Hello all, new here. My question is, I just purchased the shield
.40 from my local shop, is it unusual that he front sight be off center... probably .040 to the left ?. Are they manufacturing these so fast that they can not even "eyeball" the sight?
Also, can I re-adjust the sight using a brass punch without damage. Same goes for the bodyguard, that's about .025-.030
to the right.

.04 is a lot! If my sight was off that much I think I would contact S&W and inquire about sending it back for a factory adjustment.

Mine was also like this,good luck moving it,they are also too tight.
there quality sucks.
mine shot 3 inches left at 7 yards.
Mine is good now after a lot of pressure in a Machinist kurt vise.
hows your trigger mine was very heavy.

__________________
S&W Shield 40 owner

Most new Shield owners complain that the gun shoots left. If your front sight is off to the left you may not have a problem. I would shoot it first and where it groups.

Before you adjust the sights. HAVE YOU FIRED IT?

Really, I was quite surprised it was off..WAY off.

Yes, first thing I did was take it to the range and was wondering where the shots were going..cuz they weren't hitting the paper!

Yes, the trigger weight on a Sheild is 10.5 or so. I have purchased the Apex kit for my 9mm m&p and made a word of difference. I will be doing the same with the .40 shield..

As far as re-adjusting the sight, It was a bit snug put a little heat from a hair dryer and a few solid hits with the brass punch worked well...actually too well, about .003 the other way now. I have to dig out my surface plate and drop indicator to hit it on the nose, hard with verniers..

I certainly agree, but have been a machinist 30+yrs, I didn't want to wait for a turn around on such a simple adjustment..

Going to range to check it out today..

Also wanna say hello to everyone and thank you for the replys, I'm
new on this site and have been finding a lot of valuable info..

Hey all, so, is it gonna be impossible to get a 9mm barrel for my .40 shield?...It's kinda lookin that way. SW wont sell em, storm lake don't make em, nor does anyone else....I need a lathe and a Bridgeport!

Yup... If S&W isn't selling them, yer pretty much out of luck for quite a while.

Purchased a shield .40 Feb/2013 and a shield 9mm last week. Both front sights were off center the same as the op. The 40 shot 3" to the left at 25' and so did the 9mm. Installed Ameriglo 3 dot and an apex carry kit on the 40 and it is 10 ring at 25'. Will do the same with the 9mm

Maybe if you bought the MA compliant model. Mine is about 6.7.

I have the same issue with my new M&P Shield 9mm as it is shooting left of center by 3" consistently.

I fired 250 rds today (various ammo) and was getting nice tight groups at 10 yrds and 25 yrds just 3" left. I had no failures at all.

I was going to leave things alone for now until I can buy a set of night sights
and have them installed and have the final sight adjustments made by the gunsmith
but will be calling S&W in the morning to see what they have to say. If they want to correct the issue and the turnaround is not over a couple of weeks I will forgo the night sights and let them adjust the installed sights.


Overall I am happy with the firearm.

__________________
"Who Dares Wins!"