Shield 40 sights way off

[stev32k]

I bought a shield 40 last week and got to shoot it the first time on Friday. At 25 feet the shots were landing just over 6" to the left! I'm a pretty good shot and shoot two or three times per week, but I still thought it might be me. The trigger has just over an 8 lb pull and the gun is very light so I got out the pistol rest and fired two full magazines. Using the rest every shot was at least 6" off at 25 feet.

The guy that owns the indoor range where I shoot has a laser bore sight so I asked him to check it out. When he put the laser in and turned it on he laughed out loud. He said he had never seen anything like that.

Then to rub a little salt in the wound the paint of the front sight came off. I put the gun up to aim and thought something was wrong with my eye, but the dab of paint on the front blade was completely gone.

So now I have the gun packed up and ready to go back to S&W. What a disappointment.

 

[Lost Lake]

It's super easy to loosen the screw on the rear sight and move it to the right a few thousands of an inch to bring the sights back on.

And I haven't lost a paint dot on an M&P yet, but I have dug them out and replaced them with fishing jig fluorescent paint for better visibility.

Seems a shame to send it back and be without your gun for two weeks when you could have resolved the issue in about two minutes.

But if it's the principal of the thing I understand.

.

 

[Bozz10mm]

I think I would have sent it back too. 6 inches off at 25 feet is way to much. What does that interpolate to at 25 yards? Probably more than 2 feet. There may not be enough adjustment in the sights to fix that. JMHO.

 

[HereSinceTheLongHunters]

My front dot popped out this weekend while plinking. Filling with white crayon and setting it with a hair drier is a good temp fix..(yeah, my logo's are white too..)
I suspect that S&W's machining is a tad too tight up front, leaving many new sight assemblies to the right and shooting left. Probably a side effect of high demand...

 

[shawn mccarver]

Laser bore sights are like the shooting equivalent of a turn-of-the-last-century snake oil salesman. They may or may not work correctly, depending on brand, how it is mounted in the barrel, etc. Sorry for the insulting behavior of the "LGS" employee, who offered absolutely nothing in the constructive suggestion department, based upon your text.

Regulating the sights at such a close distance is rarely productive. Such should be carried out at 25 yards. That said, if your sights are centered, and your shots are off that much, and you are satisfied that it is not you, then there is an issue that goes beyond sight adjustment.

 

[gnystrom]

Please, before you waste S&W's money, look at the sights. Are they centered in the slide? If so, have someone else shoot your gun then have someone else benchrest your gun. I am not saying it is not possible, but highly unlikely if the sights are centered in the slide. If I had a nickle for every new gun that I see RH shooters shooting left, I could buy myself a Senator.

 

[JFR]

Stev32k,

Keep us posted on the development of this, I also have a .40 shield, build and test fire date of 6/24/13, that I feel is shooting left by at about 3" at 7 yards.

I only have about 200 rds through it so I'm still trying to convince myself that it's not me.

 

[stev32k]

Please, before you waste S&W's money, look at the sights. Are they centered in the slide? If so, have someone else shoot your gun then have someone else benchrest your gun. I am not saying it is not possible, but highly unlikely if the sights are centered in the slide. If I had a nickle for every new gun that I see RH shooters shooting left, I could buy myself a Senator.

The rear sight is not centered on the slide. It's obvious just looking at it from the top. I tried measuring using Starrett calipers, but I can't seem to get consistent results. Just from an eyeball reading I'd say about .005 - 006" off center to the right. Maybe you can see it in the picture. You can see part of the top of the slide on one side of the sight, but not the other.

 

[Nitrous SSC]

Before you tinker with it. Have someone else shot it. DO NOT tell them which way its "shooting" Just say you want them to shoot it.

 

[shawn mccarver]

The rear sight is not centered on the slide. It's obvious just looking at it from the top. I tried measuring using Starrett calipers, but I can't seem to get consistent results. Just from an eyeball reading I'd say about .005 - 006" off center to the right. Maybe you can see it in the picture. You can see part of the top of the slide on one side of the sight, but not the other.

The sight radius on the Shield is 5.3 inches.

