Posted: 7/19/2007 7:55:12 AM EDT
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Last weekend, I drove up to Ripley, TN to participate in their yearly bowling pin match. It's the only pin match around here that I know of. This is my third or fourth year doing it and it's always a lot of fun. It's about as informal as you can get, consisting mostly of good ol' boys and the occasional handgun aficionado / sometimes-competitive-shooter like myself. The range really isn't one, consisting of little more than a clearing in the woods with an embankment to shoot toward. For those new to pin matches: they set up five pins, placing them at the front edge of a plywood table about 3' deep and 4' high. The shooter stands maybe 25 feet away, with his gun in the low ready position. The idea is to knock all the pins off the table within 30 seconds. Of course, this is tougher than it sounds, because sometimes you'll just knock the pins over, and subsequent hits will just spin them around without moving them. You get four chances at the pins, then they throw away your slowest stage for scoring purposes. As pin matches go, this one's pretty easy. You can also shoot as many guns as you want, at $10 a stage. A couple guys shot up to four guns. The best gun to use is one in a caliber heavy enough to take the pin off the table with a solid hit, while being controllable enough for fast follow-up shots and having enough capacity to do it in one mag, because if you reload, you're screwed, time-wise. This year, most guys were shooting a Glock, with a couple SIGs, XDs, and 1911s of varying marque. There is a revolver class that's scored separately, and I saw a lot of Ruger .44 Redhawks and Blackhawks. A couple guys had two revolvers, using one as a New York reload. The semi-autos were mostly in 9mm, .40, .45, and 10mm. I was shooting a couple Strayer-Voigts in .40. The guy who usually wins this match was shooting a comped Colt 1911 in .45, shooting SWCs. He had a bad malfunction in one of the early stages that locked up the gun -- it was some sort of misfeed that put a huge dent in the upcoming round. One fellow had a Hi-Point 9mm that he did horribly with. I don't think he cleared the table once. Another had a Glock 17 or 19 with a (cringe) USA 33rd magazine. He adopts the spray and pray technique on most stages with execrable results. This time he must've left out the "pray" portion, because his magazine shit the bed in the middle of the stage -- not that it would've made any difference, as he only cleared the table once even when it was working. This same shooter had a magnum revolver he was shooting, but he'd failed to properly crimp the bullets, and after a couple of shots, they invariably backed out and locked up his cylinder. Not the best day for Mr. Spray and Pray. Then there was Mr. Six-Shooter, a grizzled dude with a Ruger Vaquero .45 Colt, complete with hand tooled Mexican gunbelt. After his six shots, he was done. He didn't even attempt to reload; at any rate, he didn't do too well, overall. One of my buddies was shooting a Kimber Classic Target, but he was using my ammo and had no idea where he was hitting during the first couple stages. After he finally got dialed in, he did OK but needed multiple reloads to clear the table. My other buddy was using an XD subcompact in .40. He was hitting the pins okay, but the wimpy Remington ammo was just moving the pins around. It proved to be his worst year yet. I was shooting 180 grain reloads that were doing about 920 fps. They didn't take the pins off as smartly as last year, when I was shooting 155gr bullets around 1100 fps. Still, I managed to take the award for overall best time as well as fastest single stage. The SVs did admirably, with no stumbles at all. I'd brought an EAA Witness in .45 for backup, but didn't need it. I'd like to get a revolver that will compete for next year. I have a couple .357s but this really calls for a big bore. Right now I'm leaning toward a pair of Redhawks. Each wheelgun shooter, without fail, cocked their hammers for every shot. This oughta make them pretty easy to beat, with a decent trigger job. Taken overall, it was a fun match with no frustrations for me, weather not too hot, and a couple of friends to talk to while waiting. |
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We used to have a pin match every Tuesday night at a local indoor range. It was man-on-man double elimination, first to clear their table wins. After 2 losses you were out. If we had any revolvers shooting, autos could only load 6 rounds in a mag. No ported barrels, comps or optics. 1st, 2nd and 3rd got a trophy every match. After you had won 1st place twice, you got handicapped and had to load only 4 in your mag, forcing a reload. The last match of night was a money match, raceguns, optics, compensators, anything goes. The winner took the pot for that match. One Tuesday a month was 22 night. They put cut-off bowling pin heads on the back edge of the table. 22 rimfire pistols only. Man, that was the most fun shooting I have ever had. We had people driving over 100 miles one way every Tuesday night to shoot. The range got sold and the new owners stopped the pin shoots. I never go there anymore. Gringop |
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SA recolvers aren't known for their pin point accuracy, IMO. The guys that won the matches I've shot in where mostly using semi's in a .40 or .45acp caliber. For those who have never done a pin match, these things are a LOT of fun. One can usually score some pins from a local bowling alley that are split or no longer serviceable. 
