M&P shoots low with resolution

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FYI, if your M&P shoots low (like 5" at 7 yards or so). S&W will send you a replacement sight with a lower profile to correct the problem.

I wracked my brain and resources trying to figure out the problem (flinching? trigger pull? ammo weight?). I put a laser on the pistol (mine is specifically an M&P40) and it stayed dead straight through my trigger pull. It shot a little higher with heavier ammo.

I let some other guys try it and they shot low too.
I even tried using other sighting techniques (even though I use the sight technique that results in the highest shot (I think it's #3 where the front sight white dot is dead center on the target) still shot low.

I want to use this for home protection so it was totally unacceptable.

After banging my head against the wall I called S&W and the guy said "oh, you need a lower front sight, hold please." 5 seconds pass, he comes back I give him my address and he says "It's in the mail"

YAY S&W. You guys are pretty awesome.
 
You know, I recently bought an M&P 40, took it to the range with some friends and while I only put 30 rounds through it, I couldn't seem to hit what I was aiming at. everything grouped low and to the left at 25'. Will keep this in mind when I have a chance to actually get to spend time shooting it and I'm not jumping from gun to gun
 
5" @ 7 yds. is really low. I'm thinking your front sight needs to be like 1/8" shorter. Not sure how that's going to work, but let us know!

It could have been 10 yds it's hard to tell at BGRA because I'm not sure how to tell the distance . . . I do know the rage is just short of 15 yards so I was most certainly between halfway and 2/3 of the length of the range.

Anyway. Let'sall hope it works out. I'll follow up when the sight comes in and I get a chance to test it out.
 
BGRA is a 50 foot range which is almost 17 yards. The two most popular distances are 7 yds and 50 feet as these are commonly used in competition.

I would ask S&W to send you the shortest sight they make for this pistol. Some excellent info on sight height is available on DawsonPrecision.com.
 
righthandedtriggerpullmtw9.jpg
Excellent! Thanks for helping a noob out!
 
Good info

My initial calculation used 7" as sight radious but it's more like 5". So my revised estimate is you need a 1/10" lower, which still seems like a lot.

Have you shot it from bench rest?

I have and with a laser to track the motion through the trigger pull. It's not me.
If I do hold it such that 1/8"-1/10" of the front sight is up the shot is just about where I want it to be.

I think the fact that my call to S&W customer service lasted less than 2 minutes is indicative of the legitimacy of this problem as being widespread. On top of that there are multiple complaints on other forums about other M&P's shooting low and some anecdotal complaints from others I know that simply dumped their M&P's for this reason.

I like the pistol. It's very versatile and seems well suited to defend in extreme situations (non-CCW).

Only complaint I have (not counting the low shooting) is that I can't find spare mags for this full size M&P anywhere for less than $45. I know they sell for $22. Annoying.

I'll update when the new sight is in.
 
My first M&P did the same thing and it was not the gun. 1) Get a better trigger, 2) get some snap caps and mix them in at random to see how bad you are flinching.

"Why you flinch, ese?"
I don't flinch :p

All my other pistols (many of the 40 cal) shoot exactly where I want them to.
 
BGRA is a 50 foot range which is almost 17 yards. The two most popular distances are 7 yds and 50 feet as these are commonly used in competition.

I would ask S&W to send you the shortest sight they make for this pistol. Some excellent info on sight height is available on DawsonPrecision.com.

I looked into dawson precision and the sights are freaking tall. I just need this to defend my home and for OS situations. I have a cz75 IPSC for competition.
 
I looked into dawson precision and the sights are freaking tall. I just need this to defend my home and for OS situations. I have a cz75 IPSC for competition.

The sights are displayed oversized or exaggerated for the purpose of demonstating the effect of front sight height on point of impact. The principle applies to any front sight. What is important is the formula for the amount of change in the height of the front sight to adjust your point of impact.
 
@kid: THANK YOU. My range is 50' and i wasn't putting anything on the paper! I put up a cut up paper garbage bag, and I was about a 12-18" low!

Everyone told me about the flinching, etc. But I have a Sig Mosquito where I can put 10 in the rings grouped fairly well at that distance. So I know I am getting a good sight picture, and good trigger pull, etc. I am no expert, fairly new, but think i have the basics down.

I got a trigger job because everyone said that the 10lb trigger was causing issues as well. Still low.

Really glad you posted this, going to call SW today!
 
