Improving the 40 Shield Accuracy

[cybersnow]

My closest range is a 50' outdoor range and I am finding that my 40 cal shields accuracy makes me a little nervous. While I can shoot a very tight pattern with my Springfield 1911 officer and with my para .45, the 40 does not come close to the pattern that I would like to see. While I understand that it was not meant to be used at that range and will probably do the job close up, I would still like to "feel confident" with my ccw weapon and don't want to carry anything as large as the 1911s.

Any suggestions on what to do to improve the accuracy? Besides shoot it a lot? LOL. The gun is stock out of the box. Also did they every come up with a conversion kit to let it fire 9mm?

thanks,
Snow

[Ballistic147]

I shoot my Shield 9mm, 40c, and even my little Taurus TCP out to about 25 or 30 yards. I can hit the target at that distance but the results ain't all that pretty. Definitely nothing to brag about and not something that I worry over either. Most of my shooting with the above guns is done at 10 yards or less and the results there are very acceptable and well within what these guns were designed for.

I have thought about doing the Apex kit but just don't want to have the possible liability of a modified SD gun.

[LVSteve]

The physics of a shorter barrel and the optical compromise of a short sight radius are often hard to beat. If you are still making hits on a silhouette I wouldn't sweat it too much.

[MSG Glenn]

^^^ What LVSteve said.

I think you should just be happy to hit the target regardless where on the paper you hit. I'm sure there are people that can hit the 10 ring every time. I know for a fact that I'm not one of them. I think with practice & maybe experimenting with your grip you might be able to improve. I'm satisfied to hit close to the center of target at 21'.

[OKFC05]

Can you hit a paper plate? Can you hit it first shot, every time at 50 feet? If you can, you doing great. Don't use a bullseye target for a defense gun; it promotes bad habits and slows you down.
Most say, "First good hit wins the firefight!"

[PirateJim]

An Apex trigger job might improve things. I thought my Shield's trigger was good until I put an Apex kit in my Pro Series. Since installing a kit in the Shield I feel like my accuracy has improved, but I am not enough of a record keeper to quantify that.

[JMichaelTX]

From a self-defense perspective, would you really want to pull the trigger at 50 ft? Could you believably testify that you truly felt your life, or serious bodily injury was threatened?

I'm not sure myself, but probably not.

But back to your question. Have you considered buying high-end sights or laser sights?

[accessbob]

My range only allows 50 foot shooting and I got so that I could shoot decent groups with the M&P and then when I went to a friends range with 21 feet I was able to shoot lights out with it so it gave me confidence that I am good at that shorter range.