MICHAEL T
Member
Well you won't get tired walking down setting them up A 22 won't wiggle one and a 223 might not do much either.
Why Bowling Pins?
- Thread starter Cootie
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Elm Creek Smith
Member
Because they bounce more than guinea pigs.
ECS
ECS
Jeff F
Member
I used to shoot a lot of pin matches a long time ago. The last one I shot in was in 89. I shot the 3'rd pin with my .45 using 230 grain lead semi wad cutters and the bullet hit the pin and came straight back and hit me right in the middle of the chest. It winded me bad and I went down on my knees. That was the last time I have shot at pins.
chris in va
Member
Polish, that's a fantastic idea for those spinners! I've been just hanging them from trees which works pretty well, but the tree limbs are getting scarce being shot off all the time.
The alley near me gave up 8 BOXES of pins a couple years ago. I had to back my van up to the door. As I understand things, they're not allowed to throw them in the dumpster for some reason. That reminds me, I'm down to my last couple pins. Hmm.
The alley near me gave up 8 BOXES of pins a couple years ago. I had to back my van up to the door. As I understand things, they're not allowed to throw them in the dumpster for some reason. That reminds me, I'm down to my last couple pins. Hmm.
missoulaz28
Member
Last i counted i had 24 boxes of 10 
with a near unlimited supply of more, being the assistant manager at the biggest alley in the state has its advantages.
I've gotten over 600 .22LR into one pin and it was still usable, just weighed a bit more.
9mm 115FMJ won't go through, so it'll last a long time with those also.
I tie a string around the neck and hang it from a tree, so when hit it swings around, then poses a moving target for a bit, works great for me.
P.S. They are only good for 2-3 rounds from a 300mag
P.P.S Old bowling balls work great for targets for rifles also, just go atleast 50yds or you will get pieces of ball coming back at you.
with a near unlimited supply of more, being the assistant manager at the biggest alley in the state has its advantages.I've gotten over 600 .22LR into one pin and it was still usable, just weighed a bit more.
9mm 115FMJ won't go through, so it'll last a long time with those also.
I tie a string around the neck and hang it from a tree, so when hit it swings around, then poses a moving target for a bit, works great for me.
P.S. They are only good for 2-3 rounds from a 300mag
P.P.S Old bowling balls work great for targets for rifles also, just go atleast 50yds or you will get pieces of ball coming back at you.
If there is anything more fun to shoot than bowling pins, it would probably be be a felony. I beat them up with a .44 Mag S&W 29. That will move them around. Here in the AZ desert we shoot alternately & quickly. First miss is out. I need to get out & see what my 460 will do.
igor
Member
Beware, ricochet!
Our IPSC club did some stages featuring pins in club matches this summer. The plastic layer covering the pin surface is very tough, but at the same time somewhat flexible. The danger of ricochet is very real! I would very much recommend the same minimum distances as with steel targets in IPSC.
The hazard is at its worst with small projectiles that won't penetrate the plastic well. With a rifle there was little problem, but the birdshot stages were absolutely awful. The first attempts were aborted and distances greatly increased as the shooter and RO were being peppered like doves.
Our IPSC club did some stages featuring pins in club matches this summer. The plastic layer covering the pin surface is very tough, but at the same time somewhat flexible. The danger of ricochet is very real! I would very much recommend the same minimum distances as with steel targets in IPSC.
The hazard is at its worst with small projectiles that won't penetrate the plastic well. With a rifle there was little problem, but the birdshot stages were absolutely awful. The first attempts were aborted and distances greatly increased as the shooter and RO were being peppered like doves.
silverlance
Member
when people say "a lot of damage", what they really mean is "a ridiculous amount of damage".
to me, a pin is drestroyed when it can no longer stand on its own. provided you don't shoot its base when its already down, this can be a very very long time in coming.
to me, a pin is drestroyed when it can no longer stand on its own. provided you don't shoot its base when its already down, this can be a very very long time in coming.
