Christian Gun Owners

The Springfield Armory 9mm EMP can be summed up in one word, "AWESOME!" EMP stands for "Enhanced Micro Pistol," and is based on the 1911 platform. Springfield Armory designed this amazing little gun from the ground up, actually engineering the gun around the 9mm cartridge. Several gun manufacturers have tried their hand at making 1911 style 9mm pistols that have basically been sized down from the .45 models. Those guns have reportedly had numerous functioning issues and aren't near as small, lightweight, and well designed as the Springfield EMP. The 9mm EMP weighs in at a very light 23 oz., is 6.6" long, 1-1/16" wide, and it has a 3" bull barrel. It is made of a black anodized alloy frame and has a stainless steel slide. The slide has all the sharp edges rounded off which makes it ideal for concealed carry, as there are no sharp edges to catch on your holster or clothing. It has ambidextrous thumb safeties, a beavertail grip safety, and a passive firing pin block. It has a magazine capacity of nine rounds and sports fixed combat sights with tritium inserts. The EMP comes with a very attractive set of very thin checkered cocobolo grips with the Springfield logo, but I replaced mine with some custom grips made by "Esmeralda." I did this not just for aesthetic reasons, but mainly to be able to carry this gun while keeping the original grips new and unblemished. Springfield also makes the EMP in .40 S&W and .45 GAP. There are two big differences in the .40 S&W and .45 GAP compared to the 9mm version. First is that they have steel frames instead of alloy, which makes them several ounces heavier (10 oz. more for the .40), and second is that the magazine capacity is lower (8 rounds for the .40). Other than that, the .40 S&W and the .45 GAP EMP's are the same size as the 9mm version.

Well, that about raps it up for the technical info. Now for the good stuff.....my actual experience with my 9mm EMP! From the first time I picked up this gun at my local gun shop, I was in love! It feels so good in my hand (I have fairly large hands too), it's super lightweight, and it points naturally for me. I love the low profile tritium sights; they are very easy to see in any light conditions and they're also easy to line up my sight picture with. The gun just has the look and feel that you would expect from a high quality handgun. I love the way Springfield rounded the edges off and made everything nice and smooth. I also find the two tone black and silver look to be very attractive, and the cocobolo grips really compliment the design.

Now for the range report. I had done a lot of reading about the EMP before I purchased one, so I was prepared for the "break-in" period that it seems all new EMP's must go through before they start functioning properly. During the first 200 rounds I had many issues: failures to eject the empty casing all the way out of the gun, failures of the slide to lock back on an empty magazine, and lots of shell casings coming back and hitting me in the head! I would patiently fire three loaded magazines, then run a bore snake down the barrel and spray a little Rem Oil on the slide grooves, then three more magazines and so on through 200 rounds of Remington UMC fmj's. Somewhere around 200 rounds, give or take a few, my EMP became the sweetest shooting little 9mm I've ever had the pleasure of firing! All the FTE's and slide lock problems seemed to magically disappear, and it even stopped throwing the empty shell casings back at my head! I've put 300 more rounds through my EMP since that first 200 without a single malfunction of any kind, and as matter of fact, the more I shoot it, the smoother it feels!

I must say that even during the initial 200 round break-in period, the EMP is amazingly accurate, especially for a gun with just a 3" barrel! I can't stress enough about how accurate this gun is. I was shooting at 10 yards, standing, using both hands with no rest, and I was consistently punching holes in the bullseye (see picture of target below)! I would not hesitate to say that the EMP is probably the most accurate stock 3" barrel 9mm semi-auto pistol out there today. If you're thinking about purchasing a 9mm semi-auto, especially if you're looking for a concealed carry weapon, I'd definitely consider the Springfield Armory EMP. The only downside to this gun that I can think of is the price, with a MSRP of $1253.....but the good news is it's worth every penny!!!