Dry fire more and/or do the Burwell trigger job on it 8)
sights jerk to the right when trigger breaks?
So Ive had my MP9 for a few days now, and Ive dry fired it about 1000 times already, now I was wondering if anyone had the same issue, when the trigger breaks, my front sight jerks to the right a very little. Ive never had this problem with other guns, just this one, its kinda weird. If I close my eyes and shoot, the sight remains perfectly lined up when I open up, but Im sure it still jerks to the right...any suggestions?
Thanks
Thanks
1 - 20 of 46 Posts
jeri534,
I'm currently dealing with the same problem, mine is a 40.
Started dry firing about 1/2 hr a day now
and the problem seems to be going away.
Very strange though.
I've been a 1911 shooter for the last 5 to 6 years and have never had
this problem so might just be getting used to a different trigger.
I did a trigger job to mine and still have a little over travel.
I'm curious that if the over travel went away, so would the problem.
I just don't want the trigger to break any farther back than it is already.
It's almost too far back now.
Thinking about, somehow building up the trigger stop.
Also, I'm using a medium grip.
I'm currently dealing with the same problem, mine is a 40.
Started dry firing about 1/2 hr a day now
and the problem seems to be going away.
Very strange though.
I've been a 1911 shooter for the last 5 to 6 years and have never had
this problem so might just be getting used to a different trigger.
I did a trigger job to mine and still have a little over travel.
I'm curious that if the over travel went away, so would the problem.
I just don't want the trigger to break any farther back than it is already.
It's almost too far back now.
Thinking about, somehow building up the trigger stop.
Also, I'm using a medium grip.
More than likely your trigger finger is on the trigger too far. When this happens you pull the muzzle to the right (if your right handed), instead of pulling the trigger straight back. This can also be a function of the grip you have on the gun, but it's probably your trigger finger placement. Try moving your finger off of the trigger slightly (to the right) and see what happens. If you move it too far then you will push the muzzle to the left.
How do you grip the gun?
Which grip insert are you using?
How do you grip the gun?
Which grip insert are you using?
I grip thumbs up, medium grip..
The thing is, I can use the very tip of my finger to pull it, and it will still slighty jerk right, by slighty I mean barely noticeable.
The thing is, I can use the very tip of my finger to pull it, and it will still slighty jerk right, by slighty I mean barely noticeable.
Try this:
Place a dime on the flat area right behind the front site. Now site in on a spot on the wall and begin dry firing. The goal is to keep the dime on top of the slide. If it's falling off after a couple of pulls you need to adjust the way you are holding the gun, as well as the way you push the trigger. Lot's of folks like to say pull the trigger, but you should practice pushing it straight to the rear. Yukon said it right, you probably have too much finger on the trigger. When teaching folks to shoot pistols, I always tell them to place the center of the first pad on the trigger, this gives you plenty of flexible areas, ei. three joints, to move while pushing the trigger to the rear. Too much finger, you pull right, too little, you push left. Try the dry firing with the dime, it shows a lot of folks how much they are jerking the trigger. I'm used to my 1911 trigger also, and this M&P trigger took some getting used to, but now I have it mastered. Good luck.
Bill
NRA Life Member
US Marine 11 Years and running
Marine Corps Rifle and Pistol Marksmanship instructor
Expert Rifle and Pistol shooter
Place a dime on the flat area right behind the front site. Now site in on a spot on the wall and begin dry firing. The goal is to keep the dime on top of the slide. If it's falling off after a couple of pulls you need to adjust the way you are holding the gun, as well as the way you push the trigger. Lot's of folks like to say pull the trigger, but you should practice pushing it straight to the rear. Yukon said it right, you probably have too much finger on the trigger. When teaching folks to shoot pistols, I always tell them to place the center of the first pad on the trigger, this gives you plenty of flexible areas, ei. three joints, to move while pushing the trigger to the rear. Too much finger, you pull right, too little, you push left. Try the dry firing with the dime, it shows a lot of folks how much they are jerking the trigger. I'm used to my 1911 trigger also, and this M&P trigger took some getting used to, but now I have it mastered. Good luck.
Bill
NRA Life Member
US Marine 11 Years and running
Marine Corps Rifle and Pistol Marksmanship instructor
Expert Rifle and Pistol shooter
It's very difficult to explain the correct grip, or diagnose a bad grip, over the internet. It sounds like your grip needs a little adjustment. The gun probably needs to be turned in your hand to the left a little. Most people that have problems squeeze too hard with the trigger hand, and don't squeeze hard enough with the support hand.
