In this article, Greg Frebourg reviews the Springfield Ronin EMP 9mm pistol. The handgun was loaned to the author by the company for this article.
If it quacks like a duck, floats, walks and looks like a duck, well, it is a duck. That common sense saying might be full of wisdom, but it falls short as soon as anyone asks: “what kind of duck?”. Yes indeed, there are many kinds of ducks, and for most people, their differences are anecdotal and only feather deep. In some cases, looking like a duck only goes so far: anybody who tried to eat a coot will tell you with a grimace that not all ducks are alike, and that some deserve their own category.
What about a 9mm Luger gun that looks like a 1911, shoots, reloads and handles like a 1911? Such a gun is the subject of this review: the Springfield Ronin EMP 4’’. Despite its obvious 1911 foundation, scaling and re-engineering the 1911 to this cartridge by Springfield Armory makes it not only stand out, but a gun of its own — a gun that would surely have made John Moses Browning himself proud.
The Ronin EMP Concept
1911 guns have been converted to several chamberings other than the original .45, the first being the .38 Automatic, quickly replaced by the .38 Super and its palliative advantage for engagements requiring increased penetration. These cartridges have close overall lengths to the .45 ACP, so converted guns ran without issues.
Then comes the 9mm Luger in the picture. Long “shunned” stateside for its European origin and initially poor terminal performance, this cartridge has become America’s favorite centerfire handgun, benefiting from the advances in bullet technology and its unrivaled affordability. Adapting the 1911 to the 9mm Luger, however, meant shooting a shorter cartridge in a comparatively oversized gun, resulting in possible reliability issues. While most quality 1911’s chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum have their kinks ironed out, some guns are still afflicted by some degree of sensitivity to ammunition.
Despite already manufacturing reliable 1911’s chambered in 9mm Luger, Springfield Armory went above and beyond as it decided to give the smaller cartridge justice and built the Ronin EMP as a 1911 sized in the critical areas for the dimensions of the 9mm Luger. The result is a handsome handgun that keeps the beloved essence of the original 1911 in a nimble, modernized and eminently accurate package. It is also more compact than a standard 1911.
The Gun
The first and most obvious thing people will notice is the striking aesthetics of the Ronin EMP. Its two-tone finish is beautiful and gives the gun some definite and welcome character. This beauty is further enhanced by the richly colored wood grip panels, the red fiber optic front sight, the black trigger and the slight tone contrast offered by the stainless-steel parts set in the grey alloyed frame.
The full steel slide has a deep, dark black finish. The curved portions are bead-blasted while the flat sides are brushed, bringing up an additional subtle note of elegance. Discreet engravings in capital letters of “Ronin” on the left side and “Springfield Armory” on the right signal the pedigree of the gun in a classy, unobtrusive way. Eight deep slide serrations in the traditional location behind the chamber help the manipulation of the slide for loading, unloading, and safety checks.
The extractor is internal in the traditional 1911 configuration, but tradition stops at the muzzle end where the barrel and the recoil spring assembly meet the slide without a bushing. This configuration will require the use of a special part to compress the recoil spring during disassembly, as opposed to the original 1911 manual of arms.
The slide is not cut for red-dot optics. It is topped by a two-dot rear sight with a wide square notch flanked by two white dots set in the serrated rear-facing side, preventing glare. The rear sight has a ledge that allows racking the slide on any willing surface should this become a necessity — a critical feature available on most of the Springfield handguns. The front sight sports a highly visible red optic fiber insert. The resulting combined sight picture is clear and will offer straightforward aiming for novices and experts alike.
The second most noticeable aspect of the gun is its unexpectedly modest weight for a metal gun. It is just 3.6 oz heavier than the lithe Echelon. The balance between the light frame and shorter and heavier slide is spot on, with the loaded gun resting in the shooting hand perfectly between the middle finger supporting the frame below the trigger guard and the beavertail resting atop the web.
The frame itself consists of a remarkably light aluminum alloy frame with a bead-blasted finish. Other than helping reduce glare, the subtle texture of the finish also enhances purchase. The EMP sigil is engraved on the left side of the dust cover. Except for the black trigger, all parts are made of finely bead-blasted stainless steel. The mainspring housing is deeply checkered for enhanced gripping. The slide release, back of the hammer and top of the thumb safety are serrated for safe and positive handling and operation.
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The match-grade bull barrel is 4’’ long, and locks into the slide using the typical 1911 lugs near the chamber and a flared-up muzzle, doing away with the barrel bushing. It is made of cold hammer-forged stainless steel and grooved with the original left turn in 1:16 twist. The chamber is ramped and fully supported.
