M&P 45 (and then some) disappointment

[eastwood44mag]

Went to the range yesterday, ended up renting the new M&P 45. First one to take it to the range--I felt special. That ended when I started shooting it.

I loved the M&P 40. Easy to shoot, accurate, lot of fun. The .45 wasn't. Couldn't keep it on target, missed the paper far too often. At only 10 rounds to the magazine, it seems like my chances of stopping an attack would be better if I threw the gun at him than if I emptied the magazine at him.

The gun looks great, feels fine in the hands, but is just a total disappointment when it comes time to shoot.

Similar results with the XD-45 service model. I have shot the tactical, and aside from always hitting low, it hits its target. The service would not hit paper. Seemed to climb 10X more than it's bigger brother. Much harder to control.

Maybe it was just an off day, but everything else I tried out was at least hitting paper. Oh, well. A bad day shooting is still a good day.

 

[JDGray]

Maybe that great big, intimadating 45ACP, has ya flinching

A buddy of mine was shooting his new P345, and missed paper at 15' . My jaw dropped, and asked to give it a try, well... 8 holes in the bull proved to him his gun wasn't a POS

 

[eldon519]

I found the service model XD45 to be very accurate. Almost couldn't miss. The only other gun I've felt that way with is a SIG 226. The XD did have a bit of muzzle climb though.

 

[FieroCDSP]

Yeah, sounds like you just need some experience with the 45. Every person I've heard from has said they either like it or love it. I honestly don't know if I could do any better, not having had more than a single mag through a 1911.

 

[xsquidgator]

That's too bad. My M&P45 right out of the box surprised me with how accurate I was with it. I'm still getting used to the feel of it and trying the different grips and so forth, but after about 300 rounds not a single jam (except for some home-made LSWCs it didn't feed too well) and none of the other problems I've heard about. If the trigger smooths out some after another couple hundred rounds I'll be even more pleased with mine.

 

[mister_wilburn]

Shoot closer, and move back a step at a time until you are comfortable at your new distance. 3ft. from the target should get you hits, then one step further. I can't hardly see the tgt at 25 yrds, and rarely shoot past 15. My house isn't so big, and 15 yrds is good practice. Good luck. Also, try a benchrest to see if the gun is having issues, or if its the operator.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I find it hard to believe that the gun itself is that inherently inaccurate, unless they forgot to rifle the bore or something. But not every gun works for everyone; even I'm more accurate with some guns than others. I shoot double-action revolvers (in double action) the worst, SA and short-stroke DAO autos the best.

Since you didn't mention it, I assume there were no malfunctions? That interests me a lot more. The most accurate gun in the world is useless if it is not reliable.

 

[elkhuntingfool]

I'm going to be bold and say "it wasn't the gun"

This is no attack on you - but I've shot just about every 45acp available to me, S&W, XD, Glock, Taurus, etc... all of them I was able to get on paper and had no real issues. I settled with thet Taurus - great handgun and no issues.

Good luck!

 

[Chris Rhines]

When I bought my first M&P, I wasn't totally satisfied with the accuracy. But it wasn't the gun, it was me. I needed to spend some time returning to the basics and getting used to the new grip, sights, recoil, and so on. A few months later, and I can drop ten rounds into 3" at 25 yards, no trouble.

Spend some time shooting off the bench, focusing on sight alignment and trigger control. You'll get there.

- Chris

 

[MadMercS55]

I've had an M&P .45 for a few days now and only had the chance to put 300rnds through it, all were 230grn American Eagle FMJ. It took me about 50rnds or so to get used to the trigger but after that it was just as accurate as my Sig P220 or Beretta 92FS when I do my part. It also proved to be 100% reliable for that range session.

 

[eastwood44mag]

I can't shoot any closer than that (indoor range, their rules, etc.), and they won't change out the grip for me (for what reason I don't know).

I'm so out of practice on the range it's not even funny, but I did manage to hit paper with the .500 S&W. That was Monday. My hand is still sore and bruised today.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Originally posted by MadMercS55:
It also proved to be 100% reliable for that range session.

That is very reassuring. (A .45 M&P is on my "wannaget" list after the quality and performance of my 9C.) I have another gun that cost nearly twice as much and it has never gotten through a single range session without some kind of malfunction.

 

[wally]

+1 to its not the gun.

Possibly it just doesn't fit your hand well (feel and fit are related but not identical) and messes up your trigger work. I have this problem with Glocks.

--wally.

 

[gudel]

so which one do you like better?