I’m not in an income bracket that allows me to buy a whole lot of guns…I usually average a new one every year or two. As such, I spend a lot of time researching my options. I want to buy something that I will use, and fill a niche that my current collections doesn’t already cover. When I entered the Law Enforcement Academy in November, I decided that I was going to get myself a new one for graduation, provided I qualified expert and actually survived that long! That gave me 15 weeks to do my research.

I knew I wanted something special, and a 1911 seemed to fit the bill nicely because I didn’t have one yet. The catch was it had to be 9mm, since I’ve standardized around that caliber. I had a bunch of options in mind last week when I walked into the gun store the day after graduation, but after handling quite a few, I ended up walking out with the Springfield EMP4. Compared to the others I held (including the new “carry contour” model) this one just felt right.



Fit and Finish:
I’m not usually a big fan of two-tone guns, but this one, accented by the wood grips, is just drop-dead sexy. The mags click home positively and drop free cleanly. The safety detent is crisp both when engaging and disengaging, and the slide to frame fit is nice and tight with no rattle. The grip safety has a little play, but not enough to be concerned about, and the golf-ball style checkering on the front strap and mainspring housing provides a secure grip without tearing up your hands like a cheese grater. I’ll confess to not being a huge fan of the parkerizing on the aluminum alloy frame. It’s rough and kind of clingy….it likes to collect lint off of your cotton patches when cleaning.

Trigger:
The trigger is kind of heavy for a single-action. I don’t have a trigger-pull gauge, but I’d guess about 5-6lbs. It breaks cleanly, and there is no over-travel. There is, however, a good deal of loose takeup at the beginning of the pull, and I’ve noticed that when slow-firing, there is a perceptible stacking just before the trigger breaks. It’s odd…almost like it is staging the sear or something, because if you pull through it and release before the trigger breaks you can then pull the trigger a full-stroke all the way through to the break without feeling it again. It’s a light enough sensation that you don’t even notice it when doing combat-type drills, only when taking your time and slow-firing for groups.

Sights:
The rear sights are white-dot Novak style, and the front is a red fiber optic (replacement red and green fibers are included with the gun). I wasn’t sure about the FO front sight, but I have to admit it’s really nice on the range. It gathers light nicely, and I believe it speeds up front-sight acquisition. The one thing I do not like is that the sights seem to be set up for a 6-oclock hold…either that or the gun is shooting high. I prefer a sight picture that covers the target.

Accuracy:
This gun is easily more accurate than I am. Here is a 10 round group at 10 yards. It’s right around 1.5 inches…and I know I threw that top one…maybe even the top two (please excuse the “fancy” paper plate. I normally use the cheap plain ones, but I was out and this is what my wife had in the pantry, lol). The point of aim was the black dot in the center, so you can see it’s shooting a bit high. I’m more than happy with the group, though.



Reliability:
I was concerned that the match barrel might cause me problems with chambering my reloads, but I haven’t had any issues there (I do run all my pistol rounds through a Lee FCD, so that may be what’s saving me there). I did initially have some problems with the slide short-stroking and stovepiping, but I resolved that by upping my charge weight to the published max. I put 250 rounds of the new, hotter loads through it yesterday without a single malfunction. It has also been 100% out of the box with factory ammo. I’ve put about 450 rounds through it now…I’ll be interested to see if it will eat my lighter loads once it’s all the way broken in.

Other Considerations:
Being kind of a traditionalist, I wanted a 1911 with a barrel bushing and guide rod. Those are undoubtedly easier to takedown, and there’s a certain satisfaction in manipulating the classic design from over 100 years ago. That said, the bull-barrel and full-length guide rod are only a minor inconvenience, and I’ll gladly put up with it in exchange for reliability in this 9mm re-design.
Another thing to note is that Springfield had a promo running until the end of June for four free mags, a holster, and mag pouch. Those just arrived today (about a week after filling out the online form), so I now have 7 mags for this gun, which is pretty nice.

In Conclusion:
I’m happy with the gun. It’s not perfect, and I may end up doing something about the trigger and the sights somewhere down the road, but it shoots well and feels great in the hand. No, it’s not the Dan Wesson that I wanted, but it came in at about half the price and is designed specifically for the cartridge it’s chambered in.

Nice writeup, and congratulations. Good choice.

Small point, but the EMP is not a 1911. It's a 1911-style pistol, but not a 1911.

First off, congratulations on graduating the police academy! Thank you for entering a dangerous, but absolutely vital career path protecting your fellow citizens. Thank you!

Nice review also; I'd really like to fondle one of these in the LGS one of these days. The accuracy of the gun (and your shooting) is quite good.

Out of curiosity, did you center your collection around the 9mm cartridge because that's what you're going to be issued (if it is), or had you already decided on that before signing up for police work? And what are they going to issue in the way of gun/caliber?

Enjoy that beautiful new gun. And be safe out there!

Very nice. My EMP4 is a favorite of mine.

I've liked that gun since it was released. I wish I could find one for under $1000, then I might be interested. I'm happy for you, enjoy shooting your new blaster.

Bill Wilson says the 1911/9mm (his of coarse) has become his pistol of choice over the .45acp for a number of reasons.

Congratulations on making it through the police academy. They expect so much more of cadets these days. I did it in 1970 and worked 26 years. Find yourself an "old timer" or two and pick their brains. There's no substitute for experience. Find a specialty and become the very best at it. Wear your vest everyday and get home safe to your loved ones. Not wearing mine ultimately caused an earlier than anticipated retirement.

