Posted: 12/13/2025 5:18:10 PM EDT
[Last Edit: SG55xdude][Edited]
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It will be my first time. I know its set at 10 yards. There are different divisions for iron sight vs optics with both pistols and revolvers. There is a PCC division. I only have one pistol setup with an optic. I have a Beretta 92X Performance that Langdon Tactical did their trigger work on and milled it for an optic plate. So I will use that for a pistol with optics. I will use a 1911 for iron sights. I will use a 44 Magnum revolver with coated 240 gr SWC at 900 FPS. I didn't get a lot of info but the guy said there is strategy. He said the first rounds shoot the pins the upper corner to spin them off the table. He said later rounds they get fatter and heavier and require a direct center hit. With 9mm I have loads ranging from 1160 FPS up to 1260 FPS with 115gr bullets. The 1260 FPS load is over max and is intended for my full auto open bolt SMG. I have no pressure signs with my berretta though. Will having 100 FPS more make a huge difference? I also have 147gr ammo loaded for both pistol and SMG which SMG is over max load. It has no pressure signs. I do have not velocity info on hand right now. My kids are out back playing or I would go test. |
| Used to shoot pins indoors back in the 90's. Was a real eye opener for me to see how unpredictable hits from .40 S&W were on the pins. Flat faced ammo fared much better than round nose, thankfully most ammo for the caliber back then was some sort of flat faced FMJ. Was a lot of fun but I was never able to be consistent with it. Had I continued I would have moved to .45 for sure. |
Lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way!
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Good timing. The first indoor pin shoot of the season was this past weekend. I have shot pins at a few different clubs around the country, and it seems like they are all set up just a little bit different. Which makes sense, as there is no large organization with a common rulebook. Some just set pins on a sawhorse and anything including a .22LR can knock them off. Others use a flat table of varying depth, and others still use an upper "shelf" at either end of the table. Most run 5 pins per table, but some do 8 pins or more. Some require a reload between first & last shot. Others have magazine / cylinder limits (usually no more than 8 rounds). Some allow a second gun in lieu of a reload (really only an advantage with revolvers). They use a relatively shallow table where I shoot now. Timer stops when the last pin hits the floor, not just when it's knocked over. The table is maybe 3-feet deep, and pins are set a foot back from the front for "major" calibers (.45 ACP, .44 mag, 10mm, .357 Mag. etc). So you have to push the pins two feet to clear the table. They set the pins maybe 9 inches from rear of the table for "minor" calibers (9mm, .38 Spl.), and right on the back edge for .22 and all carbine classes, including full-auto. I guess one could claim either Major or Minor for .40 S&W. At this venue, it will work fine for either. Other clubs I've shot at used a 4-foot deep table. As you noted, pins tend to get heavy and lumpy. A less-than-perfect hit will knock them over, and then you have to keep hitting them to push them off the table, while they are not inclined to roll very well due to the lumps of bullets just under the jacket. They usually keep shooting the pins until they won't stand (damage to the base) or they are too torn up. I believe a standard bowling pin weighs 3 lb. 8 oz. I have heard of pins getting to 8 or 9 pounds from all the lead. Most clubs score by time. But the first club I shot pins at was a straight up man-on-man competition. That has to be the most difficult on a mental level, as you can hear how fast the other guy is shooting and are tempted to glance over to see how many pins he has remaining. Meaning you aren't focusing on your pins, and will likely lose. As for ammo, I find heavy & slow generally works better than light and fast. This is especially true when the pins start getting heavy. As kymarkh notes, a flat point tends to "grab" the pin better than a RN bullet. HP bullets do well here also. There have been a handful of bullets designed over the years specifically for bowling pins. The toothy "pin grabber" comes to mind. Also the 230 grain .357 bullets, affectionately referred to as "Lincoln logs". These were usually loaded in .38 Spl. cases due to their excessive length. Standard 230 grain .45 ACP seems to be about the right balance of weight, power, and recoil. Full-house .44 Mag is a bit too much. It takes the pins off well, but the excessive recoil slows you down too much between shots. A heavy .44 Spl. load is also about right. Or that was the advice I received from guys who were a lot more into it. For your 9mm, I'd recommend 147 gr. bullets loaded toward the top end. On the somewhat shallow tables where I shoot now, I run .45 (Colt or ACP) or .44 Mag. with 200 to 250 gr. bullets as appropriate at around 700-800 fps. No problems. 9mm can be anything reasonable. Shooting pins really helped me learn the importance of first focusing on the front sight (even though you want to focus on the pin), followed by good trigger control. Get those right and everything else comes together just fine. |
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Here are a couple videos for encouragement. And yes, for scoring it's the combined time of the best two tables. So you get to throw out your worst time.  Bowling Pin Shoot - Desert Eagle L5 and S&W M25  FNX45-Tactical: Bowling Pin Shoot  Uzi .22 Bowling Pin shoot |
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I have a shitload of 9mm loaded. All of it loaded with HP38 because I had 50lbs at one point. Down to 10lbs. My hottest 115gr is over max but it does fine in my beretta at 1260fps which is a little over 405 KE ft-lbs. My 147gr ammo is 958 fps through my beretta which is right at 300 KE ft-lbs Is the 147gr still preferable even though it's 100 KE ft-lbs less? |
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Originally Posted By SG55xdude: I have a shitload of 9mm loaded. All of it loaded with HP38 because I had 50lbs at one point. Down to 10lbs. My hottest 115gr is over max but it does fine in my beretta at 1260fps which is a little over 405 KE ft-lbs. My 147gr ammo is 958 fps through my beretta which is right at 300 KE ft-lbs Is the 147gr still preferable even though it's 100 KE ft-lbs less? KE is one measure, but momentum seems to be a better predictor here. That is just M*V. Or go with Power Factor, which is how some shooting sports measure momentum. (M*V)/1000 Your 115 load produces a PF of 145, while your 147 load is 140PF. So the two might perform pretty similarly to each other. If you have deep tables and heavy pins, either may struggle if you don’t hit right in the center of the pin. For reference, my .44 Mag or .45 Colt pin load is somewhere around 195 PF. If this is your first pin shoot, just show up and have fun. Maybe try a round with 115 gr. bullets and 147s the next and see what you think. |
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Wow, I certainly wish someone would put together something like that near me. Back in the early 90s I used to shoot them at some place in Virginia Beach. I shot a .357 with 158 grain Keith style bullets. There were two really good guys that stood out, one of them shot a 1911 with semi wad cutters, and the other guy had a Smith .44 special. I don't remember what ammo he used. The most challenging course of fire, we had to stand on a big ass log so you didn't get a really good solid footing. It probably wasn't the safest, but it was fun. |
| My dad and a group of his friends shot bowling pins every Sunday afternoon. They would go up to the Second Chance shoot every year, and a couple of his friends were fast and would get their name in Soldier of Fortune. That all stopped when one of them lost a testicle from a ricochet. True story. |
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Well the GPS location for the club is not where the club is. I drove about 1.5 hrs there and and then another 1.5hrs back. Got up early to prep. The guy that ran the match I texted asking for basic information and he gave me that but never said an address. I assumed the location on Google maps was correct. I had to trade shifts to have the day off. Next month it's not possible. Probably just going to say fuck it at this point. I just wanted to shoot with other people doing something. It just never pans out. We had to take my adult schizophrenic son to the Psychiatric hospital last night so i barely got sleep. So today sucked. Sorry for no updates. I have no idea when I could do it again. |