Shield shooting low and left.

[country6220]

I know this has probably been brought up alot but didnt see the posts. I am not a new shooter and for some reason this is my only pistol that I have this problem with. Its a 9mm and distance is about 10-15 feet. Its shooting about 5" low and 5" left. I shoot my Kahr, H&K, and Springfield EMP 9mm's fine but this one is giving me fits. I have about 400 rounds through it, with all kinds of different ammo all being 115gr. I read that most people that send it back has the same problem when it returns. What are any of you doing to solve this problem? I guess I could get a new low profile front sight and drift it. Please help.

[lhoward762]

Mine was doing the same, until i installed the apex carry kit, changed my finger position from my Glock position, and shot 400rds through it. I also noticed i need to put the dot of the front sight on the target. Now it's hitting point of aim and I can make better than tactically accurate shots past 25 yards.

Sent from TapTalk 2

[MichiganScott]

It's normal for someone not familiar with the M&P trigger to shoot low-left at first, particularly if they are used to shooting single action pistols. I did and I've put tens of thousands of rounds down range over the years before buying mine.

Keep the finger off the frame and concentrate on the front sight. You'll start shooting 10's.

[CJ_mp40c]

Flinching.

[country6220]

Thanks for the reply I have read about and will get the apex carry kit. I am not about to give up on it yet. thanks again!

[S&WForty]

Originally Posted by MichiganScott

Keep the finger off the frame and concentrate on the front sight. You'll start shooting 10's.

Do you mean don't rest finger on frame prior to firing?

[happycamp78]

Im new to the forum and my shield is my first pistol
Therefore i probably shouldn't be giving advice. So instead I'll share what helped me.
Everyone including me, who shoots my new shield 9 tends to shoot low to the left.
I thought it was the gun or sights.
It wasn't.
I was pulling the trigger with my knuckle (because of the narrow grip)and causing the low to left issue. As soon as i started pulling the trigger with the TIP of my finger my accuracy improved dramatically
Please dont laugh it took us weeks to figure this out

Sent from my SCH-i705 using Tapatalk HD

[shield]

Same experience, shot low left at first. Had to work on my grip and trigger pull to correct it.

[country6220]

Thanks for all the info everyone. I will hit it again tomorrow.

[Rgoodwin]

Same with me. I get it right about 2 out of 5 times. FS9 by the way. I seem to do better with higher grain ammo for some reason. Good luck!

[NinemiLL]

It's your pinky!

[Rgoodwin]

Not. It's off the grip.

[agksimon]

Try shooting off a sandbag on a bench. That will help determine if it's you or the gun. Don't jerk the trigger, pull slowly and smoothly.

[CJ_mp40c]

Read this How to Cure a Flinch | Cornered Cat
"after the trigger has broken to the rear, do not take your finger off the trigger for at least two full seconds". This will allow you to see if you are staying on target after the pull.

[OpsMgr]

Originally Posted by agksimon

Try shooting off a sandbag on a bench. That will help determine if it's you or the gun. Don't jerk the trigger, pull slowly and smoothly.

Agreed. Shooting low and left for right handed shooters is very common. Shooting off a sandbag rest will tell you lots.

Pay close attention to your grip - Make sure the heel of you support hand is making contact with the grip frame and in equal pressure as your strong side hand. Don't need a crush grip, just a firm grip. Worked for me...

[CJ_mp40c]

Also what has helped my accuracy is to push out with the gun hand, while the weak hand pulls back.

Read up on the different stances like Weaver Chapman and Isosceles.

[Cal44]

It may not be quite germane as it was with a different gun, but:

I bought a Ruger LCR 357 fixed sight snubbie revolver recently.

It too shot low and left. I figured it was me getting used to the short barreled DAO gun.

But I couldn't get past the problem.

About 8 - 10" low left at 30 feet.

Finally I bought a laser bore sighter, and sure enough, the gun was pointed low left about 3 - 4" across a bedroom (maybe 12').

Anyway, Ruger sent me a UPS label and I sent the gun back to them and they are working on it.

Sometimes there really is a problem with the gun.