76shuvlinoff
Member
another ricochet testimonial
I was in a gravel pit nearly 25 years ago with a couple buddies and we were shooting at various targets with revolvers, autoloaders, rifles and shotguns.
I fired a 38 special round from a borrowed .357 revolver at a bowling pin 25 feet away. It came back and hit me on the ankle, I was wearing boots and got a healthy bruise, it felt like I got hit with a bat. I had to sit for a while, 1, it hurt and 2, it scared the crap outta me. It had to be a dead on shot and I probably couldn't reproduce it again but no more bowling pins ever.
I was in a gravel pit nearly 25 years ago with a couple buddies and we were shooting at various targets with revolvers, autoloaders, rifles and shotguns.
I fired a 38 special round from a borrowed .357 revolver at a bowling pin 25 feet away. It came back and hit me on the ankle, I was wearing boots and got a healthy bruise, it felt like I got hit with a bat. I had to sit for a while, 1, it hurt and 2, it scared the crap outta me. It had to be a dead on shot and I probably couldn't reproduce it again but no more bowling pins ever.
They fall over, but done fall off the table when they are full of bullets!
I shoot in a pin league on Monday nights and those pins get HEAVY by the end of the match. We have 2 steel enclosed tables 30ft from the line and have 2 position, front of the table ~3ft from the rear, and back of the table 1ft from the rear. The former is for big bore the later for medium bore. You get 20sec to knock 5 of them off the table. These pins are tough! They'll catch a lot of bullets before the center is shot out. We have ricochet issues mainly with the table. Very rarely do you get one from the pin it self. That said, hollow point and flat point bullets "grab" the pins and drive them off the table a little better than ball ammo that sometimes "slips" off the side and spins the pin. It is a lot fun especially if you have a good group of folks shooting.ACP230
Member
There are good histories of how bowling pin shoots began in two books,
Hit The White Part by Masaad Ayoob and Pin
Shooting: A Complete Guide by Mitchell A. Ota.
The books may be out of print but can probably be found somewhere. I won Mitch Ota's book as a trivia prize at the 1991 Second Chance Bowling Pin Shoot. Went for 10 years and miss it tremendously.
The blame for starting all the bowling pin shooting fun, and for me buying a cutom .45 "pin gun" and a .41 Magnum Smith 57 to shoot pins, rests on Rich Davis inventor of soft body armor.
Later on when he did the vest "demonstrations" Rich used to shoot a 12 pack of Diet Coke instead of bowling pins, after shooting himself while wearing his latest vest. I saw him do a demo twice. I was pretty nervous both times. Richard? Less nervous. IIRC he'd done more than 160 demos by then.
Hit The White Part by Masaad Ayoob and Pin
Shooting: A Complete Guide by Mitchell A. Ota.
The books may be out of print but can probably be found somewhere. I won Mitch Ota's book as a trivia prize at the 1991 Second Chance Bowling Pin Shoot. Went for 10 years and miss it tremendously.
The blame for starting all the bowling pin shooting fun, and for me buying a cutom .45 "pin gun" and a .41 Magnum Smith 57 to shoot pins, rests on Rich Davis inventor of soft body armor.
Later on when he did the vest "demonstrations" Rich used to shoot a 12 pack of Diet Coke instead of bowling pins, after shooting himself while wearing his latest vest. I saw him do a demo twice. I was pretty nervous both times. Richard? Less nervous. IIRC he'd done more than 160 demos by then.
SDC
Member
No, it's fine with both, as long as you realize that you can get ricochets (just like off of steel targets). Ideally, you should have a bay with high berms (back and sides) to catch anything that goes off to the sides. It's also a lot of fun with shotguns, but small shot is VERY likely to bounce back at the shooters, so 00 Buck or slugs are the preferred ammo in shotguns. Some of the team events at Second Chance paired up handgunners with shotgunners, and the fastest team to clear 14 pins won the match.
Bowling pins are fun
Back when the local indoor range held pin shoots, no FMJ was allowed, soft point or hollow point (or cast lead) was allowed.