The trigger is black, with its face curved and serrated, with four triangular lightening cuts. Even by 1911 standards, it is superb. After 1/25th of an inch take-up, it breaks cleanly at a perfect 3.5-lbs. of pull, turning the gun into an instinctive extension of the shooter’s arm.
Springfield flanked the grip with thin, luxurious rosewood panels that are half checkered, half smooth, and emblazoned with their flaming bomb and crossed cannons logo, each secured by two Torx screws. The grip has the same vaunted 1911 angle, and anybody accustomed to the original platform will not experience any issues pointing the gun. The single stack magazine holds 10 rounds, for a 10+1 maximum capacity.
The Ronin EMP at the Range
I was generously provided with ammunition for this review by Federal, Remington and Hornady, for which these companies have my utmost gratitude. Formal accuracy was done shooting five shot groups at 15 yards from a sandbag, while recording bullet velocities.
First and foremost: the Ronin EMP is a very accurate gun, despite having a sight radius a full inch shorter than full-size 1911’s. It showed a slight preference for ammunition with bullet weights on the lighter end of the spectrum. This may be linked to the timing of the linked barrel action favoring the shorter barrel time of the lighter, faster bullets over heavier, slower travelling ones.
Being used to the generally snappy recoil of the 9mm Luger, I was surprised how delightfully soft shooting the Ronin EMP is. The heavy slide and the linked barrel action of the Ronin EMP turn the short recoil impulse of 9mm into what I can best describe as a shake more than anything else. As a matter of fact, there was a point during accuracy testing where I forgot I was shooting 9mm Luger other than for loading the cartridges into the magazine! This was probably aided by the fact that most of the ammunition tested stayed within the subsonic range and didn’t have the supersonic crack added to the muzzle blast, further imprinting the feeling of unusually mild behavior of this gun.
Shooting Results
Offhand shooting was sheer joy. The steadiness of the Ronin EMP is remarkable, especially compared to polymer-framed handguns. Despite its subtle dimensional differences, the Ronin points exactly like a 1911, giving the same sight alignment and saving precious time during initial presentation and between shots. The highly visible sight set-up and the familiar feel of the 1911-type frame make the gun easy to shoot quickly. Acquiring the target back for follow-up shots was amazingly easy and fast, notwithstanding the comparatively heavy slide.
The magazine drops out at the press of the release, making reloads easy, following the same manual of arms of the full-size 1911. Having carried for years a 10+1 gun, I did not feel at all limited by the Ronin’s capacity. The slide release and thumb safety have the right amount of tension to give positive feedback for disengagement and re-engagement.
The Subtle Changes
Handling the gun, and especially after shooting it, it is obvious that Springfield did not change the Ronin EMP’s dimension just to reinvent the wheel or come up with another “new” handgun. These changes are purposeful and, while outwardly subtle and mostly concentrated around the frame, they result in a distinct feeling and operational behavior of the gun.
This 1911-adjacent impression with a pronounced feeling of nimbleness must be experienced to fully appreciate. It feels like Springfield literally carved out a full-size 1911 from anything superfluous to its operation with the 9mm Luger. The result is tight and definitely tailored to the smaller cartridge. In essence, the Ronin EMP is a 1911 with its own particularities, much like two different siblings of the same family.
Springfield’s mastery did not stop at the dimensions. I suspect a lot of work was put into balancing the weight of the different parts of the gun and their dynamic relations with each other. The outcome is the softest-shooting 9mm Luger handgun I have ever shot.
My Takeaway on the Springfield Ronin EMP
The 1911 has been my favorite gun since childhood, well before I could ever shoot or own one. It feels as though it were made for me. As such, the Ronin EMP does not feel like a typical full-size 1911 in .45, because it simply isn’t. Hardcore 1911 fans may overlook this excellent gun because of this. Fortunately for them, Springfield makes many great 1911’s.
The Ronin EMP is a fully modern, re-engineered gun based on the original 1911, perfectly scaled to the 9mm Luger. It keeps the essence of the 1911 and its famous ergonomics and accuracy, but in a subtly trimmer and nimbler package. Its tremendous accuracy, 10+1 capacity, utterly soft shooting and concealability makes it a fantastic choice for self-defense, though I am sure this gun will see a lot of range time for the sheer enjoyment of shooting it.
Its trigger and safety features make it easier to accurately shoot and operate than some more compact or lighter guns of similar capacity. As a matter of fact, I would recommend the Ronin EMP for somebody who has never handled a 1911, or somebody new to shooting or who is afraid of recoil. Experienced shooters, on the other hand, will be impressed by how good this almost-but-not-quite-1911 gun is, and may begrudgingly admit that the little European cartridge legitimately belongs in a 1911, albeit one built for it.
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