Bowling Pin shooting

And remember; this is Central Mexico in late November last year. Mexico has it's problems but a lack of nice shooting days is not one of them -- if you can get past all the other problems and actually get out to shoot.


Cal in one of the videos I´am shooting the match (Wearing a panama style hat) Nice memories! hope you organize another event like that one in San Mike!

Cheers!

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhTYtzZ0aa0[/ame]
 
Last edited:
Cal in the second video the guy that is shooting is me. You are the range officer. Nice memories! hope you organize another event like that one in San Mike!

Cheers!

Tadeus, as you probably know our San Miguel gunrange has been approved by SEDENA. We will likely be spending the rest of this year building it up to be ready for matches in 2016. I doubt we'll do much of anything this year. However, since San Miguel doesn't even have a bowling alley, I think the Pin matches will still be held in Queretaro. We had like 150 pins still left in the shed in Queretaro so we could have another match right away.

I hope they have another one soon too. I think the problem is that everyone wants the San Miguel guys to come out and do all the work and that's probably not going to happen. They have their own range to build now and all the work they're doing is going to be here in San Miguel. I'm not saying they won't come out and Range Officer or set pins or run the scoring program: I'm saying they are not going to run around buying trophies and repairing the crappy pin tables that got built the first time (a pin table should be able to hold up for years, not months) and stuff like that. Minky work. Well, the Queretaro Minkies can do all that.

And I think that this is exactly what's causing the holdup. Patience. And as for the Panama Hat, as I recall, it was hot that day.
 
Last edited:
610 Should be Fine

I’ve be shooting pins for about 15 years with a local group and seen a lot of calibers and guns used to try to get an ‘edge’ in the game.

Our group tries to appeal to everyone so we are flexible with the types of guns that can be used. For kids and new shooters we allow them to shoot .22 rimfire – the pins are placed on the back edge of the tables. For cowboy single action shooters (any revolvers shooters actually) we allow them to shoot two revolvers since they go head-to-head with the auto pistol shooters. We also allow .22 rifle shooters to compete with Ruger 10/22s or ARs in .22 rimfire. And we allow shotgun shooters to compete against each other for practice for the 3-gun crowd.

About the only equipment limitations we try to enforce are “no optical sights” and “10 rounds maximum” loaded in you magazines. (We try for an iron sights only match but if a new guy shows up with a dot we let him shoot).

Competitive calibers: It seems like .45 ACP with a 200 or 230 grain bullet is the most popular load but we had one guy that shot with us for a few years that used factory 10mm ammo in a 1911 pistol he had built and he was very competitive. We had IPSC shooters with .38 supers, but not many, and now there are a few .40 S&Ws and .357 Sigs that show up – these will knock the pins off the table. A .357 revolver will dispatch bowling pins too but most folks seem to gravitate to autos. (The indoor range we shoot at now does not allow .41 mag or .44 mag or any of the newer monster revolver calibers. The recovery time between shots puts you at a disadvantage anyway).

Before the game became equipment race there were a few revolver shooters. I used a 25-2 (moon clips were a big advantage) and a 586 (my old PPC gun) and was pretty competitive. But now we have 2 guys that can clear a table (5 pins) in 5 seconds with their “race guns” – I can’t keep up like I used to.

A couple of pointers: Wear good shooting glasses. Even though we shoot at 20 yards there are occasional bounce-backs of jacket fragments and sometimes spent bullets. When you engage the pins shoot at them once, maintain your sight alignment and move on to the next pin and the next and the next. Don’t fire and then look downrange to see if the pin fell and then re-engage it. Smooth is better – sweep the pins from one end of the table to the other and then swing back to pick up any you have missed. At your first match ask to be placed near the back of the shooting order so you can observe what the “good” shooters are doing.

Enjoy shooting your 610. This is a shooting sport you can get into with just a handgun and a few magazines, moon clips or speed loaders and have some fun.
 
Actually it's a perfect example of people not understanding the physics involved. In a perfect conversion, a 158 gr bullet traveling 800 fps (a .38 +P) would transfer MOMENTUM and move a 3.75 lb bowling pin at ~4.8 fps. That's assuming no friction at all and a perfect transfer and a perfect center of mass hit that doesn't rotate the pin in any axis.

Add in friction and a less than perfect hit and transfer and you get a lot less.

