M&P Shield 9 Shooting Way Low Left

Shooting low and gun 'shivers' on dry fire

Hi all. I am new to shooting so I thought it was me and it may be. I will try the 1st joint trigger pull. However I must add that this gun has a definite what I call a shiver of the entire top of the gun on trigger pull no matter how I do it. My sig p238 is solid as a rock, if the barrel moves at all I know it is my fault. I guess I don't know enough to say if this is abnormal for this model but it sure makes me feel like the gun cannot be accurate. S&W says it meets specs.
Thanks for any help
 
First time out for me I was grouping good , just .... wait for it.... LOW AND LEFT . I knew what was happening , thin , new gun .... I'm puling left and down . Must work on trigger control . I then did a little dry firing (1-2k ) and it got better . I then did alittle trigger work and it got better . I have now done a trigger overtravel stop (see my other post ) and the gun doesn't move when pulling trigger . I believe the sloppy overtravel is the biggest culprit you have to deal with . The factory trigger is good and crisp , not to hard . But once it breaks it wiggles and jumps... DOWN AND LEFT (for a righty) . Either learn it or fix it , or both !
 
I have an M&P9 and a compact but not a Shield (haven't been able to find one yet). I tended to shoot low with both of then using 115 grain bullets. Lots of 9mm's shoot better with heavier bullets so I tried 124 FMJ loads. They shoot to POA when I do my part.
 
S&W Shied issue

I would like to introduce myself by saying both myself and my brother recently purchased two .40 Shields. These are among an STI, M&P compact, M&P pro series, Springfield XDM, Browning 9mm and others.
Our first time on the range we were greatly disappointed in that both guns shot to the left and low. I now read on this forum others having similar issues.
It appears the sights need adjusting which is something S&W should never have let occur. We are disappointed in such a high demand pistol that comes from the factor with sight adjustment issues.
 
I would like to introduce myself by saying both myself and my brother recently purchased two .40 Shields. These are among an STI, M&P compact, M&P pro series, Springfield XDM, Browning 9mm and others.
Our first time on the range we were greatly disappointed in that both guns shot to the left and low. I now read on this forum others having similar issues.
It appears the sights need adjusting which is something S&W should never have let occur. We are disappointed in such a high demand pistol that comes from the factor with sight adjustment issues.

99% of the time it's recoil anticipation and trigger control. Are your sights visibly off center?
 
I think you are right. It is as many have pointed out that I believe 50 rounds is not enough to complain just yet. The shield is different that the other guns I am used to shooting and I believe, as pointed out, to be fair I just need to get shoot it more before making a judgement.
 
I was trained by a IDPA world champion on how to shoot. It was an intense two days. I shot apx 3000 rounds in two days, and when you are tired your mind takes over and you will shoot better , ONLY when you are not thinking of the shot , just reacting to it. I shot low and to the left also. When I was holding the pistol and Len used his finger to activate the trigger the bullets went straight. I was pulling the gun to the left & downward when I squeezed the trigger instead of pushing the trigger straight back. I have a Glock 17 that shoots low and to the left, but it only does that with a certain load that I shoot. I'm not saying that it is you, or your pistol but 99 times out of a hundred it is the shooter. But , different loads, weight of bullet and type, powder, etc. are all different. I had to adjust my sights on my pistol as I really like this certain load and how if feels when shot. That corrected my problem. Now when I shoot low and to the left , I know it is me and not the pistol. Try shooting off sand bags, try differnt bullet weights and types, different powers and charge rates , one or two grains can make alot of difference in a small cartridge, and see if that will solve your problem. Worse case you might have to adjust your sights to hit where you are aiming. Enough said. You will have alot better feel of your pistol after trying all the different combinations available and your gun will shoot one load better than the others. Anyway, it has for all of my guns, they are just like women (hate mail coming) tempermental but when you figure them out they are awsome. Just play around and it will work out. Keep shooting.
 
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Hello, I am a new shield owner. I found this forum after I took my gun to the range.I will give you three guesses why i found this one in particular but you wont need the first 2. 3 inches left 2 inches low @ 7 yards.. not amused with my new purchase, I called smith and wesson, waited 28 minutes in hold, (no exaggeration) and told the! nice lady what my new gun was doing and she didnt fight me at all, a postage paid box is in transit after a 3 minute conversation. It will take the 3-5 weeks but she told me when I get it back it will hit where its supposed to. Hope this helps.
 
