will be shooting in a bowling pin match this coming weekend, need help

[DavidAGO]

I have been invited to a bowling pin match this weekend. It is the first one in which I have ever participated. the only thing I know about them is what I have read online. I do have a couple of questions that I hope someone here can answer.

I have shot in some informal competitions around here, steel and paper targets, timed and untimed events. I have done pretty well, but I have been able to use low-powered handloads due to not being able to handle recoil as much anymore. I have been practicing shooting with my left hand, and can shoot heavier recoiling reloads if they are called for. I understand bowling pin matches need some power behind them to clear the table. I have pistols chambered in .357 mag, .40 w&W, .45acp, .41 mag, .44mag. any suggestions as to the best caliber to use?

I am a fairly proficient shot with all but the .40, and only because I have not shot it much at all. I have time before the match to load whatever I need in any of the calibers, so does anyone who shoots bowling pin matches have a pet load they like?

Thanks,

David

[Smathersfish]

It has been my experience that bowling pin shoots are kind of informal. In the one I shoot in the pins are placed farther back for less power cartridges (22lr 1 inch from the rear, 44mag 1 inch from front. We were able to shoot multiple guns and I have shot as many as 5 in one night. Take a few that you shoot well and have fun. I have even shot my S&W 640 snubby and Ruger flattop 44special. These unconventional match guns are fun, especially if you can talk others into competing with theirs. Loading a single action revolver on the clock is hilarious!

[9x45]

Bowling pins are most easily knocked over with a flat point .45acp, even at 600 fps.

[g.willikers]

The ammo is less important than your skill.
Especially with the pins that fall but don't clear the table.
Out of pure laziness, I always used my USPSA ammo - 200 grain swc at 850 f/s.
It was plenty good enough.
Practice some at a target the size of the bottom of a pin.
For more challenge if they offer it, go for the rimfire division.
If the pins are heavy with lead, "head" shots will be required.
Great fun.

[DavidAGO]

thanks for the information, I think I will just take a couple of different pistols and see what I want to do at the moment. I but I am leaning toward a 1911 with my normal plinking load. but I think my .41 mag will make the trip. And the Ruger GP100 with .357 loads. And maybe the .44 mag also.

But the .40 will stay home.

David

[T. O'Heir]

Use the .45. A cast 230 grain RN or FP and 4.5 grains of Bullseye will knock the pins off the table with no fuss. 4.5 of Bullseye is a target load. Pins do not need heavy loads.
Unless there is a revolver event, don't bother with 'em. You will not be competitive with one in any chambering. Unless your name is Miculek.
Number 2 or larger shot for shotguns. Smaller stuff bounces back too easily. Goes a long way too. Mind you, so does a jacketed .45. Got hit by one while standing about 20 feet behind the line.
The magnums have too much recoil and muzzle jump. Mind you, it'd be fun.
"...1 inch from..." Second Chance(best vacations I've ever had) rules were 1 foot from the front for regular cf cartridges except 9mm. 9mm was separate event but pins were 1 foot from the rear. Ditto for .38 Special. .22 matches do not require knocking the pin off the table. Just over. Not that it really matters.
"Head" shots will not knock the pin off the table unless it rolls. Center of mass shots will knock the pin off the table every time.

[g.willikers]

I missed the Second Chance matches by thaaat much.
They ended the very year I was finally gonna' get to go.
Life ain't fair sometimes.
One of the local pin matches has rimfire pins set at the very back of the table.
If they go over, except for the contrary ones, they go off the table.
Pain inna butt, actually, having to bend over to get them that much.
Local pin match rules, like 3gun rules, can vary quite a bit.
It's always a good idea to find what they are.
Enjoy yourself David.

[cougar gt-e]

Miss high. If you hit the lower inch of the pin it will flip fat end away, leaving the small end pointing at you. That means there us a target tge size of a dime you need to hit to run it off the table.

Other than that, aim hard at the center of mass and hit that square. The pin will leave the table. Get sloppy, pull off the target too soon and they will just topple making it much harder to clear.

[David R]

Use what ever gun you want, one will shine after a while. I shot them with a Dan Wesson model 15 (fixed sight 357) and a 1911 45. I was about as good with one as the other. Once you learn to watch the front sight as it recoils, then squeeze another one off when the sight is on the pin

6 shots are all you will have time for. If anyone clears the table in 5 shots which happens a lot any reloading will be way too long. Its a total blast!

