cjw - most of the clubs I shoot with keep reusing pins until they won't stand up, or there's a big enough gouge out of a side that they won't roll cleanly... and even then we mostly cut the pin tops off and use them in 22 only tables.

I'v seen pins take 30 to 40 hits and as few as four or five. Winter is tougher on them, cold pins splinter a lot faster.

An yes, you can definately see the difference in a pin that's been shot alot. But then again, that's also kinda the point about the 190 power factor thing. That's enough power to move even a heavily shot up pin off the table.

A 9mm will take a brand new pin off the table if it hits square, it might take it off even with a bit of a miss. On a shot up pin a 9mm is dicey even with a perfect hit, and almost guaranteed to put the pin down but not off the table with a bit of a miss.