I did the apex trigger job and the best it will do from a rest at 25 yards is about 5-6" 10 shot groups. That's trying 4 different types of standard factory ammo. I had a lot of misses at the BRM3g this year and I don't think it was all me.

The next stop is some premium ammo to see what happens.

My Kimber 1911 .45 shoots just about every type of ammo into 1/2 that size or less under the same conditions.

I don't expect 1" at 25 yards but 3 would be nice, it would give me the probability of hitting most steel in one shot if I hold it true. At 6" groups I can miss even with a good hold.

I love the ergonomics of this gun and would like to make it work. Meanwhile i've switched back to the Kimber while I figure it out.

Any advice? New barrel? New gun? Expensive ammo?

The barrel is often the problem on these if they're not accurate. Phil Strader talked about this a lot. I'm lucky that I've got a good one. It'll shoot 1.5" at 25 yards with white box and that's plenty for me.

Bag it really well and give it a fair try (of course if you have access to a mechanical rest is even better) and use some solid ammo before spending bigger dollars on a barrel. That said, when you're ready, contact Shaun Hopkins or Dan Burwell about tweaking on the M&P. Those two have the pistols dialed.

Rich

If you are SURE that its lacking in mechanical accuracy, I could weld up the barrel and re-fit it for you.

^^^ 10000% agree. Ensure that mechanically, the pistol's not shooting well before doing anything.

Rich

olyeller,

Let me give it another try at the range. I'll pm you.

Thanks!

I got a box of black hills 115 grain, I'll pick up some Hornady steel match and test it out after the hurricane.

Took the pistol out again yesterday and fired a few rounds - some black hills and premium personal defense from a good bench rest.

It did better than with the winchester white box or the federal or UMC, but off hand my Smith 5946 DAO carry gun still did a little better.

The sights are really coarse on this gun, and I want some better sights anyway, so I may go that route and try again.

I noticed on a friend of mine's M&P that the sights are extremely course. I'm a big fan of the Dawson fiber optics on my glock.

im shooting 147l with 3.2 solo. Plenty of good headshots at 35m last weekend. I dont think my gun likes rem bulk 115 fmj.

owlless,

Not to be a butt...but do you have a handgun that you can shoot small groups from...consistently???

Let's say you can shoot 5 five shot groups that average 2" at 15 yards with your best handgun.
And that handgun when machine rested can do 1" then you are capable of TWICE the mechanical accuracy.

If the Smith "mechanically" can only do 3" groups at 25 then you can only expect 6" groups.

I would not expect the Smith to hold much better than 2 to 3 inches at 25 yards.

I developed this formula as a gauge of my pistol shooting performance.

My goal is to be able to shoot TWICE the mechanical accuracy of any handgun from the offhand position.

You can only test a handguns performance if you know what kind of consistent performance you are capable of, short of using a machine rest (even THAT takes know how!)
.
Again I am not trying to poke you sir just offering up 4 decades of experience.

Patrick

Some sights you could take a look at are the ones from Vikings Tactics. They have fiber optics in front and rear with a small bit of tridium underneth the fiber optic. They also have a wider notch in the rear sight.
http://vikingtactics.com/pistolacc_vikingsight.html

Brandon

There is a whole thread on this at 10-8 forums. Some blame barrels other say locking blocks and Smith & Wesson supposedly says there is no problem. I can say that my 9pro should shoot better than it does in my opinion. Very ammo sensative. I had to play around a bit and finally came up with a 124gr handload that shoots decent but not great. I am ussually getting 4 inches from a sandbag at 25yds. Rumor has it that Appex is coming out with a locking block fix, but I can not recall where I heard that.

Storm Lake barrel. Poor accuracy in 9mm M&P's is another reason I prefer Glock to them.
Pat

I watched this episode of Shooting USA when it aired and was amazed at how poorly the M&P grouped.

http://www.shootingusa.com/PRO_TIPS/JULIE11ZEROING/julie11zeroing.html

I would bet she doesn't shoot a stock M&P in competition.

I shoot a G34 with Briley barrel for 3 gun....last year at Ft Benning a couple of ammo problems showed up... my pistol would not group any 115 grain factory bullets at 35y (not too bad at 25Y)... switching to 147 Federal or Federal American Eagle dropped the groups to about 3" at 35y... I can't see any better than that anymore... groups shot off a rest

I've changed barrels in 3 of my M&Ps, one from a standard 4.25 to a factory threaded, one from a 5" Pro factory to a Storm Lake threaded, and another 4.25" factory to a 4.25" Storm Lake.


Every single one shoots better, even the one with the factory extended/threaded barrel. Food for thought.

i shoot 147gr hollow point only in my M&P 9 PRO added brass magwell, stippled backstrap, trigger job with 2 1/4 lb pull works really good in USPSA ltd

I never could get my M&P Pro to group well. Nice pistol, but accuracy sucks. My Edge on the other hand....tack driver.