Hey guys,

I was wondering why light loads in my S&W 629 are hitting high? Most of the light loads with plain lead swc's are hitting about 2 to 3 inches high. If I shoot any higher velocity jacketed bullets, it hits right where it should. Any help on the subject would be great. The loads I use for low power are ussually hornady 180gr cowboy bullets on top of 7-8 grains of unique. (.44 special)

thanks,
vanbuzen9

A lighter bullet and/or a little more powder will drop the POI with all loads.

Have you tested these loads off of a rest? As i'm sure you know, with a pistol it is very easy to start "compensating" for the percieved recoil of the gun, this causes the gun to be jerked down (i do this one alot) and is more noticeable when you shoot hotter loads (you try to compensate more), so the lighter loads could just be hitting right where you gun normally sights in at and the hotter loads your pulling down. this may not be it at all, but try it off of a rest and let us know how it goes.

hope this helps,

Marineman

HAve notice this, believe it has to do with barrel time. Recoil actually starts as soon as the bullet starts moving....handgun pivots...bullet exits. Even with lighter recoil of the coyboy loads, they have a longer barrel time and the handgun rotates farther up before exit.

IF you turn your handgun upside down, balanced on the sights, on a flat table, can see just how much out of line with the center of the barrel the sights really are,,,can see that the barrel center is aligned on an angle BELOW the sight line. (the lighter the gun/heavier the expected bullet to be use, the greater the difference). What actually happens is that when we line of the sights on that .44mag, the barrel is pointed BELOW the target. It rotates up during recoil, and when the bullet exits, it is hopfully moving along the line taht the sights once had.
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BTW: won't notice the above in most locked breech semi-autos....that barrel locks/unlocks and in doing so often tips up or down...and it will be partly tipped during recoil/before bullet ext (but not completely unlocked)..and the moving barrel kind of disguises things.