Americans Dominate World Action Pistol Championship

The Yanks won most of the hardware at the recent recent NRA World Action Pistol Championship held at the Hamilton Pistol Club in New Zealand. Doug Koenig took first place in Open Class with an impressive 1920-181X. Carl Bernosky (2008 Camp Perry High Power Rifle Champion) was a close second with 1920-175X, Carl’s highest-ever score in this event. Carl Bernosky and Bruce Piatt secured the team championship. Competing for the USA amongst six other teams, Carl and Bruce will proudly keep the title for two years. Carl’s teammate Bruce Piatt won the Iron Man Match. He is now a two-time “Iron Man” World champion, and four-time Iron Man National Champion. Vance Schmid of the USA won the Metallic Sights class, edging out Piatt (2nd Place), and the legendary Jerry Miculek (3rd place).

Carl Bernosky is one of the few humans on the planet capable of winning national and international Championships in both pistol AND rifle disciplines. One can certainly make the argument that Carl is one of the greatest all-around marksmen who ever lived. This year, at Camp Perry, OH, Carl won the Overall National High Power Championship for the second year in a row. That marked 9 National Championships in 14 tries for Bernosky. Although Carl obviously enjoys both pistol and rifle disciplines, he says that rifle shooting is more challenging: “Camp Perry is a lot more difficult to compete in than…[the NRA] Bianchi Cup. You’re out here [at Perry] shooting an 8-hour work day. You’ll be shooting 60 shots in an hour. With the Bianchi Cup, you’ll shoot 10 shots in 60 seconds, and then you’ll be done for the day.”