My SD40 shoots drastically low, out of the box.

I've owned a Glock 22 (.40) and an SD9VE. I was so happy with the SD9 that I sold my Glock, last year. I have wanted another .40 to carry because of black bear that frequent my OK mountain property, and I usually camp alone there. I then sold my SD9 and picked up an SD40, and headed to the deer lease with my bro-in-law, and nephew. We all setup to shoot, and they brought toys as well. I stuck some small, 6" ground targets in in front of a round bale, and proceeded to plow the ground from 7 yds (never hitting). After a couple of clips and no hits, bro-in-law stuck larger round target on some plywood, making it chest high, in front of the bale. The SD40 was shooting almost 2" low at 10 yards, I'm puzzled. I figured it was me.. so I asked him and my nephew to shoot it... They had the same result. I took the gun back to Academy and had them send it back to S&W to resolve.
While it was out I bought my GF a Ruger Security 9, as she is traveling a lot lately during this corona mess. I took her to practice and she obviously needs some range time but she's consistent so far. I shot one mag before she started and one when she was done. Both times I went through the mags pretty quick and still kept all the shots in the pie plate sized ring at 10 yards, with multiple in the bulls-eye. I'm feeling better about me now.
Academy calls me early last week, they have my SD40. All the paperwork really said was "Raised site - Pass" I filled a mag and stepped out back to a short range for a quick test. I setup a 2 foot target at the foot of a hay bale. stepped off 7 steps, turned around and squeezed off two careful shots at the bulls-eye, and blew dirt all over the target. I aimed at the top of the target and hit just below the bottom of the target (still in the dirt). At-Least I know where I'm hitting with this gun but I'm afraid to continue to shoot this thing, it seems dangerous to be that far off.

Was this just a rush repair job, because of this virus scare?

I think there is something off with the barrel or the slide.

Any ideas?

I would consider buying another barrel if I thought that would fix it. With the way things have degraded lately, I don't want to send it back again. I'd rather have have something that shoots bad than nothing at all to shoot, while I wait.

I've never had that problem with my SD40VE. Shoots where I hold; same as my SD9VE & SD9. You might try shooting from a stable rest at 10 yards and see what happens. My SD's have all been accurate and reliable out of the box. Good luck and keep us posted.

Welcome to the Forum

A few questions
Did you let the factory know what ammunition was giving you that result?

Did you send Smith & Wesson samples of the ammunition?

Your firearm may be shooting great with the ammunition they are using for testing

I had to have a revolver front sight changed once because of the difference between what ammunition the factory was testing with and what I was shooting.

Smith & Wesson did it for FREE picking up the round trip shipping

There is no reason for you to buy anything like a barrel

Smith & Wesson will fix it. Just make sure they have complete information

The front and rear sights for the M&P 1.0 and the various other S&W striker fired guns are the same. I do seem to recall that at one time, one of the sights on the M&P compact was different, but the current parts lists don't show this.

When we did transition training from 3rd generation to M&P's most of us had problems with shooting low. Swapping from trigger system to trigger system doesn't help you adapt to the different trigger. Why you seem to have the issue with this example and not a previous one is unknown but should still be considered.

If you were aiming at the center of a 2 foot target and shot 6" low at ~7 yards, it's not the sights. I doubt it's the barrel.

squeezed off two careful shots at the bulls-eye

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There's your problem. The heavy trigger of the SD tends to cause folks to pull their shots along with the trigger, resulting in low hits.

Try shooting it again, and this time pull the trigger in a quick, deliberate motion as you would if you were actually being charged by a black bear. The SD trigger isn't good for making slow precise shots, the more you try to squeeze the trigger or stage it in attempt to maintain accuracy, the worse it becomes. As the name suggests, the SD is for Self-Defense, not target shooting, so if you want to get the best accuracy out of it, treat every time you take it out shooting as if you're really under attack and don't hesitate when you pull the trigger. Get yourself a target of a fierce bear if it helps.

I bought a used Sigma 40 for cheap, because of multiple problems. The FTF was all with the same magazine, which S&W replaced N/C.
I shot it with Federal 180gr .40 and it shot to point of aim. The previous owner complained it shot low for him.

I kept it for a loaner/rental for people taking Oklahoma carry classes, but most people preferred the 9mm Sigma, and I eventually sold the .40.

Thanks you guys! I was shooting The Winchester bulk packs of 165 Gr FMJ (100 rounds I think), off the shelf at academy. I'm headed back to the deer lease this weekend, so I'll pick up a variety of ammo to try. I will also pick up another Ruger, just in case.

I will try shooting quicker, but to clarify.. I stated that it was 2" low... That was a typo, it is shooting 2 Foot Low at 10 yards. This thing literally plows the ground if the bullseye is 18 inches off of the ground. I cant be pulling that far off. it has the same trigger as the SD9VE and I loved that gun.

I am still up to trying whatever I can, I will be ruling out everything I can. I'll also be with my gun nut bro-in-law, to double check me. I really hope that it is something silly that I'm doing or missing.

Thank you all for your input and I will post what I find.

What you need to do, is to fire the gun from a solid rest. Doesn't need to be something like a Ransom, but something like sandbags will work. if it still shoots way low then you know it's the gun. If it's on target, then it's you. My guess is you're pulling down on the gun as you're pressing the trigger.