Dave

[K.macocker]

I was exact same at first.
Use you left hand to steady the gun more. And concentrate on how u pull the trigger as people have said.
Pull straight back on the trigger rather than at an angle. :-)

Good luck
Kmac

[Rgoodwin]

Ok so I just shot five rounds from 7 yards and kept the inside knuckle at the base of my trigger finger off the frame. Fore finger pad on the trigger, right pinky overlapping support hand of grip. Base of support hand on the grip applying equal pressure. 3 of 5 on 3 inch bullseye and 2 were just outside the circle left and an inch high. My brain is on fire, I hope I get this squared away soon. Thanks, sorry for high jacking your thread but I've never had so much trouble shooting a pistol.

[MichiganScott]

Originally Posted by S&WForty

Do you mean don't rest finger on frame prior to firing?

Trigger finger when pulling the trigger. You push the gun to the left if the finger drags.

[Bkreutz]

Originally Posted by Rgoodwin

Ok so I just shot five rounds from 7 yards and kept the inside knuckle at the base of my trigger finger off the frame. Fore finger pad on the trigger, right pinky overlapping support hand of grip. Base of support hand on the grip applying equal pressure. 3 of 5 on 3 inch bullseye and 2 were just outside the circle left and an inch high. My brain is on fire, I hope I get this squared away soon. Thanks, sorry for high jacking your thread but I've never had so much trouble shooting a pistol.

Do you shoot at the same range all the time? Years ago I got a new pistol that I couldn't hit the floor with, had no trouble with other pistols so I figured the gun was at fault, by chance I shot it at another range and I had no difficulty , I went back to the first range and still couldn't hit what I was aiming at. The only thing that I could figure out was that there was something in the lighting or something else that was playing tricks with my eyes on that particular gun at that particular range. Never really definitively figured it out, ended up selling that one and the new owner loved it.

[Rgoodwin]

Yes at my place. Homemade range. Sun is above or behind me in afternoon. Maybe magnetic north is pulling me off. I'm shooting east! Bahahahaha

[MichiganScott]

Originally Posted by Rgoodwin

Yes at my place. Homemade range. Sun is above or behind me in afternoon. Maybe magnetic north is pulling me off. I'm shooting east! Bahahahaha

Stop using steel jacketed bullets. Problem solved.

[2hawk]

You're right, there's been a lot of threads on this. Using the search function in the header just under the forum logo gives you a google/site search, this is what I got with your thread title (About 528 results in 0.22 seconds):

http://smith-wessonforum.com/searchr...ss=219j47961j2

That said, here's an old chestnut that may help:


hth

[rbianco3]

Pretty much the same as most people ares saying, the first few times to the range I was low-left. I bought a laser training cartridge and practiced at home for hours-- it solved the problem. Part of the problem was that my trigger pull was not 100% perpendicular to the barrel so when I'd pull back the barrel would move slightly left. Once I solved the flinching my shots were consistently an inch high and for me, I have to keep the front sight slightly under the rear to keep from shooting high.

[accessbob]

Originally Posted by agksimon

Try shooting off a sandbag on a bench. That will help determine if it's you or the gun. Don't jerk the trigger, pull slowly and smoothly.

What he said^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[gerick75]

I posted earlier, but S&W hasn't posted it.
I too am still trying to determine cause of off-center grouping.
I attached .pdf of targets; 1st is what prompted me to contact CS this morning for a return.
1st page was yesterday results as described in warranty claim this morning w/ right hand w/ Sellier Bellot 115grn S&W Shield vs Taurus PT111. Walther 1911 .22 in upper rt corner w/ no problems.
2nd page was today; SB and Remington 115grn ammo, right hand (RH) and left hand (LH), S&W as well as Taurus PT111
Rem seemed hotter in both firearms, grouping is still better and more center w/ PT111
Guess I have to concentrate much more w/ Shield (or any of my other pistols (same size as well as heavier) to get it close to center than w/ PT111 for example.

Have cancelled warranty claim for now

[jim46ok]

Originally Posted by country6220

Thanks for the reply I have read about and will get the apex carry kit. I am not about to give up on it yet. thanks again!

Don't think that will solve all issues. You need to do your part, as well. Practice. Not just shoot, but practice. Correct stance, grip, etc, etc. It will come.

[Rastoff]

Wow, two zombie threads in one day.