Springfield EMP problems? (2014)

[gmoney9438]

Hello all,

I'm in the market for a compact 1911-style 3in. 9mm. The Springfield EMP piqued my interest and I have decided to research a week in advance before I drop cash on it. Two weeks have passed and I still can't make up my mind. Every time I search through forums and read on experiences of others, I've encountered many who have complained about reliability issues out of the box. The most predominant issues seem like extractor problems, something about a pinned ejector, firing pin issues, and FTF/FTE. Most of these are old posts from 2010, 2011, 2012.


1. It's 2014 now. Did SA iron out these problems, or did these old issues prevail in to new production EMP's?

2. Share your experiences with this firearm. (personal/from a friend)

3. Some have recommended me the Colt Defender, STI Escort & other 3 inchers from STI. Thoughts?


-Gary

[darmog]

Just got a new EMP last week myself. Like you, I did find all those issues in my own research as well in the week before finally biting the bullet. I had rented an Emp about two years ago when I was trying out different 1911 models . The EMP always stood out for me because it was a 9mm and I like shorter barrelled guns. Fast forward to now with the Springfield 3 free mags promo going on, I thought it was high time to finally get one. Finally took it to the range last Sun. Only got to fire about 180 rounds of ball ammo, 100 Win white box, 50 S&B, and 30 of Freedom Blaster ammo. All fired without a hitch. No ftf/fte. Firing pin hit solidly on the primer. Next time around I'll try the gun with some of my reloads using cci small pistol primers and fp bullets to see if it'll have feeding issues or primer issues with those. Ejector might still be an issue in the future cause its still not pinned on, but then that's what the SA warranty is for. Still though, it's still a good shooter and am really glad I finally broke down and got one.

[California44]

If your in south oc, on target has the emp on the rack for rental. I've shot it twice with about 100 rounds through a very very dirty emp and had no issues. I may get one later next year since its on roster ( no hurry for me).

[colossians323]

[Nor*Cal]

The EMP is a great gun in both 9mm and 40. It's a popular concealed carry gun and you should not let the feeding issues that you read about deter you. I owned the 40 and experienced zero issues. There are those who have reported feeding issues with hollow points during break-in but it does seem to be an older issue. Just keep in mind that this handgun has been around for years and thousands and thousands of them have been sold. I'm sure for every 1 complaint you read there are a thousand or more extremely happy EMP owners with zero issues.

The main thing to consider is that Springfield has one of the best warranty policies and customer service departments in the industry. I would buy any of their guns with confidence.

My feedback is, buy the EMP. It's a tack driver.

Good luck with your decision and welcome to Cal Guns.

[gmoney9438]

haha i hate you too colossian!

EDIT: so the roster says PI9209L. Most websites say PI9209LP. Will this fly?

[DMorris2321]

I had a 4 digit serial # emp and it would have a fte on reloads. When checking the barrel it was way too tight. I sent it back to springfield and they worked on the barrel and polished the feed ramp. Put about 1000 rounds through it and never had another issue. I sold it recently to fund something else and have regretted it every day since, loved the feel of that gun. I would get it and know that springfield stands behind their products and if you have any issue, you can send it back to have it worked on.

[Nor*Cal]

haha i hate you too colossian!

EDIT: so the roster says PI9209L. Most websites say PI9209LP. Will this fly?

The "P" stands for package. It's the holster and mag pouch, you can ignore the P in the model number.

The models with the wood grips are on the roster. The models with the gray G10 grips are not on the roster and would require SSE before 12/22/14.

[colossians323]

haha i hate you too colossian!

EDIT: so the roster says PI9209L. Most websites say PI9209LP. Will this fly?

although yours would not come with all the features you see in the pictures, it is a gun you will want to keep, especially if you like 1911's, no matter how bad it gets

[Bill Steele]

I bought a new EMP in 9mm a few years ago. I went through a litany of problems with it. It went back to SA a number of times. That is the bad news, pretty inconvenient.

The good news is SA has wonderful CS, a shipper was sent each time and the gun returned directly to me, each time. They finally got things sorted and the gun ran great after that.

I would not hesitate to get another, because I know if I had issues, it would get fixed.

[funk_drum]

I was at a shooting class over the weekend. I was teamed up with a guy with an EMP 9mm. He was having a heck of a time with failure to feed issues. The slide would stick and he had to push it up with his thumb. He had a few failure to ejects, maybe 4 out of 100. He had probably 35+ failure to feeds. The further we went into the day the worse the problem was. He was shooting reloads from a buddy so maybe that was it. Really sweet looking gun otherwise.

[gmoney9438]

I was at a shooting class over the weekend. I was teamed up with a guy with an EMP 9mm. He was having a heck of a time with failure to feed issues. The slide would stick and he had to push it up with his thumb. He had a few failure to ejects, maybe 4 out of 100. He had probably 35+ failure to feeds. The further we went into the day the worse the problem was. He was shooting reloads from a buddy so maybe that was it. Really sweet looking gun otherwise.

In this case, too many factors are being introduced. He will need to experiment before laying blame. Could be one, the other, or both. I'd rather not sit here and rely on conjecture.

[Grakken]

ummm

So I get my EMP (9), NIB. Take it home, clean/lube it. Take it to a pistol defense course here in town. Basic-ish stuff, it was not a CQB course but we practiced from the holster, failure to stop, speed reload's etc. People were surprised it seems at my accuracy with this little 3 inch. Im sure this gun is more accurate than i can shoot. Most everyone else I could tell had full size's..maybe a few 4" scattered.

The EMP was the smallest out there. We fired about 300 rounds-ish from multiple distances. Anyhow, i'd say around round 300, she would not go into battery when reloading. It was ever so slightly off, thus making it useless until i could wrap the back to knock it into battery. I was shooting PMC Bronze 115G and I bought this EMP in 2014. No Bueno, and I was not happy.

I contacted SA customer support and they had a shipping label for me that day, 2 day air back to them. They had it about 5 days and sent it back to me 2 day air. Of course, no charge. This is what my paperwork said they did,

Pinned ejector
Tuned Extractor
Reamed Chamber
Polished feed ramp
tested

Not sure if all of it was needed but looks like they just went ahead and did a few things they could do just to be safe. Haven't taken it to the range yet (will be real soon) but I will post back here and update.

The CS was top notch for me, they addressed the issue real quick, and I dont expect anymore problems.



by the way, fedex has these premade shipping boxes for tablets (Nice sturdy foam inside), cost 10 bucks i think. PERFECT for the EMP. :-)

EDit- I was not with the poster above. :-)

[gmoney9438]

it seems like only those who have problems out of the box are the ones chiming in. Anyone have one work flawlessly out of the box?

[gorillafingaz]

I purchased one about 4 months ago and have put 1k rounds of freedom munitions 124 grain rnfmj through it and not had a single problem.