New Shield, consistently shooting 8-9 o'clock of bullseye

[RSchleder]

Being left handed I was shooting low and to the right with my M&P9c. After reading a few threads here I realized my trigger pull was too rapid and not smooth. The second time out, I concentrated on trigger pull and at 12-15ft tore the center out of several targets.
IMHO, you need to really concentrate on, and practice, your slow/smooth trigger pull and you'll soon see a considerable improvement in your ability to put the round where you want it.
Good luck!!

 

[chief1]

IMHO, you need to really concentrate on, and practice, your slow/smooth trigger pull and you'll soon see a considerable improvement in your ability to put the round where you want it.
Good luck!!

There's quite a bit of poor information about shooting on the internet and the statement above is not one f them. As a trainer, this is one of the best pieces of advice I've read on the subject in the internet. Way to go RSchleder.

BTW, I'm a lefty too.

 

[George9]

Get some dummy rounds 3 or 4 of them for a few mags. Have someone load your mags up and stagger the 3 or 4 dummy rounds in a few mags.. you will see exactly what your doing wrong that away and as soon as you fire 3 or 4 rounds off then just get a click. you will see what your front sight is doing at that MOMENT you will feel what your trigger finger is doing after the silence of the click. For some reason not expecting a click and silence brings out most bad habits even flinches.. This is how I was taught and I still use it today every once in a while especially when having issues with a new gun.. Hope this helps ! George

 

[Mikey217]

Get some dummy rounds 3 or 4 of them for a few mags. Have someone load your mags up and stagger the 3 or 4 dummy rounds in a few mags.. you will see exactly what your doing wrong that away and as soon as you fire 3 or 4 rounds off then just get a click. you will see what your front sight is doing at that MOMENT you will feel what your trigger finger is doing after the silence of the click. For some reason not expecting a click and silence brings out most bad habits even flinches.. This is how I was taught and I still use it today every once in a while especially when having issues with a new gun.. Hope this helps ! George

Ditto! This is the exact same thing I do. I hand load my ammo, so I made a few dummy rounds myself. I load up my mags at home (sticking the dummies in there) and toss 'em in my range bag. When I get to the range, I don't know which mags have the dummy rounds or where they are in that mag, so it's always a surprise when I click on the dummies. It's really opened my eyes to what I was doing wrong, which was pointing the gun down at the same time I pulled the trigger.

I've been working really hard at not doing that, and it's paid off in much better accuracy (of course). I just can't wait until it's second nature so I don't have to think about it.

 

[ccpacker]

If one is not cross dominate, he does not understand the problem. The jerk and trigger issues are compounded by it. Mine is also compounded by cataracts and prisms in my lens. Holding steady, smooth trigger pull doesn't always put me in the black. In the Marines, I learned to fire the long gun with my right eye. It wasn't my best eye, but I qualified as a sharpshooter. The right eye has gone south so that won't work now.

 

[Radworm]

If one is not cross dominate, he does not understand the problem. The jerk and trigger issues are compounded by it. Mine is also compounded by cataracts and prisms in my lens. Holding steady, smooth trigger pull doesn't always put me in the black. In the Marines, I learned to fire the long gun with my right eye. It wasn't my best eye, but I qualified as a sharpshooter. The right eye has gone south so that won't work now.

Cross dominance doesn't really affect my pistol shooting that much due to short sight radius. It is actually an advantage since I can use my non-dominant right eye to acquire the target and then use my dominant left eye to focus on the front sight.

It is a huge liability with shooting rifles and shot guns since I was always shooting to the left with iron sights. I finally put red dot lasers on my Mossberg and AK47. I still use my right eye to acquire the target and left eye to focus laser. Works like a charm.

 

[kris7047th]

Cross dominance doesn't really affect my pistol shooting that much due to short sight radius. It is actually an advantage since I can use my non-dominant right eye to acquire the target and then use my dominant left eye to focus on the front sight.

It is a huge liability with shooting rifles and shot guns since I was always shooting to the left with iron sights. I finally put red dot lasers on my Mossberg and AK47. I still use my right eye to acquire the target and left eye to focus laser. Works like a charm.

I figured the heck with it and learned to shoot long gun left handed, pistol right. And No .. I buy all right handed long guns.

 

[George9]

It was so many years ago..But for hand gun shooting you can train your none dominant eye to be your dominant eye for shooting.. It can be done.. My sister was left eye dominant and the guy that was teaching her to shoot gave her exercises to do to help her and it was easy.. Almost as easy as the technique that let you know you were left eyed dominant in the first place.. Try looking it up and I'll try and remember and pass it on.. Don't lose the faith! George

 

[Jal5]

My first two range trips were like yours, left and low POI. I changed up my ammo to WWB 115gr and slightly adjusted my grip and added more concentration on the trigger pull. The group adjusted just fine to the bullseye, still a slight bit left but very much improved.
Keep working at it.

Joe

 

[MP22]

By all the posts on this thread....it seems to be a common trait of the Shield to shoot low and left....hmmm.

 

[chief1]

By all the posts on this thread....it seems to be a common trait of the Shield to shoot low and left....hmmm.

It aint the arrow it's the indian!!!!!

 

[team sidewinder]

I am not a good pistol shooter and doubt even with lots of practice and instruction I ever will be. I think I shoot every ( 3 ) pistol I have I shoot left of point of aim and the shield is no exception ( No worse or no better ). BUT I do know at self defense ranges 20 - 30 feet I will get the job done on a BG and that is all I ask of my shield. The Talon rubber grips made a huge difference in my ability to grip the gun to shoot rapid fire without repositioning my grip and were well worth the $$. I have small hands and I don't know how anybody with big meathooks can keep one of these small CCWs in their hands to shoot rapid fire.

I also see a change in my shots from the 7 round mag. when I have the 8 round magazine in the shield which tells me I need to concentrate more on my grip and trigger pull.

I never considered my 9mm Sig 229R to be either a large or even heavy pistol but after shooting this 9mm shield my Sig seems like it need to lose some weight and the grip seems huge now.

" Shoot till your empty and then reload ". My words to LIVE by.

 

[Jal5]

Practice, practice, practice !
I find that the more I shoot this gun the more I like it and the better results in accuracy. Joe

 

[chief1]

This past Saturday I picked up an M&P Shield 9mm and today I got a chance to shoot it. I must say I'm very impressed with this little pistol. The main characteristic that blew me away was it's accuracy. This pistol has a 3.1" barrel and I was making head shots at 25y with no issues.
There's no arguing that one needs solid fundamentals to shoot a small frame with any degree of accuracy at distance, and this system is no different. However, in the hands of a good shooter, the pistol will perform and perform beautifully.

Initially, there's a couple of characteristics I would like to change on it, the trigger pull would be the first. I think it's a bit heavy, especially for a small frame like that. I can see why some could be having accuracy issues with it. I had to really focus on my trigger to make sure my sight picture remained perfect as the shot broke.
The other characteristic I don't like is the spacer on the 8 round mag. When manipulating the mag the spacer comes apart from the mag's butt plate and it's annoying. I think a better system could have been designed.

Besides the little sharper recoil which is expected from a small frame, the pistol shoots just fine. Like I said before, it's the Indian not the arrow and on small frames like these, the indian better have solid skills at longer distances.

The pictures I'm showing were shot at 7 yards and 25 yards using standard 115gr ammo.

All head shots at 7 yards.

25 yards. 3 head shots at 25 and 3 body shots at 25.