[falm16]

i've reloaded for years, but need to know about POA. i just sold a friend a Smith 411. he shot it some, with reloads we got at the last gunshow. i had only shot it 10 or 20 times before i sold it, it was new. anyway he said it shot good right to left but was hitting a little low. seems i remember that when i was reloading and shooting 357 a lot, light hot rounds would hit low, normal heavier loads would hit about POA.... is this correct or do i have it backwards. this may have to do with recoil from bullet weight more than FPS. i'm thinking he may can change ammo and hit POA instead of installing an adjustable rear sight. what do ya'll think?

 

[ammolab]

In a handgun the barrel recoils quite a bit as the bullet travels down the bore. Therefore, Heavier bullets will strike higher on the target (POA) than a lighter bullet with the same sight setting.

For example: I just bought a Taurus OSS 9mm and with 115gr ammo it shot 5 inches low at 25yards. Switching to 147gr ammo it hit point of aim.

HOT! loads with the same weight bullet will tend to shoot higher as well ( +p or +p+ vs regular ammo).

Adjustable sights are nice! I sent the Taurus back to them to get POA with 115gr ammo or adjustable sights.

 

[Freebore]

FWIW, yes, heavy bullets will cause more recoil impulse before the bullet leaves the barrel. This generally translates to higher point of impact. Just the opposite is true with lighter weight projectiles. Handguns are more prone to this due to the axis of recoil.

 

[falm16]

thanks for the replies, that's what i thought i remembered but it's been awhile. to me, you'd think light fast loads would shoot high, but the opposite happened, and really surprised me. i'll tell him to try some heavier loads, the ones he was shooting were 165gr. hollowpoints. thanks again.