Are you placing the front sight dot over where you want the bullet to hit or are you using the traditional bullseye method? Modern handguns are set up for the first method. Also treat the trigger as it is a DA trigger in a revolver. Pull straight back with no stacking/pausing.

sheppard said:

Are you placing the front sight dot over where you want the bullet to hit or are you using the traditional bullseye method? Modern handguns are set up for the first method. Also treat the trigger as it is a DA trigger in a revolver. Pull straight back with no stacking/pausing.

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I would agree with you, I was just getting ready to say it may be a sight /target problem, People have been know to sight a target different than the MFG. team. and as some one just said, trigger pull or squeeze as you my want to call it can and will make a difference. I would thinking along the line of letting some one else shoot it, then compare notes. Lower front sight will raise point of impact but I'm not familuar with your model.
Several thing to try, but there has been several good things to try...

Have someone else shoot it.

Helps figure out if the problem is the nut that connects the gun to the ground.

2 FEET low at 10 yards? That's pretty extreme. You really need to shoot from a rest as mentioned above. A couple inches can just be different brands of ammo or a slight flinch. Strange things can happen, but....

2 thoughts. Could S&W have installed the wrong sights on this gun? Not sure if they could put it off that much.

Other thought, could it be the chamber is bored off center? I had a TC Contender in .44mag that was bored off center. It would shoot 6" right of the center line of the barrel at 20 yards. Figured it out after I started measuring chamber wall thickness and found one side was thicker than the other. Sent in and got a new barrel. Requested a .357mag instead, the 44mag in the Contender is a handful and I already had a 44mag in the Encore. New 357 barrel shoots great.

Rosewood

If you know anyone else that has an SD40, see if you can borrow theirs and shoot it and see if you have the same problem. Have them shoot yours. Maybe swap barrels and see if it changes anything. May help to narrow down the issue.

I have 2 Sigmas in 40, a SD40 and a SD9, they all shoot to point of aim for me both before and after I added the TFO sight on SDs and Meprolights on one Sigma.

Rosewood

I setup a 2 foot target at the foot of a hay bale. stepped off 7 steps, turned around and squeezed off two careful shots at the bulls-eye, and blew dirt all over the target. I aimed at the top of the target and hit just below the bottom of the target (still in the dirt). At-Least I know where I'm hitting with this gun but I'm afraid to continue to shoot this thing, it seems dangerous to be that far off.

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If I am reading this right you are shooting 2 feet low at 21 feet. The ONLY cause for this is a flinch, a pretty bad flinch. BTW, did the math and to be this far off the sights would have to be sloped by 5.44 degrees. With a 5 inch sight radius this means the front sight would be nearly 1/2 inch taller than the rear sight. If you don't believe it get out a geometry text book and do the math for yourself. If you want to see how bad your flinch is have a buddy shuffle a snap cap in your magazine without looking and when you hit that "dud" you'll get a very clear demonstration of your flinch.

Resolving a flinch is actually fairly easy. what you have to do is learn how to become completely relaxed at the instant the gun fires. The trick here is to concentrate on becoming relaxed. Instead of tensing up concentrate on relaxing your muscles. It will take some time but you will come to the point where you'll understand Zen and the Art of Shooting.

Took a buddy from college to shoot who had never shot a gun before. First thing I did was shoot the 44mag. Then I handed it to him. Was a handful to say the least for him. Then I worked my way down, let him shoot the .357 mag, 45, 40, 9mm. After starting with the 44mag, he said the rest of them didn't kick. Once he realized the rest were nothing compared to the 44mag, he didn't have any issues with flinching on the lesser calibers.

I know, usually you work the other way around, but I did it as an experiment and it worked on him.

Rosewood

Shoot it from a rest. When you press the trigger do so slowly--do not anticipate the "Bang". Let the shot surprise you. I've often told people that if you can say"now" as the shot fires, you're anticipating it and are likely jerking the trigger and pulling the gun down, anticipating the recoil.
Shooting free hand, I tell them "Watch the front sight, ignore the gun while you slowly press the trigger and let the shot surprise you". When you expect the recoil, you learn to flinch.
Many years ago as a newbie, when I got my first 1911, it consistently shot low for me. Got frustrated and handed it to my experienced shooter buddy and said "you try it". He then shot the X out of the bullseye target.

I have several hand guns that shot low when new, A G19, Ruger CMD, Kimber 1911, Citadel 1911, Beretta 92FS. Replaced the rear sights on the Glock and the Beretta, filed the others. Seems to be a disease. Better a couple inches high than low. A couple were about 6" low.

scooter123 said:

with a 5 inch sight radius this means the front sight would be nearly 1/2 inch taller than the rear sight. If you don't believe it get out a geometry text book and do the math for yourself. If you want to see how bad your flinch is have a buddy shuffle a snap cap in your magazine without looking and when you hit that "dud" you'll get a very clear demonstration of your flinch.

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Except that his eyes will most likely be closed. Much better if the buddy videos what the pistol does in relation to a fixed object.

The video is a great idea, may tell you a lot about what you are doing and what is happening. You could also setup your camera/phone on a stand of some sort and record yourself.