Springfield Armory's 1911 EMP® 4” Concealed Carry Contour

S

Spats McGee

Administrator
I have a question about this gun, but I didn't want to derail another thread. Here's the gun: https://www.springfield-armory.com/products/1911-emp-4-concealed-carry-contour-9mm/

The simplest way to phrase my question is this: Is it really a 1911? I know good and well that this has the potential to turn into a barroom brawl of a thread. Still, . . . . . over the years, I've seen a bunch of threads on 1911s and almost invariably, someone says, "Well, X really isn't a 1911, because it lacks Feature Y." Is the 1911 EMP Concealed Carry really a 1911? It looks like a 1911 to me. It has the grip safety, thumb safety, exposed hammer, single stack mag (I think) . . . .

For those who will tell me it's not a true 1911, why not? What feature does it have or lack that makes the difference?
 
The EMP series of pistols have ALL the usual 1911 parts and they function exactly like other 1911s. Where they differ is that Springfield made them shorter, to be better suited to 9mm and .40 S&W (and, originally, the .45 GAP). Imagine taking a band saw and carving a slot approximately 1/8 of an inch wide up through the mag well, then sticking the two halves of the receiver together again.

To make this work, a number of parts had to be made shorter, such as the magazine, the grip panels, the trigger bow, the extractor, the firing pin (and spring), and a few others I'm probably overlooking. So, basically it's a "1911" that doesn't accept many standard 1911 parts.

https://ezine.m1911.org//SAemp.htm
 
Spats McGee said:
I have a question about this gun, but I didn't want to derail another thread. Here's the gun: https://www.springfield-armory.com/products/1911-emp-4-concealed-carry-contour-9mm/

The simplest way to phrase my question is this: Is it really a 1911? I know good and well that this has the potential to turn into a barroom brawl of a thread.
Click to expand...

So, this (Springfield EMP) is one, though no standard 1911 parts will fit? And a Ballester-Molina .45 isn't, though some standard 1911 parts will fit and function.

Gotcha.

:D

We gunnies tend to get all OCD and picky.
 
Spats McGee said:
So "scaled down 1911" is a fair description?
Click to expand...
Not really.

The Browning 1911-22 and 1911-380 are scaled down 1911s. Pretty much everything on those pistols is 85 percent the size of a "real" 1911. The EMP isn't scaled down in that regard. The receiver is full height -- magazines and grip panels are the same height as any 1911 (but they're shorter fore-to-aft). Parts that don't bridge the part where the slice was cut out are standard 1911: sear, mainspring housing, disconnector, sear spring, grip safety, hammer, etc.

Basically, draw an imaginary line up through the gun along the line of the grip screws. Envision a 1/8-inch slice being removed from the gun along that line. Any part that straddles that line is shortened in the EMP. Anything that doesn't straddle that line is standard 1911. So I don't regard it as "scaled down." I think of it as "truncated," but that may not be the best word, either.

Think of it as being the firearms equivalent of the difference between a longbed pickup and a shortbed pickup.
 
Is it “really” a 1911? My opinion is “it’s in the 1911 family”.

A “real” 1911 is a M1911 or M1911A1... that classic “Government Issue 1911 pistol” standard issue from 1911 to 1986. I am sure collectors can tell all the minor modifications along the years. The exact military records of every part of that “M1911” are a matter of public record.

First of all, it’s 9mm. If you and Captain America were in a fox hole, when they pass around the ammo can, you’ll feel pretty sheepish.

As it’s an “Officer” length, it is no longer “GI” but has been modified.. shorter barrel, reduced velocity, modified spring... but it started life as a Government 1911 until a good gunsmith customized, then it got popular, then everyone just made them that way from the factory.

It has no value to a 1911 collector other than it’s gonna go “bang”.

But then, what do we care? If you like it, buy it, and who cares if your friends call it “cherry cake.”

Is my Bersa .380 a PPK? No, because it’s not. I didn’t buy it because I wanted a PPK, I bought it because it’s a blowback aluminum frame PPK clone with a better trigger and many years ago I sold my PPK and my Bersa and the Bersa turned out to be one of the few pistols I wanted back.
 
Aguila Blanca said:
Not really.

The Browning 1911-22 and 1911-380 are scaled down 1911s. Pretty much everything on those pistols is 85 percent the size of a "real" 1911. The EMP isn't scaled down in that regard. The receiver is full height -- magazines and grip panels are the same height as any 1911 (but they're shorter fore-to-aft). Parts that don't bridge the part where the slice was cut out are standard 1911: sear, mainspring housing, disconnector, sear spring, grip safety, hammer, etc.

Basically, draw an imaginary line up through the gun along the line of the grip screws. Envision a 1/8-inch slice being removed from the gun along that line. Any part that straddles that line is shortened in the EMP. Anything that doesn't straddle that line is standard 1911. So I don't regard it as "scaled down." I think of it as "truncated," but that may not be the best word, either.

Think of it as being the firearms equivalent of the difference between a longbed pickup and a shortbed pickup.
Click to expand...

Aguila Blanca is spot on. As an EMP4 CCC owner, and having an opportunity to thoroughly look things over, this is an excellent explanation of the differences, and good analogy to long bed/short bed pick up.
 
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