Bowling pin shooting

Bowling pin shooting is a shooting sport (primarily for handguns) in which the competitors race against one another to knock standard bowling pins from a table in the shortest elapsed time. Pin shooting is often described as one of the most enjoyable shooting games and one of the easiest means of introducing a new shooter into regular competitive shooting. Pinshooting appeals to both genders. There are many female pinshooters and many distinguished female pinshooters.

Massad Ayoob credit the origin of bowling pin shooting with Richard Davis in the mid 1970s. The sport peaked in popularity in the 1980s.

Depending on the caliber of handgun used and the table employed, the pins must be knocked backwards up to 3 feet (0.91 m) to be knocked clear of the table and onto the ground. The pin shooting tables typically consist of one of the following varieties:

Pin shooting is conducted with both revolvers and semi-automatic pistols in calibers ranging from .22 Long Rifle to .480 Ruger, and others. Bowling pin competition is often recognized to be a big-bore event in which large caliber or high-power handguns such as the .38 Super,.357 Magnum,10mm, .41 Magnum,.44 Magnum,.45 ACP,.45 Colt and other large-bore handguns have the greatest advantage in removing the pins from the table. Frequently, no allowance is made for shooters who shoot lower-power handguns, though some range officers may permit the distance to the back of the table be reduced to 2 ft for "minor" calibers like 9mm Luger and .38 Special so that these "minor" calibers can approximate head-to-head equivalency with "major" calibers. While handloaded ammunition is regularly employed among pinshooters, it is considered a serious breach of etiquette and sportsmanship for a shooter of a "minor" caliber to handload "minor" ammunition to levels approaching "major" calibers, thus taking unfair advantage of a rule intended to allow novice shooters to participate. Shooters who shoot "hot" "minor" ammunition should declare such to the range officer and shoot targets from the regular pin placement.

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