That's great about the extra mag offer.

Did it also come with the "loaded" coupon so you could purchase additional mags at a discount?

quote:

Small point, but the EMP is not a 1911. It's a 1911-style pistol, but not a 1911

Point taken .

quote:

Out of curiosity, did you center your collection around the 9mm cartridge because that's what you're going to be issued (if it is), or had you already decided on that before signing up for police work? And what are they going to issue in the way of gun/caliber?

I've been doing the PD thing for about 6 years already, but as a reserve. I went full-time in August, hence the Academy. My duty gun is an issued P229 in .40, but there is talk of switching to the P320 in the near future. My own infatuation with the 9mm kind of happened by accident about 11 years ago when I bought my first gun, a Beretta 92FS. I bought that gun for all the wrong reasons (mainly because it was in Die Hard, lol), but have since grown to appreciate the capacity advantage, low cost, availability of brass, quick follow-up shots, and low recoil of the 9mm.

quote:

Did it also come with the "loaded" coupon so you could purchase additional mags at a discount?

Yes it did, and I will probably avail myself of it, once I figure out if the flush baseplate mags from the "carry contour" model fit my gun.

quote:

Congratulations on making it through the police academy. They expect so much more of cadets these days. I did it in 1970 and worked 26 years. Find yourself an "old timer" or two and pick their brains. There's no substitute for experience. Find a specialty and become the very best at it. Wear your vest everyday and get home safe to your loved ones. Not wearing mine ultimately caused an earlier than anticipated retirement.

Thanks, and thanks for the good advice. I'm blessed to be surrounded by a great group of guys at my department who have helped me along, and continue to do so. I still have a ton to learn...always will. And yes, I always wear my vest!

That's a nice looking pistol. Your write up whets my appetite more for one of these. It's been on my list for a while. Have you had an opportunity to shoot any hollow point ammo? I am curious how it likes various styles of bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by Minnow:
That's a nice looking pistol. Your write up whets my appetite more for one of these. It's been on my list for a while. Have you had an opportunity to shoot any hollow point ammo? I am curious how it likes various styles of bullets.

I shot a mag of that Sig 124gr Vtac stuff through it, and it fed them flawlessly. I also shot about 30 rounds of Hornady XTP through it (my reloads...thankfully they were loaded to replicate defensive ammo, so they were hot enough to cycle the slide reliably), and had zero problems with those, either. Those are two very different bullet shapes, so I'm encouraged that it handled them both. I have some 124gr gold dots that I'm hoping to try here in the next week or so, too.

One of the "enhancements" that the EMP design includes is a polished feed ramp that is integral to the barrel. This feed ramp extends lower into the frame than that of a traditional 1911 (at least, a lot lower than the one on the DRMO Remington Rand that was issued to me by my PD...That gun won't feed JHP to save it's life), and I believe this helps facilitate reliable feeding of hollow-points.

Do you have a backup gun and holster for your backup gun, for your new profession?

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Originally posted by bubbatime:
Do you have a backup gun and holster for your backup gun, for your new profession?

I do. I have a Glock 26 that I carry in a variety of ways, but usually in a Galco Ankle Glove. The P229 and the G26 are not necessarily the ideal pair that a G17 and G26 would be, but I shoot the G26 really well, and it makes for a reliable, effective backup piece and off-duty gun. If we end up switching to the P320, though, I'll probably consider picking up a subcompact in whatever caliber we end up going with.

Welcome to the brotherhood! SA's new EMP bobtail flush fit mag will work with your gun. I was going to get the same model you have, but picked up a Sig two tone ultra in 9mm to go along with my EMP 9mm.

I bought a EMP4 about 4mo.s ago. It's hard to pick a favorite but the EMP4 would up there with the best.

I want one in the near future.

quote:

Originally posted by Doe:
Welcome to the brotherhood! SA's new EMP bobtail flush fit mag will work with your gun. I was going to get the same model you have, but picked up a Sig two tone ultra in 9mm to go along with my EMP 9mm.

Good news! Guess I'm going to be spending some more money .

Nice write up

If you are going 9mm the EMP4 is hard to beat. The mags being proprietary are the only hard sell point for me, kinda. On the one hand proprietary, on the other there isn't that goofy spacer to make the wrong mag work in your gun. Pound for pound I have to think having a mag designed around the round you are actually shooting, not 45, increases the odds of reliability.

This new bobtail version solves my biggest gripe. Flush mags.

Now the tough choice is buy flush mags or buy a new bobtail EMP4 and get the mags for free!

Congrats. Nice looking firearm!

My carry gun is an EMP with 3" barrel. Great ergonomics. I got it third-hand, but it was babied. I replaced the grips (pure aesthetics), ambi-thumb safety to a traditional one-sided grip (I'm RH so why not), and replaced the sites with a big u-shaped back site with a small central lower dot and a big, white circle painted center dot (night sites). The original 3-dot was too hard to pick up with my almost 50-year old eyes.

Dead-nuts reliable. The only problem is that it shoots high...old sites and new sites. Like a foot at 15 yards and 6-8" at 7 yards. This is mighty annoying. I either have to change my grip and site picture or do "something" about the sites. pppbbbttt.

Thanks for the report! I just picked up the new EMP4 CCC. I will hit the range with it soon. I got it for $1K which is pretty good for a bobtail and with the mag deal I will have 7 mags. I will be buying some 10 round mags with the slam pad which seem more practical for training.