Shooting Bowling Pins

[Chantry]

I shot bowling pins well before I started cowboy:

 

Safety:

SASS minimum safe distance is TOO close for bowling pins, they really need to be 10-12 yards away and at roughly the same height as the shooter.

 

NO BIRDSHOT EVER! Bowling pins require buckshot, #4 buck and up is fine.

 

A 45 acp with a 230gr bullet at 830 fps works fairly well on new or lightly used pins on particle board table. The more the pins get shot up, the less they move and the less they roll. Bullet weight is more important then velocity and full .357 loads have always been marginal at the club I shot at.

 

When they first started they were using plywood tables and not rotating pins out frequently. A shot up pin on a shot up plywood table has kind of a velcro effect and knocked over pins would just sit there as people shot at them.

 

I ended up using a 10.5" Super Blackhawk pushing a 200gr JHP at 1770 fps (using a upper end load of H110). With a solid hit, the bullet stayed in the pin and lofted it about 10 feet back without the pin ever touching the table. The crowd really enjoyed watching the pins arc through the air.