I shoot my M&P Shield 9mm terrible

[MegademiC]

What are your accuracy expectations for your compact pistol and at what speed? Do you have large or small hands?


At times you have to over grip a compact pistol with the strong hand. Make sure the drum sticks on your thumbs touch when you marry your support hand to the grip. A majority of the grip pressure should be applied to the front and back straps.

More often than not, I coach people shooting compact pistols to bury their trigger finger inside the trigger guard and shoot with the crease on the first distal joint touching the edge of the trigger face. If you find yourself shooting low left, but with reasonable accuracy, try moving your trigger finger higher on the trigger face.

It's tough to distance coach someone without pictures of their grip and trigger finger indexed on the face of the trigger. Perhaps you could post pictures of how you grip your Shield and manipulate the trigger.

This is a valid point for sure. I found I was shooting my fs left due to too much finger on the trigger. I could see how one would put more finger into a compact trigger.

I shoot the shield quite well with size taken into account. I shot a fs better, but I shoot the shield much better than I thought I would. Fundamentals are huge with a subcompact due to the lack of forgiveness.

[GregP220]

http://pistol-training.com/drills/dot-torture

Dot Torture is your friend. The above was shot with my Glock 43, when I bought that little sucker last summer I struggled with it. It still feels like a squirt gun (tiny gun, XL hands). This drill gives you a really good idea of what you do well and what needs more work.

Start at 3 yards and when you are getting 50/50 move back. Even though I dropped a strong hand shot (dot 5) I'm still happy I got all my weak hand hits from 4 yards.

With a Glock 17, Sig 226 or a 1911 I can clean this at 7 yards on a good day. Small guns are tricky but you can get there.

[Pappabear]

I did the apex thang and mine shoots fine for me. But for a small cc gun I don't need ragged hole accuracy to be happy. Because my snubbys have never seen a ragged hole. If I can hit center mass at 10 yards with my snubby in a hurry, I'm content. I expect much more out of this shield.

I also always carry and shoot with extension mag. Makes me betta.

PB

[ritepath]

I don't think I've ever shot my Shield on paper. I loaded it up first mag and hit the plate rack...

I love shooting steel and that's where all my shooting takes place for my defensive guns. I'd really like a new Shield pro.

[Uni-Vibe]

Odd, I'm a 1911 guy, and the Shield is not so far away from 1911 that I have trouble adjusting.

[williejc]

Mine shoots ok. I suggest dry firing over a rest to identify a better grip and trigger technique. Pull the trigger bang bang without praying over it. Then dry fire off hand the same way. Next shoot at a target with a large bullseye. Center the front sight on the bull. Do NOT look at individual shots. Sir, you just now shot your first good group.

[MGWS]

The Apex package and trijicon HD sights made it an enjoyable pistol to shoot with confidence out to 15 yards. Nothing like a full size of course but I have no problem using it as my carry pistol during the summer.

[Sidneyious]

Granted..............I am not the best pistol shooter in the world.........far from it. But with my 1911's (all in 45acp, all 5" guns) and my other striker fired polymer 9mm (Ruger SR9) I can make one ragged hole at 10 yards with cheap ball ammo, or my plinking grade handloads.

At 10 yards with the Shield, I can keep them on paper...........but groups are more like "patterns"...........when I do buckle down and get it grouping halfway decent, I get the old "low and left" problem normally associated with jerking the trigger.............but I am not (or at least I don't think I am, as I don't have this problem with the other guns).

The gun has been 100% reliable, it eat's everything I feed it, the trigger feels fine to me ( I like the SR9 trigger better), recoil is not an issue, it fits my hand well, and is comfortable to carry.

I really want to like this gun, but so far I can't shoot it worth a darn. I probably don't practice with it as much as I should, as I get frustrated with my performance with it often, and just pick up something else I have brought along and go about shooting that with much more success.

Has anyone else struggled with their Shield or other similar smallish 9mm's? Is it me? Is it the gun? Is there a "learning curve" with these small pistols that I am just not picking up on yet?

With my meager experience with the shield here is what I can say.

10y is very far for such a short barrel, we were using federal fmj 115 iirc and at 5y I had terrible groupings.

I'm a lefty so naturally they go right, the trigger is very meh and that IMO leads to poorer groupings.

More practice, remember a sub compact is for as close as possible.

[Bret]

ww2farmer, have you noticed a difference between magazines? I have a 40S&W Shield. My group sizes with the longer magazine are significantly smaller than those when shooting with the shorter magazine. Basically, the inability to get a good grip with my pinkie finger when using the shorter magazine allows the Shield to shift in my hand some. This causes the next shot to be off. I have the exact some issue with my 9mm Taurus 709 Slim. Try comparing your results with the long versus the short magazines and see if it makes a difference.