# P226 Shooting Low



## roguebear (Mar 7, 2012)

I recently had Sig service my P226 Elite 9MM pistol, Action Enhancement Package, Night Sights, etc.
it seems to be shooting low... there are different markings on the sights (old/new I don't remember which) AJ MH3 and AK MH3
both front and rear sights are the same (AJ MH3 or AK MH3) and both front and rear are stamped 8.

Yet the bull hole drills that I ran -the second and subsequent shots are all lower than the 1st shot.
I had a different shooter do the drill with the same results...

I'm an experienced shooter, and have completed many classes at Sig, so I know how tight a bullet hole drill I can shoot.
Ammo is 115 FMJ, same as I always shoot.

Is there any difference between AJ MH3 and AK MH3 ? that would account for the difference? I'm talking 3/4 to 1" drop at 2 yards.


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## thndrchiken (Oct 10, 2011)

Are you holding with a 6 O'clock sight picture or a combat hold. Sigs are set up for a combat hold, i.e. front sight covers target.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

If your first shot hits where you expect it to, but subsequent shots hit low, I would first suspect technique, not hardware.
Maybe your trigger finger is becoming confused by a transition from DA to SA? If the first shot is DA, your finger would have to be reset for subsequent SA pulls.

Well, that is, as long as we're not discussing a bullseye target pistol and minute-of-angle accuracy, in which case I would suspect either barrel heating or shooting from a "wet" barrel.

Could it be that your first shot is taken according to the front-sight "dot," but subsequent shots are aimed according to the top edge of the front sight's blade?
That would also make the impact-point change that you describe.


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## dhonda02 (Feb 6, 2012)

Don't know if this will help. http://www.best9mm.com/correctiontarget.html


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## denner (Jun 3, 2011)

Carefully bench rest the pistol to see where your shots are hitting. Doing drills while determining whether your sighted in correctly sounds counter productive to me, especially if your subsequent shots are lower than your first. When you get your pistol properly sighted try again and if you get the same results it's shooter's error and not the sights.


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## mossy2775 (Jul 31, 2011)

"(AJ MH3 or AK MH3) and both front and rear are stamped 8."

to answer your question about these markings. the AJ and AK is the production date codes that sig uses on their sights.
the "MH3" is your night sight code. and the last number "8" is your sight size if i remember correctly. 

as for shooting low. you can have issues with sig, mainly because of the grip size on the firearms to shoot low when you switch to SA shooting after the first shot so it really comes down to practice. i understand you are a shooter on a regular basis. with that said, what are you changing after take your first shot? are you aiming at the same spot of the target or your hole you just put in it? something just does not sound right to me.

but...... if you find yourself still shooting low again and again you do have an option. you can change the size of your front sight or rear sight to compensate for the accuracy issue. contact sig and let them know it is shooting low and what size sights you have and they will tell you what size you need replace it with to fix the issue. hope this helps..... good luck and nice choice with the sig 226.


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## wustenfuchs (Sep 15, 2012)

Dudes!
I have a Sig P226 Mk25 with Night Sights #8 n(both of them) AL MH3
I do have the same problem: the damn thing shoots low...

My perspective:
- I align the rear dots' center with the front dot center (the front dot covering the bull's eye) and at 7 yards I get 2-3 inches lower (nice tidy groups underneath the bull's eye) point of impact (POI)

(Addendum - I have shot so far ~1000 rnds; the front dot, although the same diameter as the rear dots, because of the perspective, while shooting, it looks smaller than the rear dots - it may be the cause!)

Range Boy's perspective:
- ...so I asked this guy who runs the range to shoot my pistol as a sanity check. He shoots it, gets 1.5 inches groups at 7 yards armrest. I shoot it myself and, surprisingly I get 1.5 inches groups (armrest) slightly under his.

Range Boy's Conclusion: it's the shooter not the hardware

Problem: while I acknowledge that the gun IS accurate, for some reason, the sight picture that seems natural to me is translated in a lower POI when shooting...

Now, if ANYBODY has any suggestions, similar experiences, and has an idea on how to fix this I would be eternally grateful!

To me it seems that the perceived smaller diameter of the front sight makes it very difficult to align the dots (yet I may be wrong)...however, all the tricks I tried (aligning the top of the rear dots with the center of the front dot - and it works at 10 yds ONLY) DON'T WORK!

Gentlemen...please...enlighten me!


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

wustenfuchs said:


> Dudes!
> I have a Sig P226 Mk25 with Night Sights #8 n(both of them) AL MH3
> I do have the same problem: the damn thing shoots low...
> 
> ...


Well, I don't wear dirty boots to town, and I do know how to ride a horse, so I don't think that I'm a "dude," but I do believe that I can answer your plea.

Your pistol is zeroed for 25 yards, such that when the three dots are correctly aligned and the front-sight dot is centered on the target, at 25 yards your POI and POA would coincide.

I suspect that at about 15 yards, your POI and POA would also coincide. (Maybe it's 10 or 12 yards, instead.)

At the pistol's muzzle, the bullet would impact low. At seven yards, your bullet is still low, but rising. At somewhere between 10 and 15 yards, your bullet coincides with your point of aim, or is rising above it. Finally, at 25 yards you achieve coincidence again. This is called "trajectory," which always is a curve.


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