Hello, I am a new shield owner. I found this forum after I took my gun to the range.I will give you three guesses why i found this one in particular but you wont need the first 2. 3 inches left 2 inches low @ 7 yards.. not amused with my new purchase, I called smith and wesson, waited 28 minutes in hold, (no exaggeration) and told the! nice lady what my new gun was doing and she didnt fight me at all, a postage paid box is in transit after a 3 minute conversation. It will take the 3-5 weeks but she told me when I get it back it will hit where its supposed to. Hope this helps.

no disrespect, but don't be surprised if your pistola comes back as it was sent. low and left is a classic operator error scenario.

of course, a very few pistols do actually shoot low and left, so maybe i'll eat my words.......maybe:)
 
I benched it on bags. Do you think i want to be without my gun for 6 weeks? 50 rounds made a tight circle. With an xd45c I am a can killer at 15 yards. I also had my gfs dad shoot it (recently retired from the military and owner of the xd) with the same results. I will report when i get it back.
 
I will be picking up a Shield .40 in a few days and it will be interesting to see where it shoots. Last May, I bought a FS .40 and it shot low and left, time after time. I took a Basic Pistol class, and corrected some bad habits, and started shooting left only, no longer low, and we diagnosed the sights needed to be adjusted. Once I drifted my rear sight, POA and POI have been happily married (with my slight hand tremor spreading the shots a little). So my low and to the left was a combo deal.

I plan to put some TFO Truglos on my Shield like the ones I picked up for my FS, but I want to shoot enough to determine how the factory sights are set. Here's hopin'!
 
I benched it on bags. Do you think i want to be without my gun for 6 weeks? 50 rounds made a tight circle. With an xd45c I am a can killer at 15 yards. I also had my gfs dad shoot it (recently retired from the military and owner of the xd) with the same results. I will report when i get it back.
It may indeed be the gun but if you've never shot an M&P before you may be in for a shock as lots and lots of experienced shooters that pick up an M&P shoot low/left due to the trigger. They all have a similar story that it can't be them as they shoot 1911's, Glocks, etc. and are very accurate with them so it has to be the firearm.

As stated earlier, unless the sights are visibly off don't be surprised if it comes back 'fixed' and still shoots low/left ;)

Oh, and be sure you are using the correct sight picture (#3) for the M&P as it uses a combat hold where the front dot should be on the target. That could account for the low part of the equation if you are using a six o'clock sight picture.
 

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If you mix a few dummy rounds in your mag you will see for sure if you are yanking the gun off target or if the sights are centered when the hammer falls.
 
M&P 9 Shield shooting low and left

Well,
I drifted the front sight on my shield so that I could move to bullseye. I drifted the front sight more than I should have had to move it. I was shooting to left, so I drifted the front sight to the left (to correct the issue). I don't see, at 21 ft. much difference. I finally gave up and ended up drifting the sight back to (what appears to be) roughly center again. I have come to the realization, at least for me, that I can't shoot ANY small pistol accurately. I have decided none of the smaller (less than 3.5" barrel ) pisols that I ahve, and have shot, are accurate for me. I would NOT trust using one inn a self defense scenario, esecially if I was trying to take out the bad guy who may be holding a hostage. I woiuld be very afraid that I would hit the innocent person. So, I guess I just won't carry any more. But, if the SHTF, I will grab my 5" 45 ACP and won't care WHO sees it; becauseI don't miss with my 1911. I also don't miss with my 4 1/4" full size M&P 40, and I don't miss with my XD40 or XD9 full size pistols. I dont' miss with my Glock 17 or my Glock 22 either. (all full size). I also don't miss with my SR9 or SR40 in full size. So there S&W what do you think of them apples. I am NOT impressed with small guns from ANY of the manufacturers.
 
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Hello, I am a new shield owner. I found this forum after I took my gun to the range.I will give you three guesses why i found this one in particular but you wont need the first 2. 3 inches left 2 inches low @ 7 yards.. not amused with my new purchase, I called smith and wesson, waited 28 minutes in hold, (no exaggeration) and told the! nice lady what my new gun was doing and she didnt fight me at all, a postage paid box is in transit after a 3 minute conversation. It will take the 3-5 weeks but she told me when I get it back it will hit where its supposed to. Hope this helps.

I benched it on bags. Do you think i want to be without my gun for 6 weeks? 50 rounds made a tight circle. With an xd45c I am a can killer at 15 yards. I also had my gfs dad shoot it (recently retired from the military and owner of the xd) with the same results. I will report when i get it back.

No disrespect but being in the military means squat. I've trained enough soldiers to know, and I'm also in the military.

Also, human error can still be a factor with the pistol rested on a bag or "benched". That's why they make ransom rests.
 
Same thing with me when i first got my shield. My fix was to use a two finger grip and let my pinky finger ride under the mag and use more support hand pressure. The pistol feels much better in my hand now and bingo, my shield shoots dead on now. Try it it might help.
 
My first 2 trips to the range with my shield had the same results low and left. I practiced trigger control by dry firing and worked on my grip. Just had my third trip to the range and the groups were dead on. I'm convinced the thin nature of the shield makes trigger control and the grip even more important. For me I need to make sure the weak hand is filling the weak side of the grip.
 
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