Revolver Not Shooting to POA?

D

doc540

New member
Just bought one of these old Taurus 82 LEO imports and shot it for the first time yesterday.

Single action is as good as any Smith I've ever shot, double action was smooth, but rather short.

Even when firing it single action it grouped high/right by about 3"-4" at 25 yds.

So, I shot it at 15yds with the same results.

Fixed front blade (not filed on), notched frame rear.

Apart from the nut behind the grip, what would cause a pistol to shoot like that?

IMAG0259-1.jpg
 
Apart from the nut behind the grip, what would cause a pistol to shoot like that?
Click to expand...
  • Sights are regulated for a lighter bullet than you're using (this is the most likely explanation IMHO)
  • Sights are regulated for a much more powerful load than what you're using
  • Sights are regulated for a range far beyond 25yds (this is more common on older European military automatics, some of which are designed to hit POA at 50m, which makes them hit 2"-3" high at 15-25yds)
  • Barrel not torqued into frame properly
  • Barrel not perfectly straight
  • Muzzle not cut perfectly perpendicular to bore axis
FWIW I much prefer a gun that hits high over one that hits low; if it hits high, at least I can see the POI above the sights!
 
What load were you shooting?

Unless I miss my guess, that gun is regulated for the traditional .38 Special load -- 158-gr. lead bullet at 750 to 800 fps.
 
A faster round will hit lower. Try something that moves at 900-1000 fps and see what happens.

As to shooting to the right, there are any number of possible explanations. It could be mechanical, you'd be amazed at how many revolvers there are out there with slightly misaligned barrels. A barrel that is a degree or two left of center will cause most shooters to shoot to the right. That's because in order to center the sights the shooter will bring the front sight to the right to correct for the barrel's misalignment. On an adjustable sight gun that's no problem, one simply adjusts the windage screw on the rear sight to compensate. On a fixed sight gun, it often takes a bit of smithing to fix the problem.

Other causes for shooting to the right may have to do with the shooter's grip, his trigger finger placement, or simply the way the shooter's brain "sees" the sight.
 
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