Surprising news:

In 1993, the San Francisco 49ers shocked the world when they traded future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs. Earlier this year, a similar situation occurred when Ruger announced that 18-time NRA Bianchi Cup National Action Pistol Champion Doug Koenig was joining them to become their new shooting team’s captain—it stunned the competitive shooting world.

So how did it happen? Earlier this year we talked to Koenig about his big move to Team Ruger, his passion for accuracy, and the future home of the Sportsman’s Team Challenge National Championship.

A pro shooter’s goals may change over the course of a career. Sometimes a change of scenery is necessary and proper. Occasionally, the stars align and opportunities arise.

“When Paul Pluff went to Ruger, we stayed in touch,” said Koenig (Pluff is Ruger’s public relations manager). “He shared his thoughts with me about getting a shooting team together, and I looked at the move as a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor with a great company.”

The combination of Koenig maturing as a professional shooter, whose still-fresh career has reached lofty heights, and Smith & Wesson’s evolving needs as a company, brought on the split. Additionally, the wide range of Ruger’s firearms lineup matches his desire to branch out into other disciplines.

“Ruger has some fantastic products I can compete with, but there are also opportunities to be involved with new products,” said Koenig. “When I started out with Smith & Wesson 14 years ago, I was heavily involved with product design, working with their engineers and product managers. They have their own thoughts and they do it a different way now, which is okay, but they haven’t utilized the team under those parameters in the last several years.”

Koenig goes on to explain that he intends to do some competitive precision rifle shooting too.  It will be rather odd to see Doug in rifle competitions.  He has been such a staple on the competitive pistol shooting circuit that it will be a huge change to see him with a rifle in his hands.

This would seem to be a huge loss for S&W.  Other than S&W not making him happy with product oversight anymore, or perhaps more money offered by Ruger, I wonder how this happened?

I also wonder what’s become of the other notable S&W shooter, Jerry Miculek?  I haven’t seen a video by him in more than a year.