Photo By Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato | Staff Sgt. Anthony Heinauer wins title of Production Optics Division National Champion...... read more read more
Soldiers with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit won both the Metallic and Production Optics Divisions at the 2025 Bianchi Cup International Pistol Tournament in Columbia, Missouri, May 20-23, while a third Soldier placed second in the Open Division.
The two-day, annual action pistol match dates back to 1979 and is the second-longest-running pistol championship in the world. This year, the historic competition drew in 104 competitors from 25 U.S. states and five other countries. Each competitor vied for titles by completing the varied course of fire that consisted of four stages: the practical event, the barricade event, the moving target, and the falling plate event. The stages required marksmen to shoot from both the standing and prone positions from different distances, as well as firing with both their strong and weak hands at different times. The challenging course of fire, which has not changed since the competition’s inception, included 48 rounds per stage, making the total possible stage score 480, and the overall competition score 1920.
With the top pistol marksmen coming to the Cup each year, the competition is known to come down to mere points, and whoever is the closest to the X-ring the most.
In other words, it’s a game that demands perfection for 192 rounds, in four events, over two days, said Sgt. 1st Class Walter Johnson, the USAMU Service Pistol Team Soldier who claimed second in the Open Division with a score of 1916-180x.
“Any shot that is technically a top-scoring 10, but outside of the x-ring, is potentially the difference between first and fourth place.”
The Open Division is traditionally where the overall Bianchi Cup champion comes from, and the competition is exceptionally tight, explained Johnson.
“This year, the Cup was won by Bruce Piatt, and I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to him on another exceptional performance. Everyone shows up with the desire to win, but only one person will walk away with The Cup. That is what makes this sport both so exceptionally challenging and rewarding.”
Piatt claimed the Bianchi Cup National Champion title, for the eighth time, with a score of 1920-174x.
With the variety of pistols, naturally, not everyone competes in the Open Division. This makes the competition in the Production Optics, Production, and Metallic Divisions just as intense as each marksman strives for that ultimate 1920 score.
“I am always chasing what I call, the pursuit of perfection,” said Staff Sgt. Anthony Heinauer, who claimed the Production Optics Division Champion title with a score of 1916-152x, a score that surpassed the second-place division score of 1892-137x by an impressive 24 points and 15 10-ring shots.
Heinauer’s strong performance placed him ninth overall out of the 104 competitors, a noteworthy accomplishment for a shooter in the newest division.
The Production Optics Division began in 2021 to set apart the high-end, expensive Open Division guns from the bare bones Production and Metallic Division guns, explained the four-time Production Optics Division National Champion.
“This division was created to be a cheap and easy way to get into Action Pistol sports while still utilizing the advantages of the red dot for those that may struggle shooting iron sights with a production gun.”
Even though Heinauer shot in the Production Optics Division, his previous Bianchi Cup performances earned him a position on the Open Division ‘Super Squad,’ which is made up of past and current Bianchi Cup champions.
This fact “shows the presence this division brings and what can be obtainable with very limited equipment,” said Heinauer.
The Fort Benning Soldier demonstrated his elite marksmanship skills against the best of the best on the Moving Target event when he won that stage with a score of 480-35x.
Typically, this is the culminating event for Open Division shooters who chase after the overall Bianchi Cup National title, said Heinauer.
“To put it plain and simple, if you don’t shoot a clean mover stage (480 points), you are highly unlikely to win the Bianchi Cup that year.”
Heinauer’s 480-35x beat Piatt’s Moving Target score of 480-34x, which is something the Soldier said he will remember.
“To be able to perform, not only on stage but in front of a crowd, and to do it with bare bones equipment against the high-end expensive Open guns is something I am proud of and can check off the box of attempting to accomplish during my shooting journey.”
Heinauer also claimed the win in the 2nd Gun Match, an optional additional match that requires competitors to shoot in a different division and is prior to the official Bianchi Cup course of fire. Heinauer took the win in the Open Division for that match with a score of 1918-153x.
Training for this level of performance generally requires an immense amount of time. However, this year, Heinauer had to rely on his years of experience rather than his typical, longer pre-competition preparation due to several other Army obligations. Knowing he was “off the gun” for an extensive period of time until just the week before the Cup, made his accomplishments that much sweeter.
“To be able to come out and shoot the score I did, and end up winning the Production Optics Division, I was stoked.”
Shooting at this level may be expected from Soldiers assigned to the ‘Home of Champions’ due to the unit’s generations of success. However, this level of performance requires detailed, intense, and continuous training.
The myth that USAMU Soldiers can just shoot all day long is not the exact reality in the unique unit that trains other servicemembers and supports Army marketing, explained the Service Pistol Team Chief Sgt. 1st Class Ryan Franks.
