Author: Steven Gordon

Gentle Shooters, The day dawned warm but soon became downright hot as to be expected in the dog days of summer. Our intrepid shooters battled both the heat and the pins in an epic duels. Guns failed and shooters swooned, but the cream eventually rose to the top (and then curdled in the heat) as our results listed below show. Our next match is Saturday September 5th. In our ongoing attempts to modernize the matches and try out new things, we will be testing a new category toward the end of that match. By popular demand, we are going to trial a ,22lr carbine match in September. We are thinking eight pintops set across the front of the table. If successful, you could expect to see some changes in 2027 season. If you would like to help us test that out, bring a .22 carbine to the next match and expect to stay until the end. Steven ASC Bowling Pin Match Results Finish Competitor String 1 String 2 String 3 String 4 Total Fastest String Carbine 1 Paul Lynch 2.71 2.56 2.39 3.30 10.96 2.39 2 Steven Gordon 2.50 3.90 4.40 3.08 13.88 3 Taylor Strickland 3.42 4.61 3.38 3.14 …

Gentle Shooters, The dog days of August are upon us. Legend has it that the intrepid shoot the August match every year. This is your year to answer the call. Temps will be under 90 and with a mid-summer break for the Fourth of July, I’ll bet a couple of your broke protocol and got some practice in. Regardless, we need you at the pastoral Airfield Shooting Club in scenic Wakefield. This Saturday, August 1st we will begin at 9AM under the regular rules available at our web page at www.airfieldshootingclub.org. If you are fuzzy on specific questions and long for actual human interaction, reach our pinhead as [email protected] for factual but sarcastic answers to your most vexing bowling pin questions. Steven

Gentle Shooters, Saturday beckoned with clear, bright skies and early summer’s reassuring warmth. You can argue that the warmth progressed to a little excessive towards the end of the shoot, but it was still an excellent day to welcome 16 competitors to the range. While most of us shoot for fun, ti is interesting to note how close some of the results are. In sub, Allen bested Cort by one quarter of a second. And a shout out to new contestant Andrew Feldman who overtook perennial speedster Kenny Hardee in his debut at the reluctantly famous ASC range. A reminder that we will be taking Saturday July 4th off in honor of the most successful experiment in representative self governance in the recorded history of the world. We will see you back in the crucible that is the ASC Range in the summertime Saturday, August 1st. Steven ASC Bowling Pin Match Results Finish Competitor String 1 String 2 String 3 String 4 Total Fastest String Carbine 1 Paul Lynch 3.15 2.94 2.93 2.81 11.83 2 Taylor Strickland 2.93 4.60 5.45 2.73 15.71 2.73 3 Cort Tompkins 3.11 5.00 5.15 3.64 16.90 4 Art Schoner 4.39 5.43 3.48 3.60 16.90 5 …

Gentle Shooters, We are looking at great weather and good friends for the June Bowling Pin Match. Hosted at the semi-iconic Airfield Shooting Club range nestled in effervescent Wakefield, this is a match you do not want to miss. No Really, don’t miss this match because the next one won’t be until August. Even though shooters and governments around the world watch with breathless anticipation for the announcement of an ASC Pin Match, we are stepping aside on Saturday, July 4th for the semiquincentennial of the greatest nation on earth. So, we need you this Saturday at 9 o’clock sharp(ish) to set up for yet another edition of “As the Pins Fall.” We have rules and stuff. If you want to look them over, head to our interweb thingie at airfieldshootingclub.org. Or you can bonk a pinhead at [email protected] for impish advice, out of date suggestions, or the occasional question that he can actually answer. See you at the range on Saturday Steven

