M&P Shield shooting low

J

John D

New member
Have put about 200 rounds through my new 9mm Shield. I like this pistol very much.......but, it shoots about 1-2 inches to the left and 3-4 inches low. I have deliberately "slow fired" with careful aiming, making sure I was pushing straight back on the trigger. Not as concerned about it shooting slightly to the left; I can always adjust the rear sight if necessary. But, I can't adjust the elevation on the sights. Any thoughts or suggestions?
 
While filing down your front sight ought to fix your elevation, shooting 3 to 4 inches low is quite a bit, depending on the range. I'm unsure how the shield sights work, but it might be that they require a combat sight picture. You could always replace the sights and see what you're dealing with after.
 
I am new to handguns and was shooting my Shield low and left as well. However, when I went for my License to Carry range qualification the instructor gave some hints and tips before we started shooting that had me consistently hitting the bulls-eye. My low/left (being right handed) was strictly operator error related to proper grip and stance.
 
and try on a benchrest or sandbag, or have others try and see if its the same. i shot low on my m&p9 but i got the apex trigger kit and it went away.
 
Sounds like a classic example of driver error.
Really, it's all your fault. :)
The good news is that's it's an easy cure, much easier and less expensive than if the gun was faulty.
Like curing that bad toothache by not eating walnuts.
 
Sometimes guns do shoot low. I have 4 that I had to file the front sight down to bring it up. Seems more of a problem on guns purchased recently. Had to put a taller rear sight on a 92FS, filed a Ruger CMD, a Kimber 1911, a Citadel 1911. I found this strange in this day and time with modern mfg techniques but it's rather wide spread I guess.
 
I have this problem with every 1911 I shoot. It's all in the grip. When I grip it the way I was taught to correct it, I'm dead on. But that grip is so uncomfortable that I find myself going back to my normal grip that works with my Smith and Wessons but not 1911's. Kinda weird.
 
Picked my Shield 9mm up a couple of months ago. First 100 rds I recall being left but I thought a little high. Like 10-11 o'clock. Felt the trigger had a nasty little glitch at sear point. Spent the next three weeks or so dry firing hours. Was happy with the effort at the range this weekend. Kept nice goupings, felt most accurate at 18' than 12'. Still feel the sllight glitch but I don't see my front sight twitch as much or as bad. Just needs a bit more attention.
 
What ammo are you using and how heavy of a bullet? Before doing much of anything, I'd put some more rounds through it and spend some more time practicing. I have a feeling that part of it is "operator error". That's not a criticism in any way. The hand gun is new to you.

My Shield was shooting low as well as left. I'm primarily a revolver shooter and it took me time to get used to the new hand gun. I've put probably 400 or so rounds through it and now I am hitting where I point it. I only shoot lead reloads out of mine. I cast my bullets and have used anywhere from 115, 121 up to 145 grain weights. All give different POI depending on the weights used.

I've played with powder weights as well. Normally for my 9mm, I use either Bulls Eye or Red Dot. In my Ruger SR9, a 121 gr. lead bullet over 3.5 gr. of Bulls Eye shoots and cycles the SR9 just fine. Not so in my Shield. I have to bump the grain weight up to 3.7 gr. of Bulls Eye to cycle the Shield and get an accurate round. I don't load near max for any of my reloading. In loading for the Shield though, I loaded up some sample rounds bumping up the grain weight .2 grains until I got up to 4.3 gr. I found that at the 4.1 gr. of Bulls Eye load I started having ejection problems with the Shield. In essence, with a 121 gr. lead bullet the 3.7 gr. of Bulls Eye is the "sweet spot" for my particular pistol.

Play with your Shield some more before modifying the sights. If you use two different bullet weights and your POI raises or lowers, change your sight picture to adapt to the POI. Not that hard to do and it will teach you how to adapt your shooting of your Shield to the different bullet weights that you might encounter when buying ammo.

Good luck to you! I'm more of a revolver guy and have been for 50 + years but I absolutely love my 9mm Shield - a great handgun! :)
 
I appreciate all of the input. Taking this to heart, I'm going to pay specific attention to my grip and see what influence that might be having. With regards to bullet weight, the majority of the rounds were Federal 115g round nose. I did shoot a couple of mags of 124g - while still low, they were about 2 inches higher. However, I didn't think that 14 rounds was a valid test. I'm not going to do anything to the gun until I've ruled out anything I might be doing. I'll let you know!
 
Shooting a small gun (sub-compact/compact) is a bit different than shooting a larger gun. Grip, trigger pull and finger placement (too much/too little) are key to shooting smaller guns well. Practice, practice and more practice and our groups will come in.

As mentioned above, the APEX action trigger and the Duty/Carry kit with springs, sear and FPB kit will definitely improve your new Shield too. I have a Shield with all that and they make a very good pistol great. I also have another one that's pure stock that I bought for my wife. She shoots equally large groups with both of them because she doesn't shoot much.

Frankly, I'd get several hundred rounds through it and focus on my shooting technique before I did any upgrade to the pistol. Lastly, both of my Shields shoot 115 gn slightly lower (1 in @7 yds) than 124 gn bullets.

My $.02.
 
-Check/change your grip, you'd be surprised what a simple change does.
-check/change your trigger finger placement, how much pad your using.
-different loads as stated above.

change one thing at a time then slowfire, check, and repeat.
Have fun! (Supposed to be anyway)
pretty simple fix:)
 
Different ammo can cause impressive changes for the point of impact in the same gun.
An often overlooked consideration.
That's why folks pay extra for guns with adjustable sights.
 
I replaced my Shield's OEM sights with Tritium sights. Never regretted it.

If the OP's problem is a sight problem, then this is a good excuse to do the same.
 
Hold your gun like this. You need to get the fundamentals down first, stance, grip, sight picture and trigger control. The guy in the video is Shannon Smith, a kick butt USPSA Grand Master, but the technique is the same for any gun. 9mm standard is the 115gr, but the 124gr should be very close in POA/POI. 147's can shoot 1-2" high at 15 yards. The Shield does have a pronounced "left tick" right at the trigger break, it's very noticeable in dry fire. That's corrected by the amount of finger on the trigger. Start close at 3 yards, then more out to 5 yards, etc out to about 15 yards. Don't expect a 2" group at 25 yards with the Shield, that's not what it's for.

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When all else fails, file the front sight down and move the rear to adjust the windage if necessary. Like I said earlier some guns shoot low.
 
John D what sight picture are you using? I always ask this when people say they are shooting a gun low consistently. In my experience a lot of people who are old school revolver shooters often use a 6'oclock and end up low.

 
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