There is a decent description of grip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa50-plo48
Everyone has different hands, so everyone will have to find the grip that works for them. To get that perfect trigger pull your grip and trigger finger placement must be exact. With the relatively stiff trigger break on the M&P, you will see movement if it isn't right.
I hope this helps. Let us know what you figure out.
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There is a decent description of grip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa50-plo48
Everyone has different hands, so everyone will have to find the grip that works for them. To get that perfect trigger pull your grip and trigger finger placement must be exact. With the relatively stiff trigger break on the M&P, you will see movement if it isn't right.
I hope this helps. Let us know what you figure out.
Ive done the dime trick about a 100 times already, it doesnt fall off or anything.
The thing is, Ill close my eyes during a dry fire and when I open it after the trigger breaks the sights are perfectly aligned, when the sight jerks to the right its not a push kind of thing because it returns to the perfect alignment after the jerk
The thing is, Ill close my eyes during a dry fire and when I open it after the trigger breaks the sights are perfectly aligned, when the sight jerks to the right its not a push kind of thing because it returns to the perfect alignment after the jerk
I understand exactly what you are talking about. I have helped many shooters with these types of problems and they are sometimes difficult. My suggestion is to find the grip and trigger placement that gives you the least movement. Then go to the range and fire the gun using that exact technique. If you are just getting a very little movement, and you don't flinch during the shot, you will probably be surprised at how accurate you are shooting. It will be more difficult to hold everything together during live fire. But give it a try and see what happens.
thanks for the tips, it just striked me weird because Ive shot a sig, glock, hk and none of them did that, Ill have to put it down range first to see how if it affects anything at all.
I plan on getting Burwells trigger job done in the near future too that should help also.
I plan on getting Burwells trigger job done in the near future too that should help also.
The same thing happens to me until i change my grip or liek previously said, focus on pushing the trigger to the rear. Some times it feels like I'm pushing the trigger to it's back left corner with the smallest part of my finger on the trigger
For what it's worth.
My sight was slightly "breaking" to the left.
I did turn the pistol slightly to the right, in my grip, and have
seen great improvement.
The front sight stays put more often than it moves now.
This is the first gun that I've spent any amount of time dry firing.
I'm anxious to get to the range and see if there is any progress.
My sight was slightly "breaking" to the left.
I did turn the pistol slightly to the right, in my grip, and have
seen great improvement.
The front sight stays put more often than it moves now.
This is the first gun that I've spent any amount of time dry firing.
I'm anxious to get to the range and see if there is any progress.
another thing that works for me is shooting in the other hand. When I practice left handed nothing moves. There is no shaking of the gun, no sight movement and I just all around do better left handed.
I had the same problem. When I got the gun, I did a lot of dry firing and was very disturbed by the movement to the right as the trigger broke. That is what happens when the trigger breaks at approximately 8.5 pounds and has a large amount of over travel. I did the Burwell trigger job as spelled out on this website. It worked wonders. Actually I've been shooting Glocks with the 3.5 trigger connectors in them for many years. Now my M&P trigger breaks all most identically to the Glocks.
I'm a lefty and mine seems to break to the left for whatever reason. I'm not too concerned as the results at the range do not show there is a problem.
I noticed a bounce right and then back when I pulled the trigger of my M&P9. Since it didn't happen with other pistols, I thought it was the pistol. After reading these posts, I decided to go back and dry fire paying attention to trigger control and grip. I even changed the backstraps. No joy in controlling the vibration to the right. When I dryfire my MKIII 22/45, the front sight is as steady as a rock. Looks like I have a lot ahead of me.
Greener,
I have been shooting for 50 years. When I got the M+P I had the same issue when dry firing. Maybe its just the subtle geometry of certain guns, but there was a noticeable jerk to the right when dryfiring. Now I can dry fire a DA/SA with a 12 lb pull and not jerk. Funny thing was it did not affect my accuracy one bit. Anyway I sent the gun to Dan Burwell and when I got it back no jerk at all. So, I don't discount grip and other suggestions made here, but maybe there is more to it than meets the eye cause a reduced pull from 6.5 to 4 lbs isn't the cure for me. Maybe it was a burr or a slightly out of spec contour on one of the parts that was removed during the trigger job. Anyway, I cannot recommend Mr. Burwell's work enough. He did a superb trigger job and for the cost and shipping, it is well worth condsidering.
