TRP stands for Tactical Response Pistol which, when you consider the sum of the Springfield 1911 TRP 10mm longslide’s components, it hardly seems designed for tactical use. Springfield offers two 10mm TRP Operator models with either 5″ or 6″ slides. This is more or less just a line of guns that share common features, but I thought this created an interesting dynamic.
The features of the TRP 10mm longslide are certainly better suited for hunting, or for general outdoors guns. The right 10mm load is excellent bear medicine and is still quick and easy to use on two-legged predators as well. The 1911 platform is certainly a fan favorite and one that’s been chambered in 10mm more than most.
About the TRP 10mm
The TRP 10mm Operator longslide is equipped with most of the standard Springfield TRP features. This includes a Picatinny accessory rail (five slots on the longslide), forged steel frame and slides, stainless steel match grade barrels, and fully supported feed ramps.
The longslide model is equipped with a 6-inch barrel, as well as fully adjustable rear sights. As you’d imagine, this longer gun is also a heavier gun and tips the scales at a hefty 45 ounces. It’s certainly not your average duty or concealed carry pistol.
The TRP is Springfield’s top-of-the line 1911 series and these guns are extremely well made. I’m not a 1911 fan, but I’m a fan of this gun.
Play between the slide and frame is barely noticeable, and the finish is a matte “Black-T” finish. The Black-T finish is a powder-based finish that, according to Springfield will tighten up the gun. Not sure if that’s true, but if so it’s a good choice for a gun like this. It’s a very strong finish that is stronger and more robust than their Armory Kote.
The grips are G10 made by VZ grips which I always love. VZ grips are outstanding in both texture and appearance. To me, the first thing I think is rattlesnake when seeing these grips. The texture is very aggressive and sticks to the hand well.
The front strap and back strap have aggressive texturing as well. Springfield calls this their Octo-Grip. Either way, the entire package comes together to present a very formidable hold on the gun that stays in your hand as you fire.
The grip also includes an extended beavertail which not only provides protection from slide bite, but allows you to maintain a little more leverage over the gun. It’s certainly appreciated with heavier duty loads. The TRP also sports ambidextrous safeties, as well as a skeletonized trigger and hammer.
Lastly, we get both rear and front serrations on the sides of that long slide, and the gun ships with two stainless steel 8-round magazines. It comes in a cardboard box, but also includes a very nice pistol bag to tote it around with room for some ammo, magazines, and more.
It’s a powerhouse
Make no mistake — this a big and heavy gun. The first time you pick it up is certainly an experience. This gun is pretty much all steel everything and it shows.
As a gun that would excel in the outdoors, you may consider a chest set-up for supportive carry, or you’ll need to invest in a good sturdy gun belt and holster combo. The benefit of all that weight, of course is reduced felt recoil and when you deal with full-powered, or heavy 10mm loads, the weight is very advantageous.
The fully supported chamber allows the safe use of heavy loads and that’s what this gun is designed for. The extra inch of barrel length increases the velocity of those full-powered loads, but not by a crazy amount. That extra inch of the barrel is more important for increasing sight radius, as well as weight.
That increased slide length and weight also slow down the speed of the slide cycling. You can certainly feel the difference between this gun and a 5-inch 1911. The advantage to this would appear to be that the gun won’t beat itself up be more durable. That’s a theory with no proof to back it up, so take it for what it’s worth.
The first thing I noticed when loading the gun up and hitting the range was the effect of that extra inch of barrel. The gun feels front-heavy when you make a full presentation with it. It’s an odd, unbalanced feeling I wouldn’t typically associate with a 1911. It wants to dip just slightly.
The TRP 10mm Operator’s trigger is really spectacular. I’ve fired a few higher-end elite production 1911s from Night Hawk and I would say the Springfield Gen2 Speed Trigger certainly competes with those guns. It’s extremely crisp and short. The re-set is very positive and easy to feel. I love the trigger and it certainly contributes to the accuracy of this weapon.
I mentioned that longer sight radius and Springfield certainly tried their hardest to give you the most sight radius possible. The rear sight is pushed back about a millimeter past the end of the slide. These are 3-dot tritium night sights and the rear sight is fully adjustable for both windage and elevation. These are very sharp sights and perfect for accurate shooting.
Just how accurate is it?
I like to think I’m a slightly above average shooter, and I’m certainly confident with a handgun. However, I’m far from a pro. Shooting guns like the Springfield 1911 TRP Operator makes me feel like a pro.
I was making teeny tiny groups at the 25 yard range and doing it with cheap 10mm ammo. I kept moving backward adding distance and trying my best to hit smaller targets.
At 35 yards I was consistently hitting clay pigeons placed on the berm. At 50 yards I was ringing a 21-inch tall steel popper which 10 inches at its widest part.
