The Bianchi Cup is a major action pistol tournament in the United States, usually held over three days in late May. Since 1984 the

National Rifle Association of America The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while conti ...

has designated it their National Action Pistol Championship. It is normally held in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourt ...

, at the Green Valley Rifle & Pistol Club. It has the largest purse of any tournament on the action pistol calendar and is the premier action pistol championship tournament in the world. The Bianchi Cup is the only major shooting tournament that has retained its original course of fire since its inception. It is one of the most prestigious events in action shooting, with the best shooters in the world in competition each May in

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. Due to the diversity of stages, the tournament is widely considered one of the most difficult championships in all of the

shooting sports Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such ...

NRA Bianchi Cup

The Bianchi Cup is traditionally held the week before

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

weekend (i.e. the week before the last Monday in May) every year since its inception in 1979. It is the first tournament that turns the sport of competition shooting as a whole from amateur to professional status by offering the winner a large cash prize in addition to trophies. Before NRA took control in 1984 the overall winner took home the entire cash purse of $30,000 in addition to the Bianchi Cup itself. It has its origins in the

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...

shooting community. Recently, with the creation of the Production Division, it has become one of the fastest growing disciplines in the

action shooting Practical shooting, also known as dynamic shooting or action shooting, is a set of shooting sports where the competitors try to unite the three principles of precision, power, and speed, by using a firearm of a certain minimum power factor to sco ...

community. The Bianchi Cup is one of the three championships of action shooting's triple crown, along with the IPSC U.S. Nationals, and the

Steel Challenge The Steel Challenge is a speed shooting competition governed by thSteel Challenge Shooting Association(SCSA) that consists of eight standardized stages with steel targets in three sizes; small circular, large circular and rectangular targets. Co ...

. Since its inception in 1979, 1985 championship year being the exception, the Bianchi Cup has retained its original courses of fire, consisting of four matches known as the "Events": Practical, Barricade, Moving Target and Falling Plates. Speed, accuracy, and precision, all three are equally important factors and are considered fundamentals that form the core of the match, but most importantly, strong mental discipline on match days is the ultimate key to winning the Championship. Such is the case in the open division, where the top finishers are known to shoot perfect scores of 1920 separated by x-counts and one bad shot out of 192 can easily put a potential winner down 10–15 places in the rankings. Each event is timed and is worth 480 points, equaling a total of 1920 possible points plus 192 tie-breaking x's. In 1985 Practical Event was temporarily replaced by the 60-shot, 600 points International Rapid Fire Event, almost identical to that of the ISSF 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol Match. The main differences for the Bianchi Cup/NRA Action Pistol version was that it must be fired from a standing, hands-over-shoulder starting position, gun holstered, on five Bianchi D-1 "Tombstone" cardboard targets placed 25 yards downrange, using center fire handguns, with the option of using the ground as support if one can make the time limit without incurring any late shot penalties. The total possible score for that year was 2040 points plus 204 x's. This sudden deviation from the original format proved unpopular so the organizers dropped it and re-instated the Practical Event the following year since. Action pistol competitors are permitted to use a two-handed grip (except for the 8 second 10-yard weak-hand series in the Practical Event), and in most cases competitors must start from standing position with their guns holstered and hands above the shoulders. One exception being the Barricade Event, where competitors start with gun in holster and both hands on the barricade. During the course of the match, participants fire at turning or moving cardboard silhouette targets – known as the D-1 (or AP-1 as of 2007) "Tombstones", and steel plates that must be knocked down to count as hits. The NRA National Action Shooting Tournament is a money-winning event. For his victory in 2008, Doug Koenig took home the 2008 Bianchi Cup trophy, plus total cash awards of over $8,000. Robert Vadasz Metallic Sight win netted him over $5000. For 2009, total prize money awarded increased over 30% from the previous year. NRA continues to improve the Cup in the original spirit of John Bianchi's vision. The already generous awards schedule has added additional prizes over the years for Newcomers, Juniors, & new for 2010 the Grand Senior category. Sponsorship from major corporations such as

MidwayUSA MidwayUSA is a privately held American retailer of various hunting and outdoor-related products. The company is headquartered in Columbia, Missouri, and sells in the continental United States. The company markets online. History Ely Arms, Inc. ...

