My new XDm 40 is shooting to the left.

[Will Carry]

It shoots great new out of the box. It's a hungry handgun and went through 100 rounds and wanted more. Just one problem. It is shooting to the left about 3 inches at 21 feet. They are fixed sights. How can I adjust these sights? Should I take it to an expert? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[Erik88]

you're %100 sure it is the gun and not the shooter?

[Guest RangeMstr]

Could it be you are "milking" the trigger? I would suggest some dry fire exercises till you find the sweet spot on the pad of your fingertip for that particular weapon. Nothing to feel bad about, that is common with new pistols.

[Mad_Squirrell]

I found the same problem with my XD-9 and then found it was me not the gun. listen to RangeMstr that was the exact thing I was doing .

[Will Carry]

I will take it back to the range and do some more testing. I don't think it was me since I shoot my XD-45, 1911 and .357 well. BUT. I'm no fancy pistol shooter. There is this kid that works at the range I go to. He's the best shot I've ever seen. He shots competitively. I'll let him shoot it and see what he says.

IF it is the gun. What do I do?

[Oh Shoot]

IF it is the gun. What do I do?

Rear sight would need nudging to the right.

Probably need a sight pusher to do it, though. XD sights are really socked in there.

I wouldn't consider it unless I proved it with bench rest testing, myself.

- OS

[Guest .45]

I wouldn't consider it unless I proved it with bench rest testing, myself.

- OS

+1.

this is fairly common for most new XD shooters...just something about the guns... makes it easier to shoot left. FWIW, it seems more pronounced to me in the XD40's than the XD9s.

that said, I had one XD that actually DID need to have the sights adjusted.

put it on the bench and see if it still shoots left...

.45

[Guest CK1]

3" left at 21 feet... It's you, not the gun (don't worry though, used to be me too and about a million other guys as well).

It's your grip, your trigger press, or both. Most of the lighter polymer striker-fired guns tend to be quite unforgiving of kinks in your technique that heavier hammer-fired guns won't even reveal to you, good news is that once you've ironed the bugs out and are back on POA with your new plastic blaster, shooting a 1911 or other steel guns will seem like cheating and bet you'll find they'll have become more accurate than you thought they were before.

In my case it took a lot of dry-fire practice to train myself to press nice and straight back everytime, but really more than anything it was my grip being all wrong...

Good luck.

[Guest 10mm4me]

You may be putting too much finger on the trigger causing the gun to move left when you squeeze it. Try, to steal a line from Wedding Crashers, "just the tip, just to see how it feels" I shoot left also.

[ftncityfatboy]

my first xd shooting went left also. practice, practice, practice....

[VERO1]

Stupid idea I know, just hold a little left when sighting. If it works, move your sights. It is your gun and your the one shooting it. Make it work for you not the other way around!

[Mad_Squirrell]

A specific press runs about 120 bucks a universal runs a lil over 400 last time I checked. So if you must have it resighted I suggest taking it to a gunsmith or a gun shop that installs sights.

[Steelharp]

just something about the guns... makes it easier to shoot left.

That's cause they's croation commie bastids.

[peejman]

Ditto to CK1.... I have a polymer framed, striker fired Taurus that did the same thing initially. I had to adjust my trigger pull motion a bit. I had to focus on using only the pad of my finger and pulling straight back (almost felt like pulling right at first). The change smoothed my pull noticably and made me a better shooter with my other pistols.

[Will Carry]

All of you guys that said, "It's not the gun, it's you!".....were correct. I let an expert shoot my XDm40 at the range today. At 21 feet he shot one jagged hole through the center of the bull's eye. He said. "If you are used to shooting a 1911 you are going to have problems with the XDm 40. The way it's made and the sharp recoil of the 40 caliber round causes your finger to move slightly to the left so that instead of pulling the trigger with the tip of the finger, you will pull with the meaty part. This will cause your shots to fall to the left." He suggested that I reset my finger on the trigger after every shot until I get use to it. I tried it his way and got better groups but not one jagged hole...........

[Guest truthsayer]

The same thing happened to me. I shot revolvers, 1911s, and GLOCKs with no problem, but had a little bit of trouble getting used to the trigger on the XD40.

[Smith]

All of you guys that said, "It's not the gun, it's you!".....were correct. I let an expert shoot my XDm40 at the range today. At 21 feet he shot one jagged hole through the center of the bull's eye. He said. "If you are used to shooting a 1911 you are going to have problems with the XDm 40. The way it's made and the sharp recoil of the 40 caliber round causes your finger to move slightly to the left so that instead of pulling the trigger with the tip of the finger, you will pull with the meaty part. This will cause your shots to fall to the left." He suggested that I reset my finger on the trigger after every shot until I get use to it. I tried it his way and got better groups but not one jagged hole...........

Same thing for me on my first 2 XD9's. Best thing that helped me was learning how to use the reset technique. Meaning Keep the trigger pressed after the first shot till you are back on target then let it out just enough to reset then pull again. It will keep you from over fingering the trigger. However, it will speed you up quite a bit. I also had trigger jobs from Springer and the Powder River drop-ins that made a big difference as well on the reset.

[Guest ddenny5]

I have an XDm 40 and I have not had any problems with it shooting to the left. I think it is trigger finger positioning that needs to be corrected because the XDm has a match grade barrel. Also, I have installed a tungsten guide rod in mine. This helps reduce recoil and eliminates some of the rise when shooting. They cost about $80 dollars and it was a good investment.