ASC Bowling Pin Match Second Saturday of the Month (Check calendar)
Bowling Pin Matches are fast paced, close range handgun competitions that place a premium on accuracy and reliable equipment and ammunition. All shooters are welcome to ASC bowling pin matches, including non-members. Matches are held on a monthly basis. Contact match director Cort Tompkins or deputy assistant executive adjutant co-director emeritus Steven Gordon for more information. Additionally, we maintain an electronic mailing list that is used to notify interested parties about upcoming matches and match results.
Bowling Pin Matches are fast paced, close range handgun competitions that place a premium on accuracy and reliable equipment and ammunition. We shoot the matches at used bowling pins from bowling alleys after they have reached the end of their useful life. The pins react randomly, particularly to off center hits. Thus accurate bullet placement is important. The sport originated as a demonstration of the effectiveness of Second Chance body armor. The owner of the company, Richard Davis, made a videotape in which he shot a handgun into body armor which he was wearing. To prove that he used live ammo and that the vest allowed him to recover quickly from the shot, he then shot several bowling pins off a table -- and the sport of bowling pin shooting was born!
All shooters are welcome to the Airfield Shooting Club matches. Please check our competition calendar for upcoming match dates. Our basic rules and classifications are listed below. For specific questions, you can contact our match director, Cort Tompkins. Cort shares match director duties with another long time bowling pin shooter, Steven Gordon.
Rules for the Bowling Pin Matches
Scoring
Shooters are allowed 15 seconds to knock several bowling pins off of an 8 foot table. The range officer begins each string of fire by starting a timer. The timer sounds a second tone after 15 seconds. If a shooter knocks a pin off the table after the cease-fire tone, it does not count. Each shooter has a scorer-timer who starts a stopwatch when the string begins and stops it when the last pin clears the table. If any pins are left at the end of 15 seconds, a 10 second penalty per pin is added to the score. Each 15-second interval is called a string. Shooters fire four strings back to back to make up a relay. We add up the time from those four strings to get the relay time. The lowest relay time wins.
Classes
We commonly shoot five classes of competition, Major, Minor, Sub, Revolver, and Carbine. The match director can, at his option, add other classes on the day of the shoot. These classes are typically Cowboy Action and Shotgun. These classes can be added if enough shooters with that type of equipment attend the match.
Major: Any semi-automatic centerfire handgun may compete in this classification. Five pins are set one foot from the front edge of the table. Generally speaking, .40 S&W is the minimum caliber with which you can shoot Major and be successful.
Minor: Any semi-automatic centerfire handgun may compete in this classification. Eight (8!) pins are set 1 foot from the rear edge of the table.
Sub: .17 and .22 caliber rimfire handguns compete in this classification. In this class, sawn off pin tops are placed 1 foot from the front edge of the table.
Revolver: All revolvers compete in this classification. The pins are set 1 foot from the rear edge of the table. Modern double action revolver shooters are only allowed one gun and may use speedloaders. Cowboy Action shooters may use 2 guns provided the second gun is safely holstered and does not have a round under the hammer. If enough Cowboy Action shooters participate, they will compete under these rules in their own class.
Carbine: Any pistol caliber (.30 Carbine included) shoulder-fired arm that is not a shotgun. Pins are set 1 foot from the front of the table. Rifle rounds will quickly destroy the bowling pins, so they may not be used in this class.
Shotgun: We don't hold shotgun competitions very often because we use wooden tables. Shotguns tend to chew them up very quickly. When we do, the pins are set 1 foot from the front edge of the table. Shotgun participants must use #4 buckshot or larger.
Youth Pistol: .17 and .22 caliber rimfire handguns compete in this classification. In this class, full size pins are set at the very back edge of the table.
Youth Carbine: .17 and .22 caliber rimfire rifles compete in this classification. In this class, full size pins are set at the very back edge of the table.
Shooting Distance
Bowling pins are shot at a distance of 25 feet.
Rules
Safety
As with all events at the Airfield Shooting Club, eye and ear protection is mandatory at all times on the range. The range safety officer calling the match will inspect the line prior to allowing anyone downrange to reset pins. All actions must be locked open and all magazines out of the guns. Once the line is called cold, no one may touch any firearm under any circumstance. The line must be called hot to remove a gun from the line. ALWAYS PRACTICE PROPER MUZZLE CONTROL. Anyone violating safety rules will be asked to leave and their money will not be refunded.
Reloading Magazines
Shooters are encouraged to reload magazines and speed loaders while the range is cold to speed the progression of the match. Obviously, you cannot handle or load firearms while the range is cold.
Capacity Restrictions
There are no capacity restrictions for semi-automatics or revolvers. Extra magazines and speedloaders are permitted.
Alibi Strings
Alibi strings are only reshot for range failures. If your table collapses during the string or there is a timer failure you may reshoot the string. Reliability of your firearm is part of the game and there are no reshoots for guns that jam or fail. You may change guns between strings as long as the gun you use conforms to the category you began the relay with.
Starting Position
Once shooters are given the command, "handle and load firearms," they may load rounds into chambers and cock hammers. Shooters start from a 45-degree angle to their body, with their wrists touching the orange caution tape marking the firing line.
Fees & Prizes
The match entrance fee is $5.00 for ASC members and $10.00 for the general public. Your fee covers one relay. Each additional relay is a dollar.
Reentry for Score
Participants may re-enter (shoot more than once) the same classification, but only the first relay will count for score. All subsequent relays will appear on the match results under the ranking "NFS" (not for score).
