Ammo POI Question

[DLEB]

My Stoeger Cougar shoots cheap 115 fmj ammo up and to the left of POI, but shoots Premium HP 124 plus P
closer to POI. Is this common?

[coyotejoe]

Well it is common for different brands of ammo and especially for different bullet weights to shoot to different points of impact. Most often heavier bullets will impact higher than lighter bullets but that is not carved in stone. How are you liking the Cougar? I've always thought they were a neat looking gun but have never fired one.

[DLEB]

I absolutely love this thing. Very tight, well finished and reliable, no failures with any ammo yet. Shot 12 rounds into a 2 1/2"
circle at 18 yds from a rest. Still learning the trigger, etc. This is with the 115 fmj monarch brand only. Tight group but about 2" left of center and about 2" high. I'll try the premium 124 hps at same distance to see if there is any change. I payed $399 at Academy and think it is a steal. It is obvious that it will shoot better than I am capable with my aging eyes and lack of steadiness.

[Kmrere42]

Hi DLEB,


Just wanted to throw in my experiences.  I have had several guns that for whatever reason would place different weight bullets in a diagonal line with lighter bullets impacting low right and heavier bullets high left.  I think that it has something to do with the ergonomics of the grip and hand where the trigger is pulled or pushed sideways when the shot is done.  The latest one for me that does this is a Uberti Stallion in 38 special that will only shoot poi with 158gr loads.

I am thinking of looking for thicker/larger grips for it.


Paul

[flintlock]

This is one reason I hate to buy cheap ammo to practice with, seems with a pistol the POI does change...

[Czech_too]

Just recently picked up a Stoeger Cougar in 9mm also.  Haven't put any factory rounds thru it yet, just reloads.  POI is also to the left, now whether it's my grip, reloads or the sights I haven't determined yet.  I'm quite pleased with the pistol and there haven't been any malfunctions in the rounds I've put thru it.

[Mikey]

This is interesting.  None of the 9mms I have ever owned or shot performed like that.  All have pretty much shot to poa within their accuracy limitations.  This includes a bunch of P08 Lugers, P-38 Walthers, P-35 High Powers and P-35 Radoms that were all basically designed to shoot the original 9mmloading of a 124 gn slug at about 1090'/sec.  Later, the 115 gn slug was developed to cruise at about 1120-40'/sec. from the 9mm but poa/poi was the same.

I've had 1911s that have shot like that but a barrel change cured those problems. 

DLEB:  a lot of the cheap/surplus stuff is either sub-gun ammo that is just really meant to go 'bang' where battlefield accuracy is almost not a issue as long as the ammo makes it down range, and sometimes the lesser expensive ammo is 2nd rate, so there may not be anything wrong with your pistol if premium 124 gn ammo shoots to poa.

The problem with using cheaper ammo is that although it goes bang, the accuracy may frustrate you.  However, from a impact point of view, a tight target 2" high and 2" left of poa is still pretty dang good and if you double tap from defensive distances it may not matter at all........

I think the Canadian surplus 9mm ammo is about the best I have ever used but the Canadians put a lot more quality into their products than do others.

Kmrere42:  The Uberti Stallion is a nice looking repro of the 1873.  If you are looking for different grips, there are grips that I think they call or refer to as Gunfighter grips (I think) that usually have some sort of raised figuring (bullshead or eagle, or initials) on the right hand panel that fill up your hand a lot better than the stock grip panels. HTH.

DLEB:  btw, that Cougar is a nice looking pistol but correct me if I am wrong in thinking this is not the first time Beretta has used the 'Cougar' designation.  Didn't they use it back in the 50s/60s as a designation for one of their pocket pistol models - a series 70S update to the 1934/35??