m&p 9mm accuracy issues

[9mmepiphany]

When you say, "from the sandbags", how are you using them?

Under your wrist?
Under your hands?
Under the dustcover?

Even when shooting off a rest, the trigger pull still has a high influence on shot placement.

When my M&P9 was new it was hard to hold 2" at 5-7 yards. Cleaning up the trigger with an Apex Tactical kit shrunk that with about 1"...that was when I noticed that it was shooting about 1.5" left

[hossb7]

Guys, 10 yards and similar are NOT enough to determine accuracy problems. The M&P needs to be shot at a minimum of 25 yards to establish how it patterns.

[2meterB]

The underside of the gun in front of the trigger (where the rails is) Same method i used to sight i my handguns with adjustible sights.

[Erick Danielsen]

First thing I would check is whether or not the sights are off. 2nd, remove the slide from the frame and take out the recoil spring/guide rod. With the barrel sitting in the slide check the space between the front of the barrel hood and the slide with feeler gauges. If you can fit a .006" feeler gauge in between there your barrel is unlocking early and causing erratic shot placement. This has been an issue with some M&P's even with the improved barrel twist rate. There is extensive threads on this topic on m4carbine. Do a search on that site on M&P accuracy and you'll find a ton of info on it. If in fact you do have a bad fit, get smith and Wesson to replace the barrel.

[cmace22]

Guys, 10 yards and similar are NOT enough to determine accuracy problems. The M&P needs to be shot at a minimum of 25 yards to establish how it patterns.

If the guy is only getting a few shots on paper at 10 how do you think shooting at 25 will work?

[Doheny]

Not to be a smarty pants, but it's nothing that practice can't fix.

[hossb7]

If the guy is only getting a few shots on paper at 10 how do you think shooting at 25 will work?

Being off paper at 10 yards means your physical sights are not properly aligned, or shooter is in error.

To determine is the PISTOL itself is accurate, you need more distance than 10 yards (to eliminate the possibilities mentioned above).

[2meterB]

the feeler gauge does not have a thin enough option to fit in front of the barrel hood so I think that part is fine at least. more range time this weekend

[Whatisthis?]

Guys, 10 yards and similar are NOT enough to determine accuracy problems. The M&P needs to be shot at a minimum of 25 yards to establish how it patterns.

I agree and disagree. I agree with your statement in a general sense. However, in the OPs case, shooting at 25 yards will not accomplish anything that can't be done at 7-10 yards right now. Get him on paper with some kind of consistent pattern and then push it back to 25 to see if two things were in play that effected accuracy.

I might be one of a few but I think most M&P accuracy issues are inexperienced shooters (either inexperienced as a shooter or specifically to the trigger). It's been my experience that people HATE admitting that it's them not shooting well. I see it ALL the time at the range... Any range I go to with someone new overall or new to a handgun.

Now I haven't done tons of research on the M&P accuracy issue but I have done quite a few google searches. So maybe I missed something definitive from a well known shooter or a true professional saying that the problems are real. But until I read that, I will believe that most people just need more practice.

OP, in your case, it is most likely you. It sounded like shots were left, right, up, and down with no consistency. That can't be the sights. So I would imagine that it's user error.

[hossb7]

I agree and disagree. I agree with your statement in a general sense. However, in the OPs case, shooting at 25 yards will not accomplish anything that can't be done at 7-10 yards right now. Get him on paper with some kind of consistent pattern and then push it back to 25 to see if two things were in play that effected accuracy.

I might be one of a few but I think most M&P accuracy issues are inexperienced shooters (either inexperienced as a shooter or specifically to the trigger). It's been my experience that people HATE admitting that it's them not shooting well. I see it ALL the time at the range... Any range I go to with someone new overall or new to a handgun.

Now I haven't done tons of research on the M&P accuracy issue but I have done quite a few google searches. So maybe I missed something definitive from a well known shooter or a true professional saying that the problems are real. But until I read that, I will believe that most people just need more practice.

OP, in your case, it is most likely you. It sounded like shots were left, right, up, and down with no consistency. That can't be the sights. So I would imagine that it's user error.

Not doing the research is one thing, but until you do saying what you think is a purely uneducated guess.

The problem is very real, and is only shown at 25 yards.

