Pro 9mm, sights and accuracy

[blankford]

Morning all-

New Pro series owner here and I wanted to see if anyone else had some initial problems with the sights on their Pro and/or accuracy.

What I mean by that is how easily you acquired the sights and if when holding DEAD ON, you were shooting off-center. I initially thought I would love the fiber optic front and blackout rear sights but I have to say that I'm really not liking it. I think I would much prefer a 3-dot system.

Has anyone put custom sights on their Pro that they could recommend?

 

[AGoyette]

Don't give up on the FO front sight yet. Lots of people love their FO front sights. They make for a faster acquisition.

Now when you say that the gun is shooting off center, have you had others try your gun and see if it does the same for them? It is possible that the sights are off. A few do leave the factory that way. Usually when people say that the sights are off, the issue is with them.

As to them shooting off center... Let me ask you a couple of questions.. Do you come from a 1911 style background or is this your first gun? Are you per chance shooting low left (if a righty, low right if you are a lefty)? If so, you are not alone. A lot of people shoot their M&P's low left. There are a few reasons for this. Reason #1, the trigger on the M&P's. While it is not as bad as some guns, it is not all that great. You can get used to it and grow to love it as some have. A lot of us have found the trigger to have a LOOONG take up and it has over travel. People pull and pull on the trigger and they get so tired of pulling on the trigger waiting for it to go off, that they end up jerking the trigger at the end just wanting it to go off and to end their long take up. Jerking of the trigger causes the shots to be pulled down (that is why a lot of us put Apex parts in our guns). Put some snap caps in your mag. or better yet have a friend put some snap caps in your mag., that way you don't know where they are. Go shooting.. when you get to the snap cap, did you yank the gun down? If you indeed do this, you are not alone. If you go and watch a local shooting competition, you will see a lot of people yank their guns down when there is an issue and the gun does not go boom when they expect it to.

As to the pulling to the left or right, relax your support hand and tighten up on your strong hand. So if you are a righty and are pulling the shots to the left.. tighten up your right hand slightly. Your weak hand is pulling the gun more when you shoot than your right hand is. Tightening your right hand will pull them back on target. Even people who have been shooting for years and years do this. I know that I was. With my 4 and 5" guns, it was not as noticeable. With my 3" Sig. it was really noticeable and I have been shooting since the mid '80's. The darling husband (who has been shooting longer than me) was doing the same trying to see how tight a group he could get with different ammos. I suggested that he try the above advice and it helped him too.

I hope this post helps you.

 

[Elliot45]

My 9mm Pro has always been dead on. For me, my accuracy increased after I changed the backstrap to the largest one and when the trigger got broken in and smoothed out. I do like the three dot system that's one my Shield but I'm much more accurate with the Pro than the Shield. I'm not going to mess with the sites on my Pro. Regards, Elliot45

 

[Bkreutz]

This is the only sight that I'm any good with.

 

[Magload]

This works too.

 

[blankford]

Confused.

Question here. If I have the M&P Pro, what exactly do I need/not need to upgrade the trigger. Because I know the Pro comes with some upgraded internal parts already, I want to make sure I'm not double buying anything.
I've read places that you only need the trigger and not other parts but I can find a definitive answer anywhere.

I just ordered this and hope it's correct.
Apex Tactical M&P Trigger Kit with FSS Polymer Replacement Trigger
[ame][/ame]

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[tonesurfer]

You got the whole shebang with that kit. You will end up with a smoother and lighter trigger pull, greatly reduced takeup and over travel.

Only thing you could add to that would be the all aluminum trigger and/or the flat faced version of the trigger.

And you must replace all the parts with what comes in the kit. There is no interchangability between the stock parts and what you have (well I guess you could use stock springs here or there, but you have to use the trigger, sear, and striker block from the kit together).

 

[agksimon]

I just bought a 5" Pro last month. Came with a trigger that broke at 6.5lbs, about what a stock one breaks at. I installed an Apex competition kit and it now breaks at 3lbs, much better this way.
Because I'm 70 and have problems with dark sights, I changed the green FO to red and installed a green fiber optic rear sight for a much faster target acquisition. It shoots POA at 25 yards, with 147 grain American Eagle.

 

[blankford]

installed a green fiber optic rear sight for a much faster target acquisition.

Mind letting me know which sight you installed? I've been thinking about replacing the "blacked out" rear sight since I'm not a fan of it at all.

 

[blankford]

You got the whole shebang with that kit. You will end up with a smoother and lighter trigger pull, greatly reduced takeup and over travel.

Only thing you could add to that would be the all aluminum trigger and/or the flat faced version of the trigger.

And you must replace all the parts with what comes in the kit. There is no interchangability between the stock parts and what you have (well I guess you could use stock springs here or there, but you have to use the trigger, sear, and striker block from the kit together).

Just what I needed to know, awesome! Thanks!

 

[agksimon]

Mind letting me know which sight you installed? I've been thinking about replacing the "blacked out" rear sight since I'm not a fan of it at all.

Dawson FO rear sight. Works perfectly with the FO front sight that comes with the gun.

 

[blankford]

How difficult will this be to install myself? I was thinking of going to a gunsmith.

 

[tonesurfer]

How difficult will this be to install myself? I was thinking of going to a gunsmith.

Plenty of video's on Apex tactical website and/or youtube. You need an 1/8" pin punch, hammer, brass or aluminum punch (to remove the rear sight), 1/16" hex key (allen wrench) and a vise.

Honestly the hardest part of the entire job is going to be getting your rear sight off. If you are not a patient man and prone to fits of anger you may have some trouble with this part.

Watch the video's several times and take your time. These are drop in parts and no fitting is required. You may have to adjust the trigger bar loop a bit, but other than that, its plug and play.

 

[blankford]

Plenty of video's on Apex tactical website and/or youtube. You need an 1/8" pin punch, hammer, brass or aluminum punch (to remove the rear sight), 1/16" hex key (allen wrench) and a vise.

Honestly the hardest part of the entire job is going to be getting your rear sight off. If you are not a patient man and prone to fits of anger you may have some trouble with this part.

Watch the video's several times and take your time. These are drop in parts and no fitting is required. You may have to adjust the trigger bar loop a bit, but other than that, its plug and play.

Just completed the job this past Saturday. I cannot express how gratifying the experience was when I was finished. So glad I did it myself. Ended up using clips from a couple different Youtube videos (the actual videos from Apex are low-def and pretty bad). You're right about the hardest part being the rear sight. I did end up marring it up slightly when hammering the sight off. I was impatient and didn't use a brass punch. The rest of it went smoothly and it was as much a learning process about the internals of the M&P as it was installing a new trigger.

Really happy I did it and can't wait to take it to the range. I can already tell from dry firing that I am going to enjoy this trigger more than the stock trigger.

 

[Elliot45]

blankford, I've had the Apex trigger kit installed since the end of March and I can only tell you that it gets smoother and smoother everytime I shoot it. So much so that I almost don't want to shoot anything else and I have to buy my ammo in bulk. BTW, I've been ordering from Freedom Munitions and have had great success shooting the 124 grain "new" ammo from them. When I ordered they had free shipping on the first order so it gets the bullets down to about .21 a shot. I've had no jams or misfires and the ammo is some of the cleanest burning of any I've shot. Best of luck with your new gun, I think you're going to love it. Regards, Elliot45