Accuracy dismay

H

HistoryJunky

New member
Today I went shooting for the first time with my S&W M&P .40 full size. To my dismay, my accuracy was not good.

I have previously shot decently with a 9mm handgun that I owned. I shot a .357 magnum well that I used to own. I just couldn't seem to get the hang of it. Or maybe it's something with the way I'm shooting.

This was at 10 or so yards. Here's a couple pictures of targets, I fired 15 shots at each.
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The best we can tell you is to practice more. Do a bunch of dry firing, and when dry firing watch what your front sight is doing as the trigger breaks.
 
That's about what i get with a new handgun until I learn it's "zen" of handgrip and trigger pull. But I'm worse than average. : )
 
Yep. It was my first time out with it. First time with a .40. And not as used to a striker fired trigger system either.

I like the gun though. Hopefully I'll get more live fire practice soon. I do dry fire a lot.
 
Get some sandbags so some sort of support to eliminate the human element and see what your combination of gun/ammo will do. Probably a very tight group. That gives you confidence or incentive or heck, maybe it's shame to encourage you to do your part and shoot better.

At least it does for me.
 
A couple of things will happen over time. Your trigger discipline will get better and that trigger will improve with use. These will add up to tighten your groups. I am guessing that you are left handed judging by the shot stringing. I would not adjust the sights or complain to S&W until you have shot a lot of rounds. The factories are pretty good at sight settings these days to the point where you may be better served to think the problem is you. That gun in that caliber is capable of good things-you just need to get to know it. To improve the trigger by leaps and bounds the shortcut is to avail yourself of one of the many trigger kits out there in the aftermarket. If you are a reloader make yourself some light loads for practice or check out low power reman stuff from a seller like The Bullet Works. Enjoy your time with your new toy. Long live the 40.
 
One thing you may want to try is to switch out the grip back on it. I wasn't as accurate as I would have liked with my M&P 45 out of the gate even though I'm getting pretty accurate with everything else. I installed the large size grip back when I bought it figuring it made sense since I have fairly big hands.
I decided to switch to the small grip and give that a try for my next range visit and I was much more accurate. Turns out I have large hands but somewhat short fingers I guess so the grip swap seemed to make a big difference for me in the way I was able to apply my finger to the trigger. It allowed me to "pull it back" without tilting the firearm much. That is really a big part of accurate handgun shooting I guess. Pulling that trigger straight back without moving the firearm from the intended course of the bullet.
 
I'm willing to bet it's the shooter, not the gun. No offense. Most guns are far more accurate than most of us can shoot. The 40 can be a little tougher to control for some people, it has a reputation for being "snappy".
 
No its probably me. I'm mostly used to a fairly light and crisp single action trigger pull.

The first thing i did when I got the gun was switch out the grips to the smallest one. I have small hands. It gives me a better grip and I can use my distal joint.

I might have to try that sandbag trick dale. The only reason I question the sights at all is because I got the gun used as a police trade in.. and don't know what load it was sighted for.
 
It matters not "what load it was sighted for" as the pistol is now yours and must be sighted to meet your needs. several options have been given by other posters particularly sandbagging your pistol and slowly stroke the trigger through, you will develop consistant groups this way. Also have a coach watch for jerking, heeling or other problems exibited by you. When back on your feet the stance is important to good pistol shooting along with the things you learned from shooting with a coach.
 
The M&P 40 is a very accurate gun at the distance you are shooting at, if you can overcome the snappier .40 S&W recoil. But IMHO, the snappy recoil of a .40 can make it harder to maintain CONSISTENT grip, stance, sight alignment / picture and trigger control. If that .40 is causing you to flinch during live-fire practice, you might consider training with an M&P 9mm until you get enough dry and live fire practice to start seeing tight groups on the target where you are aiming. I traded off 2 of my 3 .40's because I didn't like the way that I was hitting targets with them.
 
Yeah, don't disparage.
The combination of a new type of striker style trigger, and the torque of the .40 caliber, will take some time to get the hang of.
The biggest hassle is learning to be able to switch back and forth with what you are already used to shooting.
But it's definitely doable.
Just shoot and dry fire both during the same sessions until it becomes natural.
 
You have already received a lot of encouragement and practice tips. I can only add that there seems to be a tendency for your shots to form a track down and to the right. If you are right handed, that could be caused by a tightening of the other fingers of your hand as you press the trigger with your index finger. It is something to be aware of and try to evaluate during your dry fire practice, at least.
 
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