Bowling pins with revolvers

[pmer]

I've been having some fun bowling pin shooting at an indoor range and been trying my 625 JM S&W. I started out with that PT 1911 but the revolver has been a blast.

I was wondering how people hold their double action revolvers when shooting them in DA mode? And I'm wondering whats proper too. My best groups seem to be holding pretty high on the grip frame and not pulling the trigger too fast with no pause during the trigger pull. Trigger arm is straight with my sighting eye close to the trigger arm.

Thanks, Phil

[Moonie]

Been a lifetime ago since I shot bowling pin comp with a 357, solid 2 hand grip, consistent squeeze of the trigger with no pause till it goes boom, next pin.

[scrapcan]

Same grip as I use on the 1911. The IPSC grip. Make syour thumb dirty with the revolver, but it works.

[jt1]

A high grip on the revolver, a smooth steady pull all the way thru. Work on developing a rhythm for the first five shots, if you have to clean up a mess do it last. While the gun is coming down out of recoil, you're moving to the next pin, not back the the shot you just fired.

Remember this is mostly an accuracy game, not a speed one. To clear a pin off the table, you only have about a 2"x2" sweet spot to hit.

To improve your accuracy, cut the tops off of shot up practice pins, and shoot them just like regular pins, It will help out a lot.

Smooth...rhythm....accurate.

If you have a timer, work on getting your splits as consistent as possible, that's a good indication of your smoothness.

John

[Phat Man Mike]

I shot one time with my .38 it was a blast! I was the slowest person but I had fun!! being that said it was and is fun to shoot pin's :)

[pmer]

I went out once with the 625. On my first table I left 8 pins standing, and shot 8 pins off of the second table. And for the third one I think I had 4 pins left.

Funny thing this morning, shooting at a 2" dot at home I had a better DA group than I've seen with the 1911. Right after that I saw a loose screw for the rear sight. LOL Not too big of a deal, I just have to re-do my DA shooting zero again.

[Dobetown]

Lots of good fun, does the 2nd Chance shoot still exist in some form?

[DGV]

The last second chance was in 1998. I was there for 4 days and it was a BLAST!

[MtGun44]

Once you commit to the trigger pull, keep the finger moving at a constant velocity,
do not try to sneak up on the break by adjusting the speed. Smooth, continuous,
constant velocity trigger pull right thru to the break. With practice (dry fire is free and
extremely helpuful) you will find that you can hold a really good group.

Pins have a 2" wide by about 2.5" tall sweet spot where they will move straight back,
right off the table. Put the front sight there and pull smoothly through. Slower is
faster; believe it. I won a couple of guns in the old days, but I'd be too slow to
compete today.

Also, don't use RN boolits, you need a flat point to grab the pin rather than deflect
like the RNs will do.

Bill

[bhn22]

You cannot miss fast enough to win a pin match. Concentrate on making one shot per pin and as familiarity increases, so will your speed.

[HEAD0001]

I shot alot of pins with a modified Model 10. I shot wad cutters. Wad cutters did a great job knocking the pins off the table.

When sighting make sure your sights are set about 4" to 5" high. That way you aim for the neck of the pin. But you hit the pin in the meaty part. Your eye will attract faster to the thinner neck. And it is easier to aim at the thinner neck. This aim allows you better center mass shots on the pin. And that is what it takes to clear the table. Tom.

[redneckdan]

It is probably the wrong way to do it but I actually shot my 629 as a single action when the MTU club had informal pin matches. As the gun was recoiling I would grab the hammer with my off hand thumb, the gun would come down on target with the hammer cocked and just a little tickle would launch the pin off the table. Probably helped that the 429421 over 20gr of H110 pretty well distracted whoever was shooting next to me....[smilie=f:

[bobthenailer]

High grip , firm hold , to shoot your best times you will have to pratice your double action rythem/ timing
when you have it down you will actually be pulling the trigger when the gun is the reciol / recovery mode and the trigger will break when the sight meet the pin .
Pratice coming off the table and shooting the first pin alot!!! it is the critical to get this pin on the first shot ! as it sets up all the fowlowing shots
My personal best for 5 pins with a unlimted revolver/ comp & red dot, is 2.56 seconds

[pmer]

Wow, there is a lot good info here, I'm glad I asked the question. I am still working on a big box of 185 JHP. The pin shoot I'm in is more informal, they can use 10 round mags and they have them on 2X6's

I do have some 452424 ACWW. Would that be to much bullet?

[Tom-ADC]

I tried those once with my Browning Hi Power 147 gr +P+ but while I could knock them over I couldn't take them off the table, but the old 1911 worked fine.
Sorry for the hijack..:kidding:

[pmer]

Yep their using 40's, 9 mm and even .22's. But you have to right on to tip the pins over with the 22.