Safariland Safariland, LLC is a United States-based manufacturer of personal, and other equipment focused on the law enforcement, public safety, military, and recreational markets. It was formerly a division of the United Kingdom-based defense and aerospace ...

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 1856 ...

, Colt, &

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have helped make this possible. From 2009 30th Anniversary onwards, the NRA Bianchi Cup offers an Open Division, Metallic Division and the new Production Division to bring more shooters to the sport. Recent years have also introduced a Celebrity Pro-Am as a Saturday Event. This fan favorite spectacle has included participants from the music, film, and television branches of the entertainment industry including

Mark Wills Mark Wills (born Daryl Mark Williams; August 8, 1973) is an American country music artist. Signed to Mercury Records between 1996 and 2003, he released five studio albums for the label – '' Mark Wills'', ''Wish You Were Here'', ''Permanently'' ...

, Michael Peterson, Marshall Teague and

Michael Talbott Michael Talbott (born February 2, 1955) is an American actor. He portrayed Detective Stanley Switek in the crime drama television series '' Miami Vice'' (1984–1989). Early life Michael was born on February 2, 1955, in Waverly, Iowa, to parents ...

. Cowboy Mounted Shooting sensation Kenda Lenseigne made her first appearance at the Celebrity Pro-AM in 2010 and won. This event draws shooters from all over the world. In 2008, international competitors hailed from Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand,

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, United Arab Emirates and the United States. The Bianchi Cup is unique in that a newcomer's orientation is always held at the Competitor's meeting. Former & current Champions as well as the Match Staff are usually in attendance to help new shooters in their first attempt at the National Action Pistol Championship. Class awards are awarded to various categories to include High Law Enforcement, High Woman, High Junior, High International, High Newcomer, High Senior, High Service, High Semi-Auto, High Revolver, and Aggregate. NRA has re-instituted a few measures to lower entry fee cost. One was to "bring a buddy". If a competitor were to bring a friend who had never competed at the NRA Bianchi Cup, both competitors would have a reduced entry fee. NRA also offers reduced fees for Juniors, Production Firearms, Active Duty Military and those that register early.

History

The event originated in 1979; by former police officer John Bianchi of holster maker

Bianchi International Bianchi International of Temecula, California is a worldwide producer of leather and nylon goods for the law enforcement industry. Since the 1970s they have produced items from gun holsters to duty belts and everything related in between. Armor Ho ...

, as a Law Enforcement Training Match. In conjunction with 1975 IPSC World Champion, Ray Chapman. and Richard Nichols, the first Bianchi Cup competition was held in 1979. In 1984, the National Rifle Association re-designated the event the NRA Bianchi Cup, National Action Pistol Championship. The competition has four stages, which make up the match aggregate. Each of these stages consists of 48 rounds for a total possible score of 480 for each stage and 1920 for a perfect overall score. The four shooting events are: The Practical Event: From the appropriate shooting line, the shooter fires at distances from 10 yards to 50 yards under varying time limits. The Barricade Event: From within shooting boxes and behind barricades, a shooter fires at targets on either side of the barricade at different distances and under varying time limits. The Falling Plate Event: From the appropriate shooting line, the shooter fires at 8-inch round, steel plates arranged in banks of six at distances from 10 to 25 yards under varying time limits. The Moving Target Event: From within shooting boxes at distances ranging from 10 to 25 yards, the shooter fires at a target moving from left to right with the target being exposed for only 6 seconds. Competitors shoot all these events from both standing and prone positions and are also required to shoot with both strong and weak hands at various stages. On top of these events, the championship also features many side events that do not impact the match aggregate score. The competitors use handguns. The most popular caliber choices are 9mm, .38 Spl.,

.38 Super The .38 Super, also known as .38 Super +P, .38 Super Auto, .38 Super Automatic, .38 Super Automatic +P, or 9×23mmSR, is a pistol cartridge that fires a bullet. It was introduced in the late 1920s as a higher pressure loading of the .38 ACP, a ...

