I am going to try a .40 S&W loaded hot next time around and see what kind of damage that does.

When I was shooting lots of pins, we shot mostly .45 and 10mm autos (no .40s in existence then. Yes, I’m older than dirt.) with some guys using their .38 super match guns and the hottest loads they could make, and a mix of .357 magnum and .44 special and magnum revolvers. General consensus was you needed a power factor of 180′ish to reliably clear pins with good hits, higher if you wanted to clear them off of shot up tables or after they’d been used for a while (they soak up bullets, getting heavier with each relay, and get all bumpy and rough, so after they’ve been shot 10 or 15 times, they don’t go off very well). Power factor is muzzle velocity x bullet weight divided by 1000 (for convenience). A .45 shooting 200gr bullets at 1000 fps has a 200 PF. This is a measure of momentum, and that’s what it takes to move chunks of wood. I usually loaded for 190 to 220 pf, and cleared pins pretty well.

Pin shooting is NOT combat shooting, although it does give one much more variety and has some realism. When you drop a shot and accidentally hit the table under them or make a poor edge-hit, pins hop and dance, spin and roll, and worst of all, fall over and present you with a different target (usually a smaller one, sometimes one where the only “sweet spot” that will clear the pin is the top dead center of the pin facing you, which is about the size of a dime). It always seemed a good simulation to me of what would likely happen in a fight, when your opponent is running toward or away from you, or when they’ve gone to cover. When you’ve progressed to clearing a table consistently in under 5 seconds, you are officially good enough with your pistol to be dangerous to unsavory types of all kinds. When you can consistently clear a table in the 3 second range, then I don’t want to meet you in a dark alley unless you’re on MY side. I’ve seen master class shooters do it in just over 2 seconds, and that’s SMOKIN’!

If you wanna have real fun, try using your home defense shotgun, pump or auto. Times here run in the 4’s for most everybody, and experts can do it under 2 seconds consistently. And those pins SAIL off the table. Twice the energy, 1/3 less time, seldom a need to shoot a pin a second time. That’ll convince you of the Marine’s Rules of Combat, “2. Bring a long gun.”