Been shooting my new 40 about 2 months - every weekend and sometimes 2 to 3 times a week. Anyway, I always shoot low. I got a 22a for practice a couple weeks ago and don't have the problem. I've read that I may be anticipating the recoil OR just have bad trigger control OR ... (the list goes on).

Anyway, I got the 22a to help by alternating the guns: 10 rounds w/ 22a then 5 rounds w/ the 40. I try different distances.

My question - am I going the right direction? Can I be doing some other things?

Thanks,

jwkhead

Get some snapcaps and dry fire the M&P until you don't see it move when you pull the trigger.

These long double action pistols are hard to master but you can do it.

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GO NAVY!

Pulling the trigger is made up of 2 motions. The first is to pull the trigger to take the pistol off of safety. Pull slowly until you feel the resistance. At this point, recheck your sight picture before you finish pulling the trigger to fire the pistol. Practice this slowly until you get the feel of the trigger. I think that that you will see some improvement by doing this. Once you get the hang of this approach, it will become part of your memory and you will be able to do the 2 motions faster.

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Corripe Cervisiam

I will admit I had the exact same problem. I figured out the trigger and better hand grip control. Now all is fine.

I also noticed that where I place my finger on the trigger made a difference. I had a tendency to pull it low and left when the trigger was closer to the tip of my finger. The better I centered the trigger on my finger in order to pull the trigger straight back, the less I would pull left.

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MotorCityGun

I also shot low left with my M&P. I have the MA- hell 10# trigger. I now use the power crease instead of the tip of the finger and this helps a lot.

Going to the range today to try all of the suggestions - already practiced as much as I could at home.

Again, thanks for all the suggestions.

jwkhead

Also remember to really focus on your front sight and keep it level with the rear. If you are shoot low, it does appear you are anticipating the recoil and slightly pushing down to adjust your shot. The gun should suprise you each time it goes off. Slow and steady pull straight to the rear, BAM, holy **** the gun exploded!!

Got a tac light with a laser? use them in conjuction with the snap caps. The beam instantly tells you what you are doing wrong and how far the motion of pulling the trigger is throwing off the point of impact. Just set a distance ie. 30 feet, center/adjust the beam dot to be covered by the front sight when the sights are all lined up and use that as a reference. Pop in some snap caps and pull the trigger as you would normally. Adjust your grip or trigger pull methods accordingly.

Note: dont use the laser as a crutch-use it with the snap caps to refine your trigger pull. Its a great tool for practice and HD but it will never replace the need to learn how to properly aim your pistol with the irons.

I used this method on my Sig P250's. I needed to get used to the long but smooth pull needed to shoot them accurately. Once I learned this shooting them and any other handguns accurately is a breeze. I taught myself to be smooth with the pull and not to anticipate the recoil.

My M&P 45 shoots point of aim (POA). If you are using a 6 O'Clock hold then you would be shooting low.

Just a thought.

Like others I have seen post here, my new S&W M&P 40 is a great gun, but it seemed to be consistently low left about 2-3 inches. I tried all the tips I read about triger finger position, jerking, anticipating the recoil, squeezing grip fingers & practice dry firing the gun focusing on good techniques. Nothing seemed to work.

Finally, I saw a suggestion online that made sense to me. Try a larger back stap on the M&P. I just returned from the range, problem solved! I do believe the other things played a role in the low left shooting. However, changing from small to medium back strap on the grip had an immediate impact. The first shot hit dead center bullseye! The small was very comfortable for me, but forced me to grip too hard and shift the shot low & left. Medium still feel good, but makes just enough difference in grip and trigger finger placement to get me right on target. It is worth a try if you are having the same problem.

I just received an M&P for work. I had the medium back strap on the weapon when I took it out of the case. I'm going to try the "large" on it and see how it does at 15 yards.