Here’s a review that my dad wrote up and emailed me on the Springfield Armory EMP .40. My dad was in the Navy for 24 years and retired as a Senior Chief Petty Officer.
John Browning made the perfect pistol when he made the, 45 caliber 1911. (My opinion) It may not be as “sexy” as some or “high tech” as others; it’s my favorite pistol. So it was only natural that the Springfield Armory EMP .40 cal. felt like an old friend when I took it out of the box.
After the customary cleaning and function test we headed for the range. I don’t have the equipment to give you all of the ballistics but I put 300 rounds of Winchester FMJ down range with no malfunctions. At 15 yards I shot 3, 3round groups within a 2” circle. Using an American Target Silhouette 25 yard target I kept 20 of 24 rounds within the 4 & 5 point area during speed drills from the 7 yard line. Which tells me that it was me and not the pistol that through those 4 rounds away. I did “double tap” drills from the 7 & 3 yard line. I did better shooting doubles center of mass that one center of mass and one head from the 7 yard line. Again I feel that it was me letting the pistol down not the other way around. From the 3 yard line all was sweet. Although not all the headshots were in the vital area they would have left a mark. The recoil is pretty much what I expected. It would not take even the most petite among us long to become comfortable with it. The mags feed easily into the pistol but I did find that the thumb release was really tight. I had to jack the slide back in order to chamber a round. The weight, to me, was good. Not to heavy and with the right holster you can carry it all day with no discomfort. Not to light that you have to keep checking to see if it’s still there.
With all that said, I think this pistol makes a perfect concealed carry firearm. And if you are a reloader and shoot a lot it can be a blast. (Pun intended)
I have to say I really like how this gun felt and shot when I was able to try it out. I wouldn’t mind having one myself! For more information on the Springfield Armory EMP visit Springfield Armory.
I’d also just like to take this time to thank my dad for raising me to be a responsible firearm owner. We can all probably thank him for this website cause if he didn’t raise me around firearms I doubt I would have ever started this site!