I have been shooting for 50 years. When I got the M+P I had the same issue when dry firing. Maybe its just the subtle geometry of certain guns, but there was a noticeable jerk to the right when dryfiring. Now I can dry fire a DA/SA with a 12 lb pull and not jerk. Funny thing was it did not affect my accuracy one bit. Anyway I sent the gun to Dan Burwell and when I got it back no jerk at all. So, I don't discount grip and other suggestions made here, but maybe there is more to it than meets the eye cause a reduced pull from 6.5 to 4 lbs isn't the cure for me. Maybe it was a burr or a slightly out of spec contour on one of the parts that was removed during the trigger job. Anyway, I cannot recommend Mr. Burwell's work enough. He did a superb trigger job and for the cost and shipping, it is well worth condsidering.
I had done the trigger job on mine also, but kept the weight up to around 6 Lbs.
I now have it lowered to around 4.5 Lbs.
I also changed to the large backstrap, mostly because the trigger
break is now way to the rear and my finger feels uncomfortable with anything less.
Lots of dry firing and my sight now jerks about 5% of the time.
I am curious if the split trigger has something to do with this.
It's like learning to shoot all over again.
I too have shot many handguns, to include DA revolvers, and have never
seen a problem like this.
I have been unable to go to the range, single digit temps for the last couple weeks, to see if my new trigger skills have shown any improvement on my shot groups.
Judging from some of the reports here, it might not matter.
Also, has anyone dropped an email to S&W?
Looks like this is not limited to one or two guns.
I now have it lowered to around 4.5 Lbs.
I also changed to the large backstrap, mostly because the trigger
break is now way to the rear and my finger feels uncomfortable with anything less.
Lots of dry firing and my sight now jerks about 5% of the time.
I am curious if the split trigger has something to do with this.
It's like learning to shoot all over again.
I too have shot many handguns, to include DA revolvers, and have never
seen a problem like this.
I have been unable to go to the range, single digit temps for the last couple weeks, to see if my new trigger skills have shown any improvement on my shot groups.
Judging from some of the reports here, it might not matter.
Also, has anyone dropped an email to S&W?
Looks like this is not limited to one or two guns.
IAShooter,
I am not a gunsmith nor even a talented tinkerer but my guess is 5% jerk is another problem.
When I dry fired mine there was a noticeable right jerk, a "boing" sound, and the gun had a distinct vibration, all simultaneously. Whatever it was, however, was fixed by the trigger job. I suspected slightly out of spec part causing the geometry to be off slightly. In fact on mine even after the trigger job, if you watch carefully, or hold your fingers along the slide while dry firing, you will notice a slight yet perceptible movement both forward and down of the slide. Although I never checked before the trigger job, I wonder if the pressure needed to fire the striker is enough to move the slide within the tolerance of the rails and that is what causes the jerk, boing, and vibration. So maybe just the geometry of the design rather than an out of spec part. Reducing the trigger pull reduced the action/reaction formulae.
Just some thoughts...
I am not a gunsmith nor even a talented tinkerer but my guess is 5% jerk is another problem.
When I dry fired mine there was a noticeable right jerk, a "boing" sound, and the gun had a distinct vibration, all simultaneously. Whatever it was, however, was fixed by the trigger job. I suspected slightly out of spec part causing the geometry to be off slightly. In fact on mine even after the trigger job, if you watch carefully, or hold your fingers along the slide while dry firing, you will notice a slight yet perceptible movement both forward and down of the slide. Although I never checked before the trigger job, I wonder if the pressure needed to fire the striker is enough to move the slide within the tolerance of the rails and that is what causes the jerk, boing, and vibration. So maybe just the geometry of the design rather than an out of spec part. Reducing the trigger pull reduced the action/reaction formulae.
Just some thoughts...
I had been trying to avoid a trigger job on my M&P9, but it may well be worth it. Until reading these posts, I had almost decided that it was inherent in this design. I like the M&P, but it has been an interesting weapon. I shot my GP100 better out of the box. The M&P has been back to S&W for a front sight replacement, maybe now it could be improved with a trigger job.
1 - 20 of 46 Posts
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