Randy, It's not you! It's the gun/ammo combo. You have to find the right combo for that M&P9. I finally convinced myself that it was the gun/ammo combo when I tried 2011 Open guns. The Open guns shoot like lasers and I hit pretty much anything with those at 25 yards. You kinda already know it's not you since you can shoot well with the 40. In my experience, the M&P9 groupings past 15 yards vary based on your ammo and I'm using a KKM barrel. You can shrink your groupings by finding what your M&P9 likes but it'll never be a tack driver past 15 yards. Hence, it's harder to shoot steel plates with it.