“There is an ever-increasing demand on us as Soldiers that goes beyond us just shooting.”
Before the Bianchi Cup, many of the Service Pistol Team Soldiers took a good bit of time off match training so that they could train other servicemembers, develop themselves as instructors, and attend Army Accession events.
“All these great things we are proud to do, but it comes with a cost, which is time on the range honing our discipline. So, for the guys to go out there and perform as well as they did with much less time behind the gun, is a testament to their ability to manage their time and approach each shot with the utmost intensity,” said Franks.
The Service Pistol Team Chief may have referred to his Soldiers’ performance, but his individual performance at the Cup was no less impressive. Franks seized the Bianchi Cup Metallic Division National Champion title with a score of 1912-145x, making it a 7-point, 12x lead over the second-place division score of 1905-133x. It was also the fourth consecutive division title for Franks.
With all the other Soldier responsibilities prior to the Bianchi Cup, Franks said he was a little unsure of himself, but it all came together during the team’s final preparation.
“I discovered a new level to shooting this sport that I didn’t think existed. I am very eager to get back behind my Metallic gun and see what else is possible.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean there were no challenges at the competition this year. Lighting always poses challenging obstacles for Metallic Division shooters, explained Franks.
“This year, it was on the Barricade event, which is my favorite. I am prone to drop points on it if the lighting is off, which it was. A few years ago, it was dark and difficult to see the target from behind the sights. So, I changed lens colors to help build greater contrast, which worked for me. This year, at the 25- and 35-yard lines, we were shooting in shadow with the sun blazing on the targets, which made it impossible to precisely place a shot on target, so I stuck to my sights and put them where I thought the center of the target was. Some made it. Some didn’t.”
That’s just how it goes in competition. There are always things to overcome, which is what makes winning such an accomplishment.
Challenges do not just present themselves on the range; they pop up in planning as well, said Franks.
“Amongst other adversities, such as dedicating much of our time to increasing lethality and developing ourselves as instructors and supporting Army Accessions, we had a shooter undergo multiple surgeries, and that left our team a bit light this year.”
Although the USAMU Service Pistol Team has other talented marksmen, Franks knew that Bianchi Cup preparation required a serious amount of dedication. So, the idea of pulling one of his Soldiers in for the Bianchi Cup Team matches was just something Franks said he could not do.
“Pulling a shooter from another discipline, such as Bullseye or [Glock Shooting Sports Foundation], and throwing them into competition to cover down for another shooter and then expecting them to succeed is a burden I would never place on my people.”
Fortunately, opportunity presented itself to Franks since Shawn Becker of the Customs and Border Patrol had just recently retired and was looking to link up with other competitors for the Four-Man Team event.
So, Becker joined up with Franks, Heinauer, and Johnson for the Four-Man Team event. The team placed second with a score of 1918-163x, which was 12 x-ring shots behind the first-place team’s score of 1918-175x. It was the perfect solution since we were in need, and he was looking for a team, said Franks.
“It couldn’t have worked out better. Shawn is a long-time friend of the team, and we credit a great portion of our development to him and the support he has given us over the last decade.”
When it came to the Two-Man event, Franks teamed up with civilian marksman Phillip Kroczek, a fellow Metallic gun shooter. Together, they claimed the first place Metallic team win with a score of 1901-126x.
Success at the historic Bianchi Cup demands excellence, and the USAMU Soldiers delivered yet again.
And though it’s a competition the USAMU Service Pistol Team attends each year, it’s never quite the same, said Franks.
“Competing at the Cup is a little different every year. Not in the sense that the Cup has changed, but that we as shooters are always changing, we are gaining more experience, developing further, refining our process. There is an inverse to that though, you come to the Cup with the same hopes as you did the year prior, but now there are higher expectations as a returning champion, everyone else is getting better, the pressure increases not only to perform, but as a representative of the U.S. Army and an ambassador for the sport. So while it is fun, it is always increasingly challenging.”
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Other fun facts connected to the USAMU:
*The Production Division was won by retired Sgt. 1st Class Michael Gasser with a score of 1841-10x. Gasser, who now shoots for Accuracy X Inc., served on the USAMU Service Pistol Team.
*Second and third place for the Overall Women Champion Category were Julie Golob and retired Sgt. 1st Class Sally Talbott with scores of 1904-148x and 1888-139x, respectively. Both competitors also served on the USAMU Service Pistol Team.
| Date Taken: | 06.06.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.06.2025 14:36 |
| Story ID: | 499873 |
| Location: | COLUMBIA, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 20 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, U.S. Army Soldiers Win Two Divisions at the Historic Bianchi Cup - for the Fourth Time, by LTC Michelle Lunato, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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