[MtGun44]

Heavy boolit, slow, hit the sweet spot. 9mms can work but the sweet spot is smaller
and the time to walk off the table is longer. You have to balance enough OOMPF to
push the pin smartly back and off and recoil recovery time. As said - high grip helps
reduce muzzle flip, faster on target. Slow down until you hit each pin perfectly and
it moves straight back and off the table. Once you are doing that, start increasing
the tempo without loosing the accy. Not easy. ;-) See my signature line.
Have fun and be safe.

.44 and .45 in the 250gr range at 800-900 fps seems to work really well with a SWC
or FP shape. Light smaller cal JHPs at high velocity will work but seem to be a lot
harder to get the pin to move straight back and smartly off of the table.

Bill

[frank505]

475 with a 405 Keith @ 1200 will clear them well......................

[HammerMTB]

Wow, there is a lot good info here, I'm glad I asked the question. I am still working on a big box of 185 JHP. The pin shoot I'm in is more informal, they can use 10 round mags and they have them on 2X6's

I do have some 452424 ACWW. Would that be to much bullet?

Wow! You got a cake shoot!
We shoot 'em from a 4 foot wide table, and we haveta knock 'em clear off the table!
Way back when I was shooting more and moving faster, I shot a personal best of 2.5 seconds. Don't think I've ever topped that, tho we don't run a timer any more, just mano-a-mano 'til only one is left.
I use a .40 on 'em now, and it will do fine, if I do my part and hit the sweet spot. Because our tables are low, I use a low stance so I get the boolit to send the pin straight back and not too much down. Then the slightly left or right hits don't tend so much to fall on the table and spin.
I should get a bunch of .45 Colt loaded and shoot 'em up wheelgun style again. Sounds fun!

Oh, and there ain't "too much boolit" for a pin shoot 8-)

[bhn22]

2X6s ???!!!!!!!!!! Use a .22 rimfire. Our pin tables are made from 4X8 sheets of plywood.

[pmer]

2X6s ???!!!!!!!!!! Use a .22 rimfire. Our pin tables are made from 4X8 sheets of plywood.

Sorry I'll 'splain the setup better. They set up ten pins in two or three rows on a table. More like two or three shelves per table in which to set the pins on. And they sit on 2 X 6's. They have a shot timer and you sometimes can get lucky and knock one or two extra pins depending on how they fall.

A couple of .22 shooters are doing pretty good. I could use my Buckmark .22 but I'd rather use the 45 acp and reloading the gun is part of the fun too. This way if I come across a pin shoot that uses the 4 X 8 table I'll be better prepaired knock em off.

[imashooter2]

Here's Jerry's advice. Some say he is a fair to middlin' revolver shooter...

http://www.myoutdoortv.com/shooting/shooting-usa/jerry-miculek-revolver-grip

[bhn22]

Holy Smoke! His grip style makes a big difference for me. I tried dry firing a little bit with my 686, and a lot of my front sight wiggle disappeared. I need to work with this more. My original grip was pretty much what Jerry showed with the 500.

[Japlmg]

Many years ago (20 or so years ago) at the Stennis Space Center in Southern Mississippi, the base club held Bowling Pin Shoots every month.
We had three steel tables, six bowling pins were on each table. Distance was 7 yards (21 feet). You started with six cartridges in the handgun, revolver or semi-auto; with 18 more cartridges available in speed loaders or clips. A stop watch started when the shooter fired the first shot, and stopped when either the 24th shot had been fired or the last pin had left the table. You had three seconds added to your time for each pin left on the table after firing 24 shots. Knocking the pin over did not count, you had to knock it off the table.
The smallest revolver cartridge permitted was 357 Magnum, and the smallest semi-auto cartridge permitted was 38 Super. The most common revolver cartridges wer 45 Colt and 44 Magnum. The most common semi-auto cartridges were 40 S&W and 45 ACP. We did not permit 38 Special or 9mm Luger, as the bullets would often bounce back off the bowling pins.
After much practice, I could clear the tables in 25 seconds, and averaged about 20 shots to do so. I thought I was real good, until we had some really good bowling pin shooters come to our matches. They could clear the tables in 15 seconds or less.
We did the pin shoots for years, until the availability of pins dried up. Used bowling pins are hard to come by today.
Gregg

[imashooter2]

I thought I was real good, until we had some really good bowling pin shooters come to our matches.

I often say the same thing. I used to think I was pretty good... Until I shot competition with folks that really were good.

[bhn22]

At our last match, I got smoked in the semi-auto match by a guy with a comp'd 45 ACP with a red dot. It was pathetic, after he finished, I just cleared my gun & showed clear. There was nothing more to prove. I left two unmolested pins standing. It seemed pointless to burn any more ammo. It took all my self control to not run amok with the Brownells catalog the next day and join the equipment race. The guy was good, I have to give him that.

