Some of you may remember a thread a little while ago about my new Springfield Armory EMP in 9mm
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=506252&highlight=springfield+emp
Well I finally got a chance to take it out and it was very smooth. Unfortunately it has been rainy and I had to shoot at an indoor range with terrible lighting.
I really couldn’t get a clear sight picture (more on that later) and had a hard time focusing much past 7 yards.
After warming up with some PMP 115gr FMJ, I thought I’d shoot it for a group with my intended carry load, the Ranger 127gr +P+ load.
I got this group
Which measured about 1” by .5” (center to center) shooting 2 handed at about 1 round a second. Enough time for the sights to settle and squeeze off another round (the nick in the upper left hand corner was one of the warm up rounds)
Function: The EMP functioned flawlessly, feeding 100% with all 3 magazines it came with. The rounds released cleanly from the Mac-Gar magazines and fed with no stoppages on the feed ramp. I had heard about some extractors being too tight, but that certainly wasn’t the case on this example,extraction was clean with both cases I tried.
Trigger: The trigger was a bit heavier than I would have preferred, but broke cleanly and consistently
Recoil: I noticed the recoil was a bit more snappy then I thought it would be, almost as much as my Kahr CW9 with the polymer frame. Nothing really objectionable, but I can see how it requires a firm hold.
Sights: I found the Trijicon dots in the Novak rear sight distracting when trying to align the sights. The silver rings caught the light of the range lights and that kept catching me eye. I was pretty happy with the group I shot, except that it was centered about 3” high (that's an adhesive name tag in the picture). It most likely was a result of me not getting a distinct sight picture. I’ll have to take it out when the weather clears up and see it it gets better in natural light.
Fit:
The gun was tight and showed no undue wear after the range session. The only visible wear is at the muzzle of the barrel and the locking lugs seating in the slide.
The grip safety was fitted well enough to avoid any pinching of the web of my hand.
The thumb safety clicked on and off smoothly with just about the right amount of resistance.
The magazines all locked in positively when inserted with authority...you can't baby them into the mag well as there is quite a bit of upward pressure in the fully loaded magazine.
I feel that the build quality of the EMP falls somewhere between the Springfield TRP and the Professional...which makes it quite a value at around $1k
Druthers: My only real complaint is with the serrations on thumb safeties being very sharp...my thumb was not happy after 50 rounds. I can see looking at having the trigger cleaned up and the thumb safety changed to a one-sided one with a slightly beveled edge. I think I’ll also be looking at changing out the rear sight for something in plain black…maybe the 10-8…and adding a solid (maybe flat) trigger too. as much as a like the look of the Coco Bolo grip panels, I'm eyeing the half-checkered Alumagrips with their new ripple texture.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=506252&highlight=springfield+emp
Well I finally got a chance to take it out and it was very smooth. Unfortunately it has been rainy and I had to shoot at an indoor range with terrible lighting.
I really couldn’t get a clear sight picture (more on that later) and had a hard time focusing much past 7 yards.
After warming up with some PMP 115gr FMJ, I thought I’d shoot it for a group with my intended carry load, the Ranger 127gr +P+ load.
I got this group
Which measured about 1” by .5” (center to center) shooting 2 handed at about 1 round a second. Enough time for the sights to settle and squeeze off another round (the nick in the upper left hand corner was one of the warm up rounds)
Function: The EMP functioned flawlessly, feeding 100% with all 3 magazines it came with. The rounds released cleanly from the Mac-Gar magazines and fed with no stoppages on the feed ramp. I had heard about some extractors being too tight, but that certainly wasn’t the case on this example,extraction was clean with both cases I tried.
Trigger: The trigger was a bit heavier than I would have preferred, but broke cleanly and consistently
Recoil: I noticed the recoil was a bit more snappy then I thought it would be, almost as much as my Kahr CW9 with the polymer frame. Nothing really objectionable, but I can see how it requires a firm hold.
Sights: I found the Trijicon dots in the Novak rear sight distracting when trying to align the sights. The silver rings caught the light of the range lights and that kept catching me eye. I was pretty happy with the group I shot, except that it was centered about 3” high (that's an adhesive name tag in the picture). It most likely was a result of me not getting a distinct sight picture. I’ll have to take it out when the weather clears up and see it it gets better in natural light.
Fit:
The gun was tight and showed no undue wear after the range session. The only visible wear is at the muzzle of the barrel and the locking lugs seating in the slide.
The grip safety was fitted well enough to avoid any pinching of the web of my hand.
The thumb safety clicked on and off smoothly with just about the right amount of resistance.
The magazines all locked in positively when inserted with authority...you can't baby them into the mag well as there is quite a bit of upward pressure in the fully loaded magazine.
I feel that the build quality of the EMP falls somewhere between the Springfield TRP and the Professional...which makes it quite a value at around $1k
Druthers: My only real complaint is with the serrations on thumb safeties being very sharp...my thumb was not happy after 50 rounds. I can see looking at having the trigger cleaned up and the thumb safety changed to a one-sided one with a slightly beveled edge. I think I’ll also be looking at changing out the rear sight for something in plain black…maybe the 10-8…and adding a solid (maybe flat) trigger too. as much as a like the look of the Coco Bolo grip panels, I'm eyeing the half-checkered Alumagrips with their new ripple texture.
Many gunfights happen in even poorer lighting. Even more important is the perfect functioning.