big enough for bowling pins?

[jaymce]

Faster is not always better.

Rounds traveling too fast may pass through the pin and not pull it down. It is my understanding that FMJs in a .223 might do this.

I would not over think this. As I and others have said just go and have fun. Everyone I have encountered shooting pins, plate, or other activites at the MRA have been great.

A quick search online shows that a power factor of 210 seems to be what most are trying to obtain.

 

[milktree]

Faster is not always better.

Rounds traveling too fast may pass through the pin and not pull it down. It is my understanding that FMJs in a .223 might do this.

Yep, see that a lot with the rifle pin matches. But... that's a .224" bullet moving at 2700 fps, that's really really different from a 158gr .357" bullet moving at 1,400fps. I don't imagine that any handgun bullet is really going to punch all the way through a pin without moving it a great deal.

I would not over think this. As I and others have said just go and have fun. Everyone I have encountered shooting pins, plate, or other activites at the MRA have been great.

Indeed! I was mostly curious if midrange .40 or light .45s would work and qualify as ".357 mag or larger" to meet the match's requirements.

A quick search online shows that a power factor of 210 seems to be what most are trying to obtain.

That's a lot higher than anything I'd planned on...

 

[jaymce]

Indeed! I was mostly curious if midrange .40 or light .45s would work and qualify as ".357 mag or larger" to meet the match's requirements.
QUOTE]

Long story short, is that Yes, you can shoot .40 if you want. Heavy pins may not fall off the table. .45 to be competitive. 205-215 optimum Power factor Jacketed hollow points are a +. To hit 205-215 in .40 will be difficult at best.

There are some good shooters who show up

 

[Massman]

Indeed! I was mostly curious if midrange .40 or light .45s would work and qualify as ".357 mag or larger" to meet the match's requirements.
QUOTE]

Long story short, is that Yes, you can shoot .40 if you want. Heavy pins may not fall off the table. .45 to be competitive. 205-215 optimum Power factor Jacketed hollow points are a +. To hit 205-215 in .40 will be difficult at best.

There are some good shooters who show up

+1 Dave is my hero

 

[houdini]

at my club who ever clears the the table wins the round, they use differtent calibers.

 

[dwarven1]

However a 45 ACP works, as does a 357 Magnum as well as a 44 Magnum. My 460 Rowland does just fine also (it's in the same power class as the 44 Magnum).

My Shootin' Buddy was using my Officer's Model quite successfully at the N. Leominster shoot. She was shooting 230gr ball ammo. My Model 19 with Qmmo's 158gr reloads was getting the job done, too, before I started getting light strikes.

And my 629 (.44 mag) just makes the pins levitate straight backwards.

Note, most have a 22LR class also, which is usualy shot at the begining of the match (before the pins are heavy).

Nenamasek out in Ware shoots candlepins with rimfire pistols.

Another thing they did was load up the tables with pins and run 2 man teams with like 8-10 pins on a table plus the shell which had to be shot off before you could start hitting the pins.

Oh, that sounds like fun!

 

[Secesh]

I have an AR15 Airsoft Assaualt Rifle... is it powerful enough to blow pins up? I'm Asian and I cock my 442 S&W just for fun!!!

 

[DavidC77]

.



.
Boy that looks like alot of fun, I'd love to try that sometime.

 

[drgrant]

I am rolling my own, so that problem is solved. I've got Zero 158 gr JHP bullets. I started with 13.8 gr of 2400, which pushed them to about 1,100 fps. The recipe says the max load is 14.8gr, which is supposed to get them up to 1,265fps. I'd like to get more out of them, but not at the expense of safety. I've seen other recipes for 158gr JHP bullets that claim 15.5gr of 2400 that push them to 1,350fps or so. I'm not sure if that's a "we've tested this with fancy equipment and it works safely." or "I did this a couple times and I still have all my fingers."

158gr .357 mag. @ 1,250 fps = 198 power factor
200gr .45 ACP @ 800 fps = 160 power factor (admittedly not full power)

That implies that the .357 would work just fine.

Yes, mostly, although I have to say that pins react differently when 357s hit them than when 45s hit them. Its almost like the .45s push the pins off the table and the .357s will sort of "bounce" them off the table if that makes any sense.

-Mike