We shoot a 22 pin match during the winter with pins in the center of a 2 x 12 laid flat. A decent hit with a 22LR (40 gr bullet @ 1250fps which in a perfect world could move a pin at ~1.9 fps) will take them off the 2 x 12 (~5") but not a lot more.

It's all about momentum and big bullets that stay in the pin when you play on the traditional 4' deep table.

Thanks for proving my point about ft lbs of energy when talking about firearms energy. MOMENTUM is in fact a calculated proven mathematical formula, ft lbs of energy created by a bullet is bunk. I have seen enough LIVE things shot to know better. Billy
 
I shoot a pin match once or twice a year. Imo, Nothing really better than the 45acp with a 200-230gr LFP at std vel. Soft recoil, the hvy FP just drives the pin right off the table. A good sub 5sec run is quite satisfying. In a 620, I would run a 200gr Xtrme @ 900fps, plenty of momentum & soft recoil.
 
Last edited:
This thread is a breath of fresh air to an old pin shooter like me. I started pin shooting in 1978, wrote a book about it in 1991, won a national championship in 1990 (for OSSs at Second Chance). There are just two fair weather pin matches in NH (that I know of).
 
Haven't had a chance to shoot pins in many years. Used to love it. Used a 6" M57 with some lightened springs and 210/900fps ammo. The trick was to get in a rhythm that had the gun ready to fire the instant it came back on target. Got to be careful not to get off a high shot with that tactic. Yes, I was pressing the trigger as the barrel was coming back down. Hopefully went off just as it leveled on target. I wasn't the best around, but not too many guys could beat me at that game. The few that did had custom autos. All .45.
 
It's been maybe 30 years so I don't know the rules now. We were allowed to shoot two tables and average the time. Never worked for me unless for practice so just one table. 1911 with truncated cone 200gr. One mag. You reload you loose. Extra mag if you want the practice.
No gambling!
 
Too much power is a time disadvantage. A 45 ACP revolver or auto shooting 230g flat nosed bullets will have a good balance of knockdown power and recoil management. A .22 will knock the pin off a sawhorse, but will not make it clear a table that has any depth to it.
 
I just learned that a local range has a bowling pin mat ever Thursday! I figure the 610 would be perfect for this. I have never shot a pin match so any pointers? I am doing it for the fun of it but don't want to make too bad of a showing.

I have been shooting pins at local matches for many years, for my 610 I preferred a 220 gr. Extreme loaded close to maximum velocity. My current guns all fire 240 grain or heavier bullets. This includes my 625, 627 and 629. A local caster in Layton Utah (Cowboy and Bowling pin bullet Company) supply most of the revolver shooters with our cast bullets. Most of our local matches are man on man, first five pins on the floor wins. The extra rounds in the 627 are a great advantage in you happen to miss more than one shot.
 
I wish that my local range would have these matches. I even donated a coupla big boxes of pins to the range when we first started up.
I shot a match in Hawaii only once in about 1988.
I had my old ombat commander and a beautiful M25-2. My first run was with the 25 and cleared em all in 8.4 secs.
Everything went to hell after that. LOL.
They also had a shotgun stage. Had to use #4 Buck High base or larger. (Birdshot bounce- back is not good). Quickly learned that the old Hawaii PD 870 Wingmaster with the old hardened Pachmayer butt-plate hurt!
But I sure had fun that day.
 
I agree with andyo5 that the model 1955 target revolver in 45acp is very manageable recoil for pin shooting. allows very quick target aquisition
 
The head to head pin matches we run allows competitors to bring as much ammo with them to the line that they are willing to carry up. As I tell everyone you might get away with a reload in the early rounds but typically by the time your into the second level of the bracket if you have to reload you are done. At the end if you miss or hang up a pin its over quickly. I prefer my .45auto in 1911 with a 200 grain hollow point at a moderate velocity is a good balance between control and enough power to quickly move the pin off the table.

Before every match I tell everyone the secret to pin shooting is very simple. "Shoot fast don't miss"

Almost as much fun is pin head matches with .22 pistols, man that really gets fast.

in all our matches there is not a winner until all the pins on your table are on the ground. There are some close matches at the end.

Love head to head pins you never know what will happen.
 
Bowling Pins with a heavy barreled 627 with C-more. 230gr bullets in 38 special cases with AA#9 powder.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IPjSbVcapc&feature=youtu.be[/ame]
 
Back
Top