They had it broken down into classes, .22, minor, & major, and auto, DA & SA revolver. We had a lot of fun.
Back when the local indoor range held pin shoots, no FMJ was allowed, soft point or hollow point (or cast lead) was allowed.
They had it broken down into classes, .22, minor, & major, and auto, DA & SA revolver. We had a lot of fun.
Havegunjoe
Member
I've hit them with a .454 Casul and they don't shatter. They are about as sturdy as you can get and fly off the table nicely when hit. Believe me you won't break them easily.
JoeG52
Member
I know some guys who used to shoot bowling pins with muzzle loaders. They set them up & kept score just like 10 pin bowling.
Morphic resonance. You see, eons ago there were man eating bowling pins roaming the earth The desire to shoot the modern bowling pin is easy explained when you realize it's a predator/prey relationship issue. Glad I could help. Professor Cletus T. Ledbetter, Esq.
ADKWOODSMAN
Member
We still hold bowling pin shoots here in the Adirondacks. Watch out for frozen pins. They will send lead back, especially fine shot from shotguns. We have added a new category, cowboy pins. We use single action pistols, double barrel shotguns or ‘97 Winchesters and pistol caliber rifles that can be loaded with up to 10 rounds. As stated earlier, if you can’t hit 5 out of 5 at 25 feet, your not that competitive!
RDH
RDH
Average Joe
Member
Why bowling pins ? Because I couldn't hit them with a bowling ball, so now I am getting my revenge.
Because cans are so weak today, they don't even know they've been shot.
Of course, the .45 ACP is the ultimate pin gun caliber...big enough and slow enough to knock them down.
I tried pin shooting with my .357 Mag and it just punched holes through them. It only worked half-decently to hit them on the left edge, to roll them into the next pin and off the table. It was still tough!!!!
Picher
Of course, the .45 ACP is the ultimate pin gun caliber...big enough and slow enough to knock them down.
I tried pin shooting with my .357 Mag and it just punched holes through them. It only worked half-decently to hit them on the left edge, to roll them into the next pin and off the table. It was still tough!!!!
Picher
tasco 74
Member
bowling pins are a great target shape i think... i was given a box of 20 several years ago by the local bowling ally owner an i still have most of em.. my best friend made me an actual size bowling pin swinger out of steel thick enough to hold up to .357 magnum rounds.. i shoot it all summer long in backyard with my air rifles.. but i have takin it out and shot it with .357 an .38s too.. it's kinda fun to stick it out about 60 yards and plink at it.. oh it's hung on old realty sign i found that just pushes into the ground where ever you want it..
massad ayoob
Member
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Another thing that makes the tenpin both a challenging target and a relevant one is that when hit imperfectly, they will roll at unpredictable angles, forcing you to track them while firing if you want to salvage a good time/score. You just don't get that with any other target system, even a $100K video simulator.
As some have noted, top quality eye protection is a must. At Second Chance, they found anything smaller than 00 buckshot bounced back. Even double-ought did so occasionally. I learned to wear my Second Chance Kevlar groin guard when shooting the shotgun matches. Any bullet can bounce back if it hits the hard butt end of a downed pin wrong. One Iowa shooter lost a testicle to a bounce-back from a pin (giving new meaning to the old phrase, "I'd sacrifice my left nut for my favorite sport") and a lady in Washington state, shooting light .38 Special loads with her eye protection down at the tip of her nose, lost an eye to a bounceback.
As some have noted, top quality eye protection is a must. At Second Chance, they found anything smaller than 00 buckshot bounced back. Even double-ought did so occasionally. I learned to wear my Second Chance Kevlar groin guard when shooting the shotgun matches. Any bullet can bounce back if it hits the hard butt end of a downed pin wrong. One Iowa shooter lost a testicle to a bounce-back from a pin (giving new meaning to the old phrase, "I'd sacrifice my left nut for my favorite sport") and a lady in Washington state, shooting light .38 Special loads with her eye protection down at the tip of her nose, lost an eye to a bounceback.
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