@kid: THANK YOU. My range is 50' and i wasn't putting anything on the paper! I put up a cut up paper garbage bag, and I was about a 12-18" low!

Everyone told me about the flinching, etc. But I have a Sig Mosquito where I can put 10 in the rings grouped fairly well at that distance. So I know I am getting a good sight picture, and good trigger pull, etc. I am no expert, fairly new, but think i have the basics down.

I got a trigger job because everyone said that the 10lb trigger was causing issues as well. Still low.

Really glad you posted this, going to call SW today!


I noticed a lot of people have been getting trigger jobs on the M&P's and I suspect it's because of the shooting low problem. Then they try to unload them on the classifieds (how I got my M&P). It's not a huge deal to me because I'm an engineer and I can figure these things out pretty easily.

I just want everyone to know the solution lies at S&W after you've tried everything else.
 
I noticed a lot of people have been getting trigger jobs on the M&P's and I suspect it's because of the shooting low problem.

They are getting trigger jobs because 1) the AG's regulations require an M&P sold new in MA to have a trigger pull greater than 10 lbs, which is ridiculous, and 2) out of the box the M&P has a lousy reset. A drop-in kit from Apex drops the trigger pull to a much more reasonable level and adds a reset.
 
If you don't want to do it yourself, business end customs in Tewksbury does a great job. He is recommended by the guys at 4 seasons and also middleton.
 
They are getting trigger jobs because 1) the AG's regulations require an M&P sold new in MA to have a trigger pull greater than 10 lbs, which is ridiculous, and 2) out of the box the M&P has a lousy reset. A drop-in kit from Apex drops the trigger pull to a much more reasonable level and adds a reset.


this and i have done that
 
Strange. I have three M&Ps (45, 9mm, and 9mm Pro) and have had no problems with point of impact; all were on the money and the 45 grouped extremely well at 50 yds. Trigger pull was a problem (I got the good groups at 50 yds with the 45 after installing a "free state" trigger return spring). I later went to an Apex kit for the standard 9mm and left the Pro alone as it had an excellent trigger. Also don't understand the "reset" problem; all mine are fine. I guess I just got lucky.
 
I noticed a lot of people have been getting trigger jobs on the M&P's and I suspect it's because of the shooting low problem. Then they try to unload them on the classifieds (how I got my M&P). It's not a huge deal to me because I'm an engineer and I can figure these things out pretty easily.

I just want everyone to know the solution lies at S&W after you've tried everything else.

The problem is that you shoot like shit, not the gun. I have 5 M&Ps all with original factory sights and all shoot where I point them.
 
The problem is that you shoot like shit, not the gun. I have 5 M&Ps all with original factory sights and all shoot where I point them.

Thanks . . . I'm not sure how I could have done everything I have and it still be me.
I've shot 4" groupings at 18 yds with cz75 IPSC, ruger mkIII (both not owned by me) and I shoot like shit.

The new front sight will tell.

If you don't have anything nice to say then you're probably some sort of troll.
 
Thanks . . . I'm not sure how I could have done everything I have and it still be me.
I've shot 4" groupings at 18 yds with cz75 IPSC, ruger mkIII (both not owned by me) and I shoot like shit.

The new front sight will tell.

If you don't have anything nice to say then you're probably some sort of troll.

The new front sight may mask a problem, nothing more.
 
S&W has shipped a few guns with out of kilter sights. I bought a 4516-1 that shot incredibly small groups at 50 yds. That's the good news; the bad news was the groups were 18" below point of aim. A new front sight cured the problem.
 
I had a SIG 226 that shot several inches low. I sent it back to SIG and they installed a shorter front sight. Problem solved.
 
Caliber has no bearing on this discussion.

If you don;t want to explain and only want to give a hard time find another thread with someone that will bother to take your abuse.

I'm only looking for help and pointers from constructive people. It also looks like other people have this same problem.
It's not polite to tell people they shoot like shit. It goes no where and breeds contempt.

I'll let the moderators know you're causing trouble on the boards.
 
S&W has shipped a few guns with out of kilter sights. I bought a 4516-1 that shot incredibly small groups at 50 yds. That's the good news; the bad news was the groups were 18" below point of aim. A new front sight cured the problem.

i've run into several folks who have filed down the front sight on

SW guns to correct aiming problems....
 
M&P's

M&P's do not for the most part have adjustable sights,

yes you can loosen the set screw on the rear sight

but the movement is crude. an adjustable rear sight

can correct a lot of issues, not all but most.
 
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