Team Smith & Wesson Members Earn Top Honors At NRA World Action Pistol Championships
SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts – -(TheOutdoorWire.com)- Smith & Wesson Corp. announced today that members of the Smith & Wesson Shooting Team took home top honors during the 6th National Rifle Association (NRA) World Action Pistol Championships held in Hamilton, New Zealand, November 5-8, 2008.
Competing in the Open Division, Team Smith & Wesson members swept the top two spots with Doug Koenig edging out fellow teammate Carl Bernosky for the 1st place overall finish. Sixty-one participants competed for the Open Division title, with Koenig and Bernosky finishing the four-event match with a perfect score. Koenig was awarded the world title by scoring six more center X-ring hits, earning his third World Action Pistol Championship. Koenig’s previous championships were won in Terni, Italy (1999) and at the Hamilton, New Zealand site in 2004. In team competition, Koenig and Bernosky united to lead a three-man U.S.A. A-Team to a first place finish against five other Open Teams from the United States, New Zealand and Australia.
“This year’s Open Division title came down to the last event,” said Koenig. “While I had performed well in the Practical Event, I knew that Carl had an exceptional performance and that the other Open Division shooters were close behind. With temperatures in the low 40s during the last day, I knew that the smallest mistake could set me back and that whoever won the division was going to have to have a solid performance in the Moving Target Event. Fortunately, I was able to finish strong and earn my third world title among some of the world’s most talented shooters.”
Also competing in this year’s World Action Pistol Championships was Smith & Wesson Champion Shooter Jerry Miculek. Miculek, who competed in the Metallic Sights Division, placed an impressive 3rd place against 37 other competitors. Miculek was also part of a three-man U.S.A. Team that was awarded first place overall in their division.
The NRA World Action Pistol Championships consist of an aggregate match of the four traditional events: Falling Plate, Barricade, Practical and Moving Target. During the four-day match, competitors fire 192 scored rounds and are required to draw from a holster and engage targets ranging from 7 to 50 yards.
About Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation, a global leader in safety, security, protection and sport, is parent company to Smith & Wesson Corp., one of the world’s largest manufacturers of quality firearms and firearm safety/security products and parent company to Thompson/Center Arms Company, Inc., a premier designer and manufacturer of premium hunting rifles, black powder rifles, interchangeable firearms systems and accessories under the Thompson/Center brand. Smith & Wesson licenses shooter protection, knives, apparel, and other accessory lines. Smith & Wesson is based in Springfield, Massachusetts with manufacturing facilities in Springfield, Houlton, Maine, and Rochester, New Hampshire. The Smith & Wesson Academy is America’s longest running firearms training facility for law enforcement, military and security professionals. For more information on Smith & Wesson, call (800) 331-0852 or log on to www.smith-wesson.com. For more information on Thompson/Center Arms, log on to www.tcarms.com.
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