10 in 308 Win. Below, a mix of Ar15 and AK, reminiscent of a Mutant. The lower variant is more intended for the African region, as it can be operated with regular AK magazines.
After an hour, the lunch break was already over. A group photo was taken, and then it was time to move on to the next stage.
Stage 4
A perfect stage for a full stomach, we thought after reading the stage description. After the start signal, you had to run to the zone. From there, you had to place shots in the fields on a paper target, and shoot all the discs on the other side of a dueling tree. Then, rescue a dummy and lay it on a table. The weight of the dummy was about 80-90 kilograms and left us quite out of breath. Then run back and retrieve a ballistic shield. This was almost feather-light compared to the dummy.
You had to hold onto the shield. If you needed to reload, it had to be done one-handed, and the shield must remain up. Lowering the shield resulted in penalty points. For the second part, you shot at various steel poppers.
Stage 5
With physical exertion, you continued. Two ammo crates had to be carried over a distance and placed on a barrel. While most other stages had sufficient ammunition available, the round count was limited here.
In the ideal case, you made exactly three shots on each target. Of course, this was difficult when there was a swinging target involved.
From different positions, you fired at the targets. It was important not to overlook any targets, or recognize correctly whether it was a target to be shot at.
Lastly, you shot with a different weapon. Here, you also found out if you had done everything correctly so far or not. Because if you shot each target with exactly 3 shots, you would have no ammunition left in the end. If you shot more, you would be short of shots on targets. This would result in additional penalty points.
Stage 6
The sixth stage was certainly a highlight of the day for many and something special. A trench was dug for the competition, and at the start of the stage, you had to walk through it. Angled and divided, targets appeared successively onto which you had to shoot. At the end of the trench, you had to walk over a large area and fire shots at longer distances, up to about 150 meters being the farthest target.
After completing the route, it was time for one last burst of concentration. Two targets, blue area with the rifle, red area with the pistol for the finish. It was important not to mix this up and land sufficient hits in the zone.
Stage 7
At the end of the day there was an FX station. Here you started in the outbuilding and had to bring a filled ammunition box to the entrance of the main building. There you first received the rifle. In the building itself there were various targets and a pistol.
Room by room, you combed through the area. Constantly searching for targets or perhaps equipment that you could still use.
Again, it was important not to hit any bystanders and to find all the perpetrator targets. Some were well hidden. The end of this course had a little surprise for us. You had to memorize a name from the stage description in order to shoot at the correct target.
Conclusion
Seven stages later, the effort is over and, of course, food follows again. A large BBQ with various delicacies and side dishes, as well as beer, make for a convivial get-together. At the table, people continue to talk to each other about their experiences and misadventures on the stages.
As it gets darker, everyone gathers in front of the hut. The award ceremony follows. But before that, a few words from the TCA Team and the Jasna shooting range. They praised all the participants, the standard was high and they were satisfied that everything went well.
Then the first names were called. First up was the Open Division. Places one to five were honored. Then the Full Gear Division. Applause and congratulations to all the winners! In addition to fame and honor, there were various goodie bags for these places, filled by the sponsors. Including optics from EOTech, various equipment from Surefire, to Frog Pro, from pouches to vests. vouchers and more. Of course, the first to third places also received a trophy.
Another special feature was that the last and penultimate places were also announced. Last place received a 200 euro voucher for a TCA course. The penultimate place received an ammunition voucher for attending a course. This should encourage the participants to continue working and training. A commendable gesture in our opinion and well received!
After much applause, we returned to the hut. The award ceremony was over, but the sociable evening wasn't over yet. The big raffle took place inside. Here you had another chance to win small fun prizes such as a fidget spinner, equipment, even a bow with arrows and the Sellier & Bellot picture, right up to the main prize, a Stribog gun from Grand Power. Almost everyone was able to take something home with them, filling the evening with entertainment.
The day after
The day after the competition, there was a unique opportunity that we had never seen before at other competitions. The participants were allowed to visit the range again in the morning and run through the stages.
Had you perhaps made a mistake and would like to know how fast you are when everything is clear beforehand? No problem.
You could also run through stages a little differently than planned. Like here and try to shoot at a target at 75-100 meters with the pistol. The shooter managed this!
All in all, it was a great competition and very well organized. It could hardly have gone better for the first competition. We would like to thank the TCA for the invitation and are already looking forward to the next one. The next competition will also take place in September 2025, because this was just the beginning! We look forward to seeing one or two of you there (again)! In the meantime, it's time to train train train train...
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