October 6th, 2021

2021 Bianchi Cup on Shooting USA Today

NRA Bianchi Cup Missouri Hallsville Green Valley Dough Koenig Jesse Harrison Duff
Photo from DougKoenig.com.

Today Shooting USA TV features the 2021 Bianchi Cup, hosted May 24-28, 2021 at the Green Valley Rifle & Pistol Club in Hallsville, Missouri (near Columbia). The 2020 Bianchi Cup was cancelled due to COVID. In 2021 the four stages of fire are back, but without international competitors, who were locked out due to pandemic travel restrictions. But there was still plenty of superb marksmanship.

NRA Bianchi Cup Missouri Hallsville Green Valley Dough Koenig Jesse Harrison Duff

This episode of Shooting USA airs Wednesday, August 18, 2021, 9:00 PM Eastern and Pacific, 8:00 PM Central on the Outdoor Channel. Shooting USA is also available On Demand via Vimeo.com.

Officially, the annual competition is known as the National Championship of NRA Action Pistol. But its is generally called the Bianchi Cup — from the trophy named for one of the founders, John Bianchi. In the past 30 years the match has become the richest handgun tournament in the world, with cash and prizes for the best scores on four stages of fire.

NRA Bianchi Cup Missouri Hallsville Green Valley Dough Koenig Jesse Harrison Duff

The Bianchi Cup has been called the most prestigious pistol tournament in the world. After the cancellation of the 2020 Bianchi Cup due to COVID-19 restrictions, bringing the match back for 2021 involved challenges given health and safety protocols. In 2021 the NRA turned the organization and management of the match over to a new group from the Green Valley Rifle and Pistol Club. And the international competitors, who have previously made up much of field of competitors, are not able to shoot with the continuing travel restrictions for COVID-19.

NRA Bianchi Cup Missouri Hallsville Green Valley Dough Koenig Jesse Harrison Duff

Due to the high accuracy required in each stage of the Bianchi Cup, the tournament is considered one of the most difficult handgun championships on the planet. To finish on top, you have to be near-perfect. Ace shooter Carl Bernosky (shown above) explains: “To win a Bianchi Cup you’ve got to be consistent. You’ve got to shoot good ALL the time… you can’t make any mistakes.”

Bianchi Cup — the Richest Handgun Match on the Planet

Over the past 30+ years the Bianchi Cup has become the richest handgun event in the world, with cash and prizes for the best scores on four stages of fire for both revolver and semi-auto pistol divisions.

Bianchi Cup — Classic Course of Fire
The Bianchi Cup is a combination of Speed and Accuracy. Competitors shoot from both standing and prone positions and are also required to shoot with both strong and weak hands at various stages. Stages may combine stationary and moving targets. As conceived by former police officer and holster-maker John Bianchi, the Bianchi Cup originated in 1979 as a Law Enforcement Training match. The Course of Fire consists of four separate matches:

Event I: Practical
Rounds: 48
Target: NRA AP-1
Distances: 10, 15, 25 and 50 yards

Event II: Clive Whelan Barricade
Rounds: 48
Target: NRA AP-1
Distances: 10, 15, 25 and 35 yards

Event III: Moving Target (Modified)
Rounds: 48
Target: NRA AP-1
Distances: 10, 15, 20 and 25 yards

Event IV: Olin “Oli” C. Barjenbruch Falling Plates
Rounds: 48
Target: 8-inch round plate
Distances: 10, 15, 20 and 25 yards

The Bianchi Cup is scored on the Aggregate of the four (4) fired events: Practical, Barricade, and Moving Target, and Falling Plates. Each of the four events requires 48 shots to complete. 480 points possible on each event. Three of the four are scored on the NRA tombstone P1 target. You must hit in the 10-ring or inner X-Ring on EVERY shot to shoot a “clean” 1920.

Bianchi Cup pistol target tombstone silhouette doug koenig

Four Divisions in 2021 Bianchi Cup
There are now FOUR divisions at the Bianchi Cup, three traditional, and one new this year. First, the Open Division includes the guns specifically built for this competition with every enhancement possible to improve accuracy. Second, the Metallic Division includes purpose-built guns but without red dot optics, compensators and barrel shrouds. Third is the Production Division for minimally-enhanced factory guns, typically with polymer frames.

leupold deltapoint red dot optic new

New for the 2021 Cup is the fourth category, the Production Optics Division. This includes minimally-enhanced production guns with a slide-mounted red dot optic. It was interesting to see the action with this new Production Optics class. Shown above are Glock and S&W production pistols fitted with Leupold’s new, low profile Delta-Point Red Dot Optic.


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