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Like others a local range here used to have pin matches on Wed nights. They might only draw 20-30 shooters but most every one shot at least 4 times. After awhile you could get in the 'zone' and clear a 5 pin table in less than 3 seconds, which was a MAJOR rush. Always fun to watch the cocky new shooters get in there and blaze away. Even more fun to watch the 'old-timers' get in there and have a REALLY bad day. It was all taken in fun though and everyone knew that no matter how much grief they got after a horrible run, they would have their chance when the next guy screwed up.  It made the range a LOT of money, though. Too bad after awhile they started screwing people out of prizes, it made people mad enough they stopped showing up and they soon terminated the pin matches. I need to build me a pin table out back and do my own personal pin match, it was always a lot of fun. |
But even losing a match is fun.|
I shot Second Chance in '78 and '79, up near Bellaire, MI. The wife and I very much enjoyed taking a week off and spending it up there (pre kids). I used either a Colt Gold Cup or Series 70, that had some reliability work done to it, with a S&W Mod. 57 as a back-up. "Flying ashtray" reloads were the order of the day. Practicing at home would result in catching one in the shins/legs once in a great while. My best time was 5.7 sec. That was a year or two after a kid from Fla. (14 I think) cleared a table in 4.2 sec. He had to stand on a log he was so short. The kid's dad was an Armorer for one of the Military branches so the story goes, and the boy had access to lots of guns/ammo. Davis would start us off with a Ruger Security Six w/ blanks. He caught the nearby woods on fire and shooting was suspended for a time until the fire was put out. On one string my rear sight pin (Gold Cup) popped out. Luckily there were 'smiths there who would do easy fixes for free. A lot of young 'smiths were there for several years running like Laughridge, Wilson etc., and gun writers such as Mass Ayoob. They were friendly and easily approachable. A plethora of guns and ammo were prizes, and Super Vel was a major sponsor. Richard Davis was a little "off plumb", but a good guy none-the-less. He would close his vest factory for the shoot and his employees would work as timers etc., two to a shooter each with a stop watch. On one particular string a twin sister of one of the timers (both cuties) was up in the stands with her 6 month old baby in her lap when a richocet hit her baby in the face just below her left eye. The shoot was stopped until all spectators had safety/shooting glasses on. Could have been a real trajedy, but the child came out of it with a strawberry, instead of a missing eye. I often recall the good times those shoots were and wish I could relive some of the "old days". Didn't mean to ramble on so long, just some memories of a by gone time.  |
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I remember years ago going to a pin match. Some guy showed up with a .44 mag, sure he could clear the table. He smashed a few and cleared a few, but the timer kept on running. He finally stopped and started yelling at the timekeeper. "Two pins are still on the table" was the answer. He yelled about them being on the ground. "No, you broke them and need to clear the pieces." was the answer. Never saw him use that gun again in a pin match. |
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I've shot at few matches. They are fun. Shooting under the stress of a timer is educational. Spray and pray does not work. You can't miss fast enough to win. Shooters with custom 1911s usually do the best. Not because the gun is so good, but because they've taken the time to really master the game. But when you overhear someone saying 'I just added a new competition bushing and upgraded springs'. That guy's gun is sure to fail. I've seen the single action cowboy shooters clear the table without reloading many times. If you can hit what you aim at all you need is 5 rounds. One thing you didn't mention is that if you shoot a 9mm they set the pins 1 foot further back. |
Oddly enough, I do have about a dozen or so pins in my storage shed for just such an occassion.................... I've talked with some of my fellow local shooters about doing an informal pin shoot, but we simply haven't made the leap yet. I'm thinking that a piece of cheap particle board on top of some sawhorses will work just fine for a table. As the board gets shot up, just slap down another section of board? |
Actually, Johnny Robbins was closer to 12 at the time. I've seen his 1976 record quoted at 3.9 sec. His dad, Jack Robbins, worked for the USAF at Elgin AFB. He tried unsuccessfully to get the US military to adopt his truncated cone bullet design for 9mm and .45 ACP. He later sold the design to Hornady. Jack was also responsible for the USAF's attempt to adopt the Beretta 92S, years before the Army came to the same conclusion with the improved 92F. |