Doug Koenig, formerly of Alburtis and now residing in Hamburg, has done it again. Actually, he's done it 16 times.

Koenig, a competitive professional handgun shooter has recently won his 16th Bianchi Cup shooting competition held May 20-23 at the Green Valley Rifle & Pistol Club in Columbia, Missouri.

Bianchi is the most prestigious and one of the oldest professional handgun shooting competitions in the country. And no one has won more Bianchi's than Koenig.

Score wise, Doug shot a perfect 1920 with 180 "x-count" shots, or dead center tiebreaking shots for a comfortable lead over the second-place shooter.

According to Bianchi history, now owned by NRA with MidwayUSA as the major sponsor, back in 1990 Koenig was the first competitor to fire a perfect score with a 1920-157X.

The course of fire consists of four separate matches:

* The Practical Event – From the appropriate shooting line, the shooter fires at distances of from 10 yards to 50 yards under varying time limits.

* The Barricade Event – From within shooting boxes and behind barricades, a shooter fires at targets on either side of the barricade at different distances and under varying time limits.

* The Falling Plate Event – From a designated shooting line, shooter fires at 8-inch round steel plates arranged in banks of six at distances of from 10-25 yards under varying time limits.

* The Moving Target Event – From within shooting boxes at distances ranging from 10-25 yards, the shooter fires at a target moving from left to right with the target exposed for only six seconds.

Competitors shoot from both standing and prone positions and are also required to shoot with both strong and weak hands at various stages.

Koenig is customarily seen practicing at Topton Fish and Game's shooting range where a section is cordoned off for him and where he built a powered rail for moving target practice.

Since we've become friends, I recall Doug saying that unlike IDPA or USPA matches that are essentially timed run and gun events, Bianchi is intended for accurate shooting. While each stage is timed, it's accuracy over speed when shooting Bianchi.

Bianchi Cup draws shooters from around the world. It's common for competitors to come from Austria, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, New Zealand, Netherlands, Philippines, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and the U.S.

Competitors use handguns with calibers ranging from 9mm, .38 Spl., .38 Super and .45 ACP. Doug commonly uses a Smith & Wesson Performance Center 1911DK, .38 Special semi-auto pistol with a Kart precision barrel in place of the stock S&W barrel. That, plus a few other minor modifications were made to include a Leupold LG35 red dot scope. The scope, interestingly, has a diagram of a Bianchi target in place of a red dot, which helps him shoot more accurately and quickly. It's also adjustable for left and right lead that is needed for the moving target segment of Bianchi.

Koenig is a longtime hunter who also has his own TV show on the Sportsmen's Channel (Doug Koenig's Championship Season). In addition to this, he can be seen in a variety of "shooting tips" series on the National Shooting Sports Foundation's (NSSF) website.

To view one of his YouTube tips check www.youtube.org/watch?v=VsGCYgM42SE.