Bowling pin gun

[massad ayoob]

True dat.

Rich Davis gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, "He stands behind his product."

 

[Magnumite]

Most pin shoots, when you can find them, have separate revolver and auto classes. Unlimited (open class) usually mix revolvers and autos together. This is because if you need more ammo than what was in the gun to start you are behind the curve.

massad ayoob, I've read your articles. Always informative.

 

[plymouthrr1985]

My Redhawk in .44 magnum with 300 grain Hornadys works wonders on bowling pins!

 

[Gunfighter123]

Hey Plymouth --- with that combo , a few hits and you turn those Pins into chopsticks and toothpicks

 

[BullRunBear]

Came to this thread late but there's a lot of good information.

Our local gun club is having its first bowling pin shoot next month. I figured to use the Ruger Mk II heavy barrel for the rimfire phase. For the centerfire, I thought to use a S&W model 29 with 6" barrel loaded with 44 specials, 240 gr. LSWC. I would have to check my notes for the load but it clocked at about 900 FPS. It's comfortable and pretty accurate in the model 29.

Any idea if this would do the job on the pins (assuming I do my part)?

My other 40 caliber handguns are all single action revolvers, so they are out from a time point of view.

Another possibility: I have a Ruger Redhawk in 357 mag. with the 7.5 inch barrel. Would a 158 gr hard cast SWC be adequate, say at 1,100 fps?

Jeff

 

[Magnumite]

That 240@900fps load is plenty for pins. That is a 216 power factor. That is my general pin load also. Tonight I used a 240@1050 fps load for a local pin match.

 

[davezander]

Smith and Wesson Model 610 ,10mm, 6" barrel.
Worked for me at second chance in the Winchester shoot off in 1998, last year of second chance. Won 3 rd place and $1000 and a winchester hat. I had to borrow a buddies gun as the firing pin broke off my 610 in a early round causing a loss. you had to loose 2 rounds to be eliminated in the man on manshoot-off. That was 14 years ago.Use 180 grain hollow points at 1200 fps, a 216 power factor. Massad Ayoob actually wrote a magazine article on the 10 mm is it dead? He mentioned me in the article as I beat a number of guys shooting semi auto guns, pretty cool, I'll never forget those days. I shot 10,000 rounds in 3 months time getting ready and shooting second chance. All the big name shooters were there too, Jerry Miculik, Jerry Barnhart, Massad Ayoob, even Ted Nugent was there one of the days. the shoot was like a week long up in Central Lake Michigan. Also there were not 5 pins lined up in a row, we shot 2 tier tables, one pin in upper left corner on the top tier, 3 across the bottom tier, and the fifth on the upper tier right hand corner so you kind of shot in a U type movement. Saw Jerry Miculik do 8 pins with the 6 shot 625 in about 6.5 seconds , with a reload of course.What a blast, miss those days

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Another vote for Dan Wesson in .357 and have a barrel/shroud set ported for fun.

 

[gbw]

Way back when we used to shoot pins and I used a Smith M57 6" .41 Mag., heavy cast lead bullets at 1000fps, give or take. I still have it, and a couple other 57s.

Not the most competitive gun, but it worked. Cleared the pins off the table cleanly and rarely split them - our rule was that if it split, you had to clear the biggest piece from the table!

5 pins, 6 rounds. Be accurate. Hurry. Sure was fun.

 

[earplug]

$600 plan

I'd go with a used S&W 629. Plenty on the used market and with the right reload it will work just fine.
A action job would help and it won't break the bank.