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Thread: New to me EMP 3 inch

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  1. #1
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    New to me EMP 3 inch

    Just picked up a used 3" EMP 9mm. It seems not to have been fired much. A 2015 birth date. It shoots really good and a crisp trigger. The only problem I had was some of my reloads had a fat profile bullet and would not chamber. I had another brand of bullet to try and set the bullet just a bit deeper and they work like a champ. The Missouri bullet would not chamber even when set deeper. The Brazos bullet that I have been using lately worked good. I have OAL set at 1.100. The ACME bullet works good too. All of my plated bullets work good too. But Brazos bullets work good and the least expensive bullet I can find. Being TEK coated they are easy cleanup. I thought about trying to ream the throat, but when I found a good load I won't have to ream it. It came with no box. I emailed Springfield and they are sending me a take down tool and a key in case it were to lock and could not shoot. Luckily the take down tool is not a have to have thing. It easily field strips just like any other 1911. It looks like a keeper.
    Ron
    Last edited by Ron IL; 17th March 2020 at 07:32.


  2. #2
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    I bought one the first or second year they came out. After shooting several hundred rounds through it, it was "broken in" and has been reliable since that time. My wife keeps it in her car for travel purposes. I'm not a reloader at this time. Mine shoots pretty much any factory ammo that it gets fed.

  3. #3
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    Today in the mail I got a little baggie that contained a take down tool and two keys. Boy that was quick. It may be just like what comes in the box. A person might find it hard to unlock that thing without the key if it happened to lock.
    Ron

  4. #4
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    Well the key will be good in case it somehow gets locked. But the take down tool is a waste. It is so much easier just to take it apart as to play with that piece of plastic. It is so easy to break down that I can do it in less than 5 seconds. I have seen posts that it is impossible to take apart without the tool. I am not sure what they are doing but it is a lot easier to do it without the tool. It sure shoots good. No problem dancing a water bottle around on the 25 yard berm.
    Ron

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ron IL View Post
    Today in the mail I got a little baggie that contained a take down tool and two keys. Boy that was quick. It may be just like what comes in the box. A person might find it hard to unlock that thing without the key if it happened to lock.
    On the older Springfield 1911s you can change out the MSH with the ILS for a standard MSH. The newer ones no longer have the ILS. I don’t know if the EMPs use a standard size MSH or not...
    "Sights are for the unenlightened."

    Rick

    IDPA Certified Safety Officer

  6. #6
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    I had not thought about just swapping out the part. I just checked it up to my Colt full size 1911. Quite a bit shorter. I figured that but you never know on it which parts might be the same. Some of the differences are in the area where the magazine well is shorter like the trigger bow. The grip is shorter so you would expect the MSH to be shorter. But they could take out the length on any part and then the other parts would be standard. The parts list in the manual is not too good because it has parts for several models. It sure is a good shooter and cycles good. The only problem I have is the rifling in the barrel is just past the chamber and my standard reloads won't fit without making them really short. So when I get these shot up I will switch to a different bullet profile. I don't have a local gunsmith that can ream that. They don't have the tools for it. I don't want to buy one either to pay $100 for a tool to only use once in a life time. There are a couple online that can do it but I might as well just switch bullets. It shoots new stuff just fine. My reload bullets get too fat too quick and need a skinnier profile.
    Ron

  7. #7
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    The mainspring housing is not one of the parts that were shortened to create the EMP. Imagine someone taking a 3-inch 1911 and running a 1/8th-inch thick saw blade up through the magazine well, along the axis of the grip screws ... then welding the two halves together again. The special parts are anything that would be cut in that operation: the frame (obviously); the slide, the magazine body, spring, and follower; the grip panels; the firing pin and spring; the plunger housing and the plunger spring; and the trigger. The MSH was not affected. If a full-size MSH won't fit an EMP, then an Officers MSH should fit.

    However, I am surprised that the standard MSH won't fit, because I thought the EMP was built on a standard height frame, not a compact height frame.
    Hawkmoon
    On a good day, can hit the broad side of a barn ... from the inside

  8. #8
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    The 4 inch is like a compact pistol in that the barrel is shorter and the grip is the same. The 3 inch is like a sub compact in that the barrel and the grip is shorter. I just did a rough measure of my MSH on my full size 1911 and my EMP 3 inch. The full size is 2" and the EMP is 1 1/2 ". I figure the 4 " EMP is the same as the full size.
    Ron

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ron IL View Post
    The 4 inch is like a compact pistol in that the barrel is shorter and the grip is the same. The 3 inch is like a sub compact in that the barrel and the grip is shorter. I just did a rough measure of my MSH on my full size 1911 and my EMP 3 inch. The full size is 2" and the EMP is 1 1/2 ". I figure the 4 " EMP is the same as the full size.
    Well, that may still be just enough different to where an Officer’s size MSH won’t fit. After reading your post; I measured the length of the MSH on my Sig Ultra .45. It’s a 1911 with a 3.3” barrel/slide, and an Officer’s sized grip frame. It has a magwell, but I came up with a MSH length of 1 5/8”, which would seem to be off enough for the MSH pin holes in the frame and MSH on your EMP to not match up. I can’t say for sure, as I was using a steel tape, and butting the end against the bottom of the grip safety. Maybe if I removed the MSH and measured it, I’d get a 1 1/2” reading, but it’s too late, and my work bench and calipers are next door.
    "Sights are for the unenlightened."

    Rick

    IDPA Certified Safety Officer
    Last edited by Rick McC.; 5th May 2020 at 19:58.


  10. #10
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    The MSH doesn't have a rectangular profile with parallel ends, so IMHO measuring the length while in the gun is at best a very rough approximation. I seriously doubt that Springfield came up with a unique MSH just for the EMP, when the MSH wasn't affected by the shortening of the pistol. My money says it's either a standard, full-size MSH or an Officers ACP size.
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    Hawkmoon
    On a good day, can hit the broad side of a barn ... from the inside
    Likes (1) :
    Rick McC. (5th May 2020)


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