History of the Bianchi Cup
The Bianchi Cup was the first tournament that turned the sport of competitive shooting as a whole from amateur to professional status by offering the winner a large cash prize. by John Parker & Damien Orsinger
The Bianchi Cup is widely considered the gold standard in action shooting competition. 1979 was the first year the match was held at the Chapman Training Academy. The brainchild of Ray Chapman and famous holster maker, Major General of the California National Guard, law enforcement officer and Hollywood cowboy John Bianchi. While discussing pistol competitions that were currently being held across the country, John and Ray realized that there wasn’t a competition that had a mix of IPSC, Police Pistol Combat and NRA Conventional Bullseye shooting styles. This discussion was the birth of the first ever Bianchi Cup! Over 35 years of Bianchi Cup history can be found in the back woods of Hallsville, Missouri, a small suburb of Columbia, Missouri. The Green Valley Rifle & Pistol Club, formerly the Chapman Training Academy, was named after Ray Chapman. Chapman was a WWII Marine Vet, Law Enforcement Officer and IPSC The original Match Program champion of the 70’s. Ray worked with John Bianchi on the Cup from the beginning. To great sadness, Ray passed away in 2008, leaving behind a legacy of top-level instruction to law enforcement, the military and competitive shooters alike. He had a passion for competitive shooting and loved to share it with others. His presence at the Bianchi Cup is missed by many. After much discussion, the first four courses of fire were developed in what would eventually be known as the sport of “NRA Action Pistol”. Comprised of four events, the Bianchi Cup was a revolutionary competition that changed the scope of competition shooting as it had been known. The four events have the distinction of extreme longevity, unchanged for decades.
The 1982 Bianchi Cup invitation
40
35th Bianchi Cup
The first of the four events is the Practical Event. Competitors fire at two targets, six feet from the top edge of the target to the ground and three feet apart edge to edge using what was then called a “Tombstone” target or “Bianchi” target. This eventually changed to the NRA D-1 target and
compete.nra.org