Doug Koenig was named the overall winner of the National Rifle Association (NRA) National Action Pistol Championship held May 21-24 at the Green Valley Rifle and Pistol Club in Columbia, Missouri.
Koenig returns to the winner’s circle for the eleventh time as the overall winner of the NRA’s 30th Bianchi Cup. Koenig also won first place in both the Open division and the Bianchi International Speed Event held on the last day of competition.
Koenig narrowly beat four-time-winner Bruce Piatt 1918-185X to 1918-182X, respectively. Carl Bernosky took third with a score of 1918-176X. Bernosky, the 2007 NRA National High Power Champion, earned the top spot in the Practical Event.
The NRA National Action Pistol Championship consists of four separate matches: Practical Event (timed shooting from 10 yards to 50 yards); Barricade Event (timed shooting from “cover”); Falling Plate Event (timed fire at banks of six plates); and the Moving Target Event (target moves and is exposed for just 6 seconds).
Class awards are presented to various divisions which include high law enforcement, high woman, high junior, high international, high newcomer, high senior, high service, high semi-auto, high revolver, high production firearm, open modified firearm and open / metallic aggregate.
The National Championship is an aggregate of four matches, including the Practical, Barricade, Moving Target and Falling Plate events. Each event is worth 480 points, equaling a total of 1920 possible points.
In the Metallic Championship, Robert Vadasz of Tampa, Florida, shot one additional X to edge Jerry Miculek of Princeton, Louisiana, 1902-138 to 1902-137.
Other notable category winners include senior winner Ian Coates of New Zealand, 1904-144X; junior category winner Jordan Dick of Hutchinson, Kansas, 1901-139X; and women’s winner Vera Koo of Atherton, California, 1870-136X.
This year’s event featured over 140 contestants from seven countries.
