This handgun worked flawlessly the 1st time out today. 200 rounds of 115 grain fmj. Not a single hiccup. Definitely on its way to my EDC. After carrying full size govt models you barely feel it and it conceals very nice. This is my 1st Springfield and I know this was my 1st date but I think I’m in love. Oh yeah, she shoots better than I can make her but learning her curves sure will be fun.
Emp4 Lightweight Champion 9mm
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I have one. I took mine to a firearms instructor course a couple of months ago. Mine was also 100% for about 1k rounds that week. I am so thankful for the 10round magazines. Lots of the courses of fire were 5,10,15, or 25 rounds. It would have been hard for me to keep up with rounds using seven or eight round magazines. Mine shoots high, or at least it does with 115grain ammo. There are lots of reports of these shooting high even utilizing a six-o’clock hold.
I now wish that I had an EMP4 in 40 since my department has said the 40s are staying.
I now wish that I had an EMP4 in 40 since my department has said the 40s are staying.
If yours shoots high . Call SA and they will send you a prepaid shipping label
send it back to them and they will re-sight it so it shoots at 6 o clock or at
point of aim . Just tell them where it shoots now and how you would like it
to shoot . Make sure you put all the details in a letter with the pistol when
you send it in .
I also have a emp4 that I bought a couple of years ago,it was a total pos to start with, lots of trash & machining debris in it causing regular FTF’s and fTE’s with every mag (no I didn’t clean it first, lesson learned) after a thorough cleaning, light polishing of the feed ramp and deburring & stoning the fire control parts for a nice, Clean 4lb trigger the gun just runs. I had to reglue the ejector back in using 2 part epoxy about 5k rds ago as well. After shooting Billy1911’s 4” 9mm Champion (really nice gun for a lot less $$$) it made me realize I needed a thicker grip so I put my take-off range Officer grips on it, much thicker with a better grip imho.
Shooting my emp4 back to back with my friends emp3 I realized both shot about 2” high and 3” to the right (2 o’clock) and putting my barrel laser in it confirmed that result at 10yds, so I replaced the rear sight with a fully adjustable one and now shoots Poa-poi, damn accurate if the driver does his part.
Couple of other things I’ve done is I added a flat bottom firing pin stop while tuning the extractor (thanks steve-in-Allentown) which reduced the recoil Quite a bit, really stays on target now. I also milled a disconnector ramp in the slide which really smoothed things out a bunch and also seems to help keep on target.
The end result is I went to the range yesterday with a plan to run 150-200rds through my sig p320rx and my emp4, after 50rds I put the sig away (good gun just leaves me meh !) and ended up just shooting the heck outta my emp4, just love shooting it, not a single problem over 350rds and really accurate. Screaming back pain compromised it a bit but was still a good day.
I really love shooting my emp4 which is one of the early ones that seemed to have initial problems but I think the current production piece’s are much better, you really don’t read/hear any complaints about them any more, if you do have an issue just call Springfield and they’ll take care of it, easy-peasy.
Shooting my emp4 back to back with my friends emp3 I realized both shot about 2” high and 3” to the right (2 o’clock) and putting my barrel laser in it confirmed that result at 10yds, so I replaced the rear sight with a fully adjustable one and now shoots Poa-poi, damn accurate if the driver does his part.
Couple of other things I’ve done is I added a flat bottom firing pin stop while tuning the extractor (thanks steve-in-Allentown) which reduced the recoil Quite a bit, really stays on target now. I also milled a disconnector ramp in the slide which really smoothed things out a bunch and also seems to help keep on target.
The end result is I went to the range yesterday with a plan to run 150-200rds through my sig p320rx and my emp4, after 50rds I put the sig away (good gun just leaves me meh !) and ended up just shooting the heck outta my emp4, just love shooting it, not a single problem over 350rds and really accurate. Screaming back pain compromised it a bit but was still a good day.
I really love shooting my emp4 which is one of the early ones that seemed to have initial problems but I think the current production piece’s are much better, you really don’t read/hear any complaints about them any more, if you do have an issue just call Springfield and they’ll take care of it, easy-peasy.
If it's not your shooting, it's obviously shooting right. I'd drift one of the sights and get it lined up.
The first thing I do with any new pistol is to shoot it off of a bench using a rest to see if the sights are lines up. I'm a decent shot, but I'd prefer the pistol to be held in a nice rest with me slowing squeezing the trigger to see where the pistol actually is shooting relative to the sights.
The first thing I do with any new pistol is to shoot it off of a bench using a rest to see if the sights are lines up. I'm a decent shot, but I'd prefer the pistol to be held in a nice rest with me slowing squeezing the trigger to see where the pistol actually is shooting relative to the sights.
Every 1911 pistol I've owned has a mind of its own which round it likes .
