Emp 3” 9mm issues

[LJH08]

Finally purchased an EMP after 5 years of wishing. First Springfield. First $1k gun. Got it home after transfer where I did visually inspect.... but couldn’t load/fire of course. Couple FTF where rounds didn’t seat entirely into chamber. Rounds appear to be touching / pushing on ejector when mag inserted.

Safety also seems to only work on left side of pistol. If you try to use the Ambi safety on right of pistol it seems to push the left one away from gun frame about 70% of time.

I’m just guessing but I’m assuming it isn’t suppose to do either (safety issue or ammo touching ejector) ? Anyone else have these issues with EMP or similar line?

I just got it this week so I haven’t had time to contact Springfield yet but feeling like I’ll definitely have to.

[blanchard7684]

kinda sounds like a tight chamber if the rounds are not quite going all the way in.

when loading, try using the slide release to see if function improves.

as a last resort try some different ammo. I'm wondering if 3" guns are a bit more picky about ammo than 5", 4", 4.25" guns.

[Punished1911]

You got me curious about the round touching the ejector so I took a look at mine and yes the round does touch it. As for the Safety what's happing does not sound right and something might be bent. I would call Springfield and tell them about it also ask them to pin the ejector while it's there. If you want to investigate it yourself take off the right grip put a heavy duty rubber band tightly around the frame and grip safety so the safety does not move and see if you can wiggle the right thumb safety out and take a look at it.

[LJH08]

Thank you for the reply punished. Somewhat less concerned that mine is a total lemon if others do. I don’t have another large scale 1911 to compare to myself. I know on my other pistols the ejector has a slight space between casing and ejector. I did reload a mag with brand new out of the box hollow points and just seat the mag. It left gouges from the ejector on the casing. I will try to upload some photos later. Nothing major and may not have been the cause of the FTF just bothers me. Fit there just seems wrong especially on a $1k pistol.

I’ll be sending in if they’ll take a look. Didn’t have a chance to call today thanks to work but tomorrow on lunch I plan to. Hoping for that great CS I’ve read about to back it up just wish it didn’t need it out of the box.

[LJH08]

Deeper one is from just seating the mag 2-3 times. Lighter one is once. Same round spun around. Was clean and not scratched before inserting. Mags are very difficult to seat, which I’ve experienced before with new guns but never to the extent this one is.

[passx]

The round hitting the ejector is what I believe caused my EMP4 glued in ejector to come loose. On both my EMP4 and my 9mm RO I beveled the ejectors so they don’t touch the top rounds even if I push the mag as far in as it can go. Catching this early and beveling the ejector is why I think the ejector in the RO has stayed factory tight.

[Billy1911]

Originally Posted by LJH08

Deeper one is from just seating the mag 2-3 times. Lighter one is once. Same round spun around. Was clean and not scratched before inserting. Mags are very difficult to seat, which I’ve experienced before with new guns but never to the extent this one is.

Call Springfield 1-800-680-6866 . They will fix it at no charge .

I bought many pistols from Springfield their CS is great . Sometimes they need to go back
sometimes not . Every time I've sent a pistol back the pistol came back solid and in a timely
fashion .

[LJH08]

Came back appearing to be fixed, but upon further testing top rounds in mag are still hitting ejector. Safety went from almost always malfunctioning to now malfunctioning maybe 1/10 times when used left-handed. It seems it still "walks" apart when used as there becomes a space between right side safety and frame over time. Haven't had any noticeable feed issues but have had multiple bullet setbacks with hollow points. Hoping it's just bad ammo but I haven't yet had a chance to test alternative ammo. I guess I'll be calling Springfield tomorrow and attempting return #2.



Anyone else had multiple returns in the first few months of ownership?

[Jingles]

Originally Posted by LJH08

Anyone else had multiple returns in the first few months of ownership?

No, they fixed both of mine the first time. My ejector came loose day one and it wouldn't chamber any ammo by Hornady - every other ammo was good. Too bad but it sounds like your's needs a second trip back.

That's surprising about the safety; the most common problem I hear is they are assembled so tight you can barely get them apart. I got tired of fighting it every time I disassembled the gun so I replaced it with a single-sided safety.

[LJH08]

Might be something to that.... the rounds that are giving me trouble are Hornady rounds. Haven’t noticed it with other rounds.

[Jingles]

You might try doing a plunk test with Hornady and a few other manufactures to see. When I would drop in the Hornady it would go in about half way and stick.

My limited understanding is that Hornady manufactures their ammo to the high end of tolerances within the allowable spec and the EMP is manufactured to the tight end of tolerances. Either way SA will fix it (or don't use Hornady).

[LJH08]

Update:
After trip #2 to Springfield, it seems they replaced the safety entirely. So far I haven’t experienced any major issues with it becoming loose. Hoping it is fixed.

They beveled off a portion of the ejector so the rounds no longer touch it. Made seating mags much easier when action is open.

No comment at all from them about the setback rounds I experienced. Apparently they didn’t see anything like that. (I included it as a numbered item on issue sheet and photos) Trying other Ammo I haven’t been able to replicate it with anything else but some do have some small scratch marks on the bullets after seating so there may be a bit more friction than normal somewhere. No issues with firing function that I can tell. Leaning toward bad Ammo.