It is likely you are flinching or pushing the firearm down trying to fight the recoil. Have a certified instructor or range officer shoot it. If that is not a viable option, buy some snap caps. Have a friend load a mag with live rounds and snap caps. Fire like normal and have your friend look to see if the barrel or firearm moves when the trigger is pulled on a snap cap. Some also have the bad habit of moving the firearm down or head up immediately after a shot to see if they hit the target. This affects accuracy. You should always be focusing on the front sight. The rear sight and target will be slightly fuzzy. Do not move your firearm or head immediately after firing a round.

+1 on the trigger control. it is easy to pull the gun downward if you do not focus on a nice smooth trigger pull. C1 has some good suggestions, i would definitely give those a try. Unfortunately, the trigger pull is something that is often overlooked when buying a gun, and when trying to shoot a gun accurately. While the trigger pull is extremely important as far as accuracy is concerned with all firearms, the importance is magnified with handguns. when you dry fire with the snap caps get your sight picture and then pull the trigger in a way that does not move the sights in anyway. if you do this enough times it will become habit and i think will fix your problem. Worst case, you just become a better shooter.

First, you need to have good alignment and the proper grip. Here is a good clip of Todd Jarrett.

YouTube - ‪Todd Jarrett on pistol shooting.‬‏

The only thing that should move is the trigger finger. There should be a gap between your trigger finger and the frame when the trigger finger is on the trigger. The trigger finger should be able move the trigger to the rear and not move the muzzle. A lot of shooters will move the non trigger finger of the strong hand and/or support hand when they fire. This will affect accuracy and push the POI left, right, high or low depending on what they do and when they do it. Others will break their wrists trying to fight the recoil. Have a friend or person at the range load a mag mixing live ammo with snap caps. Have that person also watch as you fire. Keep your dominant eye focused on the front sight only.

[QUOTE=cwenisch;234627]I just bought an M&P .40 and it shoots about 12" low.[QUOTE]

At what distance? Attempting to diagnose a problem over the internet without all the relevant information is pure guess work. 12 inches low at 7 yards is probably the shooter. At 30 yards it could be the sights.