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Thread: 17 parts that make the 1911 EMP® 4” LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION™ MODEL work in 9mm?

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  1. #1
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    17 parts that make the 1911 EMP® 4” LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION™ MODEL work in 9mm?

    I've seen this description on "Guns & Gear" and the SA website, but nothing in the way of an explanation of what SA modified to make a 9mm first 1911.

    I ask because I shoot only 9mm (in another 1911 brand) and it seems all of the guts are the same between .45ACP and 9mm in my 1911 outside of barrel/mags.

    Thanks.

  2. #2
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    Regular 1911s in 9mm differ from .45 auto models in the extractor, thickness of the firing pin (though some .45s use the 9mm variety), thickness/position/length of the ejector, the barrel has a different hood width, that the slide has to fit to, the slide's breechface is different, obviously the magazines... and I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

    The EMP also has a frame and slide that have been shortened length-wise, something that affects the size of a lot of other parts: firing pin, extractor, ejector, trigger, magazine, and others. This makes the gun a bit smaller, which helps in a small gun, and, theoretically, a better fit to the shorter 9mm round... though Springfield doesn't seem to think this is a good enough reason for it to be worth modifying its 5" barrelled 1911s in 9mm.
    Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
    M. Setter

  3. #3
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    I don't think they are referring to parts to make it 9mm. I think they mean the EMP has 17 parts that are different (shorter) than standard 1911 parts. Off the top of my head, I come ip with:
    • Frame
    • Slide
    • Trigger (bow/stirrup)
    • Magazine tube
    • Magazine spring
    • Magazine follower
    • Ejector
    • Grips
    • Plunger tube
    • Plunger tube spring
    • Barrel
    • Extractor


    I'm sure there are articles from when the EMP first came out that list exactly what parts had to be shortened to work in the smaller EMP pistols. Remember, the EMP is shortened -- Springfield essentially sliced it vertically through the mag well and cut 1/8-inch out of the overall length. Any part that spans the mag well had to be modified to account for the shorter length.
    Hawkmoon
    On a good day, can hit the broad side of a barn ... from the inside
    Last edited by Hawkmoon; 30th December 2016 at 16:16.


  4. #4
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    I'm still looking for a definitive article spelling out what the 17 parts are, but the text from Springfield's web page on the new 4" Lightweight Champion confirms my guess: the reference to modified parts is for the parts they had to change when they created the first EMP, and the parts are those that are affected by the vertical "slice" taken out of the pistol compared to a .45.

    Quote Originally Posted by SA
    Springfield Armory® engineered the original EMP® with an all-new patented short action. Seventeen re-designed parts later, the EMP® came out a smaller, more comfortable, and more concealable package optimized for the smaller 9MM and .40SW calibers. Among the community of those who know, it has earned a reputation as one of the most shootable compact pistols ever.
    Here's a link to an article on the original EMP in Shooting Times magazine. [Note: M1911.org reviewed the EMP in 2006, five years before Shooting Times.] Sheriff Jim Wilson said they modified 15 parts. I've lost count. My list above omitted the firing pin and firing pin spring. Add those to my list and count the left and right grip panels as individual parts and we're up to 15. I still don't know what the other two might be.

    http://www.shootingtimes.com/handgun..._spemp_010807/

    Quote Originally Posted by ST
    To accomplish this Springfield made alterations to some 15 different parts of the 1911 pistol. The slide is shortened, and in doing so, the Springfield design engineers also had to shorten the extractor, the firing pin, and the firing pin spring.

    The EMP’s frame has also been shortened, and this also required the shortening of the trigger bow. (Springfield refers to this new shortened and enhanced firing mechanism as a “short-action 1911″ kind of like the way riflemen have been referring to the different action sizes of bolt-action rifles.) Also shortened was the plunger tube and spring that interacts with the slide stop and thumb safety.

    Springfield also reduced the diameter of the pistol’s grip frame. Grabbing a standard 1911 pistol that has thin, concealment grips, I compared the circumference of the grip frames. The EMP’s grip frame diameter was 1/4 inch smaller.
    What all this means is that the EMP takes 9mm and .40 S&W without using a spacer up the back of the magazine tube. It's also perhaps worth mentioning that the EMP was originally designed around the .45 GAP cartridge, and the prototype EMP in .45 GAP made the rounds of the print magazines and was written up in most of them at the time -- but the .45 GAP model never made it into production. Instead, the EMP came out in 9mm, and then the .40 S&W followed. Currently, the EMP (and now the new, short Champion) are the only "short action" 1911s available. Para-Ordnance had one that came out about the same time as the EMP, but Para's was chambered in .45 GAP and the market wasn't there, so they discontinued it.
    Hawkmoon
    On a good day, can hit the broad side of a barn ... from the inside
    Last edited by Hawkmoon; 31st December 2016 at 09:22.


  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hawkmoon View Post
    My list above omitted the firing pin and firing pin spring. Add those to my list and count the left and right grip panels as individual parts and we're up to 15. I still don't know what the other two might be.
    IIRC EMPs come with magazines that protrude from the bottom, and have plastic basepads... so, add a removable base pad for the magazine, and the little inner plate that some of those mags have to capture the bottom end of the magazine spring, and you're up to 17.
    Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
    M. Setter

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