(Which) Desert Eagle for Bowling Pins?

2

2cats

New member
Somehow I got it into my head that the Desert Eagle would be (among other things) the ultimate bowling pin gun.

Then there were all the discussions about how reasonable the recoil is.

Then, there was the philosophy put forth that if you are going to get a Desert Eagle, by God it's going to be a 50 AE.

So a 50 AE ought to be the ultimate bowling pin gun (I don't mind sweeping up tooth picks.)

Or is it too much? Would another caliber be better? Would I then feel that I had neutered the DE, and not gotten the full DE experience?

What do you think? I have a 1911 coming, and that should do a pretty good job. The fact is, there aren't too many guns on my list, and the DE has some allure that goes beyond pins (though, did I mention, I don't mind sweeping up tooth picks?).

I'm currently not much of a revolver guy, though some people I shoot with really dig them for pins.

Many thanks,

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2cats

Glock 19
Colt Police Positive .38 Special
Smith & Wesson Model 41
Browning Hi-Power Standard (9mm)

[This message has been edited by 2cats (edited August 02, 2000).]
 
Of course the DE would be a good bowling pin gun in any of its flavors. It would certainly be fun to do. That is assuming you can shoot it rapidly and accurately. Even in .50 AE it isn't very punishing. Less than a full house .44 Magnum, I would estimate.

The one big drawback for me would be the cost of ammo. If you think winning the honor of knocking all your pins over with one is worth $6 to $10 or more per round as opposed to $1 to $3 for other calibers which can do the exact same thing.

I know some pin shooters who would challenge you armed with only a Ruger Mark II .22 and they will usually win. My point is that it is seldom the caliber that makes the difference, it is the shooter.

Also, you won't be picking up many toothpicks after shooting a BP with a .50AE. Some folks have shot BP's at our MATFLCS outings with hot .45-70 rounds and the pins hold up quite well. Those suckers are really tough.
 
The ultimate bowling pin gun would be 12 ga.
loaded with buckshot, at 6-8 yards, and good hand grenade will be even better...but it's
kind of pushing it, so I guess your idea
about DE is more artistic. I personally shoot those pins with .22 pistol at 25 yards, and they drop allright, although in a bit slow motion...
 
I bought the DE .50 about a month ago and I must say that it is a great deal of fun to fire it. I have had no jams after around 100Rnds through it (I know that may not seem like much but at $12-$15 for a box of 20 the $$$ adds up quickly) I took it to a pin shoot the other weekend and it blew the pins down the entire lenght of the range (about 75 feet) I was using IMI's Sampson rounds (300Grn JHP Muzzle Vel of around 1400 FPS) The rounds didn't go completely through the pins but there were enormous bulges in the pins where it almost went through. They had to replace the pins after I got through. There were a couple of people with 44 Mags who could not believe their eyes.
 
There are some good deals on the .41/.44 Mark V11s right now if you can find one. I got one in both calibers and Magnum Research, Inc. is great on service. Slickly engineered and well made pistols.

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"Keep shootin till they quit floppin"
The Wife 2/2000
 
The DE 50 is great fun to shoot. While the recoil isn't as great as you'd think, the muzzle blast is simply awesome! Since I only fired 2 rounds out of a friends, I can't comment on accuracy.

By the way, what is bowling pin shooting? Are you shooting one pin at a time, or do you line them up in a triangle? What are the distances?
 
The Pin shoot at my range consists of a table out at 25Ft (for pistols). You line up 5 pins on marks on the table and then you have 30 Secs to knock them off. You do this three times. You are timed and the best time for every class wins something. It's fun to do.
 
Wait, I forgot! Can't you convert the newer Mark XIX's (or IX's, whatever) to any of the other calibers? And this is not true of the Mark VII's, I believe.

I mean, I could go for the 50 AE gusto, and if I simply can't deal with it, run whimpering to another caliber!!!

I know pins are easily knocked over with lesser calibers, but I should add that the local pin shoots require the pin to be OFF THE TABLE. In fact, they line up the pins closer to the back edge for 9mm. I'll also take advantage of that rule with my Glock 19.

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2cats

Glock 19
Colt Police Positive .38 Special
Smith & Wesson Model 41
Browning Hi-Power Standard (9mm)
 
I don't know about 50AE but I have 2 friends who use Desert Eagle for Oin Shooting. One uses 357mag (180gr JHP at about 1,200fps) with good results on pins. Second friend uses one in 44mag (240gr JHP at about 1,200fps) with better results on pins. However 357mag seems to have slight edge due to less recoil. I'm sure 50AE will have great results but I'm sure the recoil and muzzle blast is way too much. I personally use 45ACP (230gr JHP at 890fps) with good enough result on those pins. I can usually beat both friends with my 45ACP :)
 
2cats,

You are correct that the .357 and .44 Mark VII Desert Eagles cannot be converted, only the Mark XIX can.

The Mark VII .50 AE is actually really the same as the Mark XIX and can be converted to smaller calibers.

I have a Mark XIX .44 and the slide is actually stamped as a .50 AE with an additional stamp of .44.

I had the same thought as you since I ordered the .357 hardware to downgrade the caliber when I first got the .44. The funny thing is, I'm starting to like the .44 :) so maybe I'll have to cancel that order (though cheaper target shooting would be a plus).

I'll have to get into this Pin shooting. It sounds like great fun.

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Brady
(No relation to that $%#$ bill)
 
So the pin shooting I've heard of has them in a line. But wouldn't be an absolute blast to do it just like bowling? You could have 5 pins lined up in a triangle in 3 rows, containing 1,2,and 3 pins. Then there's a number of ways you could go: you could time the whole thing, but have a big bonus for knocking down all 5 pins with 2 shots, then after the first two shots, you just have 4 more to get the rest of the pins down.

Or, you could just have two shots, with or without timing.

Sounds like this could work and be fun.

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2cats

Glock 19
Colt Police Positive .38 Special
Smith & Wesson Model 41
Browning Hi-Power Standard (9mm)
 
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