Watch SGammo.com for sales
https://www.sgammo.com/catalog/pistol-ammo-sale/45-auto-acp-ammo
For low powder , soft shooting , and very accurate self defense round
I really like PDX-1 Winchester but its on the high price end with 20 rd
boxes . Winchester Ranger T comes in 50 rd boxes and ends up being
a little cheaper . I always watch for a sale on those 2 and also in 9mm
as well as 45acp .
Joined
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92 Posts
I just bought an EMP4 (9mm) today, after reading up on them and watching a bunch of YouTube reviews, which were all very positive. This is my 3rd 1911 chassis, I have a Springfield 1911A1 in .45ACP and a Ruger SR1911 in 10mm. Both those pistols are solid shooters, and I was hoping the EMP would be the same. This is a used pistol and I got an excellent deal on it, it was a trade-in at a LGS. Looks brand new, not a mark on it, and I don't think it's had many rounds through it. It was very clean inside when I field stripped it after getting it home; not like it had been freshly cleaned, more like it had only been shot a few times. There was evidence of gun lube, but it wasn't "oily".
However, when I took it to the range this afternoon to try it out, it would not feed the first round after magazine insertion and releasing the slide. I never release the slide using the slide stop lever, I always pull it back to release. The first round would jam between the slide and feed ramp and would not even enter the chamber, about 95% of the time. Now and then, I would get a partial feed, the round would be about halfway in but the slide would not close and lock into battery. On the occasions I got the round to chamber and lock, the pistol operated perfectly, in slow or rapid fire. It is only when releasing the slide after inserting a new magazine that it malfunctions. I triple checked that I was fully inserting the magazines and that they were locked in place, and I tried all three magazines that came with the pistol.
I began to wonder if the previous owner also had issues with it, and rather than have it fixed, just traded it for something else. The sales guy couldn't/wouldn't tell me the former owner or why it had been traded. I really don't want to take it back for a refund (if I could even get one), I'd rather have it fixed. I put 50 rounds through it today, and once chambered, it worked flawlessly, and was very accurate.
I only used one type of ammo, it was Federal Classic Hi Shock 115 grain JHP's. The nose is as round as a JHP can be, but it looked like the feed ramp wasn't sliding them into the chamber.
Any ideas, anyone else had this happen? Think Springfield would warranty the repair, since I'm not the first owner and I don't know how old this pistol is?
However, when I took it to the range this afternoon to try it out, it would not feed the first round after magazine insertion and releasing the slide. I never release the slide using the slide stop lever, I always pull it back to release. The first round would jam between the slide and feed ramp and would not even enter the chamber, about 95% of the time. Now and then, I would get a partial feed, the round would be about halfway in but the slide would not close and lock into battery. On the occasions I got the round to chamber and lock, the pistol operated perfectly, in slow or rapid fire. It is only when releasing the slide after inserting a new magazine that it malfunctions. I triple checked that I was fully inserting the magazines and that they were locked in place, and I tried all three magazines that came with the pistol.
I began to wonder if the previous owner also had issues with it, and rather than have it fixed, just traded it for something else. The sales guy couldn't/wouldn't tell me the former owner or why it had been traded. I really don't want to take it back for a refund (if I could even get one), I'd rather have it fixed. I put 50 rounds through it today, and once chambered, it worked flawlessly, and was very accurate.
I only used one type of ammo, it was Federal Classic Hi Shock 115 grain JHP's. The nose is as round as a JHP can be, but it looked like the feed ramp wasn't sliding them into the chamber.
Any ideas, anyone else had this happen? Think Springfield would warranty the repair, since I'm not the first owner and I don't know how old this pistol is?
New EMP 4 9mm owner here. Cleaned, inspected, lubed, and off to the range.
Did not get through 40 rounds of Winchester 115gr ball, and had 4 failures to extract!
So sent it back to Springfield today.
I thought maybe a $909 pistol should run like a Rolex outa the box! *** !!!
Looked around at a couple of Fan boy forums, and found this is just one of a couple of common problems with this gun. Again *** !! Yes my bad for not searching out this before buying.
Its sweet to hold, and what I got it to shoot even though kinda high, were nice groups
So even if it comes back and eats any ammo I put in it, how am I supposed to trust it as an EDC ?
I have always thought Springfield to be a High Quality manufacturer.
Am I just unlucky here?
Ok I will go and dry my eyes and pull up my big boy pants now, and keep my dependable Kimbers in my EDC rotation.
Dan.
Did not get through 40 rounds of Winchester 115gr ball, and had 4 failures to extract!
So sent it back to Springfield today.
I thought maybe a $909 pistol should run like a Rolex outa the box! *** !!!
Looked around at a couple of Fan boy forums, and found this is just one of a couple of common problems with this gun. Again *** !! Yes my bad for not searching out this before buying.
Its sweet to hold, and what I got it to shoot even though kinda high, were nice groups
So even if it comes back and eats any ammo I put in it, how am I supposed to trust it as an EDC ?
I have always thought Springfield to be a High Quality manufacturer.
Am I just unlucky here?
