SIDNEY -- Earlier this month, Thomas Mitchell, of Potter, took his love of practical shooting from Sidney and Panhandle competitions to the national competition in Taledega, Ala.

He has been doing Practical Shooting for about seven years. The September 8-10 competition is a contest that brings together competition and defense techniques.

"Practical shooting is a sport that was developed back in the like '70s by a couple of guys, combat masters is what they were called; Jeff Cooper and --  I mean legends -- the masters of modern handgun technique. They created this sport that was supposed to mimic self-defense situations. They wanted a way to gauge performance and figure out what the next level was. So, it was a game they developed where ultimately every target has a points value. And, after a buzzer, or an activation signal of something, you start shooting, and you gather points as you shoot the stage. And then your points are divided by your time for a given stage," Mitchell said.

The procedure is called hit factor scoring. The process resulted in two shooting sports: IPSC (International Practical Shooting Competition) USPSA (United States Practical Shooting Association). Mitchell said USPSA and Steel Challenge -- all under the USPSA umbrella -- are the pinnacle of handgun shooting sports. He said a competitor can use different guns, and there's different power factors that affect scoring. 

"Ultimately, you walk onto a stage in USPSA you're given four minutes to walk through the stage and determine how to shoot it, or solve the problem as the old guys used to call it, figure out how to engage all the targets, and from every position. Once, its your turn, step up to the line, you make ready which is load your gun or whatever the ready position may be, and then at the buzzer you start shooting targets, engage your targets," he said.

When done shooting targets, the contestant is scored. Mitchell said there are numerous considerations: how much ammo does your gun hold, are you in a division that limits the number of rounds in a gun, or are you in an open division that he compared to the "top fuel dragster" division. 

"That's what I went and shot, was USPSA Open. We do our own match here in town in Sidney. It's every first Sunday of the month It is USPSA. We're not affiliated with USPSA. We're run what they call an 'Outlaw Match,' but it's great for beginners to get into it because we an extremely open and accepting club," Mitchell said. 

He said there is also "league night" held Thursday evenings through summer, an offshoot of Steel Challenge. 

Mitchell said he got into the national competition when he learned there was a slot open. He knows the match director, reached out to him and entered the competition.

"My expectations for myself were to ... not be last, and to not disqualify myself. Open Division USPSA is where the absolute best players of the sport are," he said. 

He finished about where he hoped, 116th out of 275 in his division, and 170th out of 431 overall. He said he learned a lot in the national level, including the mental discipline required. He already making plans to return next year.