Point of Impact

[IrvJr]

Hey All - I went to the range to sight in my guns for the upcoming gun season here in NH.

Recently I put a Williams rear peep sight on my Winchester 94 Trapper (44 mag, 16" barrel) and sighted it in with some .44 special loads (standard pressure, 240gr flat nose bullets). It shot very well with these loads.

I then shot some of these standard pressure .44 special loads with my 4-5/8" Super Blackhawk at 25 yards.

Then I switched to some light 44 magnum loads. I handloaded some 44 mag loads with 255gr hard cast bullets that reach about 1000 FPS from my SBH revolver (I used a chronograph to measure the velocity). Both guns shot well with these light 44 mag loads at 25 and 50 yards.

I got some nice tight groups from the Winchester 94 with the 44 special and the 44 magnum loads. However, with the 44 magnum loads, the point of impact was a couple of inches lower at 25 yards.

I've shot both 44 mag (factory, 240 gr full power magnum) and 44 special loads from my Win94 before, but usually they hit about the same point of impact at 25 yards. I was wondering why my moderate velocity 44 mag handloads hit lower in my Winchester 94 than the more moderate 44 special loads do.

Any thoughts on why my handloaded 44 mag loads shot a little lower in the 16" carbine? My Super Blackhawk seems to shoot to the same point of impact at 25 yards for both my 44 special and 44 mag loads.

Do you think it's because the different weights of the bullets? Also, why doesn't this affect the point of Impact of my Super Blackhawk noticeably at 25 yards?

Just curious. Thanks in advance.

 

[GP100man]

2 factors , 1 ya already said weight & the hotter load gets out the barrel qwiker so recoil has less time to raise the muzzle .

 

[IrvJr]

Thanks GP100 man. I figured it was something like that. I guess the effect with the SBH is less noticeable since the barrel is so short.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I am beginning to think that sometimes there is just no predicting if a round is going to hit higher, lower or even left or right for that matter. I have found most times a heavier recoiling round will hit higher because of muzzle rise, but not always.

I have some 180gr XTP's that shoot about 3" left and high at 50yds compared to the 158gr XTP's both at max loading with my 357mag levergun.

...Jimbo

 

[GP100man]

Jimbo

Most of us think of recoil as going back against hand/shoulder & rise of the muzzle , but there`s another recoil factor ,it`s twist of the firearm as the bullet goes forward it also starts twisting , try this , If left handed ya already know , but if right handed shoot a bigbore revolver lefthanded !!!!

I rememberthe 1st time I did !! Thank Goodness the water was`nt deep in that part of the run !!!

I dropped a 5 1/2" Redhawk in the swamp run!!!! It twisted out of my grip !!!