Ok I will go and dry my eyes and pull up my big boy pants now, and keep my dependable Kimbers in my EDC rotation.
Dan.
Steelydan :
1911's and 9 mm have always been a challenge . I think they always will be
even with a pistol like the EMP designed around the 9mm . Springfield will fix
the pistol .
Your question about how am I supposed to trust it ? The only way I trust any of
my pistols to be reliable is put 1000 rds through them . Find the round the pistol
likes and works well with , because you have shot it enough by then you will know
you can trust the pistol and the round to be there when you need them .
No your not unlucky . Its just an adjustment . Keep us posted
1911's and 9 mm have always been a challenge . I think they always will be
even with a pistol like the EMP designed around the 9mm . Springfield will fix
the pistol .
Your question about how am I supposed to trust it ? The only way I trust any of
my pistols to be reliable is put 1000 rds through them . Find the round the pistol
likes and works well with , because you have shot it enough by then you will know
you can trust the pistol and the round to be there when you need them .
No your not unlucky . Its just an adjustment . Keep us posted
Dan, I felt the same way initially when I bought my emp4, it was a turd to be nice, it was full of debris and machine shavings that I should have cleaned out of it initially but I to thought that a $1000 gun should be good out of the box. Also had the glued ejector come loose several thousand rounds in. But as I’ve said before once I did the initial deep clean and lightly polished the feed ramp it really ran pretty good.
But it still had an occaisional FTF, FTE which led me to address the extractor by tuning & deburring the it. I feel that the key to a proper and reliable running 1911 Is the proper setup of the extractor, it is the key in my opinion. All of my 1911’s have had this done including my latest a longslide Kimber that probably had the worst setup extractor of any I own, it was just terrible to be blunt.
I also ended up replacing the rear sight on my emp4 with an adjustable one to get poa/poi out of it.
Now all that said my emp4 has turned into a 100% reliable & accurate weapon, it just works. Most of this could have been done through Springfield warranty but quite frankly I had bought a 9mm range officer shortly after the emp4 that was a total pos that was sent back to Springfield twice and they didn’t seem to be able to fix it, I even spent $430 with the SACS shop and still no joy,,, most of which boiled down to a very p-poor extractor setup along with several other things that were just ****.
So how does this all fit with your problem? Well you’ve sent it back to Springfield and they should fix it, ask them to pin the ejector if it’s glued while it’s there, also have them set the sights up for poa/poi while it’s there, it’ll save another trip later.
Personally I believe if things are setup properly it doesn’t matter if it’s a 9mm, .45, 38super, 40mm, 10mm or 45/70 It should just run but if not setup right it’ll be crap. I also don’t believe in the “break-in” theory thing unless it’s a “hard fit” gun but frankly 500-1000rds will make things run much smoother, but I don’t think it really applies to a production piece.
As far as my emp4 goes it’s now run 5000 trouble free rounds, it just works but I’ll add between my emp & my 9mm range Officer i haven’t bought another Springfield, just can’t convince myself. I do believe that they have worked hard to improve their quality because there are way more happy owners on here now than when I bought my springers, may be a new TRP in my future but I think I’m going to hold out & save my pennies for an ACW Prime Elite..... we’ll see.
But it still had an occaisional FTF, FTE which led me to address the extractor by tuning & deburring the it. I feel that the key to a proper and reliable running 1911 Is the proper setup of the extractor, it is the key in my opinion. All of my 1911’s have had this done including my latest a longslide Kimber that probably had the worst setup extractor of any I own, it was just terrible to be blunt.
I also ended up replacing the rear sight on my emp4 with an adjustable one to get poa/poi out of it.
Now all that said my emp4 has turned into a 100% reliable & accurate weapon, it just works. Most of this could have been done through Springfield warranty but quite frankly I had bought a 9mm range officer shortly after the emp4 that was a total pos that was sent back to Springfield twice and they didn’t seem to be able to fix it, I even spent $430 with the SACS shop and still no joy,,, most of which boiled down to a very p-poor extractor setup along with several other things that were just ****.
So how does this all fit with your problem? Well you’ve sent it back to Springfield and they should fix it, ask them to pin the ejector if it’s glued while it’s there, also have them set the sights up for poa/poi while it’s there, it’ll save another trip later.
Personally I believe if things are setup properly it doesn’t matter if it’s a 9mm, .45, 38super, 40mm, 10mm or 45/70 It should just run but if not setup right it’ll be crap. I also don’t believe in the “break-in” theory thing unless it’s a “hard fit” gun but frankly 500-1000rds will make things run much smoother, but I don’t think it really applies to a production piece.
As far as my emp4 goes it’s now run 5000 trouble free rounds, it just works but I’ll add between my emp & my 9mm range Officer i haven’t bought another Springfield, just can’t convince myself. I do believe that they have worked hard to improve their quality because there are way more happy owners on here now than when I bought my springers, may be a new TRP in my future but I think I’m going to hold out & save my pennies for an ACW Prime Elite..... we’ll see.
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