Bowling pin matches were started by Richard Davis, the man behind Second Chance body armor. Mr. Davis is "behind" Second Chance in more ways than one, as he is the inventor and U.S. Patent holder for the modern-day concept of concealable soft body armor, and he is also known for demonstrating the effectiveness of this body armor by shooting himself with a Colt .357 while wearing it. Often during his early sales demonstrations he would shoot himself and immediately turn and fire at several bowling pins (knocking them over) to prove that one was not incapacitated by the impact of a bullet stopped by body armor.

Richard Davis is a perfect example of the American success story. A former US Marine who owned a pizza delivery service in the Detroit area, Richard was injured in a shoot out with three holdup men some years ago (a gunfight that he won, by the way). Afterwards, he began to ruminate upon the idea of a bulletproof vest that could be worn comfortably, and unobtrusively, at all times. From this was born the concept of soft body armor made from Kevlar, which has become standard equipment for thousands of law enforcement officers around the world. Richard founded the Second Chance Body Armor Company and his company proudly, and truthfully, states that more police officers' lives have been saved by their vests then all the other brands put together.

Richard staged a little weekend get together for some of the officers who had been saved by his vests. They entertained themselves by having a shooting match and Richard thought up the novel idea of using bowling pins as reactive targets. The rest is competitive shooting history-bowling pin shooting caught the imagination of shooters around the world and became increasingly popular. The Second Chance Pin Shoot grew until it was an eight-day affair attracting nearly 500 registered shooters, plus assorted spouses, companions, in-laws, children, pets, and other sundry hangers-on.

Due to personal and business considerations Mr. Davis has not had this match for the last few years.