ML Bowling Pins ?

[Old Salt]

I acquired 13 bowling pins the other day with the idea of using them for a PRB shoot.

I looked over the rules for modern bowling pin shoots and it doesn't fit ML unless a team of guys shoots the pins off the table.

Does anyone have an idea or has anyone ever seen a ML novelty shoot using bowling pins?

The only other idea I have is to hang them from a rope or chain at @ 75 yards.

Salt

 

[Hawkeye]

A club I shoot at sets the pins up just like at a bowling alley and you get two or if you are good three shots, just like bowling,get a strike with the first shot shoot again, etc score just like bowling.

Hawkeye

 

[token tory]

You could slow down the match somewhat. An expert shooter could do what? 3 rounds a minute. Just say there's a 4 minute time limit. :idunno:

Or maybe make it 2 cap 'n ball revolvers, or one with a spare cylinder should work. :rotf:

 

[GreyWhiskers]

Our club does a "Fort Shoot" with pins. We have about 40 pins, painted different colors. The "redcoats" are worth 1 point, the "indians" are worth 2 points and the "blue coats" are a minus 2 points if you happen to knock one down.

It's a timed, team event. 10 or 15 minutes for 2 or 3 shooters to hit as many targets as possible. Lots of pressure on the shooters and really fun for the spectators.

With only 13 pins you could make it a 2 man, 5 minute event. GW

 

[Old Salt]

Whiskers,

What ranges do you set the pins at?

The cap n' ball revolver idea could work just like a modern pin shoot. :thumbsup:

I don't have any ML handguns. :redface:

Thanks,

Salt

 

[colmoultrie]

Be really careful with revolvers! The coating on the pins can cause richochets, sometimes straight back. I've seen it happen at a cowboy match with a .45 Colt. One guy had a seemingly light load, and the bullet came straight back and hit him below the belt, so to speak.

Luckily, it had expended most of its energy, and it didn't penetrate, but he went down right away. Sort of funny in retrospect, but certainly not at the time! :shocked2:

Others may report having no problems, but this was not rumor. It happened at the Thumbbusters in Belmar, NJ, about 10-11 years ago now. I'd stick to rifles at 25 yards or more, but you decide for yourself. Was this a freak shot? Definitely, but it happened.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Be really careful with revolvers! The coating on the pins can cause richochets, sometimes straight back. I've seen it happen at a cowboy match with a .45 Colt. One guy had a seemingly light load, and the bullet came straight back and hit him below the belt, so to speak.

Luckily, it had expended most of its energy, and it didn't penetrate, but he went down right away. Sort of funny in retrospect, but certainly not at the time! :shocked2:

Others may report having no problems, but this was not rumor. It happened at the Thumbbusters in Belmar, NJ, about 10-11 years ago now. I'd stick to rifles at 25 yards or more, but you decide for yourself. Was this a freak shot? Definitely, but it happened.

I'm a member of the Club. The term you used (Thumbbusters) is what the CAS League calls itself. The Club is still at the Airport. Monmouth County Rifle & Pistol Club now has a Bowling Pin League that meets once a month. I participate with both revolver & .45 ACP. Pins get hard in the Winter, and I've had some .44 Spl's come back and hit the guy standing next to me. The cold weather makes the skin of the pins harder for the soft lead to penetrate...it has happened to me! But it only happens in the cold of Winter and only with flat pointed .44 Spl and .45 LC rounds. The .38's don't come back, whether they be LRN or jacketed reloads, so go figure?? I haven't shot my Walker at the pins yet. One of these days I'll do it just for laughs, when winning isn't an issue.

Dave

 

[GreyWhiskers]

Whiskers,

What ranges do you set the pins at?

The cap n' ball revolver idea could work just like a modern pin shoot. :thumbsup:

I don't have any ML handguns. :redface:

Thanks,

Salt

Our shoot is a rifle event. Distances are from 20 to 40 yards. Loading your rifle under pressure is part of the fun. Whenever there's a stopwatch running it's like somebody has a pitchfork in your rear. :shocked2: GW

 

[arcticap]

I think that a man against man or a simple timed event with some pins being set up at 50 yards or so would make for a fun and challenging event. It would involve quickness of loading as well as marksmanship.
If doing man on man, you can have some kind of double or triple elimation match where if you lose a number of matches you're out. Pairings would be made by random draw.
Then the fastest shooters are left to win the title at the end.
If it's stricly a timed event then run 2 or 3 rounds to allow folks to try to improve their timed score.
Or the times from 2 or 3 rounds can be cumulative and added together like the scores are in golf, or the final times in bobsledding, luge or the downhill/slalom skiing events during the winter Olympics.
You don't need to set up many pins, and be sure to have spares in case some get too damaged during the event to continue using them.

 

[Old Salt]

Articap,

Are you thinking knock the pins off a table (like modern pin shoots) or just knock the pins over?

Salt

 

[arcticap]

Just simply knocking over the pins by placing them far enough apart to not let 2 pins get easily knocked over with one shot.
The point is to make each round relatively quick if it's man on man so not to leave too many folks bored while waiting to shoot.
It would be more like a falling steel plate match except using bowling pins, rather than it being like a modern pin match needing to clear them totally off the table.
If it's strictly a timed event rather than elimination then more pins can be used for the course of fire, even at different distances to make the event a little more difficult. Silhouettes etc... could be added too.

A timed event would reward marksmanship more while a man on man event would reward speed a little more.

If there's not too many shooters then both events could be held one right after the other.

I think that the more shooters that attend the better it is for a "man against man falling pin match"! You want to encourage close matches to make it exciting for everyone to watch each other shoot...always with safety in mind of course!!!! :wink:

 

[R.M.]

You say you have 13 pins, so what if you have 2 shooters against each other shooting 5 pins each. Fastest to knock his 5 down moves on, the slowest drops out.

 

[Old Salt]

You say you have 13 pins, so what if you have 2 shooters against each other shooting 5 pins each. Fastest to knock his 5 down moves on, the slowest drops out.

I'm leaning strongly in this direction. :thumbsup:

Two shooters going head to head also provides some entertainment for anyone waiting thier turn.

Salt

 

[D. Bowman]

I ran a bowling pin shoot at Harrisburg Hunters & Anglers black powder shoot last year.

Three pins on a 4x8 table set 1 ft back from the edge 1.5 ft apart pins must be cleared off table not just knocked down.

We had this as a timed event not head to head. Shooter started with a loaded but not primed gun. Patched round ball only(this rule kept guys from just chucking a bare ball down the barrel and evened the field between smooth and rifled)
Loading blocks were alowed but no premeasured charges.No pouring directly from horn to barrel.

Winning time was 43 seconds was a smooth bore.

Second was a rifle with a time of 44 seconds.

 

[tg]

We have held shoots like Grey Whiskers but with no limitations on loads and teams of 2-3the pins are set on blocks of wood up to 5'high down to a few inches, works well with a smoothbore shooter taking the close targets with buck and ball shooting/loading real fast and rifle shooters picking off the farther ones, it could be modified for single shooter competition in a number of ways I would suspect.

 

[Old Salt]

44 seconds for three pins seems fast. Somebody was experienced. :thumbsup:

Thanks,