David

[Shotgun Slim]

Where I shoot pins they have a big bore class which includes the 40 as the smallest. I have been successful with the 40 by using medium power loads for less recoil and I have gotten good at cleaning up the pins because I usually have one or two that don't get blasted off the table. The shooters that beat me are almost always using 45s with medium power 200 grain bullets. Past a certain point recoil is your enemy in this game which is why the guys with
the 10mms and the Coonans and the very heavily loaded whatevers don't do that well. I am a 40 guy so I stick with it but if my goal was to win every time in that class I would have a heavy 45 platform and use the medium loads. Thing about shooting pins is that losing is almost as fun as winning. Almost. Enjoy

[DavidAGO]

Well, we shot Saturday. this was not like any bowling pin match I had read about, it was 10 pins set up close to the back of the table. My son in law got first place shooting his Sig 1911. He used my lead cast loads, a Lee truncated come 230 gr in front of 4.6 grains of Bullseye. the round that shoots great in my 1911.

I shot horribly with my 1911, I put it up after the first round and shot my .41 mag, did OK, I was talking to the competitor next to me, he had cataract surgery just two weeks ago and was not shooting well, we were talking about why we chose what we did to compete, I told him I wish I had brought my Ruger GP100 with wadcutters. he got in his pistol case and pulled out a S&W model 10 with a Douglas barrel and the smoothest trigger I have ever felt. And a box of wadcutters.

I ran the table the next couple rounds to come in second. With his borrowed pistol. Next one of these matches I am bringing everything I own.

David

[T. O'Heir]

"...missed the Second Chance matches by..." Everything from .22's up to and including .50 BMG. With the assorted 'name' IPSC etc. winners and professionals (None of whom, except Massad Ayoob, talked to any of us vacationers.) wandering around.
The Shoot was shut down by local anti-firearm politicians. Seemed to not care about the several million dollars dumped into the local economy right at the beginning of tourist season. Central Lake is a resort/cottager town.
"...not like any bowling pin match I had read about..." No governing body to say how a pin match is run. Still fun.

[DavidAGO]

"...not like any bowling pin match I had read about..." No governing body to say how a pin match is run. Still fun.

It was a great deal of fun. After the match the owner had some steel targets set up and most of us spent another hour shooting at the steels, eventually backing out to 60 yrds. It surprised me how with very little practice most people could hit steels at long distances.

At this match there were people shooting .45s, my .41, lots of 9mm, but there was also one guy shooting a S&W target masterpiece that he says dates to 1949. I bumped him out of second place my final round. that pistol was accurate. The college students from the marksmanship team almost all had polymer 9mms, most had never seen or shot a revolver. My .41 Magnum was a real curiosity to them. One did say his father once had a .357 pistol.

I wish there were more matches or opportunities that younger shooters could get to interact with us old guys; we both could learn something and can have fun.

And by the way, we had a prayer before the match. I guess we are those that cling to our guns and our religion.

David

[Hunter Customs]

DavidAGO,

Glad to hear you had a good time.
As you found out club matches have their own rules and all differ to some degree, no club match I ever shot used pin tables like those in the big matches.

There actually was an organization started to regulate pin matches and regulated pin matches are much different then club matches.

I competed in all the bigger pin matches , Second Chance, The Pin Nationals, and the PA matches, the video on my web site was taken at the South Connellsville PA match.

There was not a set power factor however as Ken Tapp used to say "a 210 power factor is best" for moving the pins off the table quickly.

I finished my pin shooting career shooting an All Sport Forty racegun the power factor I was shooting was exactly 210 from a 40 S&W cartridge.

Pin shooting was my first love when it came to the shooting sports, if they still had the big regulated matches I would most likely still be competing.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter

[kraigwy]

Bowling pins like slow heavy flat point bullets like 9X45 says.

It also required speed, meaning you don't want heavy recoiling loads.

I tried 357s LSWCs, at 357 Velocities. I've hit pins where the bullet went clean through, wiggled the pin which remained up right.

Round nose bullets glance instead of grabbing and pushing, knocking over the pin but leaving it on the table.

If you have to reload, you lost.

I went to flat nose 45 heavy 45 LC bullets loaded to between 500-600 fps. In my colt 1911. (make sure they feed). I also use 8 rd mags. Again if you have to reload, you lost.

