On New Year’s Day we posted the news of Springfield’s new 911 .380 to a lot of “so what” comments. Frankly, I was right there with you. I’ve shot the other pocket gun .380 “1911” pistols that have been around for many years, and it looked like this Springer brought nothing new to the table. But I was wrong . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAfrK50FRuQ
IF this 911 .380 runs reliably — and TTAG will find out by putting 1,000 rounds of mixed ammo through one — it’s better than its peers. It has a better trigger, better sights, a bigger trigger guard, and a better, more usable and properly-positioned safety. It also shoots as softly, flatly, and accurately as can be.
Look, my job here is truthful gun reviews. Other folks man the political desk. We’ll all give you the ammunition you need to make an informed decision, but we won’t make that decision for you.
This is a new gun and, as per my edict, I’m going to cover it and we’re going to review it. Honestly and fairly. And, so far, whether it’s an uncomfortable truth for some of y’all or not, the truth is that the Springfield Armory 911 .380 appears to be a fantastic little firearm.
Tritium night sights with white dots in the rear and a bright green outline around the front lamp.
Nice checkering on the front- and back-strap of the 7075 aluminum frame. Note the enlarged trigger guard.
The 911 .380 ships with a flush-fitting 6-round magazine as well as a 7-rounder with pinky extension.
The 911 (pronounced “nine-one-one”) weighs in at 12.6 ounces, is 3.9 inches tall, and is 5.5 inches long. MSRP is $599 in either nitrided black or brushed stainless slides.
Over to the TRP 10mm Operator, it’s available with either 5-inch or 6-inch barrel. I shot the 6-inch version and enjoyed it but wasn’t enthralled by it. The “SA Gen 2 Speed Trigger” was very nice for a production gun, and I liked the target sights; especially as they’re Tritium night sights but the rear is still fully adjustable.
Other than that, it’s mostly the 10mm Auto chambering and the accessory rail that made it stand out for me. At an MSRP of $1,790 for the 5″ and $1,842 for the 6″, it has some real competition on the market.
The TRP 10mm does rock a bull barrel, helping to put weight out over the muzzle.
And the frame texturing (Octo-Grip™) was both grippy and comfortable, while the G10 grip panels were fairly aggressive.
While the TRP 10mm is undoubtedly a cool gun, the lilliputian 911 .380 stole the Springfield show for me. But not until I fired it, at which point my interest level jumped from a 1 to a 10.
Perfect for exterminating the contents of traps.
Good for snakes.
Carries better IWB than the shorter models.
This is liberal BS to it’s highest level! Figures don’t lie, but liar’s figure!
The firearms industry will address “gun violence” the same day that the pharmaceutical industry addresses the drug problem.
Autistic Screeching from the pro-Springfield side
Autistic Screeching from the anti-Springfield side
Me not give a damn because everything that Springfield makes is done better and cheaper by other gun makers.
No, I was an only child and didn’t learn to share, but I will hand one to them if I find an immediate need for an armed friendly sometime. The definition of ‘a friend’ for the purposes of this answer can widen quite a bit depending on the circumstances.
“I’m terrible when it comes to lending guns to friends. I’ll do it at the drop of a hat.”
a cop gave me an old detective special that i lent to an ex. she was a sex assault victim and feels more comfy with it around. that’s been over twenty years.
after a friend passed his brother gave me a security six. i lent that to my jr. high principal who passed away, so his daughter returned it. it was then off to a korean war vet pal ostensibly so he didn’t need to use his judge to qualify for carry. the slow onset of dementia had him waving it around at noisy construction workers one sunday morning. it went straight to the homan ave. blacksite. i contacted the original owner, also a cop friend of mine who said “leave it alone. you’ll queer my pension.” eh, la.
i had never fired either of them. one a .38, the other .357. i like bigger revolvers.
the pa- 83 is a regular loaner for folks who fly in.
i’m liable to be liable.
Hickock 45 mostly for entertainment value, plus he seems to have something to say about anything i want to check out.
Paul Harrell for no holds barred technical value. Paul doesn’t waste time with nonsence content, and I actually heard about him on this TTAG site.
I find the user reviews are probably the most helpful.
Online vendors like Palmetto post USER reviews on specials they’ve run. Reference the Taurus PT-111 Gen-2. Both TTAG and Palmetto probably have more user reviews (and comments) on that gun than any other I’ve ever seen. Sure, I watched Hickock (as well as others) for their reviews, but ultimately made my purchase decision from actual USER reviews. (about 4.999 out of a possible 5 star rating on this particular gun)
When the day comes that I fear coyotes I will hide in a corner. I’m more afaid of racoon’s, I have killed three in the last two years that had the “dumb rabies” walking sideways, and stuff
If that ever happens and you’re left you have to be willing to go to war for a tank of juice.
7.62 x 53R Finnish target rifle. Very similar to the much more common 7.62x54R. Lapua makes them and sells them in boxes of 20 for about $65.00.
Anything Remington is a no-go.
Meh. Bigger is not always better – that’s why we don’t have 200 ton tanks, our guided missile destroyers are not 1500 feet long, and nobody concealed-carries a bofors 40mm cannon.
We technically CAN build huge guns – have done so long ago. The Germans did it in WWII with rail guns, which had very little impact on the war because they weren’t very mobile.
The Japanese 18″ cannons on the Yamato were inferior to the American 16″ cannons on the New Jersey class battleships.
As for the gun vs missile argument posed by the article’s author, its “horses for courses”. Guns are far superior to missiles for some applications.
Hmmmm. If a famous reporter wanted to know about how Police Officers felt about the issue, the following should be pretty easy enough to find at Policeone http://police-praetorian.netdna-ssl.com/p1_gunsurveysummary_2013.pdf
(The good stuff starts after the respondent demographic breakdown)
I don’t know what Springfield did to piss people off here, but I’m not interested in the politics. I’m interested in having a handy and effective EDC gun, and the fact that in this case it is US-made makes it “politically correct” enough for me.
I’ve had mine for a couple of weeks and have put 220 rounds through it thus far. I had seen in a video right after I got it that Springfield ships them a little dirty so I cleaned mine up out of the box. In the first 100 rounds I had three FTFs and one light primer strike. Cleaned it up good, and in the next 120 rounds I had one light primer strike only. None of these problems occurred until at least around 40 or so rounds into firing, so I’m sure that clean out of the holster, it will go through what is in the magazine and a spare without fail should the need arise. Perhaps with more shooting/breaking in, these issues will disappear entirely (it already was a lot better on the second trip than on the first).
[Called customer service after the first 100 rounds and they recommended 200 rounds for break-in, and cleaning at least every 100 rounds.]
Overall I am happy with it; a solid, accurate little shooter that is very comfortable to carry. On the downside it is a “high-maintenance” firearm. Unlike the .38 snubby it replaced as my EDC, it is not a gun you can put off cleaning for every third or fourth of fifth trip to the range. It has to be cleaned every time. It is built to very tight tolerances (hence the excellent accuracy for such a small gun), but this means that residue that can interfere with function can become a problem rather quickly. It is not a “battlefield” service arm. Kept clean, however, I am sure I can count on it if I need it. Sights are great; also very much like the overall feel and ergonomics.