Gentle Shooters, Our traditional Bowling Pin Shoots don’t lend themselves to rainy days. Each year we lose a date or two because of inclement weather. This month was no exception with a rainy Saturday forecast that turned into reality. Undeterred, your intrepid match directors developed an alternative match we can safely shoot in the rain. Welcome to the Steel Pin Challenge! We shot the various classes of guns that we usually do under modified conditions. We shot six two foot tall, ½ inch thick steel pins at 50 feet except for revolver, where we shot five pins. I feared that the targets would be too easy, but the times we recorded seemed reasonable and are reported below. We had some smaller pins about a foot tall that we set out for Sub2 pins. They were intended to be more like pin tops as we do in 22lr currently. We developed some other conventions around this format. As there are only hits and misses and there can be no penalty for a pin left behind, we insisted that each competitor score a hit on each pin to clear the string. Plan to reload and press on as your peers will accept …

Gentle Shooters, This Saturday, May 2nd devoted pin shooters will be at the regionally renowned Airfield Shooting Club Range regardless of the weather. In the event of rain, we will be trying out bowling pin shaped steel targets. If it is dry, then we will hold a regular match. Either way, the festivities kick off promptly around 9ish.  The rules for the regular match are posted on our handy web site www.airfieldshootingclub.org. We have no idea what kind of rules we will end up with for the steel. It will be fun. Bring lots of ammo. Questions or comments, ping a pinhead at [email protected]. See you at the range Steven

Gentle Shooters, Some of you showed up ready to pick up where you left off last December. Others of us had a bit of rust to shake off. And not just in the shooting department. Match Director Art Schoner pointed out we forgot the service hours sign up sheet. He asks that all who worked set up or tear down to let him know at [email protected]. In addition, despite what you see in the results below, I declare Allen Moran the ultimate winner of the match. We had another administrative failure. One of our scorers omitted a time in minor for Allen and I’m sure if I had that he would have won it all. I’d like to thank all 19 of the shooters who came out this month and shared their time and passion for shooting with us. I hope you enjoyed it as much I did. I look forward to seeing you all next month on  May 2nd for the next rendition of frustration via simple wooden reactive targets. Steven ASC Bowling Pin Match Results April 2026 Carbine Finish 1 Taylor Strickland 3.51 3.26 3.61 3.41 13.79 2 Dennis Bondi 6.09 5.40 3.18 3.87 18.54 3 Paul Lynch …

Gentle Shooters, We have waited for months through a cruel winter for this day. Saturday, April fourth at nine o’ clock in the morning, at the regionally renowned Airfield Shooting Club Range in idyllic Wakefield, Virginia the 2026 ASC Bowling Pin Cup will kick off. Changes for 2026 include … not much. The same rules and description as last year are still available at our website.Your host for the shoot will be none other than Club President Art Schoner and a fat, grumpy, old pinhead. Any questions, bonk a pinhead at [email protected]. See you Saturday, Steven

Gentle Shooters, It was a pretty cold day for pin shooting. Not for the competitors but for the pins. When the temperature drops, the protective white plastic coating on the pins becomes brittle and can shatter. Once that outer barrier is compromised, the pins tend to erupt into showers of kindling. I’ll admit I’m childish, but its very fun to watch. I have quoted Tom Tyrell many times in these pages, and today is no exception. “We shoot matches because there is no time to practice” and hence practice during the Bowling Pin Season is prohibited. But today marks the last pin match until April 4,2026. So for the next 119 days, I declare it practice season. Please feel free to improve your shooting. A few of us need it! If you doubt it, check below. The results for December are below. The carbine result should be an embarrassment to each and every one of you. If that moron won, you should hang your head in shame.  And yes, I did recheck the top three shooters for keystroke errors. I suppose even a blind squirrel will occasionally stumble over an errant acorn. See you in April, Steven ASC Bowling Pin …

Gentle Shooters, Our last bowling pin match of the season is this Saturday, December 6 at 9:00 sharpish. We hold our match at the regionally renowned Airfield Shooting Club range centrally located in stunning Wakefield VA. We won’t shoot pins again until April 4th 2026. That is 119 days without bowling pins, so you don’t want to miss this match. Rules to the match and directions to range are available on our club website www.airfieldshootingclub.org and you can always send vital or pithy questions to our resident assistant adjunct pinhead at [email protected]. See you at the range Saturday. Steven