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Bowling Pin Shoot?

BassCliff

BassCliff

Professional
Hey guys!

Just for fun, I signed up for a bowling pin shoot tournament at my range. I've never done this kind of thing so I don't really know what to expect. Should I use my .45 or will 9mm be sufficient? I kind of figure a .22 won't knock the pins down. Do you have any tips for this old noob? ;)

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
W have weekly bowling pin matches here. If you run a 9mm I’d recommend 124 NATO around 1,200 FPS OR 147.

45 230 grain is hard to go wrong with.

The other is a 357 revolver however some places frown on magnum rounds.

All of this of course is dependent on any range rules you might face.
 
Either one will work. Choose the one you shoot most accurately. My club has those shoots fairly frequently but also adds playing cards, pool balls, coins, golf balls, etc., and it's lots of fun. Targets are at different distances relative to size. Best hit total determines the winner with less rounds fired as the tie breaker. I usually use my Hellcat with the Shield RMSc because it really helps with the smaller targets. 124 grain FMJ is what I use as we get 5 shots per target to get 1 hit and my EDC ammo would probably cost me more than I could win. Have fun and enjoy!
 
A .22 will knock a pin down with a solid hit, but it won’t knock it off the table.

9mm’s may knock it off the table, but usually not. Go heavy on the bullet weight, and a FP or JHP bullet.

.45 will knock them off the table with good hits. 200-230gr FN/SWC/or JHP’s tend to work best.
 
I agree with Gofer and Hans if you have to knock them off the table. At my club, all you have to do is knock them down and the targets are all on small (1 square foot) steel pedestals. Some of the shooters on the club's 2 .22 LR pistol competition teams are incredible, especially in the Open classes where any optic is permitted. I stay to watch the entire event and learn from better shooters by watching and speaking to them afterwards. The information shared has definitely helped me improve!
 
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I haven't seen them in a long time, they used to have .45acp loads called pin grabbers that had a sharp saw tooth hollowpoint bullet.

www.1911forum.com

Pin Grabber

www.1911forum.com www.1911forum.com

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Hi guys!

Instead of starting another thread, I thought I'd add to this one and let you know how the tournament went. There were 24 entrants in this double-elimination contest. There were 5 pins set up at 7 yards distance. The pins were on saw horses made of 2x4s so you didn't have to knock them off a table. If you got a good hit on it, it would fall, even with a .22.

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We shot in pairs, loser would move to the secondary bracket. The winner would continue in the primary bracket.

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There were a couple of really close matches where the last pins would hit the floor at almost the same time. Nobody argued with the judges but cell phone video was used in a couple of close calls.

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In the picture above, the lady on the right won the last pin shoot with her .22. I was surprised how many folks brought their .22 pistols. There were quite a few 9mm. I think I was the only one with a 45ACP 1911. I set up all my loaded magazines ready for reload just in case I needed them. I didn't.

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I lost my first match. I knocked down only three pins with 10 rounds and was getting ready to reload but the other guy was already done. I won my second match but it took me seven shots. I lost my third match even though it took me only six shots. The other guy was a little quicker.

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I have some video highlights. The lady in the green hoodie is the owner along with her husband. She shot really well. The last match in the video is the final match. Both contestants were using .22 pistol. The fellow who won, using a Mark IV, is a local doctor who had to go to work right after he won.



It was fun and I learned a lot. Next time I think I'll take my EDC since that's what I shoot most and have trained with the most. Although, I'm getting pretty good with my Mark IV. We'll see. Thanks for letting me share my fun.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
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Looks like a good time, never been to a match like that but many years ago we had a club for class 3 owners and some guy in the club was able to get old bowling pins and balls. guess he has connections with a bowling ally somewhere.

He always brought many of them to every shoot. pretty amazing what a Ma Deuce will do to a bunch of pins and balls.

I can see a 22 having a big advantage in that contest, less recoil to get back on target with. of course i would cheat and use a big caliber and shoot that 2x4 where they all hit the ground at once. 😁
 
Belt Fed said:
Looks like a good time, never been to a match like that but many years ago we had a club for class 3 owners and some guy in the club was able to get old bowling pins and balls. guess he has connections with a bowling ally somewhere.

He always brought many of them to every shoot. pretty amazing what a Ma Deuce will do to a bunch of pins and balls.

I can see a 22 having a big advantage in that contest, less recoil to get back on target with. of course i would cheat and use a big caliber and shoot that 2x4 where they all hit the ground at once. 😁
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I did that at an informal watch…we had a pin table that was just a 2x6 plank set across an old snowmobile shipping crate made out of 1x1 metal square tubing.

I decided I was gonna have fun and run my buddy’s Freedom Arms .454 Casull…my first round went low and smacked the tubing.

Knocked all the pins off in a single shot.

Additionally: a 440gr .500 S&W hard cast will not just knock the pin off…it will throw it 20-30 feet into the corn field beyond…about the same as a 12ga slug.

And cold pins (as in, winter shooting) will shatter.
 
The last time I shot bowling pins was a long time ago, but it was challenging and fun. I shot a .45 Detonics Combat Master. The range master added a twist as the pins were part of a moving target challenge and we had to run with the targets. I was much younger but still a mental and physical challenge.

The Detonics and I did well in fact the range master insisted on checking the compact out after the session. This was the first time I heard the term "pin gun" as he praised its accuracy for its short barrel.
 
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