New M&P, a few problems and questions

[119er]

I recently purchased an M&P Pro 5" model. Today at the range it had a few hiccups in the first two magazines but cleared up. My main concern is that this pistol is shooting 6-8" low at 10 yards. I rented one before I bought this one and it was shooting 1/2-3/4" below the bull at the same distance. I had someone else shoot the gun and it was way low for them too.

What is the best path to correct this? Aftermarket sights? Send it back to S&W? Other options?

The trigger is not great but not that bad either. Would the APEX be IDPA SSP legal?

It was frustrating to pick up a CZ-75 and 1911 and be on only to shoot the M&P and not be able to hit squat. On an 8" steel plate I had to aim 12 o'clock to hit the bottom of the plate. Consistently.

Any help or suggestion is appreciated.

 

[LiveLife]

pistol is shooting 6-8" low at 10 yards. I rented one before I bought this one and it was shooting 1/2-3/4" below the bull at the same distance. I had someone else shoot the gun and it was way low for them too.

Really? 6-8" low for both shooters? Are the shot groups tight? If they are, I would call S&W customer service.

 

[RON in PA]

Does it have the fiber optic front sight? Are you holding the front sight over where you want to hit or are you using a six o'clock hold?

 

[9mmepiphany]

My main concern is that this pistol is shooting 6-8" low at 10 yards.

Was this off a bench/rest?
That seems awful low, which weight bullet were you shooting?

The trigger is not great but not that bad either. Would the APEX be IDPA SSP legal?

Their D/C AEK, using the factory trigger, is legal for IDPA SSP, their FSS would move you to ESP

 

[Jitterbug]

I have a three M&P's, a forty and 9mm in 4.25" Pro and a 9mm Compact. All mine are about 3 or so years old.

The 9mm Pro shoots about 4-5 inches low and has the worst trigger of the bunch and brass hits me in the head when shooting lower powered hand loads. However, it is one of the most accurate shooters I own....so, I compensate by using a combat sight hold and shooting some warmer ammo in it.

It's on my "to-do" list to send it back to S&W, I just haven't gotten around to it yet and I do have another concern that they will replace the barrel with one that isn't as accurate.

Another solution I've given thought to would be to replace the front tritium sight with one of the correct height, but again I haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[119er]

I'll try to call S&W today. It's really pretty bad. I had to shoot over my target to get a center hit. I am shooting 124gr plated RN handloads. 4.3gr HP-38.

 

[Hangingrock]

If by chance I have acquired a problematic firearm, I hand it off to another competent shooter for their evaluation. If they concur with my experience then I know its not me.

 

[Malamute]

I'm not familiar with how Smith does it with their M&P's, but I believe most companies have different rear sights to allow sighting in. Its possible it ended up with the wrong rear/front sight in combination with the other. A simple sight switch may be all thats needed. I'd be shooting it with some commonly available commercial load to get a baseline point of impact. Shooting reloads doesnt give Smith something easy to reference unless its a duplicate of a factory load. Still, giving them a factory load as a baseline for point of impact will be best.

Thats a LOT low at that close distance. It really sounds like it has a wrong sight part.

I also suggest having another somebody else shoot it, and with factory ammo. The larger your example base, the easier it will be to accurately diagnose the problem. Showing targets with point of aim and point of impact to email to Smith will likely help.

 

[119er]

I have some WWB ammo that I'll go put on paper this weekend. I'll measure the distance and try it standing and rested. I am objective and know I can make mistakes and have to "learn" a new gun, but this also would not be the first gun I have bought with sight problems or a bad barrel.

 

[HexHead]

The very first thing I'd do is shoot it off a rest or a bag. You might need to try a different backstrap on it. I don't recall, but the Pro might have an adjustable rear site? It does have a nicer trigger than the standard M&P, not Apex nice but an improvement.