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POI and POA

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7.2K views 20 replies 14 participants last post by  smithywess  
#1 ·
Lately I've seen a lot of people talking about POA and I'm wondering what the difference is between it and POI. I know that POI is where the shot hits relative to where you aim.
 
#3 ·
That is exactly it. If you line your beads up on a dot on your pattern board, that is your Point of Aim (POA). Where the shot ends up it the Point of Impact (POI). Your POI can be anywhere from 100%+ low to 200%+ high. However, I greatly prefer to use the # of inches the center of your pattern is above/below your POI. For instance, a 70/30 POI at some distance (the distance used to pattern is imperative to state) should be about 6" above the POA. A 100% POI at some distance should be about 15" above POA.
 
#7 ·
Scaling off, I get that your center of pattern is about 30 inches high at 40 yards??? I should think you see a lot of blue sky between your bead and the target...
 
#9 · (Edited)
All I know is when I stand at 13 yards and see my gun paint that picture, I averaged the highest scores. It's part of my recipe. Last year I had several 97's, a 98 and one god-forsaken 99 with that exact POI.

Towards the end of last season I gave in to the pressure that I needed a better gun because I was shooting junk and it was shooting way too high so I spent a ton of money, lowered my POI and guess what?

I tanked and it's been gut wrenching but that gun's back in the Americase it came with and I'm going back to what I KNOW worked for me.

So, now that the cat's out of the bag and I've openly admitted I prefer my TriStar over my Alfermann....do not freak out. I am in no way trying to compare the two because there simply is no comparison.

There's a couple guns on my radar and I plan to demo soon and one thing's for sure, it's going to be an unsingle
 
#12 ·
I can but there's more to it...hard to explain but the best way I can describe it is "all hell breaks loose" when I pull the trigger. Recoil is totally different compared to my unsingle and overall the gun just doesn't feel right to me.

I know there's options to deal with these things but I just don't think this is the gun for me. I've given it enough targets that I feel if it was going to click, it would have happened by now and giving it more time is something I'm not willing to do.

I think the bottom line is I prefer an unsingle instead of a top.

CG has the fit and feel I'm looking for, very close to my TT15's. I've handled several and each time I'm like "oh yeah!" The palm swell filled the void nicely as I have a fairly deep pocket to my palm when gripping the stock and they have a little more surface area removed at the top of the stock, just forward of the comb that allows the base of my thumb to rest in the same spot every time. I'm looking forward to demoing one soon....
 
#13 ·
If I may expand a bit on the post above.

"If you line your beads up on a dot on your pattern board, that is your Point of Aim (POA)."


A reader might take this to mean that the brand bead and mid-bead should be lined up too, They may or may not. You should take your POI tests with the sight picture you get when you mount the gun.

My version: If you line your front bead up on a dot on your pattern board, that is your Point of Aim (POA).

Just forget about all that percent high stuff starting right now.

Your Point of impact is the relationship between the point of aim and where the shot hits, expressed in inches at some specific distance. It is not a percent of anything;, it is correctly measured and expressed in inches from POA to POI at a measured distance.

Here's how to do it.If you do this, you will know where your gun shoots, If you don't. you won't. Not ever,

http://www.claytargettesting.com/POI/Point_of_Impact_and_Pattern_Testing_at_13_Yards.pdf

If you really follow it, you can use the rear part of the bool;et to pattern your gun for pattern quality or effective choke.

If you don't follow it right away, come back to it when you find that nothing else works.

I am happy to answer question about it.

Yours in Sport,

Neil
 
#18 ·
Timb99: "Scaling off, I get that your center of pattern is about 30 inches high at 40 yards??? I should think you see a lot of blue sky between your bead and the target..."

Wad: "All I know is when I stand at 13 yards and see my gun paint that picture, I averaged the highest scores. It's part of my recipe."

Do you shoot before the bird leaves the house? :bigsmile:
 
#21 ·
That is exactly it. If you line your beads up on a dot on your pattern board, that is your Point of Aim (POA). Where the shot ends up it the Point of Impact (POI). Your POI can be anywhere from 100%+ low to 200%+ high. However, I greatly prefer to use the # of inches the center of your pattern is above/below your POI. For instance, a 70/30 POI at some distance (the distance used to pattern is imperative to state) should be about 6" above the POA. A 100% POI at some distance should be about 15" above POA.
It seems to me that on a pattern board one should stand, off hand and with a usual gun mount, and hold the gun such that it's only the front bead that's placed directly over the aiming mark. the gun in this position will always give the same point of impact which, in a trap gun, should be directly above the aiming mark. The point of aim thereafter, on the trap field, should be irrelevant if we are to adhere to the advice not to look at the gun. The only way I can see to alter this point of impact without altering one's gun mount is by raising or lowering an adjustable butt plate which will allow an unaltered gun mount while elevating or lowering the actual stock which will change the point of impact.