Gun suggestions for bowling pin shoot? - Page 4

jimbo-indy · 05-21-2008

Don't know what your pins looked like but at Marion County the used pins actually get heavier as the lead builds up in the pin. Also, the damaged pins often have trouble standing up and will fall over unless hit squarely in the "sweet spot". Yes, the minor calibers will work well IF you can hit the pin properly. Again, accuracy is better than all out speed. If the pin just falls over it may fall into adjacent pins and start a domino chain. You now have several pins all laying on their side near the front of the table. It will take several shots on each to clear the table. I have suffured this domino effect. Some people do well with 9 mm. or .38. It just takes great shot placement. The advantage is less recoil recovery time. Hope to see everybody there this Saturday. Don't forget the .22's. The pin-head shoot is a hoot.

Erebus · 05-21-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by epsylum

There are two tables about 7-10 yards from the shooters (each shooter has their own table) with 5 pins each them near the front edge of the table. The first to clear the table by shooting all the pins off their table wins. Knocking them over not only doesn't count, but makes it harder to get the pin off the table as you now have a smaller target to aim at. It you are good, it should only take 5 shots. Most of us aren't though so it gets interesting.

It is sort of like gun drag racing. It doesn't matter how fast or slow you are (there aren't any timers), as long as you are faster than the guy you are currently up against.

This sounds FUN! I have a feeling I would always be last hahaha

muncie21 · 05-21-2008

I've only shot pins for fun, so I'm looking for an opinion or two.

Which would be more competitive?
38 SP in a revolver (fairly accurate)
.357 DE (little less accurate, but more powerful)

captpaul · 06-09-2008

I shoot my cz p-01 (9mm) and have a hard time clearing the table after the first or second round. The build up of lead and splintering of the pin seem to prevent them from moving very far. I shot against a guy with a 445 supermag Dan Wesson last month. The pins went halfway into orbit. Fun times.

browndog2 · 06-09-2008

It is true that pins that have been shot get heavier and splintered.

For any caliber, the bullet weight to speed ratio is a major factor.
115 grain 9mm ammo traveling fast is not as effective as 148 grainers moving a little slower. When shooting 9mm and 38 special, a center mass hit is critical.

Also to be considered is that very hot loads usually increase the time it takes to recover from recoil. Full house 44 magnum loads certainly make the pins jump off the table, however, it takes longer to get back on target than with a lighter load. One of our better shooters downloads his 44 magnum just warm enough to push the pin off the back edge of the table. (I suspect that they are in the range of 44 special- but I do not know for sure) He benefits from the lack of recoil.

Many of our shooters have good luck with 45 acp loads with 230 grain HP bullets over a warmer than average charge. Not too hot.

Even with "regular" ammo it is a fun game. Come on out to play.

jimbo-indy · 06-09-2008

+1 to that, browndog2.
My experience has been that heavy bullets work better than light ones and that velocity isn't the way to go. The best pin load that epsylum and I have used is a 230 gr. Rainier plated round-nose traveling about 930 FPS. Nothing much to brag about but it works very well. 180 gr. bullets form either a S&W 40 or 357 mag. don't do quite as well even though they are both clocking 1150 and 1200 respectively. I too recommend the heaviest bullet possible, 148 gr. or so. Remember, this is why .38's and 9mm. are given the advantage of being moved back closer to the rear of the table. Heck, If I could hit 5 pins with 6 shots consistently, I'd use my Supper Blackhawk (44) and my 300 gr. cast flat nose, loaded down some to tame recoil. May load some up as a test for the next meet. Wish I got an advantage for using a single action.

NEOCON · 06-09-2008

There was a pin shoot at WSSC on sunday I didn't find out until it was too late. I will let you know when the next one is Bigum.

rabbit · 07-01-2008

When we had matches here I used a .41 mag loaded with 8 grains of sr 4756 and a 210 grain bullet. Worked great!

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05-21-2008	#31 (permalink)
jimbo-indy Single Action Fan NW Indy Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: N.W. Indy Posts: 142	Don't know what your pins looked like but at Marion County the used pins actually get heavier as the lead builds up in the pin. Also, the damaged pins often have trouble standing up and will fall over unless hit squarely in the "sweet spot". Yes, the minor calibers will work well IF you can hit the pin properly. Again, accuracy is better than all out speed. If the pin just falls over it may fall into adjacent pins and start a domino chain. You now have several pins all laying on their side near the front of the table. It will take several shots on each to clear the table. I have suffured this domino effect. Some people do well with 9 mm. or .38. It just takes great shot placement. The advantage is less recoil recovery time. Hope to see everybody there this Saturday. Don't forget the .22's. The pin-head shoot is a hoot.

05-21-2008	#33 (permalink)
muncie21 Plinker Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 86	I've only shot pins for fun, so I'm looking for an opinion or two. Which would be more competitive? 38 SP in a revolver (fairly accurate) .357 DE (little less accurate, but more powerful)

06-09-2008	#34 (permalink)
captpaul Plinker Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Indy Posts: 13	I shoot my cz p-01 (9mm) and have a hard time clearing the table after the first or second round. The build up of lead and splintering of the pin seem to prevent them from moving very far. I shot against a guy with a 445 supermag Dan Wesson last month. The pins went halfway into orbit. Fun times.

06-09-2008	#35 (permalink)
browndog2 Plinker Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 21	It is true that pins that have been shot get heavier and splintered. For any caliber, the bullet weight to speed ratio is a major factor. 115 grain 9mm ammo traveling fast is not as effective as 148 grainers moving a little slower. When shooting 9mm and 38 special, a center mass hit is critical. Also to be considered is that very hot loads usually increase the time it takes to recover from recoil. Full house 44 magnum loads certainly make the pins jump off the table, however, it takes longer to get back on target than with a lighter load. One of our better shooters downloads his 44 magnum just warm enough to push the pin off the back edge of the table. (I suspect that they are in the range of 44 special- but I do not know for sure) He benefits from the lack of recoil. Many of our shooters have good luck with 45 acp loads with 230 grain HP bullets over a warmer than average charge. Not too hot. Even with "regular" ammo it is a fun game. Come on out to play.

06-09-2008	#36 (permalink)
jimbo-indy Single Action Fan NW Indy Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: N.W. Indy Posts: 142	+1 to that, browndog2. My experience has been that heavy bullets work better than light ones and that velocity isn't the way to go. The best pin load that epsylum and I have used is a 230 gr. Rainier plated round-nose traveling about 930 FPS. Nothing much to brag about but it works very well. 180 gr. bullets form either a S&W 40 or 357 mag. don't do quite as well even though they are both clocking 1150 and 1200 respectively. I too recommend the heaviest bullet possible, 148 gr. or so. Remember, this is why .38's and 9mm. are given the advantage of being moved back closer to the rear of the table. Heck, If I could hit 5 pins with 6 shots consistently, I'd use my Supper Blackhawk (44) and my 300 gr. cast flat nose, loaded down some to tame recoil. May load some up as a test for the next meet. Wish I got an advantage for using a single action.

06-09-2008	#37 (permalink)
NEOCON Plinker Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Warrick county Posts: 195	There was a pin shoot at WSSC on sunday I didn't find out until it was too late. I will let you know when the next one is Bigum.

07-01-2008	#38 (permalink)
rabbit Plinker Join Date: May 2008 Location: Southern Indiana Posts: 35	When we had matches here I used a .41 mag loaded with 8 grains of sr 4756 and a 210 grain bullet. Worked great!