Pin Shoot Big Bore Revolver Class Rules

We've never tried a big bore revolver class at Central Whidbey Sportsman's Association for bowling pins, so this is going to be something of an experiment. We hope to have a good turnout, lots of close competition, and sufficient success with the class to continue it for the rest of the year. We may find that the rules need to be adjusted one way or another after we've tried a match or so, but hopefully we've got a good set of rules at the start and we can use them for the rest of the year as written.

One of the club's concerns with big bore revolvers has been excessive destruction of the pins. A healthy load in a big bore revolver will pretty much destroy a pin with one shot. With pins costing up to a dollar apiece it's understandable that the club would be concerned. Fortunately just about everyone will be shooting hand loads, and can adjust their loads to emphatically take the pin off the table without exploding it into kindling. Tuning your loads for pin shooting will have a lot to do with your success. With the large bullet weights found with big bore revolvers it doesn't take a lot of velocity to get some serious power factors!

Pin Shoot Big Bore Revolver Class Rules:

.430 bore or larger, in other words a .44 Special would be the smallest permitted caliber. Minimum bullet weight of 220 grains. Any type of sights.

Gun holstered, cased, or in a rug when going to and from the line.

Six shot limit per table. No reloads unless you started with only five, or had a cartridge that didn't fire.

Start Position: "Low Ready" - pointed down at 45 degrees.

Five pins per table, set 12" from the front of the table. 36" from the pin to the rear edge of the table.

First round opponent determined by table time, fastest against the fastest down to the slowest against the slowest.

Table winner determined by which ever shooter gets all five pins on the ground first.

However, if after both shooters have fired their six shots, and both shooters still have pins on their tables, the shooter with the fewest pins on his table is the winner of the table. If both shooters have the same amount of pins on their tables, the winner is determined by which shooter has the fewest pins standing. If both shooters have the same number of pins on their tables, and the same number standing, then it's a tie table, and you shoot it over.

Shooter must win two tables against his opponent to progress to the next round. Single elimination format. Lose two against an opponent and you are eliminated.

Timing in: Six shots per table. 5 second penalty for each pin left on the table. Maximum table time of 25 seconds. Two tables for time, with best table time only counted.

The rest of the rules follow the standard pin shoot rules.

Big bore revolvers can also be entered in the regular revolver class, where you are limited to 6 rounds in your first cylinder, and reloading for additional shots is permitted.

You can also enter a big bore revolver in the centerfire optic or centerfire iron sight class, depending on the sights on your revolver. In the centerfire classes you are allowed 8 rounds in your initial cylinder or magazine, and you can reload as many additional rounds as needed.

If you have ever shot at Custer or at CWSA in the past, the rules above should tell you all you need to know for the big bore revolver class at CWSA.

The first pin shoot of the year will be on Saturday, March 10th. starting at 9am.

Be sure to bring along your .22 handguns too, as we also shoot a rimfire optical sight class and a rimfire iron sight class using pin tops for targets. Great fun!

If you have any questions, feel free to email me, or leave your questions in the comments below.