Never hit a pin that didn't leave the table, and there is no recoil to speak of so it makes it easy to swing to the next pin.

If allowed to enter in two classes, I use the Colt in the Semi Class and my Model 29 in the Revolver Class. I shoot heavy LSWC bullets in my 44 but loaded to 44 Special velocities.

Its man vs. man competition. Forget that, DO NOT LOOK AT THE GUY NEXT TO YOU, don't worry about his pins. Only shoot and look at yours. When you fire, don't wait to see the pin fall before moving to the next pin. After you fired at 5 pins you can take the time to re-engage those still on the table.

People spend more time watching the pins instead of shooting.

Pins get shot up and have to be replaced. If you can take home the pins that one stand up for practice.

I take the old pins, drill a hole in the top and put in eye bolts. I hang them from an old swing set frame for practice.

Again try to avoid recoil, it takes too long to get on the next target.

We have (or thought we had) some good pin shooters. A while back a group of shooters from out of state showed up and whooped us big time.

They were shooting 38 revolvers, loaded with 230 gr double ended wad cutters. I shot against one, I smoked the pins, 5 for 5 in no time at all, only to look over to see him preparing for the next string. Guy made me look like I was shooting in slow motion.

[Hunter Customs]

Bowling pins like slow heavy flat point bullets like 9X45 says.

Not necessarily true, blowing pin shooting is a speed game.

Ken Tapp who is/was one of the best handgun shooters/competitors in the country liked the 400 Corbon.

I started out shooting 230gr 45 ACP JHP switched to 185gr 45 ACP JHP and ended my pin shooting career using 135gr 40 JHP bullets.

All the loads I shot were 210 power factor or above, some of the my 45 ACP loads were past the +P+ category.

My All Sport Forty was spitting out the 40 caliber 135gr Nosler JHP at 1560 fps from 40 brass, watch the video on my web site, notice I'm done shooting and moving to my next table while the other competitors on the line is still trying to clean their tables.

By the way that table in that run was 2.7 seconds and as in all the bigger pin matches your time does not stop until the last pin of the run is on the ground.
On a last shot buzz timer that run would equate to the 1.9 seconds category.

My fastest run on a last shot buzz timer is 1.65 seconds on a regulation table with a regulation 5 pin set of two on the upper tier and three on the lower tier.

Speed wins, I love speed events.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter

[T. O'Heir]

"...was a real curiosity to them..." Amazing a lot of guys have never seen nor heard of a lot of stuff. Know a guy, a CF reservist officer, who did a demo), long ago, for a bunch of U.S. troopies(National Guard guys, as I recall.) using 1919 .30 BMG's. They all thought it was some new fangled MG invented by Canadians.
"...Bowling pins like..." Back in the old days, there were more types of bullet being sold as the best bullet for pins than there were pins. One of 'em was a 230 grain HP with 'teeth' in the rim of the hollow. Supposed to bite the pin even with marginal hits. Caused a great deal of laughter. A cast 230 RN with 4.5 of Bullseye took the pins off the table with no fuss.
"...most likely still be competing..." Yep. Me too. Wouldn't care too much how big the match was though. Buddy of mine was very good at it(beat Miculek in a Man-on-man) and even practiced to the tune of 2500 rounds a week for a month or more. He was more into winning something. I was just on vacation and playing with machine guns.

[Jimbo-Indy]

That's the fun part of pin shooting, the rules seem to change round to round. At my local club, the pins were placed about 1 foot back form the front edge of a 4' deep table so you had to push it back 3'. Light calibers (9mm and such) moved back 1 more foot. My favorite was a S&W 610 (6 1/2") loaded with 180 gn flat nosed bullets and a heavy load of Longshot (crono @ 1350 fps). Hit just below the fatest part of the pin would cause it to clear the table in a double back flip. The club champ used a long barreled 629 with hard cast flat nosed bullets but loaded down to 44 SPL speed. 45 ACP shooters mostly used 230 gn round nose at normal velocities. They worked well but didn't move the pins with the authority of the 10 mm or 44.
The 610 always pointed naturally for me and would be back on target as fast as I could cock the hammer with my left thumb (leaves my right hand grip undisturbed). Usually could take the 5 pins with out reload but if I messed up, the moon clips made reloads quick. No special class for revolver, shoot what you brung, pistols (8 shot max) vs revolvers, all with open sights. Red dots etc added 1 pin to the table.