Bowling Pin Shooting - The Pins

The Pins

Bowling pins are often discarded by bowling alleys after a certain amount of use, at which time pin shooters collect them for use in pin shooting. Modern plastic coated bowling pins are very resilient, and can absorb many rounds before becoming too splintered or unbalanced to function as targets. Generally pins start out as targets for the centerfire handguns, then when they start to disintegrate they are saved for use as shotgun targets.

At the start of the event, or when a fresh pin is introduced, a smaller-caliber handgun may be able to remove a pin with comparable authority as a large-bore handgun. As rounds are shot, however, the pins will add weight, as the pins become filled with lead bullets. When the pins add weight, smaller-caliber handguns suffer a great disadvantage, as the smaller round loses ability to move the pin, while the large-bore guns are easily able to clear a bullet-laden pin from the table with speed and authority.

Pins that will no longer stand on their bases have their heads sawed off down to become rimfire targets for the .22 match, where the "pin tops" are engaged by the shooter. Given the very light weight of the "pin top," the .22 is quite capable of removing the target from the table with a single well-placed shot.