, and

.45 ACP The .45 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol) or .45 Auto (11.43×23mm) is a rimless straight-walled handgun cartridge designed by John Moses Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic pistol. After successful military trials, it ...

. These pistols are drawn out of holsters when the signal to fire is given at each stage. The first competitor to fire a perfect score was

Doug Koenig Doug Koenig is an American sport shooter who at the 1990 IPSC Handgun World Shoot became the first world champion using a red dot sight instead of iron sights. Three years later at the 1993 World Shoot he took silver in the Open division. Doug i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in 1990 with a 1920-157X. This event draws top shooters from all over the world. International competitors have hailed from

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, Australia, Canada, Germany,

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, Japan,

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, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,

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, Saudi Arabia (1987–1989), Republic of South Africa, Switzerland,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

(1996),

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(1993 and 1994), and the United Kingdom. The first

NRA World Action Pistol Championship The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while conti ...

match was held in the United States at the present home of the NRA Bianchi Cup in Columbia, MO. 1994 was the first year; there were five countries competing for the Open Team event and three countries competing for the Women's Team event. Thereafter the World Action Pistol Championship was held in Adelaide Australia 1997, Hamilton New Zealand 1999, Italy 2001 and again in the USA in Columbia MO in 2004. The NRA World Action Pistol Championships were then to be rotated to sponsor countries every two years from 2006 (Australia, Blacktown Rifle & Pistol Club) and returning to the United States every eight years (2012). In 2008 it was conducted in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

, New Zealand, November 5–8. For 2010, the event returned to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

, Australia at the Blacktown Rifle & Pistol Club.

Champions

*NRA National Action Pistol Champion, winner of the Bianchi Cup *Metallic Division Champion, winner of the Metallic Division Cup *Production Division Champion, winner of the Production Division Cup *Women's Division Champion, winner of the Women's Division Cup *Senior Division Champion, winner of the John Cameron Memorial Cup *Junior Division Champion, winner of the Junior Division Cup A new Bianchi Cup made of

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. '' Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, i ...

is produced each year and awarded to the winner, as well as a silver Bianchi Champion belt buckle. Smaller trophy cups & silver belt buckles emblazoned with the Bianchi Star are awarded to the division champions.

Previous champions

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is a nineteen-time Bianchi Cup champion. He has the most titles in NRA Action Pistol Championship history. File:Robvadaszmetallicchamp2010.jpg,

Rob Vadasz Rob or ROB may refer to: Places * Rob, Velike Lašče, a settlement in Slovenia * Roberts International Airport (IATA code ROB), in Monrovia, Liberia People * Rob (given name), a given name or nickname, e.g., for Robert(o), Robin/Robyn * Rob ( ...

earned his second Bianchi Cup Metallic Division Championship by besting

Rob Leatham Robert Jennings Leatham (born January 27, 1961 in Mesa, Arizona) is a professional shooter who is a 24-time USPSA National champion and 7-time International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) World Champion. Biography On Leatham's twelfth ...

by a full ten points at the 2010 NRA Bianchi Cup. File:Noimage.svg, Jessie Abbate was the 2010 Bianchi Cup Women's Champion after beating Julie Goloski Golob for her first NRA Action Pistol Championship win. Bianchi Cup Winners 1979: Ron Lerch 1816-062x 1980: Mickey Fowler 1889-085x 1981: Mickey Fowler 1890-088x 1982: Mickey Fowler 1903-145x 1983:

Brian Enos Brian Enos (born in Park Layne, Ohio) is an American sport shooter who took silver in the Standard division at the 1993 IPSC Handgun World Shoot and has two silver medals from the IPSC US Handgun Championship. He also has two silver medals fro ...