Here is some information:

http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?9625-9-mm-Glock-vs-M-amp-P

No matter what I do, I cannot wring out the absolute accuracy I want from the full size M&P9 at distances beyond 15-20 yds. In this regard, the M&P9c are proving more consistently accurate than the full size M&P9. For example, today I started by shooting the old FAM qual cold with my M&P9--no problems. But when I moved back to 25 yds this is what I got:

No matter what I do, I have not been able to shoot 100 points at 25 with an M&P9--I always get 1-2 flyers. Now I might think this was me, but immediately after shooting the miserable group above, I grabbed a G19 I have only shot 10 rounds from in the past 9 months and shot this:


I am an armorer on both pistols, so that is a moot point. To summarize:

-- Glock is more accurate at distance, with more versatile carry options.

--M&P is faster and more ergonomic.

and:

http://www.lightfighter.net/topic/9-mm-glock-vs-mandamp-p?page=2

Good (and bad) news on the M&P accuracy issue.

Bill Riehl, an extremely well qualified and experienced engineer I know has undertaken a detailed analysis of the M&P9 issues. He has commented publicly on a few of the issues here: http://pistol-forum.com/showth...9-barrel-saga/page14

Essentially the problem lies with poor QC at S&W with their slides and barrels.

Bill has clearly identified the solution--an in-specification slide needed, along with a quality barrel.

The barrels are the easy part, as there are several high quality after market barrels available that work quite well.

The problem is the slide.

Fortunately, there is a proven vendor who has designed a superb M&P replacement slide and can go into production if enough orders come in.

I urge anyone who wishes to solve their M&P9 accuracy issues to contact Unity Tactical and let them know they want to order a Unity M&P slide. Also contact folks like Apex Tactical, Speed Shooter Specialties, 10-8 Performance and let them know you would purchase a Unity Tactical M&P slide if they offered them for sale. The slides can be made in stock form or with the ATOM mount for RDS installation.

Keep in mind that S&W uses the same frame for the 9 mm, 357 Sig, and .40 S&W M&P's. Thus if you already have one caliber and want to add another, you can simply purchase a slide/barrel assembly in the alternate caliber and drop it on the frame--much like swapping uppers on an AR15.

Please note that in the 2nd link he references another thread on Pistol-Forums, specifically what engineer Bill Riehl has said about the topic.

If after this you still believe that shooting the M&P anything short of 25 yards to test for an accuracy problem that is not "definitive from a well known shooter or a true professional", then I don't know what to tell you.

[Shenaniguns]

Hossb7 is correct, it is well known in the community that some M&P's have a problem with consistent precision and accuracy past 15 yards. Even Apex Tactical is having a tough time making a consistent match barrel with some unknown variable in the design causing 10 percent or more shots to leave the rest of the group.
Doc Roberts is a good enough shooter to provide repeatable groups if the gun is capable.

[wl518]

What is the production date of your gun? Lots of praise from peeps over at m4 about how S&W has addressed this along with many other issues with earlier versions of the platform, but I have yet to see anyone do an in depth comparison of older models vs the new production guns.

[Whatisthis?]

Not doing the research is one thing, but until you do saying what you think is a purely uneducated guess.

The problem is very real, and is only shown at 25 yards.

Here is some information:

http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?9625-9-mm-Glock-vs-M-amp-P

and:

http://www.lightfighter.net/topic/9-mm-glock-vs-mandamp-p?page=2

Please note that in the 2nd link he references another thread on Pistol-Forums, specifically what engineer Bill Riehl has said about the topic.

If after this you still believe that shooting the M&P anything short of 25 yards to test for an accuracy problem that is not "definitive from a well known shooter or a true professional", then I don't know what to tell you.

I appreciate the info. I'll make sure to remember all of it... Or at least try to. But if OP is experiencing accuracy problems at 10 yards, this is not likely to be the main problem.

[mjmagee67]

I own 2 M&P 9 Pro's and use them for USPSA Production and there is no issues with accuracy! Both guns shoot the same. They were purchased 7 months apart. As far as the sights one has the stock sights and the other has a Dawson FO front, it make no difference as to how the gun shoots. In fact I shoot several different guns from 1911, 2011, Sig 226&226, Ruger MKII's, M&Ps and S&W revolvers and I've never had an issue with the different sights. You line them up, watch the front, and pull the trigger!!!!

[J-cat]

So, what's wrong with the slide? Is it the loose fit? Or is it a geometry issue?