Bowling Pin Match Advice

[anachronism]

I know one guy with a 45 Colt Mountain Gun that has been cut for moon clips. He's shooting reduced loads in 45 Win Mag cases for improved accuracy over shooting 45 acp cases. The last I knew, he was shooting 250 gr Colt bullets at about 800 fps for pins. Speed loads go pretty smoothly with round nosed cast bullets.

[z40acp]

A hollow point usually takes pins off the table better than a round nose. I used to use the old Speer 200 gr. flying ashtrays. They seemed to bite into the pin on an off center hit rather than ricochet. There used to be a hollow point with a deep serrated edge called a "pin chopper". These too would bite into the pin and take it off the table with an off center hit.

The design of the bullet helps. I had a lot of luck with .45 H&G 68s. We also used a bullet designed for .45 Colt, 225 grain SWC. The sharp edge digs into the cover of the pin and spins it off the table. Big red dots help speed things up also.

[photoracer]

I am planning to shoot my first ever bowling pin match this weekend. What are the tricks of the trade on this sorta deal? I am assuming .45 is better than a 9mm? What else do I need to know about shot placement, etc?

Bowling pins are fun Jesse. I have been shooting and winning some of the categories at my club for the last 3 years. Yes a heavy bullet open gun like a red dot equiped .45 or 10mm is the way to go in open auto class. A big revolver shooting down loaded .44mag, .41mag to enable faster followups is also good. We also have rimfire classes using full sized pins but in a different position. All divisions only count when they completely leave the table (penalties if they don't and you elect to stop shooting). Good time for 5 pins with a centerfire is in the mid 3 second range. Good time for an open .22 pistol is in the upper 2s range (personal best is 2.76s although I have hit 2s flat in practice). Our start is in the ready with the muzzle touching the table so .6-.8 seconds is just getting the gun up to the target.

If the pins have a makers label (AMF/Brunswick) below the neck aim for that.

[photoracer]

Dead center of the fattest part of the pin with the slowest/heaviest bullet you can find.

Actually, you're better off with the fastest/heaviest bullet you can find. (Within reason, of course.)

Rapid followup shots are much faster if you DON'T shoot full power ammo from what I have seen and shot, at least for guns with open sights and no comps. A 200g+ bullet at 900 FPS is plenty enough to shoot high 3 second times on 5 pins. I use a 210g semi-jacket HP round in front of around 9g of Unique in a .41mag Ruger Redhawk. There are faster guys in my club using S&W 625s with good trigger jobs and 230g Speer HP at 900 FPS. and faster guys using old .45 raceguns too.

[450AK]

I love shooting pins but the sport has almost died here in northern Indiana. The best combo I have found is a 230 grain lead sledge Hammer bullet out of my 627 PC at about 900fps. That combo is hard to beat!

[wgj3]

Never having played this game or having any knowledge of where you all are located, I have a question. Does anyone know of any of these matches in North Alabama?

[450AK]

If you find a match and shoot them once you'll be hooked. I don't know why more clubs don't shoot pins. It really does improve your shooting and I love the fact it has a built in power factor that there no way to get around.

[Ming the Merciless]

_{One of the main reasons it died out around here was the lack of availability of old bowling pins. Now that bowling seems to be on the upsurge again it might be easier/cheaper to get pins.}

[450AK]

It would be great to find a good pin shoot again. I was only around the last few years of Second Chance and that place was heaven on earth.

[herky]

I love shooting pins but the sport has almost died here in northern Indiana. The best combo I have found is a 230 grain lead sledge Hammer bullet out of my 627 PC at about 900fps. That combo is hard to beat!

Holland MI second Saturday of Dec, Jan, Feb, and Mar. Very well run match. www.tcrgc.org Get there by 8am for sign up.

[450AK]

Thanks Herky, I'll put the dates on my calendar! How far is Holland from Fort Wayne?

[herky]

Three hours.

[kneelingatlas]

This thread sparked my interest in putting on a match at my local club, so I tabled the idea in our forum; there was some excitement, as well as safety concerns. We shoot at an indoor range with roughly 15 yards by about 30 yards wide of usable range, is the a way to host a match safely in this space? The big concern is ricochets.

I've also read a variety of rules online. To the guys who shoot them, is there a minimum caliber? I've seen major/minor pin placement, but it seems like a pain. A big concern is that a bunch of shooters show up with factory 115gn 9mm loads and can't get a single pin off the table.

Edited August 1, 2013 by kneelingatlas

[Paul-the new guy]

I have shot pins at a small range. 15 yards is probably fine. They set up 2 tables side by side. The tables are 4x8 they set the pins in the middle so 2 feet from the back and 9mm takes them off pretty well. It is a 3 elimination type of match and is shot head to head. They had 2 classes A and B. It was kind of an honor system the first time but once you won the B class you bumped to A. we got some bounce back from .45's but nothing else and it was minimal. No one ever got hurt

[EEH]

Dead center of the fattest part of the pin with the slowest/heaviest bullet you can find.

Actually, you're better off with the fastest/heaviest bullet you can find. (Within reason, of course.)

Carmoney, how fast were the 230gr lincoln logs? Load data?

The classic load with the 230-gr. flat-front Lincoln log bullets, the ones from the original H&G molds, seated to the crimp groove in .38 Special brass, was 7.2 grains of Blue Dot. That would give velocities of around 900 fps. Some of the more adventurous of us went all the way up to 7.8 grains of Blue Dot, which would bump the velocities up to 1050 fps.

Those numbers are from a Model 27 with an 8-3/8" barrel, which is what a bunch of us were using at the time.

I still have about 500 of those things,,

[450AK]

Kneelingatlas, if your shoot is close to me I would love to come shoot and help you run it. We always run big bore hand gun for the main match and a TIP event for the 22s and 9mm. It keeps it nice and simple. The rim shoot against each other then the other minor calibers shoot the tip. Then for the main even and the real fun the pins are placed on the front of the table and you better shot something with some thump. 357 mag with 230 grain sledge hammers, hot 45 acp, 44 mags or what is the norm for a real pin match. It's the most fun that you can have with your cloths on and it's cheap to get started and shoot. Show up with a gun and lots of ammo and your ready to go. No need for fancy holsters and mag pouches. It really does separate the games from the shooters because there's really no way to buy speed on the pin table. You have to shoot fast with pen point accuracy to be at the top. Good luck!

Matt.

This thread sparked my interest in putting on a match at my local club, so I tabled the idea in our forum; there was some excitement, as well as safety concerns. We shoot at an indoor range with roughly 15 yards by about 30 yards wide of usable range, is the a way to host a match safely in this space? The big concern is ricochets.

I've also read a variety of rules online. To the guys who shoot them, is there a minimum caliber? I've seen major/minor pin placement, but it seems like a pain. A big concern is that a bunch of shooters show up with factory 115gn 9mm loads and can't get a single pin off the table.

[GuildSF4]

Bullets going too slow can make these worse, suggest minimum velocity 800 fps. (Like on steel, too slow, no fragmentation, larger pieces come back.)

The big concern is ricochets.