[Frank]

So what kind of range? 75 yds? Bowling pin sounds big. :coffeecom

[bhn22]

7 yards. You have about 3 seconds for 5 pins, if you expect to win. Funny thing, in our group, the 9mms take the most shots & have the slowest times. I've seen people drain 2 hi-caps & still win. I asked to shoot a 38 Spl revolver & wadcutters against the 9s, but they wouldn't let me.

[Frank]

bhn22:
7 yards. You have about 3 seconds for 5 pins, if you expect to win.
Thanks for explaining.

[pmer]

Here's Jerry's advice. Some say he is a fair to middlin' revolver shooter...

http://www.myoutdoortv.com/shooting/shooting-usa/jerry-miculek-revolver-grip

Thanks for sharing this. He sure makes it look easy! His J frame hold; I tried that with a single action and that really helped too.

[HammerMTB]

7 yards. You have about 3 seconds for 5 pins, if you expect to win. Funny thing, in our group, the 9mms take the most shots & have the slowest times. I've seen people drain 2 hi-caps & still win. I asked to shoot a 38 Spl revolver & wadcutters against the 9s, but they wouldn't let me.

I got hit right between the eyes with a .38 slug that ricocheted off a pin last year. Set me bleeding pretty good. While I was trying to stop the blood, another shooter stooped over and picked up the slug. I keep it as a memento.
Low speed lead slugs can bounce off pins, esp when they don't hit centered.
Our pin motto "You can't miss fast enough to win"

[pmer]

I've noticed bounce backs too. I used to have a thick steel plate leaning against a wood pile and would get 230 FMJ bouncing back. I made up a swinging plate and that helped.

30-06 AP has trouble with 1 inch plate too, I have the carbide insert that bounced and hit a combine that was behind me.

[Artful]

Bowling Pins want a bullet that will grab onto the plastic coating like this one.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=98344
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i80/swedenelson/1111-111-ALLSIZESSP.jpg

[HammerMTB]

Bowling Pins want a bullet that will grab onto the plastic coating like this one.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=98344
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i80/swedenelson/1111-111-ALLSIZESSP.jpg


Dog-gone! Now I haveta have another mold! I like the looks of those!

[Dobetown]

Those pointy noses look a lot like Deanl Grinnells copy of the Arcane bullets.

[Artful]

Yep that's what started it we had some previous group buys in 35 and 44 but no 45 so I wanted a 45 and Blammer took it over and evolved it to multiple caliber.

[HammerMTB]

I shot a buncha pins yesterday. We shoot pin tops with .22's, and most of it was those. But we got out the CFs for a while, and I brought my 4" RH .45 Colt. My load is a 255grRNFP @ 950FPS. I don't think of it as hot, but I guess it is warmer than original .45 Colt.
Just bringing a wheelgun to the line gets some attention. Knocking pins clear back to the berm brings more...
It was fun to revisit the old ways of doing things. The Glock is certainly faster to repeat shots, but it doesn't knock pins off the table the same way.... :redneck:

[Swede44mag]

I shot a 10.5" 44mag SS Ruger Super Black Hawk using Lee wadcutter mold. If I remember correctly It was loaded with 24 grs 2400. Would knock the pin off the table easly but not very fast.

MORE POWER

[Phat Man Mike]

we had one person shooting a 41 mag he killed every pin he shot! :(

[Artful]

Went to a pin shoot and someone turned up a a hot loaded 44 mag (automag or desert eagle? don't remember which) - must have taken a lot of the recoil out as ran the table very fast and split most of the pins. It was impressive they just flew straiight back then fell down to the ground - no rolling around for him.

[MtGun44]

I have used an Automag .44 AMP for pins. Very effective, as you said, but too slow in
recoil recovery. I switched to .45 ACP Gold Cup with 255 TC and won a couple of
guns, many years ago. My times were great then, would be way slow by today's
standards.

Bill

[NickSS]

I used to use a 44 mag red hawk for pin shoots at my club. I never had a problem with pins leaving the table. The fastest time to clean the table of five pins that we use at my club is currently held by one of our CAS shooters who used a Colt SSA in 45 colt. He did it in 2.23 seconds. I thought that was pretty good.

[bobthenailer]

Wow ! you guys are posting some pretty impressive times for shooting bowling pins ! apparently there must be alot of different sanerios for shooting and timing the game.
When i shot them on a simi regular basis we used the second chance rules! range 7 yards, we had 2 rows of pins, 3 on the bottom and 2 on the top row, the pins were set 12 inches from the front of a 4 foot wide table , the pins had to go all the way off the table to score a hit. the timing was started from the buzzer sound you had to bring up the loaded gun that was allready in your hand up from a table to your first pin , so the time from the buzzer went off until your first shot was included in your time.
as posted my best times ever with unlimted revolver was 2.56 seconds .
for a unlimted auto my best time is 2.22 seconds
i shot with a shooter who could on occasion go under 1.99 seconds with a unlimted auto