First pin shoot

[NGIB]

Shot my first head to head bowling pin match last night while I'm visiting Ft Stewart (SE GA) on business. Great bunch of fellas do this about once a month and they range they use is great. It started with a qualifying round to define the pairings and I didn't do that well - towards the bottom of the pack. I think it was a bit of nerves as I hadn't done this before.

Once the head to head matches started I settled down and competed very well - I ended up winning the event by a fraction of a second. I used my trusty Kimber Gold Match with 230 FMJ ammo and it generally knocked the pins off with a solid hit. The folks shooting 9mm and .40 generally used hollow points and it appeared to be necessary. During the first match I scored 2 good hits on a pin and they punched right thru, after this I started shooting a bit higher and this worked very well.

If you've never tried this type of event - it's great fun and very good training for quick reaction shooting. This was my first but it won't be my last...

 

[MrNiceGuy]

i've always used 9mm at bowling pin shoots
it's always been fmj ammo and i've never needed more than one hit to knock down the pin

but the 45acp was going right through them eh?
what loads?

 

[NGIB]

Just regular Blazer brass 230 gr FMJ. We played around a little after the match and it wasn't difficult to drill the pin with 9mm FMJ and just get a wobble...

 

[MrNiceGuy]

either your pins were defective or your loads were too light lol

that's odd... i've never had a problem getting them to do acrobatics with the 9mm

 

[popbang]

At the side matches we have you have knock 5 pins off the table not just knock them down. Believe it or not a Ruger single action revolver can work just fine if you hit what you aim at and have enough bullet to drive them off.

 

[SV_shooter]

hmmm.. I shot rimfire at a pin match and took second overall between 9's .38 super, .40 .44mag. And .45acp. Guess who took 1st...

The guy with the .44mag revo... I didn't split any pins, but I knock em off the table no problem & follow up shots were much quicker with clean hits. .44 just threw the pins up and at the backstop! It was very fun to watch.. It's not the bow, or the size. Your either good, or your new, or maybe have bad eyesight, maybe you stink! But no matter what, if your enjoying what your doing, keep at it!

 

[surfersami]

I shot a pin match once in Jax FL. It was at a friends house with five other guys. I used a stock out of the box Ruger P-90 with 230 gr fiochi ammo. (It was the cheapest stuff I could get.) I won the final by .2 seconds against a guy with a souped-up .38 super and he was quite upset. I watched him in the early rounds, and he was using a light load to reduce recoil. He would get into a hurry and I could see him pulling his shots, he would hit the pins, but would not take them off the table. I guess the point is you can use almost anything, steady hands and steady brain make for a lot of fun on a Sat afternoon.
It is my opinion that I would rather throw a 230 gr ball at a bowling pin than a 16 lb ball any day!

 

[drail]

I have never seen a .45 ACP load go through a pin. They may go in and disappear but I don't think they're going through a regulation bowling pin. Those things are TOUGH. I've seen .38 spls and 9mm bounce off of the plastic covering. We had to make restrictions on calibers at our pin matches because people were getting hit with slugs coming back to the line.