B.J. Norris Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 I'm a Junior shooter whos looking for a good(and cheap) way to get into Open division. I've found a good deal on a Springfield P9 with 4 mags. I have pretty small hands, so I was thinking it would be easier for me to reach the mag button on a P9, what do ya'll think? Also, I heard there have been problems of the slide stop pins breaking and bending, but with Major now being 165 do you think there's less chance of them breaking and/or bending? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 I shot a P9 in open - I loved it. I had a P9 LSP (long slide ported) customized with a dual port comp and all the usual goodies. Mine was 9x21. I shot 130 or 135 gr bullets to keep the pressure down and used WW540 powder. I sold it to a new shooter when I bought a Caspian hi-cap. Wish I still had it. My P9 had the slide stop replaced with a tool steel rod built by EGW or ?? Problem with P9 is parts availability and finding a gunsmith to work on them. The mags are 15 rounds stock but you can machine out the sides of the mag at the bottom and add mag extensions. I never had a problem with my P9. The lower power factor will really help. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eerw Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 I shot a p9 years ago...I loved that gun..the only disadvantage is/was is the 170mm sticks..other than that it will keep up..I had a three port comp milled for my LSP model, also had a beavertail welded up and a magwell put on...it worked really well..shot 9x21 using 124 and 115 grain bullets..pins were not really a problem, but I always had two or three extras and always inspected the part..I also had the sear block, ejector unit weld up for a tight fit into the frame..as the sear is housed in the same unit as the ejector. Great gun..I wish I hadn't sold mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Kline Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 I've heard more people say that, "I wish I still had mine." I talked to Eric Grauffel a year ago at the Florida Open about the parts and durability thing. Eric shoots Tanfoglio, basically the same thing as a P9/Witness. He said Tanfoglio started making the parts out of different material and used stronger steel and components. It said they started this about 4-5 years ago and it has made them much more durable. I can't say for sure cause I don't shoot one, but just food for thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfinney Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 Its more important to be playing the game, with whatever equipment that you can afford, rather than to think that you need to spend several thousand on that new open gun "thats going to make you a master"..... P9s are great handling guns, and if you feel later that you've "outgrown it" you could always sell it and upgrade then. But get something, and shoot now, rather than later ....... most of the P9 / EAA durability issues I've heard of usually involve the small frame .40 caliber guns..... most 9mm based guns seem to work pretty well.... BE could better answer that, he used to shoot them.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 I don't think a P9 will give a small hand a much better chance of hitting the mag release button. I still had to shift my grip. I haven't shot my Open 9x21 P9 since the power factor was lowered. It broke a lot of slide stop pins, even the "hardened" EGW pins. It will probably be better at 165-170 PF but you should still keep spares. I also broke an extractor or two, but they break on 1911s and other guns, too. I think the only thing against the Tanfoglios is their lack of big-stick magazine capacity. I had no luck with a 22+ round mag but 18-round mags ran 100%. (Standard 16-round mags can be modified for 18 rounds fairly easily.) Oh yeah, my P9 did have a bit of a sting to it. So much so, the custom checkering hurt my sissy hands and I had to use Hogue wraparound rubber grips. My gunsmith told me the longslide models are nicer/softer/easier to shoot, as are custom barrels with redone cam slots. For parts, Brownells stocks EAA (Tanfoglio importer) parts or you can go through EAA directly. The aftermarket parts seem to have disappeared, though Brownells does have the CPMI magazine bases I like. Do a search and you'll find more info in more P9 threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Loh Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 I am shooting a EAA competiton frame with longslide and a EGW 4 port comp. The rear arch of the frame was flatten and rechecquered so it makes the grip really small and feels good. I do not have any problem with this gun reliability wise and in fact I would go as far as saying that it is more reliable than a 1911 in 9mm cal. I have only changed the slide-stop twice as it bent. By the way these are old slide stop which I have many years back as spare and probably made from different material. The only thing is that the 1911 has a shorter trigger reset than the EAA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 Shot a friend's P9 in 9x21 and it was great! Really good trigger. For the prices these things go for, they are an excellent choice as a 1st open gun - and they have the capability to take you to the very top if you have the skill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianH Posted March 8, 2002 Share Posted March 8, 2002 I'm still shooting my 9X21 open P9 from I don't remember when. I broke one factory slide stop years ago, and that was it. I have found that the lower power factor is a help, since the barrel unlocks so fast, there is less slamming. The only reason I will change is when the only thing keeping me from winning matches is mag capacity, and that hasn't happened yet, so I have found no reason to build a new gun. (I fell into that trap about 12 years ago....got moved up to B class where all the top B shooters had .38 Supers, so I got one, too. That was the second dumbest thing I've done in this sport.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted March 8, 2002 Share Posted March 8, 2002 BrianH, Second dumbest...should we ask? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianH Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 Numero uno was tinkering with the gun and turning it into a piece of crap..... (When your gunsmith says "it's done, it works, don't tinker with it....HE MEANS IT!!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Workingspy Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 (edited) I know this is a REAL REAL OLD thread but I thought I'd jump in anyways, maybe I can get sone interesting view on an older gun. SO I just got the P9/Witness bug and went and got three of them lol, I love these guns, CZ's and Tanfoglio's, however I havent owned these ones long enough for anything bad happen yet knock on wood. I live in Canada and these guns aren't that common here so I couldnt go wrong as I see it, I got them all for great prices in our Canadian market ($400-$600 each with 3 to 5 mags each) and they fit my wants and needs perfectly. Parts are even harder to find up here as we cant import fire control parts from the US, so far I have been able to get a few factory replacement parts from Numrich but shipping was killer. I bought one standard in 9mm, a standard in .40 and a Witness EA9 with a P9 LSP slide in 9mm that has been worked over allot and converted to SA. Im just getting into IPSC now and plan on using the Witness wjile shooting 124gr in open I guess as it is so modified. I know these are old and can be hard to fix and get parts for, I guess I kinda find that fun aswell. Heres a pic of all three togeather finally. Cheers, Evan Edited June 6, 2013 by Workingspy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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