Different POI for different shooters

[huntoregon]

Hey guys I have what is probably a basic newbie question. When shooting mid-semi long range I can shoot and hit a target no problem. When my 15 year old son gets behind the rifle he always shoots high, a lot of times high and left. I had another friend shoot with us recently and he was able to hit the target no problem also, my son shoots and high. I am just trying to figure out what my son could be doing wrong? Could it be something as simple as just how he is looking down through the scope?

I am talking targets at 400, 500, and 700 same results

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Hey guys I have what is probably a basic newbie question. When shooting mid-semi long range I can shoot and hit a target no problem. When my 15 year old son gets behind the rifle he always shoots high, a lot of times high and left. I had another friend shoot with us recently and he was able to hit the target no problem also, my son shoots and high. I am just trying to figure out what my son could be doing wrong? Could it be something as simple as just how he is looking down through the scope?

I am talking targets at 400, 500, and 700 same results

YES. The way you hold a rifle is not the same for everyone especially for younger/smaller if the stock is too long. Rifle and scope cant will change the POI. Try putting a scope level on if you already don't have one. Could also be the way he squeezes the trigger. Trigger is real important as well as the cant in the rifle. I know I can give the same pistol to five people and have five different POI.

 

[dfanonymous]

It's common to not share similar POI amongst shooters on a single rifle.
Head position alone can cause this. That said, two adults with similar points of contact to the rifle will have less poi shift.

Since precision shooting has a basis of consistency, any additional inconsistencies, however small and in any combination can also add shift, like recoil management, grip, trigger press, parallax, etc.

It's why professionals who apply those fundamentals of marksmanship don't share dope.

 

[huntoregon]

I have a level on the scope, and he is good about making sure he's level. I also made sure to tell him to preload the bipod the same as I was.

 

[pacnwLWR]

Sounds like minor differences in shouldering/hold, triggering, and/or sighting. Which won't make much apparent difference at 100yds, yet which will become painfully obvious at serious distances.

Even something as simple as triggering technique can yank a shot off-line by a little bit, as compared to another person's shot with that same rifle. (One of the reasons I generally like "benchrest" type triggers as compared to "hunting" triggers, given that my trigger technique is a bit off due to old hand injuries from decades ago. I can be quite accurate if a rifle's outfitted with a slick benchrest trigger, but I'm somewhat less accurate if that same rifle's got the factory heavy-weight trigger installed. Is what it is.)

Which is one of the reasons I almost exclusively do my own shouldering, without a rear rest, using a bipod, etc. 'Cause I want to know what I'm capable of, not merely what the equipment can do.

 

[338 dude]

Hey guys I have what is probably a basic newbie question. When shooting mid-semi long range I can shoot and hit a target no problem. When my 15 year old son gets behind the rifle he always shoots high, a lot of times high and left. I had another friend shoot with us recently and he was able to hit the target no problem also, my son shoots and high. I am just trying to figure out what my son could be doing wrong? Could it be something as simple as just how he is looking down through the scope?

I am talking targets at 400, 500, and 700 same results

Cheekweld is different

 

[Ray Gross]

Body differences and differences in the way each person holds the rifle.

 

[huntoregon]

Well I guess this is a better outcome than my son being a lousy shot.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

I can never hit a dang thing with a rifle my Pops has sighted in when I'm in the field. I've grabbed his 7mmstw a couple of times to down a critter if I have an issue and whiffed both times. He wears tri-focal glasses (I don't wear prescription lenses) and is a bit shorter stature than me so I suppose that matters.
It's best to hunt with your rifle or at least get a few pot shots in on paper or rocks, etc. before you get serious and hunt another person's rifle.

 

[memtb]

Yes this is pretty normal. When shooting a friends rifle @ 100 yards, I was consistently about 2" high and 2" right of his zero. When he shot my rifle, the results were just the opposite. We were so consistent, we could have zero'd each others rifle! memtb

 

[adam]

Cheekweld is different

Yup. So easy to burn excessive amounts of powder without a really good cheek weld.

Darrel Holland did a cheek weld post some years ago on this forum. Its well worth the read. Short version is that the cheek rest needs to be parallel to the scope axis and you need to be able to smash your cheek down firmly.

 

[Kodiax]

One the main alignment errors is attributed to parallax, in simple terms, aligning the eye, to crosshairs to the bore. Any deviation, left, right, high or low, will result in a different POI, even from the same shooter.

Kodiax

 

[chindits]

If his groups are good, be happy and just calculate your mil/moa adjustment if it's going to be a backup rifle for him.

 

[Kodiax]

One the main alignment errors is attributed to parallax, in simple terms, aligning the eye, to crosshairs to the bore. Any deviation, left, right, high or low, will result in a different POI, even from the same shooter.

Kodiax