Ever since it was founded in 1979, the Bianchi Cup Action Pistol Championship has been the crown jewel of competitive shooting, drawing the very best of the best from all corners of the country. This past week, Team Winchester's Becky Yackley added that jewel to her own crown with her Ladies National Champion title win. You may note the familiarity of her name, and that's because Yackley has been a regular columnist with NRA Women since we launched last year. She's far too humble to boast about her win, but we aren't!
The 2021 Bianchi Cup, which was held May 24–28 at the Green Valley Rifle and Pistol Club in Hallsville, Missouri, is considered one of the most prestigious matches held in America. Yackley's final score was 1908-39x, shot over four separate events. This score is what dedicated competitive-shooting mavens expect to see out of competitors who have been shooting Bianchi for decades. This was Yackley's first try in the Open category, and she did it with only a few days' practice using a loaner pistol.
What NRA Women readers may find of particular interest is that the Bianchi Cup events require that the shooter becomes proficient at some very practical gun-handling tasks, like shooting with one's weak hand and from different shooting positions—all skills that could prove life-saving in an emergency. We're proud to help Becky bring you the information and advice you need to develop and improve those skills in your own life.
Becky wears a lot of hats, and in addition to being a competitive shooter, Second Amendment ambassador and writer for NRA Women, she's also the matriarch of Team Winchester's Yackley 5 and an NRA Mom. Her son Andrew just secured a Bianchi Cup win of his own, taking the Junior Championship with a score of 1882-134X. In fact, it was her son Tim who loaned her the gun that she used to shoot in the Open competition. From all of (the rest of) us here at NRA Women, congratulations, Becky!
