New Shield 40 shooting left
- Thread starter carld
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
Bkreutz
US Veteran
Have someone else shoot it and make sure it's the pistol. Also, try sticking your little finger out (not around the grip) and see what happens.
Yep, my 9MM Shield shoots low left also and I fully believe it is me. Read it too many times here not to believe it. Once I'm done with turkey season, it will be time for more practice to correct it. I heartily suggest the same for the OP. Good luck!
jeffhughes
Member
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2012
- Messages
- 212
- Reaction score
- 59
Have a known good shooter try the gun.
You are almost certainly slapping or jerking the trigger...
accessbob
Member
I had the same problem with my wife's 9 (oddly enough she didn't). So I fired it from a bench rest so that it was not going to move when I pulled the trigger. Funny thing - it was dead on accurate doing that. So, I realized it was me.
AR-Getsome
Member
scooter123
Member
FYI the reason so many are suggesting it's the shooter and not the gun is that 5 inches at 15 yard is a LOT of deviation. In order to zero the front sight to correct for this you will have part of the sight base hanging off the slide. It will be far wiser to put in some practice time and see how well those sights are set after a month or two of practice.
BTW, I'll also warn you not to expect real tiny groups. it's a very small pistol with a very short sight radius, so getting the sights lined up perfectly for every shot will be rather difficult. My basic criteria for Defense practice is to put every shot into an 8 inch paper plate and adjust my firing rate to accomplish this at whatever distance distance I'm shooting at.
BTW, I'll also warn you not to expect real tiny groups. it's a very small pistol with a very short sight radius, so getting the sights lined up perfectly for every shot will be rather difficult. My basic criteria for Defense practice is to put every shot into an 8 inch paper plate and adjust my firing rate to accomplish this at whatever distance distance I'm shooting at.
tonesurfer
Member
I have a similar "problem", low and to the right......because I'm left handed 
It's US and our trigger control, not the gun.
It's US and our trigger control, not the gun.
I had thought it may be me. I plan on taking a bench rest with me next time and see if that and more time getting comfortable with it helps. I imagine it will. I basically went straight from the store to the range with a quick cleaning before I shot it. I also have a Taurus Millenium pro in 40. I'solid with it but it shoots very different. Lonngggg trigger pull and slow reset. Hence the shield. Thanks for the info. More range time...
RacerScott
Member
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2013
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 10
My new shield was also shooting a little bit left. About 1.5-2 inches @ 10 yards. I then noticed my front sight was off center to the right by about .020. Since then I had ameriglo night sights installed, but have not had a chance to shoot the gun yet.
OpsMgr
US Veteran
Agree with the others - Shoot off a sandbag rest to make sure it is you and not your pistola. Common for most to discover it is them.
Take a look at your grip. Thumbs forward and make sure the heel of your support hand is making solid contact with the grip frame with equal pressure as your strong hand. You do not need a crush grip - Firm grip is what you want. Also, shoot slow and deliberate, concentrating on your front sight.
Buy some snap caps or better yet, dummy rounds. Dry fire practice until the front sight doesn't move as the pistola fires. Do ball and dummy drills at the range - Randomly mix dummy rounds in with live ammo and pay close attention to the front sight as you fire. If the front sight is moving you will see it.
Good luck and keep up the practice. You will get yourself on track if you stay in curiosity and out of judgement...
Take a look at your grip. Thumbs forward and make sure the heel of your support hand is making solid contact with the grip frame with equal pressure as your strong hand. You do not need a crush grip - Firm grip is what you want. Also, shoot slow and deliberate, concentrating on your front sight.
Buy some snap caps or better yet, dummy rounds. Dry fire practice until the front sight doesn't move as the pistola fires. Do ball and dummy drills at the range - Randomly mix dummy rounds in with live ammo and pay close attention to the front sight as you fire. If the front sight is moving you will see it.
Good luck and keep up the practice. You will get yourself on track if you stay in curiosity and out of judgement...
OpsMgr
US Veteran
Load your mags at home before you go to the range or have someone load your mags for you - Key is to have no clue when you might pull the trigger on a dummy round...
- Joined
- May 6, 2013
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
Same problem here. I initially thought it was me just needing to get used to the new gun. Then I looked at the front sight and saw that it is noticeably off center. Now I'm trying to figure out the easiest way to adjust it.
dullh
Member
To the OP, moving the front sight is not difficult at all. Most ranges have brass punches on hand. Put a piece of that masking tape they have for hanging targets over the end of the punch, and rap your front sight to the left two times (if your shots are going right, tap front sight to the right). Repeat until your shots go where the sights are showing on a smooth trigger pull. Problem solved.
Carl
I have shot 3, 000 rounds through 3 different ccws in 2 years and one thing I have learned is small guns amplify human error more so than a full size.
Two things that have improved my shooting is trigger control and keeping my eye on the front sight after I pull the trigger. (Follow through)
Sounds obvious but I find myself anticipating the recoil and the very last fraction of a second I will take my eye of the sight. Big no no. I pull it low left every time. I can nail bulls eyes every time if I squeeze trigger straight back with no movement in wrist and keep my eye on that sight throughout recoil.
Russ
P.S. I also place my first joint not pad on trigger. Better fit for my hand size
Last edited:
Have it shooting straight. I moved the front sight left aprox 3/16" and it brought poi right in. Also added a crimson trace and the sights and laser are both dead on when shooting from a bench rest. Holding 1 1/2" pattern at 10 yds. Still only 400 +/- rounds so now just more time to settle in. I'm happier.
SMMAssociates
Member
My M&P40FS was all over the place.... Turned out that the front and rear sights were both quite a ways off center. Some tape and brass punches (and more than a little cursing 
) cured that.
My 40C and 9C were/are more or less dead on for what's necessary - putting about six rounds into a six inch circle at 30'.
Wasn't me - I'm the guy the gang at the range hand a gun with "you try it".... I don't claim to be great, but I'm old....
My buddy Joe and I were using those "tell you what's wrong" targets one night, and not doing well. The target suggested "get another hobby"....
S&W has shipped more than one gun with the sights improperly installed. If you can fix it yourself, great, but don't jump onto it without getting somebody else to try it, and a good examination of the hardware. Other than the sights being bashed in there by the Samsonite Gorilla, it's a pretty easy fix if it's not the shooter.
(Fixing the shooter can be somewhat more difficult. Especially if you don't have a Medical Degree....)
Regards,
) cured that.My 40C and 9C were/are more or less dead on for what's necessary - putting about six rounds into a six inch circle at 30'.
Wasn't me - I'm the guy the gang at the range hand a gun with "you try it"
.... I don't claim to be great, but I'm old....My buddy Joe and I were using those "tell you what's wrong" targets one night, and not doing well. The target suggested "get another hobby"....
S&W has shipped more than one gun with the sights improperly installed. If you can fix it yourself, great, but don't jump onto it without getting somebody else to try it, and a good examination of the hardware. Other than the sights being bashed in there by the Samsonite Gorilla, it's a pretty easy fix if it's not the shooter.
(Fixing the shooter can be somewhat more difficult. Especially if you don't have a Medical Degree
....)Regards,
