Daily Bulletin » Team Vihtavuori

Doug Koenig Wins World Action Pistol Championship Title

Editor — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 06:15:04 +0000

2025 World Action Pistol Championship
Legendary shooter Doug Koenig recently secured a major victory at the NRA World Action Pistol Championships, which took place October 21-25, 2025 in Hamilton, New Zealand. This big win was the 8th Action Pistol World Championship title Doug has earned in his remarkable shooting career.

Koenig also competed at the New Zealand Action Pistol Nationals, held the weekend prior to the World Championships. Using the event as a warm-up, Koenig delivered a flawless Nationals performance, shooting a perfect 1920-179X score to secure the NZ national title. Doug then won the World Pistol Championship with another perfect score of 1920 with an X-count of 182X. That is mighty impressive!

The World Championship, hosted by the Hamilton Pistol Club, featured a unique format, with one event per day: Barricade (Tuesday), Plates (Wednesday), Practical (Thursday), and Mover (Friday). Using Vihtavuori N320 powder, Koenig once again rose to the occasion, shooting a perfect 1920 with 182 Xs. Koenig was the only competitor to shoot a clean match, earning him the top spot in the World Championship.

Koenig also helped win the Open Team Event at the 2025 World Pistol Championship in New Zealand. The 4-person USA-CMP Open Team claimed the vaunted Team World Championship. Team members were: Doug Koenig, Joey Deleon, Benito Martinez, and Bruce Piatt (who is also a Team Vihtavuori member).

Notably teammate Bruce Piatt earned 2nd Place Overall, 2nd in the High Master Division, and 1st in the Senior Division. Competing for the 10th time on the world stage, Piatt noted that “The competition was fierce through the four stages of fire”.

These two videos show Doug Koenig in action in past years at the Bianchi Cup Range.

A proud member of Team Vihtavuori, Koenig expressed gratitude to his sponsors and supporters. “None of this would be possible without the continued support of Vihtavuori and all of my sponsors who have stood by me throughout my career.”

Team Vihtavuori Wins F-Open Team Title at SW Nationals

Editor — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 11:35:14 +0000

Team Vihtavuori won the Southwest Nationals (SWN) F-Open Grand Aggregate Team Award with a score of 2589-156X (out of a possible 2600) at the popular match, which was held, February 14-18, 2024. Team Vihtavuori achieved the overall victory by first winning the Palma Team Match with a score of 1790-111 (out of a possible 1800). Then followed with a 799-45 in the 1,000 Yard Team Match.

We congratulate Vihtavuori team members Gwen Basalla, Brandon Zwahr, Matthew Basalla, Tracy Harrold, and Doug Skogman, with Norm Harrold as Team Captain and Tim Vaught as Coach. Additionally, team members Tim Vaught, Norm Harrold, and Tracy Harrold added individual accomplishments: Tim took Second Place overall, Norm was High Senior, and and Tracy was High Woman. These impressive F-Open Grand Aggregate individual awards showcased how dominating Team Vihtavuori’s members were at the 2024 SWN event.

SWN F-0pen Team Top 5
Team Vihtavuori 2589-156X
Bayou Boys 2580-155X
Team Grizzly 2577-128X
Team Lapua-Brux-Borden 2576-162X
Team Canada Red 2571-131X

F-Open LR Top Five
Jay Christopherson 1248-79X
Tim Vaught 1247-83X
William Kolodziej 1247-74X
Johnny Ingram 1246-82X
Norman Harrold 1246-69X

The 2024 Southwest Nationals were held February 14-18 at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix, AZ. Hosted by the Desert Sharpshooters Rifle Club, the Southwest Nationals is a “must-attend” event for competitive long-range shooters around the world. The Southwest Nationals features F-Open, F-TR, and Sling disciplines. Competitors from over five different countries were in attendance this year.

About Vihtavuori
Vihtavuori is world renowned for producing the cleanest-burning and temperature stable smokeless powders with unprecedented lot-to-lot consistency. Vihtavuori is a part of the Capstone Precision Group, exclusive U.S. distributor for Berger, Lapua, Vihtavuori and SK-Rimfire products. For more information, visit Vihtavuori.com.

SWN Photo by Sherri Jo Gallagher.