Took my fiancee to a bowling pin shoot yesterday. The match uses real bowling pins, so getting good hits is paramount, otherwise you need to get the pin off of the table She used her SR9, I used my 610 and my Kimber 10mm. I used either FMJs or JHPs, both 180gr handloads. Best times for me were two runs under 9.5 seconds. She did not finish. Anyone else doing this? It's a fun competition, and it's great multi-target shooting practice.
I don't shoot pins but I just got off the phone with the local gun shop and im about to be on my way to pick up a Glock 20. I hear the 10mm shines in bowling bin shoots so I might just have to start
I used to shoot pins regularly at the monthly matches we had here in SE GA. The gun of choice for most of the top shooters was a 1911 shooting 230gr FMJ. Rather than shoot just for time, our matches were head to head and the winner of the round advanced. A timer was running as well and you generally had to be under 6 seconds to win the round. The pins had to be knocked completely off the table so slow heavy rounds tended to do a better job...
My club has been shooting pins since back in the mid 1980s.
Generally the best load is a .45 using 200gn swc going as close to 1000fps as you dare.
We do hold minor power matches for 9mm where if you knock the pin over it counts. I have ony seen the 9mm clear the table with one hit per pin two or three times in 25 years. It is not a case of 9mm hate, just a fact. Even JHP will not do the job.
My own personal best was a 3.35 second run on probably what was the best day of my life. I have been trying to do that again, for 20 years.
the .45 won't go all the way thru the pins, so they make a "bump" on the far side, that won't let the pin "roll". The center of SOME pins is hollow, so you can get screwed on that deal, too. Basically, the size of the target that will reliably drive the pin the full 3 ft back off of the table, without it rolling, is about 2.5"x 3.5". Best to practice on steel cutouts of that size, or on paper targets. Time yourself as if you were shooting at men's chests at 40 yds, cause the scale is the same. Nearly everyone messes up by trying to do it in 3.0 seconds, like they would raise the gun and hit 5 men's chests at the 25 ft range. then they end up with "deadwood" on the table, and waste another 2-3 seconds getting the table cleared. Oftentimes, it ends up being a luck shoot, and the guys running the stopwatches can mess you over really bad. Best to have a timer hooked to a pin-cutout of steel, for the last shot. Then it's fair for everyone. Unless the table is clear when the steel pin goes down, it's a DNF run.
I think a lot of folks don't get what we're talking about. Think Drag Racing with handguns!
I used to shoot twice weekly in a local league. I even finish 2nd once against a Team Glock IDPA shooter! I have several cases of pins in the garage, but my purpose built pin gun is out on loan to a friend. I hadn't used it in a while, and he was lamenting his love for 1911s, so I sent him home with it. I'd have to have it back if we had a new league start up around here.
pins fall apart in less than 10 .45 hits, half that many full powered 357 hits, and sometimes a coulple of .44 mag full charge loads will shatter one. it gets expensive really quick. the glue on the wood pieces and the coating make for toxic fumes, so burning them in a fireplace or stove is not a good idea.
pins fall apart in less than 10 .45 hits, half that many full powered 357 hits, and sometimes a coulple of .44 mag full charge loads will shatter one. it gets expensive really quick. the glue on the wood pieces and the coating make for toxic fumes, so burning them in a fireplace or stove is not a good idea.
Where do you get this crap that you type. Bowling pins are good for hundreds of rounds, I have shot them with all the calibers you mention and they hold together pretty well.
I have shot them with .357, .41 and .44 magnums shooting hard cast lead Keith style bullets and while they do more damage then the .45 ACP they are not falling apart after 10 rounds of magnum loads.
I used to get the old pins from two bowling alleys in Fremont way back in the day for 1 dollar apiece and the owners were happy to get rid of them.
I've shot enough of them to know. they are just laminated wood and glue. they don't even begin to withstand the numbers of hits that you are blabbing about.
I've shot enough of them to know. they are just laminated wood and glue. they don't even begin to withstand the numbers of hits that you are blabbing about.
I really doubt you have shot many if any at all. So how was club fed?
I calling bull**** on the pins falling apart. I have three cases in the garage now, two more at the farm and they have collectively absorbed a couple thousand rounds.
You failed to mention the plastic jacket that they are wrapped in. My .45 rounds stop inside and maybe cause a bump where the projectile stops close to the skin.
I've shot scores of them, and they DO fall apart. you are full of it. Anyone who has real experience with them knows this. The plastic cracks and chunks of it fall off, with not very many impacts at all.
Sorry buddy. In our pin shoots, with 20 competitors, we might use 3 or 4 spares just to make sure they stand up straight and present a uniform target.
I have ten hanging from lines on a 4' saw horse, that have absorbed hundreds of rounds. The only casualty was a hook screwed into the top that straightened out. I fixed that with a new hook and pu that pin back on the line.
If you insist on looking like an ass, I'll go get a few and take some picturs of the marks they have, the holes in and the bumps where the rounds are still inside. Oh, sure, eventually you have to replace them, but they are far from fragile, and there is little to no fragmentation.
It's your call. I have three cases of proof in the next room, and I'm just bored enough to further your turd smeared reputation. Confucious say "better to be silent and thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt".
She used her SR9, I used my 610 and my Kimber 10mm. I used either FMJs or JHPs, both 180gr handloads. Best times for me were two runs under 9.5 seconds. She did not finish. Anyone else doing this? It's a fun competition, and it's great multi-target shooting practice.
Linear Mode