1903-612x 1984:

1910-257x NRA National Action Pistol Champions 1985:

2034-155x 1986: W. Riley Gilmore 1916-144x 1987: John Pride 1912-151x 1988: John Pride 1918-163x 1989: Lemoine Wright 1914-152x 1990: Doug Koenig 1920-157x 1991: W. Riley Gilmore 1920-166x 1992: Doug Koenig 1920-169x 1993: Bruce Piatt 1920-170x 1993: Brian Kilpatrick, Australia 1920-173x 1994: John Pride 1920-174x 1995: John Pride 1920-179x 1996: Mickey Fowler 1918-184x 1996: Ross G. Newell, Australia 1920-163x 1997: Bruce Piatt 1920-181x 1998: Doug Koenig 1920-180x 1999: Bruce Piatt 1920-185x 2000: Doug Koenig 1920-185x 2001: Doug Koenig 1920-184x 2002: Doug Koenig 1920-184x 2003: Doug Koenig 1920-183x 2004: Doug Koenig 1920-177x 2005: Doug Koenig 1920-185x 2006: Bruce Piatt 1920-177x 2007: Doug Koenig 1920-185x 2008: Doug Koenig 1918-185x 2009: Bruce Piatt 1920–181x 2010: Doug Koenig 1920-179x 2011: Doug Koenig *1920-187x (High Score) 2012: Doug Koenig 1920-182x 2013: Doug Koenig 1920-183x 2014: Kevin Angstadt 1920-171x 2015: Doug Koenig 1920-180x 2016: Doug Koenig 1920-183x 2017: Doug Koenig 1920-184x 2018: Adam Sokolowski 1920-176x 2019: Bruce Piatt 1920–179x 2020: (Cancelled) 2021: Doug Koenig 1920-182x 2022: Benito Martinez 1920-165x Stock Firearm (Production) Champions 1994: Bruce Gray-Category Winner 1883-112x 1995: Rod Jones-Category Winner 1810-105x 1996: Bruce Gray-Category Winner 1889-125x 1997: Steve Sweeney-Category Winner 1850-115x Production Class Champions 2009: Dave Sevigny 1806-101x 2010: Kyle Schmidt 1856-121x 2011: Rob Leatham 1883-132x (XD Tactical) 2012: Vance Schmid 1887-118x (CZ SP01 Shadow) 2013: Enoch Smith 1904-144x (Xdm 5.25) 2014: Rob Leatham 1884-132x (Xdm 5.25) 2015: Enoch Smith 1874-137x (Xdm 5.25) 2016: Adam Sokolowski 3767-257x* (Xdm 5.25) *Score reflects combined main match and championship match score 2017: Rob Leatham 1908-140x* (Xdm 5.25) *Score reflects championship match score only 2018: Patrick Franks 1894-136x 2019: Anthony Heinauer 1876-131x 2020: (Cancelled) 2021: Christopher Hudock 1888-116x 2022: Christopher Hudock 1900-135x Production Optics Class Champions 2021: Anthony Heinauer 1918-161x 2022: Anthony Heinauer 1914-164x Metallic Sight Firearm Champions Leseigne vadasz

1998: Chad Dietrich 1905-125x 1999: Fred Craig 1863-127x 2000:

1897-145x 2001: Vance Schmid 1896-130x 2002:

1884-136x 2003: Frederick Craig 1886-128x 2004:

1905-144x 2005:

1910-153x 2006:

1902-145x 2007:

1902-153x 2008: Rob Vadasz 1902-138x 2009:

