Since I posted the photo of Chip McCormick with his 1988 Steel Challenge pistol, I figured you might want to look at another example by Jeff Wassom from the same era. It even has the signature welded-up “rat tail” grip safety like McCormick’s own pistol.

McCormick’s previous winning pistol in 1986 had been built by Fred and Virgil Tripp. After the Tripp brothers were busy making the CMC hammers and sears, McCormick’s shooting partner, Jeff Wassom, stepped in to fill the gap in gunsmithing. Wassom was a decent competitor, placing in the top twenty at Steel Challenge and USPSA Nationals.

At the time, McCormick had the ideas that Shooting Star Industries might become a full-house shop like Wilson Combat. However, like the Tripps, Wassom eventually went his own way, starting his own shop Performance Specialists in the early 1990s.