The National Rifle Association wanted to shake things up for their 2016 National Pistol Championship, better known as the Bianchi Cup.

So, they changed the format of the matches, eliminating the Aggregate competition and initiating a new Colt Championship Final.

Under this new format, the top finishers by class and division fired a separate, championship match on Saturday. Their preliminary scores would be combined in to an aggregate to decide the title. The other 180 or so shooters were done- and expected to stick around for the final festivities on Saturday night.

http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/image_archive/2275325.jpeg> The for events of the Bianchi Cup haven't changed, but the format change in the 2016 competition may have upset some of the longtime competitors. Jim Shepherd/OWDN photo.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to stick around due to a personal situation, but since the match's concluded, I've gotten plenty of comments from competitors. Not all of them positive.

No change in a competition pleases everyone -ever. There are always the frustrations of personal performance expectations versus the actual results. And criticism of the long periods of inactivity between shooting the four matches that comprise the Bianchi Cup is something I heard long before I finally took the plunge and competed.

The primary complaints I got this year were over a perceived reduction in prizes, giveaways and overall sponsor presence in general.

So it looks as if the jury is still out on whether or not the changes were for the better with many of the longtime Bianchi competitors.

At least one longtime competitor can't be displeased.

Smith & Wesson professional shooter Doug Koenig made history on Saturday, becoming the only 17-time winner of the Cup.

http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/image_archive/2275327.jpeg> Doug Koenig made history -again- taking his 17th Bianchi Cup title. Jim Shepherd/OWDN photo.

He fired his "normal" perfect score (1920-183X) and a combined Match X and Colt Championship Final score of 3840-361X — two points higher than second-place finisher Troy Mattheyer.

In other words, the new format only proved what everyone in shooting sports knows: when it comes to the Bianchi Cup, Koenig is the most dominant competitor since its beginning in 1979.

This year's format shakeup is only the second time the competition's varied from the overall score from the four stages -called "events": the Practical, Barricade, Moving Target and Falling Plates. In 1985 the Cup's Practical event was temporarily replaced by the 600-shot 600 point International Rapid Fire Event.

It was a bust with competitors and in 1986 the Practical event was returned.

The Bianchi Cup is one of the most difficult- and often maligned- events in pistol shooting. If you're a competitor in the faster sports of IPSC, USPSA or Steel Challenge, it's the match occasionally described as slow and boring. If you're a competitor in the older precision-pistol disciplines, it's the match that uses stopwatches rather than timers.

For those shooters who have become part of the Bianchi Cup competitor's "family" it's the match that combines speed and accuracy to put your shooting abilities to a test while providing you enough time to visit with friends from around the globe.

As you can imagine, messing around with those longstanding friendships and the competition that fostered them might not sit well with everyone.

But the NRA is making efforts to make shooting sports more appealing to the general public- and makes a little risk-taking worthwhile.

—Jim Shepherd