Gun suggestions for bowling pin shoot?

[AllenM]

I have never done bowling pin before but I would like to try it.
I have various caliber pistols. Ruled out the 380 and 9mm. That leaves me with either .40, 45 acp or 44 mag. I assume the 44 mag would be best but I have heard of some downloading them to help with recoil.
Any Suggestions? Would 45 acp work ok?

 

[browndog2]

Either 45 or 44 should work well.
45acp needs to be a little on the warm side for best results.
44 magnum is overkill, so its often downloaded some to reduce recovery time after recoil.
First time out go with the 45 acp. Shooting Pins is addictive, so you can try the others next time out.

 

[AllenM]

Sounds good. I have never shot my 44 mag anyway and would need to practice up.

Stupid dog avitar is driving me nuts....but I like it

 

[bwframe]

I'd love to get back into it too. I've gotta get some practice in though.

OK, glory days here. 20+ years ago I won a small, moderately informal, match the local range had set up.
I took a noticeably different approach to what the others did. They were loading heavy bullets with heavy charges. One guy even cracked the frame of his Gold Cup. I was going for accuracy and recovery. I believe my load was a 200gr lead round nose pushed with 4.6gr Bullseye.

 

[Barry in IN]

I haven't shot pins in at least 10 years, but the 45 was a pretty good balance of power and controllabilty. I would start with plain old 230 grain bullets. I always used JHPs because I thought they might "bite" rather than slide off on a glancing hit, but don't know if that was worth even thinking about.

Part of the fun is finding the right balance of control and power. My first time out, I was going too much for "control" and didn't have enough "power". I shot a S&W 45 Colt with light loaded 200 grain cast bullets. Close, but not really enough. It would do it, but I had to hit them juuuust right.
Next time, I used a 45ACP shooting 230s at about the same speed, and it went a lot better. It's interesting how the bullets of the same diameter, traveling about the same speed, but 30 grains heavier, can make that much difference.

I never used a .44 Mag, but did use a .44 AutoMag, which is ballistically about the same. It takes the pins and throws them, and control was a lot better than with any .44 Mag revolver I've shot. I still couldn't shoot it anywhere near as fast as a 45.
Besides, I was loading a filthy burning powder and the gun required a lot of oil. The unburned powder granules mixed with the oil to form a paste that led to malfunctioning after about three tables of pins.

More gun was nice to have later in the match when the pins started to get heavy from the bullets in them.

I used a .44 Spl once, loaded with 240 cast SWCs at about 850 fps, and it did OK.

I used a .357 some, but with 180 grain bullets. Not bad.
I saw a guy use fast 125 grain .357 loads once, and they tended to just blow out the back of the pins. Generally speaking, if it's a choice of a heavy bullet at moderate speed, or a light bullet at high speed: Take the heavy bullet.

 

[epsylum]

Generally speaking, if it's a choice of a heavy bullet at moderate speed, or a light bullet at high speed: Take the heavy bullet.

That has been my finding as well.

 

[Lock n Load]

Speaking of .45acp, does anyone remember the "pin grabber" bullets? They looked like a "breacher barrel". Im sure they would be expensive now adays.....

 

[jimbo-indy]

My favorate is 45ACP with 230 gr. round nose (Rainier plated) pushed to around 850 FPS, works well if you do your part. My 357 load is much warmer to do the same job, 158 Gr. flatpoints @ about 1250 FPS. Again, big bullets at moderate velocity beats light and fast. It's a momentum thing, not kenetic energy. Tried a CZ52, just for fun, 95 gr. ball at about 1500 fps. Went completely through the pin and barely knowked it over. So much for this velocity thing.

 

[epsylum]

It's a momentum thing, not kenetic energy.

+1

BTW

KE = 1/2 M * V^2 (one half mass times velocity squared)
Momentum = M*V (just mass times velocity)

 

[pinhead56]

hmm, somehow I missed this thread previously... right up my alley

I shoot at MCF&G matches with 45 acp 230 grain rainier plated bullets. To really do the job I wouldn't go any less than 357 magnum. Anything 40+ is reasonable. Some guys are shooting 9mm and 38 spl, but the pins have to be moved to the middle of the table. If you hit it square with the 45, you clear it off the table, no problem. The main thing is to hit the pin solidly, otherwise you just knock it over and then it's hell to kick off the table. It always seems to spin and "point" at you so you have a little 3-4 inch target. Just blast it off the table.

 

[Bigum1969]

I've never seen a bowling pin shot before. Is the object to shoot as many pins as possible in the shortest amount of time?

 

[AllenM]

well cool I will be using 45 ACP but right now I have a bunch of 230 gr hollow points loaded up I planned on using.
Seems like those should work also....I hope. It's at the next pin shoot at MCF&G that I hope to do my first shoot.

hmm, somehow I missed this thread previously... right up my alley

I shoot at MCF&G matches with 45 acp 230 grain rainier plated bullets. To really do the job I wouldn't go any less than 357 magnum. Anything 40+ is reasonable. Some guys are shooting 9mm and 38 spl, but the pins have to be moved to the middle of the table. If you hit it square with the 45, you clear it off the table, no problem. The main thing is to hit the pin solidly, otherwise you just knock it over and then it's hell to kick off the table. It always seems to spin and "point" at you so you have a little 3-4 inch target. Just blast it off the table.

 

[epsylum]

I've never seen a bowling pin shot before. Is the object to shoot as many pins as possible in the shortest amount of time?

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.

 

[Barry in IN]

That man-on-man part adds a lot to it, I think.
You learn to just worry about your own shooting, but at first you can't help but think about how the other guy is doing. It doesn't help.

 

[epsylum]

That man-on-man part adds a lot to it, I think.
You learn to just worry about your own shooting, but at first you can't help but think about how the other guy is doing. It doesn't help.

+1

I do much better when I just ignore the other guy.

 

[Mr. Mysterious]

Any other autoloader rounds work for bowling pins? Maybe .40 or .357SIG.

 

[jimbo-indy]

I sometimes use a fairly warm load in a .40. 180 gr. Rainier flatpoint over a bunch of Longshot, crono's arount 1200 FPS. Works well on pins. Again, you want a big heavy bullet. .357 Sig is trending to the high velocity/low mass group which don't seem to perform. Thats why 45's, and 44's are popular with 40's right behind. 9mm, 38 spl and such just don't have the momentum. The trick, with any bullet is to hit the vertical centerline in the fat part of the pin. Do that with a proper bullet and the pin will go straight back, off the table. Miss your mark with any gun and it will fall over and spin. This makes your follow up shot harder in that you may have a smaller target and pins on their side went to roll in circles, not straight back.
Learn to ignore the other shooter, focus on your sight picture and trigger control. The Range Officer will let you know when it's over. Rushing leads to jerking the trigger. Smooth and accurate will beat fast and jerky every time.
Hope to see you at the next MCFG pin shoot, it's really a fun time and you get to use the time waiting for yur turn to talk to others and see their equipment.

 

[Bigum1969]

I wonder how a hot loaded 10mm would do? This sounds like a lot of fun.

 

[epsylum]

I wonder how a hot loaded 10mm would do? This sounds like a lot of fun.

Usually pretty well.

One member's .357mag Coonan does a number on those pins.

 

[Mr. Mysterious]

Bowling pins might be a good excuse to get a .50AE