Action Pistol
Bianchi Cup is the classic Action Pistol programme: four matches, 192 shots in all. High precision under time pressure, with a barricade, a moving target and falling plates.
Action Pistol sits between bullseye shooting and dynamic practical sport. It is not an IPSC-style run-and-gun course, and it is not slow fire from a rest. The shooter works known stages, under time, with position changes and with targets that move or fall.
The Bianchi Cup name comes from the match John Bianchi and Ray Chapman founded in the United States in 1979. For years it ran as the NRA National Action Pistol Championship. Today the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) conducts the Bianchi Cup in the United States. Internationally — including the 2025 championship in New Zealand — the name NRA Action Pistol remains in common use.
In Germany, BDMP lists Bianchi Cup as a discipline. Michael Paa’s main divisions are Production and Production Optics, in 9mm Luger, and he represents Germany in international competition.
Classic programme
A classic Bianchi Cup match is four events. Each match is 48 shots. Together: 4 × 48 = 192 shots. Those four scores make the Bianchi Cup Aggregate under the current CMP Action Pistol Competition Rules.
The course of fire and typical distances follow the CMP Action Pistol Competition Rules. National programmes, including BDMP, may use metres instead of yards; the programme is the same.
Practical asks for hits at several distances — in the classic programme from 10 to 50 yards — under changing time limits. Firing is from the line, standing and, on the longer stages, prone, including strong and weak hand. Time given away here, or a group that opens up, is hard to recover later.
Barricade is shot from marked boxes behind a barricade. The shooter fires strings left and right of the wall. The barricade may be used for support; in Production and Production Optics the pistol may not touch it. Position and the edge of the wall decide the stage.
On the Moving Target the target travels horizontally across a gap. CMP’s public description gives about six seconds of exposure, at 10 to 25 yards. Lead, timing and a clean trigger press matter more than a high rate of fire.
Falling Plates are round steel plates — eight inches in the classic programme — in banks of six, from 10 to 25 yards. The plate has to fall. There is no make-up shot on a plate that stays up. Every miss remains visible.
The National Rifle Association of America ran Action Pistol as a competition discipline for decades. In that period the Bianchi Cup was the NRA National Action Pistol Championship. The sporting name — NRA Action Pistol — comes from there. This site describes only the sporting context.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a US marksmanship organisation. It conducts national competition programmes, including Action Pistol. It now hosts the Bianchi Cup as the CMP Bianchi Cup. Current Action Pistol rules — including Production and Production Optical Pistol — are published by CMP.
Bund der Militär- und Polizeischützen e.V. is a German shooting-sports federation with national and international disciplines, including Bianchi Cup. Michael Paa’s affiliation is sporting; he represents Germany. The 2025 world championship team result records Team Production BDMP Germany.
Production means a production-style pistol that meets the Production rules. Sights are the standard iron or factory sighting of that pistol, not the optical system used in Production Optics.
Production Optics follows the same production requirements but allows a red-dot or optical sight. On a semi-automatic, the optic is slide-mounted under the current rules. The same discipline as Production, with a dot instead of irons only.
Michael Paa shoots his main divisions in 9mm Luger. The cartridge is common in Action Pistol. What counts is a rulebook-legal pistol, ammunition that groups, and a process that holds under time.
Results from New Zealand 2025 are under Achievements.