![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/DougKoenigSW.jpg\" "\\"DougKoenigSW\\"")
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 9, 2012) \u2013 Smith & Wesson Corp. today announced that Champion Shooter Doug Koenig won his fifth NRA World Action Pistol Championship held September 12-16 in Philipsburg, Germany. Koenig\u2019s score of 1,916 points left him in a three-way tie for first place. With the tiebreaker coming down to the number of \u201cX\u201d counts, Koenig edged out Kevin Angstadt with 184 \u201cX\u201d hits to take the Overall Title.<\/p>\n
The three-day NRA World Action Pistol Championship is comprised of four separate matches with fixed times. During the match, competitors participate in the Practical Event, Barricade Event, Falling Plate Event and the Moving Target Event.<\/p>\n
Considered by many to be one of the most well-rounded competitors in today\u2019s shooting sports, Koenig has had quite an impressive 2012 season.\u00a0 In June, Koenig was part of Team Smith & Wesson\u2019s First Place Industry Open Division at the Sportsman\u2019s Team Challenge National Championship. Following the competition, Koenig also took home titles in the Open Division of the Masters International Shooting Championship, the Overall Title at the MidwayUSA & NRA Bianchi Cup and the European Open Bianchi Cup.<\/p>\n
Blue Heron caught up with Koenig during some downtime to get his reaction to his latest victory.<\/p>\n
BHC: Doug, congratulations on your NRA World Action Pistol Championship win. You obviously have to be pleased with your performance. What\u2019s your overall feeling coming away with your fifth world championship?<\/p>\n
DK: It was a great feeling. I put my heart and soul into the match, as I do all of them. I shot the European this year and last, mainly because they were on the same range. I wanted to get familiar with the range, surroundings, places to eat and all that kind of stuff. Get all my ducks lined up, so to speak. I had more time to prep for this event than I typically do and I practiced dialing in my equipment at home. I put it all out there in an effort to try and win my fifth championship.<\/p>\n
BHC: Which Smith & Wesson gun did you use for the match and what made this gun ideal for this match?<\/p>\n
DK:\u00a0 During the match, I shot the Smith & Wesson 1911 DK .38 Super. Smith & Wesson is known for high-quality products and this gun was perfect for the situation. It has been customized for Bianchi competition, which means it has a shroud and I\u2019ve added my own personal optic. The pistol that I\u2019m using will typically shoot around one-inch, 12-shot groups at 50 yards. When everything is dialed in, there\u2019s really no other choice for that style of competition.<\/p>\n
BHC: Can you talk about the conditions of the course and how it affected your focus and performance?<\/p>\n
DK: When we arrived the weather and range were great. It was probably in the mid-upper 80s. The day before the match started, a cold front came in and the high was only in the low 60s and it dropped down into the 40s at night. This change didn\u2019t directly affect anything or anybody but it is different. Your hands are subject to getting cold and this does change the game. The range in Germany is outdoors, but it has a sound dampening system crisscrossing the roof. Even though it\u2019s basically an outdoor range, you feel like you\u2019re inside. The lighting is a little darker, which changes things up. I think overall, it made the whole thing a little tougher for everybody.<\/p>\n
BHC: Which stage did you find to be the most difficult and why?<\/p>\n
DK: For me, this year the Practical Event ended up being more difficult than it needed to be. I had a little situation with my glasses. That\u2019s where I shot two eights on one string on the Practical. Typically this event is one of my strong suits. So that was kind of a hiccup or bump in the road. I just tried to stay positive and keep my focus. I knew it wasn\u2019t over until we fired the last shot.<\/p>\n
BHC: Being held in Germany, how does this affect your preparation and competition as a whole?<\/p>\n
DK: It all comes down to the preparation ahead of time. I had made two trips over there for matches already, so a lot of the legwork was out of the way. Things like getting ammunition sent over, finding the most suitable hotel and restaurants were already checked off. I live in Pennsylvania Dutch country, so the food in Germany is very similar to what I typically eat in the Northeast, so there wasn\u2019t much of an adjustment. It\u2019s still important to find good places that you want to eat at and know the locations. Keeping your routine just like it is at home so that there are no surprises is really crucial when traveling overseas.<\/p>\n
BHC: This match marked the end of your competitive shooting season. What\u2019s next for you, any downtime?<\/p>\n
DK: For me, because I have the television show, we have several hunts being filmed this fall in November and December. And then, basically it\u2019s back to work as a shooter.\u00a0 Come SHOT Show, the start of the new season isn\u2019t far behind. So, I am going to enjoy a little downtime with the family for the next couple of weeks before I hit the road and start filming.<\/p>\n
BHC: We know you\u2019re an avid hunter and so are your boys. What\u2019s first on the Koenig family\u2019s agenda?<\/p>\n
DK:\u00a0 Well, archery season just opened, so I\u2019ll take the boys out after football practice this week and before their games this weekend. It\u2019s been great to watch them get involved and their enthusiasm is contagious.<\/p>\n
BHC: Full-time shooter and full-time dad?<\/p>\n
DK: Absolutely. And a coach.<\/p>\n
BHC:\u00a0 Doug, thanks for sharing your experiences from the championship with us. It\u2019s been fun. One last thing before you go. Your show, \u201cDoug Koenig\u2019s Championship Season\u201d will be airing the NRA World Action Pistol Championship soon. When can fans tune in to see the action?<\/p>\n
DK: Thank you for the opportunity. The show airs on the Pursuit Channel Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Mondays at 11:00 a.m. and Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m. (EST).\u00a0 The episode over the world championship will probably air within the next two to three weeks.<\/p>\n
About Smith & Wesson<\/strong><\/em> Champion Shooter Doug Koenig won his fifth NRA World Action Pistol Championship held September 12-16 in Philipsburg, Germany.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":17937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2639,2597],"tags":[47,54],"class_list":["post-17936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nra-competitions","category-shootingsports","tag-doug-koenig","tag-team-smith-wesson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSmith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: SWHC) is a U.S.-based leader in firearm manufacturing and design, delivering a broad portfolio of quality firearms, related products and training to the consumer, law enforcement, and military markets. The company\u2019s brands include Smith & Wesson, M&P and Thompson\/Center Arms. Smith & Wesson facilities are located in Massachusetts and Maine. For more information on Smith & Wesson, call (800) 331-0852 or log on to www.smith-wesson.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"