Fifty years ago my friend Richard Davis created a new gun sport, bowling pin shooting. Half a century later I am writing this midway through the last one, the de facto national championship of this sport known appropriately as The Pin Shoot. (www.pinshoot.com)
If you’ve followed this blog for a while you know that of the countless shooting matches in which I’ve participated, this one is my favorite. New shooters are welcomed by a sort of family who’ve been meeting for this event in Central Lake, Michigan for a very long time.
“All good things must come to an end.” Like most cliches, that one has some truth to it. We are mourning fellow shooters who are no longer with us. It’s a bittersweet time, with memories a stronger ingredient in the good times than usual, leavened with sadness that this will be the last one.
End of an era. Half century is a pretty good run.
You beat me to it, Larry. End of an era indeed.
I look forward to seeing the results! Hoping a few of my friends win guns! (Mas, Bruce & Jess). Have a safe drive home, Mas. Good luck also to Patrick Sweeney.
Sad, but understandable – old bowling pins are not as inexpensive as they once were. What used to be trash became trea$ure.
And 50 years is an admirable legacy.
Maybe someone else may pick up the torch…
Perhaps another range owner will step forward to continue the pin shoot legacy in future years?
Mas: The very first competition in which I competed (c. 1983) was a pin shoot here in NC. I may not have been the fastest shooter, but .41 Mag out go a 6″ S&W 57 would take a pin flying…
Bittersweet indeed. Hopefully someone will pick up the concept and bring it forward for the next generation – I have a pistol designed with Pin Shoots in mind I’m just finishing that will sadly now never get a chance to seek the OGs’ seal of approval.
As in so many other areas, I was born a few decades too late…
Never made it to Michigan, but had a lot of fun with our own pin shoots back in the day. We used to finish “Q” day at our PD range with a pin shoot. I shot a Colt Gold Cup .45 in the Service Auto class and an S&W Model 25 .45 ACP in Service Revolver. Used the CCI-Speer 200 gr. “flying ashtray” round and it worked like a charm (if I did my part.)
🫡🇺🇸🏁
Why is it ending?
The originator has aged out and just had back surgery. His son’s business interests no longer leave him time to run the match.
This past week has been an amazing but emotional time for a lot of us at the Pin Shoot. I’ve been shooting here since around 1993 and wouldn’t miss it. We are all family competing for the top prize. I’ll miss seeing everyone but, will be praying for the torch will be picked up by someone else. Take care Mas.
Mas:”The originator has aged out.” I can believe that. When I was there in 2017, I could see Richard had aged quite a bit. (as have we all) He was still hilarious calling the line and telling jokes. I’m sad to see it ending.