01
Practical Event
A precision task over several distances with changing time limits.
Shooting sports
NRA Action Pistol / CMP Bianchi Cup
Action Pistol is the discipline. The Bianchi Cup is a major match in that sport with a classic four-event programme. The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) runs the Bianchi Cup in the United States. The organisations and their events are not the same thing.
What Action Pistol is
Action Pistol combines high accuracy with tight times, position changes, a moving target and falling plates. It is not an IPSC course and not rest shooting. The stages are known; the shooting still has to hold under pressure.
The Bianchi Cup name comes from the match founded in 1979 by John Bianchi and Ray Chapman in the United States. For a long time it was the NRA National Action Pistol Championship. Today the CMP runs the Bianchi Cup in the United States. Internationally the name NRA Action Pistol remains common. The 2025 World Championship in New Zealand was an NRA Action Pistol World Championship, not a CMP world championship.
In Germany the BDMP runs Bianchi Cup as a discipline. I mainly shoot Production and Production Optics with 9mm Luger. Starts in Metallic and Rimfire are documented in the results.
Classic programme
Four events, 192 shots
4 events
48 shots per event
192 shots in all
The classic Bianchi Cup programme has four events of 48 shots each, 192 shots in all and a maximum of 1,920 points. That applies to this programme, not to every Action Pistol match.
The four events
Procedure and typical distances follow the CMP Action Pistol Competition Rules. National match conditions may use metres instead of yards.
02
Barricade Event
Hits are scored from set positions at a barricade.
03
Moving Target Event
A laterally moving target demands timing and accuracy.
04
Falling Plate Event
Steel plates must be hit and knocked down within set times.
NRA, CMP and BDMP
NRA
The National Rifle Association of America ran Action Pistol as a competitive discipline for decades. The sporting name NRA Action Pistol comes from that period.
CMP
The Civilian Marksmanship Program runs national shooting programmes in the United States, including the CMP Bianchi Cup. Current Action Pistol rules are published by the CMP.
BDMP
The Bund der Militär- und Polizeischützen e.V. runs Bianchi Cup in Germany. I compete under that sporting affiliation and represent Germany internationally. In the 2025 World Championship Production team event the result is recorded as Team BDMP Germany.
Production and Production Optics
Production
Production uses open sights on a production-type pistol that meets the Production rules.
Production Optics
Production Optics allows a legal optical sight. On semi-automatic pistols the optic sits on the slide under the rules.
9mm Luger
In my main events I shoot 9mm Luger. What counts is a legal firearm, accurate ammunition and a process that holds under time.
Results from New Zealand 2025 and further matches are under Achievements. The travel report is in the blog.
See results World Championship in New Zealand 2025: my results in Hamilton