Smith&Wesson M&P9 Shooting too low

sky52 said:
U cant be serious.....or are you just bumping post count?
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He's not - lighter faster bullets impact lower, and heavier, slower bullets impact higher. Not sure you'll see much difference between standard loadings, but if you compare 95 grain 9mm, or 115 +P or +P+ to subsonic 147's the difference is clearly visible. Same with maximum 125 grain loadings in .357's versus 'standard' 158 grain 357's. You should see the difference in 66 grain 38 Spl +P versus 158 grain standard loadings - it's about 4 inches at 10 yards. I used to spend a lot of time playing with "exotic" loads - Glasers used to be the worst for POI changes, the bullets weighed next to nothing and they were loaded so hot, you basically had to dump the brass - cratered primers were normal, stretched primer pockets weren't unusual.
 
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Nono. I get the bullet weight part. Thats why i shoot 147 in my m&p. Let me rephrase, thats why its generally better to shoot heavier grain in shorter barrel handgun, they travel slower ish thus letting more time for the rifling to do its job. 5inch 1911 you can shoot light load and stiill be accurate-ish. Im talking about the recoil pushes the barrel up part making the bullet arcs. Generally, most if not all firearm wont unlock the barrel/ action/bolt ( in the case of semi) until the bullet leaves the barrel, first to allow chamber pressure drop to a safe level. In the case of blowback handgun, by the time the barrel tilts up, it means that the barrel/breech have unlock, making it an unsafe firearm ( think of firing out of battery)
 
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A 9mm I own was shooting low. I reduced the powder in the next batch of reloads and it shot higher.
Are you shooting factory or reloads?
 
sky52 said:
Nono. I get the bullet weight part. Thats why i shoot 147 in my m&p. Let me rephrase, thats why its generally better to shoot heavier grain in shorter barrel handgun, they travel slower ish thus letting more time for the rifling to do its job. 5inch 1911 you can shoot light load and stiill be accurate-ish. Im talking about the recoil pushes the barrel up part making the bullet arcs. Generally, most if not all firearm wont unlock the barrel/ action/bolt ( in the case of semi) until the bullet leaves the barrel, first to allow chamber pressure drop to a safe level. In the case of blowback handgun, by the time the barrel tilts up, it means that the barrel/breech have unlock, making it an unsafe firearm ( think of firing out of battery)
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What does the unlocking of the barrel have to do with the overall movement of the handgun? The gun MUST move upon ignition. All those forces and no movement would be, well, weird! lol.
 
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Trinimon said:
I may have worded that poorly, I should have said muzzle rise. If you look at the video at the 25,000fps at the 2:40 mark, the bullet has long left the barrel before the muzzle begins to move. Which seems to defy Newton's law. I'm no expert so don't take my word as Gospel.
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You can't see what we're talking about with your eyes.
 
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Back on topic, I bought an M&P for my gf and it shoots low too, replaces the sights with hi-viz, was a little better but still hits low, will try it with different weight ammo, if it persists I'll have to order a shorter front sight. Put alot of money into the gun only for her to be frustrated by not hitting targets!
 
Craig0ry said:
Back on topic, I bought an M&P for my gf and it shoots low too, replaces the sights with hi-viz, was a little better but still hits low, will try it with different weight ammo, if it persists I'll have to order a shorter front sight. Put alot of money into the gun only for her to be frustrated by not hitting targets!
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How experienced of a handgun shooter is she?
 
Craig0ry said:
Back on topic, I bought an M&P for my gf and it shoots low too, replaces the sights with hi-viz, was a little better but still hits low, will try it with different weight ammo, if it persists I'll have to order a shorter front sight. Put alot of money into the gun only for her to be frustrated by not hitting targets!
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Tell her to try Sight picture three.

Dot covering target.
 
Finally after 30 posts, the simple answer.
Thank you.
I know of a couple vg bulls eye shooters , and one of us can't shoot the others guns because the point of impact is wasy off, and we all use the same sight picture #1
Mosquito_magnet said:
Could you not file/remove material from the top of the front sight blade. This would cause you to lift the front of the pistol up to compensate. I'm talking like 0.010"
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Mosquito_magnet said:
Could you not file/remove material from the top of the front sight blade. This would cause you to lift the front of the pistol up to compensate. I'm talking like 0.010"
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Yes. Think of the change in impact at a given range and the sight adjustment for a given sight radius as two right triangles with the same tangent.

change in POI/range = sight adjustment/sight radius

All values in the above formula need to be in the same units, whether they are inches, mm, etc.

Obviously, you want to err on the side of not taking off enough material, as it is easier to remove material than to build it up.
 
bsand said:
Tell her to try Sight picture three.

Dot covering target.
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Even at sight picture 3, it hits low, she's not that experienced, but even I shoot low with it, she can shoot good and hit targets with any of my other twentysome pistols, this one is just low no matter what unless you start Kentucky aiming above the target, I would file the front sight down if it didnt have a FO tube in it
 
Consider a warranty claim if you are certain the fault lies with the pistol. The sight is designed to be accurate at 25 yards and is designed without an elevation adjustment. If it does not work on your pistol it is a defect. It's worth a call to the local S&W warranty gunsmith who may want to shoot it. Ours in BC is Murray Charlton.
 
Stop dumping money into the gun, pay for her to take a handgun class. My M&P was my first pistol, I was hit and miss in the accuracy dept at first, I took a handgun level 1 class and boy did it make a difference in my technique and groupings. It was worth the money and it was such a fun class.

Here's a couple targets I shot a day before the level1 class, compared to targets from the class. Iirc distances were somewhere around 10-12yrds on both. Bone stock M&P9, getting used to the trigger is a big factor with the M&P I find.

Before


After

 
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Butcherbill said:
Stop dumping money into the gun, pay for her to take a handgun class. My M&P was my first pistol, I was hit and miss in the accuracy dept at first, I took a handgun level 1 class and boy did it make a difference in my technique and groupings. It was worth the money and it was such a fun class.

Here's a couple targets I shot a day before the level1 class, compared to targets from the class. Iirc distances were somewhere around 10-12yrds on both. Bone stock M&P9, getting used to the trigger is a big factor with the M&P I find.

Before


After

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The gun groups excellent, just 6" low at 15 yards. Before I even shot it I did an Apex kit and polished all the trigger group, the stock trigger in the M&P is absolutely notrocious, upgraded the sights after the first few outings, gun is a tack driving purple people eater now, just still way to low
 
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