1909-145x 2010: Rob Vadasz 1904-146x 2011: Rob Vadasz 1908-143x 2012: Rob Vadasz 1878-135x 2013: Rob Vadasz 1892-132x 2014: Kevin Worrell 1907-127x 2015: Patrick Franks 1902-140x 2016: Patrick Franks 1901-140x 2017: Adam Sokolowski 1914-143x 2018: Rob Vadasz 1912-155x 2019: Kyle Schmidt 1905-137x 2020: (Cancelled) 2021: Rob Vadasz *1918-154x (High Score) 2022: Ryan Franks 1914-156x NRA National Action Pistol Women’s Champions 1980: Edith Almeida 1821-073x 1981: Edith Almeida 1652-045x 1982: Edith Almeida 1304-077x 1983: Sally Van Valzah 1765-091x 1984: Lee Cole 1761-096x 1985: Lee Cole 1957-119x 1986: Christie Rogers 1759-096x 1987: Lorna Pavelka 1787-088x 1988: Christie Rogers 1836-111x 1989: Yoko Shimomura 1882-129x 1990: Christie Rogers 1885-124x 1991: Janina Tenace 1888-134x 1992: Lorna Pavelka 1899-142x 1993: Judy Woolley 1898-148x 1994: Judy Woolley 1906-148x 1995: Dewi Hazeltine 1908-150x 1996: Sharon Edington 1899-140x 1997: Sharon Edington 1906-142x 1998: Anita Mackiewicz 1914-148x 1999: Vera Koo 1894-137x 2000: Robyn Estreich 1902-157x 2001: Vera Koo 1910-137x 2002: Vera Koo 1905-151x 2003: Vera Koo 1894-141x 2004: Vera Koo 1886-136x 2005: Vera Koo 1894-149x 2006: Vera Koo 1897-143x 2007: Julie Goloski 1903-139x 2008: Vera Koo 1870-136x 2009: Julie Goloski Golob 1907-138x 2010: Jessie Abbate 1906-163x 2011: Jessie Harrison 1912-153x 2012: Julie Golob 1907-144x 2013: Jessie Duff 1893-142x 2014: Jessie Duff 1893-135x 2015: Anita Mackiewicz *1916-166x (High Score) 2016: Tiffany Piper 1904-154x 2017: Cherie Blake 1904-145x 2018: Anita Mackiewicz 1911-153x 2019: Cherie Blake 1906-153x 2020: (Cancelled) 2021: Becky Yackley 1908-139x 2022: Sally Talbot 1913-155x NRA World Action Pistol Champions – Open Worldshoot 2010

1994: John Pride 1920-174x 1997: Adrian Hunter 1920-150x 1999: Doug Koenig 1920-180x 2004: Doug Koenig 1920-177x 2006: Bruce Piatt 1920-176x 2008: Doug Koenig 1920-181x 2010: Doug Koenig *1920-188x (High Score) NRA World Action Pistol Champions – Metallic 1994: N/A 1997: N/A 1999: N/A 2004:

Jerry Miculek Jerry may refer to: Animals * Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National * Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian film ...

1893-122x 2006: Frank Reiche 1852-124x 2008: Vance Schmid *1902-133x (High Score) 2010: Tony Drabsch 1887-125x NRA World Action Pistol Champions – Production 2010: Marc Kleser 1839-109x NRA World Action Champions – Stock Gun 1999: United Kingdom

Multiple and consecutive Bianchi Cup champions

Media coverage

Since 2008, Shooting USA on the nationally syndicated

Outdoor Channel Outdoor Channel is an American pay television channel focused on the outdoors, offering programming that includes hunting, fishing, Western lifestyle, off-road motorsports and adventure. The network can be viewed on multiple platforms including ...

has covered the NRA Bianchi Cup championship. It has also been covered in other press, including numerous professional and amateur videos uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, ''Shooting Sports USA'' the digital magazine, ''American Rifleman'' magazine, Down Range TV with Michael Bane, and various firearms blogs.

Notes

References

External links

* * http://www.nrahq.org/compete NRA Competitive Shooting Programs * http://www.nrablog.com The NRA Blog * http://www.downrange.tv/blog/?p=1115 * http://www.bianchi-intl.com/history.html * http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/mar/29/bianchi-cup-draws-worlds-most-skilled-handguns/ * http://www.myoutdoortv.com/news/nra-bianchi-cup-unveils-speed-star-event-honoring-ray-chapman.html * http://www.paramuspost.com/article.php/20090601122936792 * http://www.americanrifleman.org/Video.aspx?vid=1877 * http://www.americanrifleman.org/Video.aspx?vid=1879 * http://www.issuu.com/compshoot/docs/2011nrabianchiguide {{DEFAULTSORT:Bianchi Shooting competitions in the United States Handgun shooting sports Shooting sports in the United States