Had an opportunity to take my new 9 MM Springfield EMP to the range today. I'll limit this report to my impressions and to a description of how the gun performed during the 250 rounds I put through it. For specifications, please visit Springfield’s website. http://www.springfield-armory.com/armory.php?version=110
The first consideration, IMO, should be how the gun fits the hand of the shooter. Only by handling the gun can that be determined. Needless to say that it fit my hand very well… similar to the way my Les Baer full size .45 1911 fits… except that the base of the EMP mainspring housing cuts slightly into the base of my hand – unlike the Baer. But that is to be expected on a pistol that is so small. There was no discomfort when firing the gun; and during firing, I was totally unaware of the slightly short backstrap. There is a very well designed extension at the base of the grip saftey and neither I, nor three other shooters (includng 2 women) experienced a single failure to disengage the grip saftey.
The frame to slide fit is nearly as tight as on my Bear. Nearly as tight, but not quite. My Baer has several thousand rounds through it and the slide to frame fit is as tight as the day it arrived, without the slightest amount of wiggle or shake between the two. (Yet the slide is silky smooth.) There is just a hint of (very slight) wiggle between the slide and the frame of the EMP, and while the slide is smooth, it is not the same silky smooth as on the Baer. But I am comparing a $1,100 gun with a $1,800 gun, so I’ll cut the EMP some slack.
The ambidextrous safety engages and disengages with a solid, positive snap… very nice. The crisp trigger is approximately 5 to 5.5 lbs. (judging from the known 4 lb. pull on my Baer). There is zero creep. The trigger stop screw is set perfectly at the factory and there is no over-travel. Springfield has done a truly wonderful job with the trigger on the EMP.
The gun comes with two 9 round magazines manufactured for Springfield by Mec-Gar. They are unique to the EMP and are not interchangeable with other 9 MM magazines that you might own. At first, I was disappointed to discover that there is only one slot in the magazine, corresponding to the 5th round, and there is no way to visually determine when the magazine is fully loaded. However, the magazines load very easily until after the 9th round has been inserted. It then becomes essentially impossible to insert a 10th round. There is no need to count rounds or to look at the magazine while loading. You cannot mistake the point at which the magazine has been fully loaded.
The only ammo I put through the gun, thus far, was 200 rounds of Winchester White Box 115 gr., and 50 rounds of WWB 124 gr. bullets. There were no FFT or FTE occurrences. There were two failures to lock open the slide on an empty magazine. The first occurred after round 27, and the second failure occurred after round 54. No further episodes of that failure were experienced. Were they due to a normal break-in, or to limp wrist? I don’t know. My wife fired the third magazine (1st failure), and my girl cousin fired the 6th magazine (2nd failure). I never experienced the failure myself.
How accurate is the EMP? For a 3 inch barrel, is it incredibly accurate! I did not use a bench rest… nor did I rest the gun on anything at all. I used a standard IPSIC 2-hand hold… both thumbs pointing at the target, strong-hand thumb on top of the safety. At 15 yards, I could consistently achieve 1.5” groups… slow fire; and 4” groups during rapid fire of 4 rounds (approximately 2 rounds per second). The performance of this little gun blew me away! OK, so it is not the tack driver that my 5" Baer is, but who wouldn’t be happy with the above performance of the EMP?
Felt recoil was minimal. (I don’t know how to describe it quantitatively.) Muzzle jump was minimal (a little less than my wonderful 9 MM XD Sub Compact, and less than it was with my 9 MM SIG P228), making target acquisition for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds incredibly fast (for me) and easy.
Because of reports of “light strikes,” I collected and examined a total of 18 fired shell cases. Not a light strike among them.
So far, I am very pleased with my EMP. I bought it primarily as a CCW. Here in Southern Florida, where folks wear summer clothing year round, a couple of good 9 MM hollow points is all that is likely necessary to stop a BG. Will I carry the EMP? No. Not after putting through only 250 rounds. I may be a little crazy, but I’m not stupid. But if the EMP continues to perform as above, after 1,000 rounds – and that includes the caveat that it will feed my favorite defense rounds (Cor Bon DPX) – then yes, it will become my every day carry gun.
