I've had a SW 5906 9mm for a few years now, and every time i go shoot it the accuracy is terrible.  On average its hitting maybe a 12in group from 5 yards.  At first i thought i was just a shitty shot, but with practice, and holding the gun steady and firing i've still had no luck.  Ive had some of my friends who shoot a lot more often then i try out my pistol and their accuracy was poor as well.  I have fired other handguns and had much better accuracy, but i just cant get a decent group with my 9mm.  It seems to shoot somewhat up and to the right, but im not sure if its the gun or the way im shooting.  I use winchester and S&B ammo FMJ btw.  I have not had this problem with other pistols i've fired.

The sights are non adjustable combat sights and they "look" straight, the gun functions ok, so anyone got any ideas? maybe its a gun thing, more likely im doing something wrong though i guess


im thinking about just selling the S&W and trying something else

got my eye on the Jericho 941 or a springfield XD

For starters, bench the thing.

That is, sit down at a bench of some sort with a sandbag and shoot the pistol with your hands using the sandbag for support.  Don’t let the pistol touch anything hard like the bench top.

That should give you a good idea of what the pistol can (or can’t) do.

The sights are somewhat adjustable, though that has nothing to do with getting a tighter group.

Specifically, the rear sight can be drifted to the left or right to correct for windage.

Elevation cannot be adjusted (at least not without a file), however you can probably lower the point of impact a bit by shooting a lighter bullet.

I agree that if you can’t get better groups that what you’re getting, it’s time to get something else.

A 12" group at 5 yards is pretty ugly.  If others shoot similar sized groups, I would consider sending it back to S&W.  You may have some sort of fitting issue with the barrel.

S&W are extreemly accurate. You may have a damaged bore? Does it look nicked anywhere or on the crown? If not you may need to learn proper grip and lots of practice. Here is my 4506, the 5906 is just as accurate. This was 15 yards:

Nice shooting skag, it does look like theres a slight nick in the crown.  I hope to take it to the range in the next couple weeks, i'd like to try the sandbag thing to be absolutely sure whether the problems the gun or me.  Im just a few weeks away from being able to buy a new pistol though, im debating whether or not to continue toubleshooting or just sell the headache.  Thank you for all of your advice so far.

Its possible that the gun is damaged.

I have a friend with a G34 that shot great, then one day it started shooting poorly. Come to find out it had a small crack in the front of the slide. it was a competition gun with lots of rounds, got the slide replaced and is still shooting it.

Investigate further before you sell.

I too had terrible results with the only S&W 9mm I ever owned.  

I would suggest trying different ammo, different brands as well as different bullet weights. If all this fails, then trade the gun.

No offense to the above poster, but I have yet to see a S&W auto that was accurate for shit.    

No doubt there's exceptions to the rule, such as my models 52 & 41.    

I would try at least 1 other type of ammo. I had a 40 S&W (MP40) which was a fairly avg gun except it hated (really hated) Fiochi ammo, 10" groups at 10yds off a bag.

I've only had one S&W auto, a 3913, but it was very accurate.  Bench it, if it's still inaccurate benched have a gunsmith look at it or send it back to S&W.  Or, sell it to me at a highly reduced price and I'll send it back to S&W.