MOVEMENT = ( SIGHTRADIUS * LRERRORONTARGET ) / TARGETDISTANCE

Where
MOVEMENT = distance to move the sight
SIGHTRADIUS = distance from rear to front sight
LRERRORONTARGET = distance bullet strike on target is away from center, left to right
TARGETDISTANCE = distance from front sight to target
NOTE: All distances in the same units (such as inches)

Example

Given a SIGHTRADIUS of 6.4 inches (my SA Mil-Spec 1911, for example),
A 1.5 inch "bullet hits target this far from center" distance,
And a TARGETDISTANCE of 300 inches (25 feet),
MOVEMENT = ( 6.4 * 1.5 ) / 300
MOVEMENT = 0.032 inches (approx. 1/32″)

In the OP's case, and using the Shield's sight radius of 5.3 inches, and the original post saying shots were 6 inches left at 25 feet, which is 300 inches, and working backwards, you get this:

Movement = 5.3 * 6 / 300, which is
31.8 / 300 = .106 inch, which is 106 thousandths lateral move.

EDIT: Could it be, therefore, that the sight being a little off, in combination with the jarring of the sight picture when the striker is released, accounts for the whopping 6 inches? Someone "on the ground" with access to sandbags and a good trigger finger will have to double check this.

 

[Rgoodwin]

Based on the placement of the rear sight it should be shooting right of center. Am I looking at it correctly?

 

[Rgoodwin]

Me thinks it is much to impossible to hold these things still when the striker is released. With or without a rest. Watch Randy Lee's vid at Apex. They simply bounce. Not right.

 

[Sarg88]

I have the same gun and it shot ok out of the box. That being said i put the APEX Duty/Carry kit and the XS Big dot sights on it and now it hits dead center every time and the pull is smooth... Top that off with the Talon Grips and you cant go wrong.....

 

[Lost Lake]

Based on the placement of the rear sight it should be shooting right of center. Am I looking at it correctly?

Yep, if it's off to the right it will be shooting right.

As Shawn posted, it only takes a fraction of an inch to throw the shot off by 6 inches.

I know you are experienced and all, but this is a new gun with a new trigger and I'm betting it's you that is off, not the gun.

Seriously. You only have to line the sights up a tiny bit off to be WAY off at the target. I sure wouldn't send it back for a fractional sight adjustment.

.

 

[stev32k]

Yep, if it's off to the right it will be shooting right.

As Shawn posted, it only takes a fraction of an inch to throw the shot off by 6 inches.

I know you are experienced and all, but this is a new gun with a new trigger and I'm betting it's you that is off, not the gun.

Seriously. You only have to line the sights up a tiny bit off to be WAY off at the target. I sure wouldn't send it back for a fractional sight adjustment. .

Try this; take a straight edge and draw two short lines one at the top of a piece of paper and one at the bottom. Then at the bottom draw one short parallel line on the right and one on the left. The two original lines at top and bottom represent the front and rear sights of a gun with proper alignment.

Now take your straight edge and aline the front sight with the mark on the right you will see that the straight edge now points to the left the same as a gun would when the rear sight is offset to the right. If the sight is off-set to the left the gun shoot to the right.

It just the opposite with the front sight. If the front sight is off-set to the right the gun will shoot to the right.

You would loose that bet.

 

[Rgoodwin]

Stev32k you need to think that through again. If you have a handgun with rear sights off to the right the rear of the gun moves left, and it shoots right. Moved left it shoots left. Front sights are just the opposite.

 

[stev32k]

Stev32k you need to think that through again. If you have a handgun with rear sights off to the right the rear of the gun moves left, and it shoots right. Moved left it shoots left. Front sights are just the opposite.

Maybe we have different rights and lefts. Right and left to me is looking at the gun from back to front. So if the rear sight is moved to the right the line of sight is moved to the left.

 

[Rgoodwin]

No sir. Take a stick in your hand or your pistol and sight down it. Move the end closest to you to the left side of your face. This is like moving the rear sight right. Which way is it pointing now? Right. Opposite with the front.

 

[stev32k]

No sir. Take a stick in your hand or your pistol and sight down it. Move the end closest to you to the left side of your face. This is like moving the rear sight right. Which way is it pointing now? Right. Opposite with the front.

That is so dumb. If you move the stick to the left that moves the front sight to the right. It you move the stick to the right it moves the front to the left.

edit: remember the middle does not move so if the rear moves to the right the front has to move left.

 

[growr]

Darn....now the sights on my stick are off as well......should I send it in for warranty? It is a new stick.....

Randy