The first consideration, IMO, should be how the gun fits the hand of the shooter. Only by handling the gun can that be determined. Needless to say that it fit my hand very well… similar to the way my Les Baer full size .45 1911 fits… except that the base of the EMP mainspring housing cuts slightly into the base of my hand – unlike the Baer. But that is to be expected on a pistol that is so small. There was no discomfort when firing the gun; and during firing, I was totally unaware of the slightly short backstrap. There is a very well designed extension at the base of the grip saftey and neither I, nor three other shooters (includng 2 women) experienced a single failure to disengage the grip saftey.
The frame to slide fit is nearly as tight as on my Bear. Nearly as tight, but not quite. My Baer has several thousand rounds through it and the slide to frame fit is as tight as the day it arrived, without the slightest amount of wiggle or shake between the two. (Yet the slide is silky smooth.) There is just a hint of (very slight) wiggle between the slide and the frame of the EMP, and while the slide is smooth, it is not the same silky smooth as on the Baer. But I am comparing a $1,100 gun with a $1,800 gun, so I’ll cut the EMP some slack.
The ambidextrous safety engages and disengages with a solid, positive snap… very nice. The crisp trigger is approximately 5 to 5.5 lbs. (judging from the known 4 lb. pull on my Baer). There is zero creep. The trigger stop screw is set perfectly at the factory and there is no over-travel. Springfield has done a truly wonderful job with the trigger on the EMP.
The gun comes with two 9 round magazines manufactured for Springfield by Mec-Gar. They are unique to the EMP and are not interchangeable with other 9 MM magazines that you might own. At first, I was disappointed to discover that there is only one slot in the magazine, corresponding to the 5th round, and there is no way to visually determine when the magazine is fully loaded. However, the magazines load very easily until after the 9th round has been inserted. It then becomes essentially impossible to insert a 10th round. There is no need to count rounds or to look at the magazine while loading. You cannot mistake the point at which the magazine has been fully loaded.
The only ammo I put through the gun, thus far, was 200 rounds of Winchester White Box 115 gr., and 50 rounds of WWB 124 gr. bullets. There were no FFT or FTE occurrences. There were two failures to lock open the slide on an empty magazine. The first occurred after round 27, and the second failure occurred after round 54. No further episodes of that failure were experienced. Were they due to a normal break-in, or to limp wrist? I don’t know. My wife fired the third magazine (1st failure), and my girl cousin fired the 6th magazine (2nd failure). I never experienced the failure myself.
How accurate is the EMP? For a 3 inch barrel, is it incredibly accurate! I did not use a bench rest… nor did I rest the gun on anything at all. I used a standard IPSIC 2-hand hold… both thumbs pointing at the target, strong-hand thumb on top of the safety. At 15 yards, I could consistently achieve 1.5” groups… slow fire; and 4” groups during rapid fire of 4 rounds (approximately 2 rounds per second). The performance of this little gun blew me away! OK, so it is not the tack driver that my 5" Baer is, but who wouldn’t be happy with the above performance of the EMP?
Felt recoil was minimal. (I don’t know how to describe it quantitatively.) Muzzle jump was minimal (a little less than my wonderful 9 MM XD Sub Compact, and less than it was with my 9 MM SIG P228), making target acquisition for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds incredibly fast (for me) and easy.
Because of reports of “light strikes,” I collected and examined a total of 18 fired shell cases. Not a light strike among them.
So far, I am very pleased with my EMP. I bought it primarily as a CCW. Here in Southern Florida, where folks wear summer clothing year round, a couple of good 9 MM hollow points is all that is likely necessary to stop a BG. Will I carry the EMP? No. Not after putting through only 250 rounds. I may be a little crazy, but I’m not stupid. But if the EMP continues to perform as above, after 1,000 rounds – and that includes the caveat that it will feed my favorite defense rounds (Cor Bon DPX) – then yes, it will become my every day carry gun.
