confused puzzled and miffed

[white eagle]

I have two different boolits for my 45c
one a 270 gr saa and the other a 310 gr swc
the 310 swc hits about 8"left of where the 270 gr saa hits
that is the confusion
anyone else have that sort of thing happen ????
I have the gun sighted in for the 270 but I just love the 310 and would think that they should hit in the same county at least

[theperfessor]

I've had that happen. If the centerline of the gun isn't coincident with the centerline of the lower arm bone the heavier recoiling load will rotate the muzzle to the left for a right handed shooter and to the right for a left handed shooter. This is providing that your wrapping your hand around the gun too much to enable teaching the trigger.

There may be other reasons but mist can be traced to your hold on the gun. Just my $0.02.

[white eagle]

so should I grip it tighter
I though I used the same grip with both loads

[theperfessor]

Grip it the way you normally do and then see if the line down the center of your forearm is the same and not offset from the center line of the barrel. If not, the gun will tend to rotate left or right while it is also recoiling upwards. This happens to me when my hand crawls around the grip to reach the trigger.

Don't think holding it tighter will eliminate problem but it may reduce it a little.

[Tom W.]

My 310 Lee shoots to the left of my 245 gr RCBS from my SRH 44 mag, but not by much....

[44man]

Torque plays a lot into it. But even with boolits close in weight, one can shoot left and one right. It is rare to get different boolits to hit the same place.

[theperfessor]

Totally agree with 44Man. I'm nowhere near his class as a shooter. All I know is that I get the most consistent results (smallest groups) when I make sure that the stocks fit my hand in such a way the it keeps my wrist and lower arm bone in line with my barrel while giving me the best trigger reach length to permit a straight back trigger motion.

I think the barrel of a handgun describes something similar to an ellipse during the trigger pull and during the time it takes for the ignition process to take place until the bullet exits the barrel. The recoil torque and bullet dwell time determine which point on the ellipse the barrel is pointing at when the bullet exits. Keeping the ellipse narrow laterally is aided by limiting the left/right torque caused by pushing the trigger left or right and having the mass and support of the arm directly behind the centerline of the barrel.

Ive watched the path/motion my Crimson Trace laser shows me when I dry and live fire and this at least is true for me.

I'm sure there's more to it than that, but it's enough for me to pay attention to when I want to shoot as well as my limited time and coordination will permit.

[lwknight]

Dang those laser pointers!! They make you realize that your trigger pull just stinks.

Really it is good pactice to use a laser when dry firing to learn how to keep the POA from moving around wilst you pull the trigger.

[nicholst55]

One valuable tip that I was taught while shooting Bullseye competition is to take hold of the gun in your non-shooting hand, then position it in your shooting hand so that is aligned with the center of your arm. It sounds more difficult than it is; it's easy to do, and it does help a lot of people to get a consistent grip.

[Echo]

+1 for the perfesser and n55. AND. The grip should be front-to-back - the finger tips should be LOOSE! And the axis of the barrel should be aligned with the lower arm bone (ulna? radius? dohnoh...), and the elbow should point straight down. And the wrist and elbow should be locked tight, making the entire effort a system that will recoil as a system, and not as individual units.

If the grip is too large for the shooter to hold the pistol as I have said, one must find some skinnier grips - or get a gun with skinnier handles.

[cbrick]

Everybody is right on. Changing bullet weight and/or powder charge changes not only the vertical height of recoil but also how the revolver recoils. As the gun recoils, changing the barrel time via bullet weight and/or velocity will change the position of the muzzle when the bullet exits. Changing your grip in the slightest has a huge effect on point of impact from shot to shot, the longer the range the more the effect. Because revolvers have such a long barrel time they are the most grip sensitive of all handguns.

Rick