I got back to 75 yards with a man-sized target and landed every round in the torso. This was all firing from a standing, unsupported position with a two-handed grip.
This wasn’t difficult, and I didn’t have to apply much effort to do it. There was very little practice prior to doing this, and it was day one with the gun. Everything just clicked.
Since this gun is darn-near perfect for hunting, I took a simulated deer vital zone target downrange. I assumed a sitting position at 35 yards to more or less simulate realistic ground hunting. I went three for three in the heart on my first try.
I think it’s clear that this is a very accurate gun. The combination of 1911’s ergos, an excellent grip, a long sight radius, quality sights, and a great trigger make this pistol an all-around fantastic gun in the accuracy department.
How it handles
Felt recoil from the TRP 10mm Operator will very much depend on the load. Most of my shooting with done with cheaper FMJ 10mm ammo that just a little hotter than .40 S&W. I scored some heavier duty Buffalo Bore 180-grain JHPs that are moving at about 1,350 fps. The recoil from that round is somewhat stout, but not painful or even uncomfortable really.
The gun is very manageable with heavier loads and you won’t experience a significant increase in muzzle rise.
It’s easy to get the TRP’s sights right back on target even with these full-powered, heavy-hitting loads. Those 45 ounces of steel and that longer, heavier slide does a lot to keep felt recoil low and comfortable. The beavertail is another help in keeping leverage just right when shooting.
Besides hundreds of round of range ammo, I fed it 420 rounds of heavier loads; 400 rounds of Prvi Partizan and 20 rounds of Buffalo Bore. Malfunction-wise I’ve seen one case seem to swell inside the chamber. It needed a little coercing to come out and it had a noticeable bulge. This is odd in a fully supported chamber but it only occurred once. I’m thinking it had to be tied to the Prvi Partizan ammo.
All in all, this is an excellent firearm. It’s certainly a bit of niche gun, better suited for hiking, hunting, camping, and dealing with the great outdoors, despite its name. The Springfield TRP 10mm Operator longslide is a great tool in that role. While certainly on the heavy side, it’s easy to handle, very accurate, and fires a potent cartridge with a well-earned reputation for getting the job done.
Specifications: Springfield Armory 1911 TRP 10mm Operator Longslide
Caliber: 10mm
Capacity: 8 + 1
Weight: 45 ounces
Height: 5.5 inches
Overall Length: 9.6 inches
Barrel Length: 6 inches
Sights: 3-dot tritium night sights
MSRP: $1,842 (about $1,650 retail)
Ratings (out of Five Stars)
Style * * * *
The Black-T finish is certainly black, but other than that it’s a 1911 with a long nose. Those dirty olive G10 VZ Alien grips look good.
Ergonomics * * * *
The grip is amazing, the ambidextrous thumb safety is a plus, and I love the extended beavertail. If the balance was a bit better with that 6-inch barrel we’d have a 5-star rating.
Reliability * * * * *
At over $1600 retail it had better be reliable. I had only one malfunction, which I feel safe in attributing to the ammunition.
Customize This * * * *
It’s a 1911 so you can do pretty much anything to it. Plus it has that long Pic rail for the attachment of lights, lasers, cigar holders, whatever. You don’t need to, but you can. I knocked a star off because I can’t seem to find threaded barrels (Operator, right?) at this length to add a can.
Rating * * * * *
The Springfield 1911 TRP Operator 10mm longslide is an awesome handgun, a production 1911 with a custom-grade feel. It’s incredibly accurate and very easy to handle, even shooting hefty 10mm loads. It makes me want to take up handgun hunting this year just to see what I can do with it.
I have an RIA 10mm longslide that I’m head over heels for.
My experiences are pretty much in line with the author’s, aside from the sight set up.
It is a bit nose heavy, even more so with the light I have dangling from that generous portion of picatinny rail.
50 yard shooting is my norm for it.
I’ve taken it further, and I’ve shot it much closer, but it legitimately made me out to be a much better shooter with handguns than I actually am.
Springfield and it’s traitor-owners are dead to me.
If you cherish your gun rights, stay as far from Springfield as possible. Plus Springfield just resells Croatian pistols rebranded through a stolen valor American company.
And here we have the usual brain dead “dead to me post.”. We get it, you don’t like Springfield. You stop telling the world. If you really were serious you would only buy Beretta.
The Croatian pistols are the XD series only. When Springfield first started, it was selling Brazilian guns, then guns made here with Brazilian parts, or parts sourced here and in Brazil. Gradually they shifted their higher end guns to American production. The TRP is one hundred percent American manufacture. I think the only gun made in Brazil now is the GI series (now Defender). And even that is a well made pistol.
Support your local American gun smiths. They are an endangered species.
I’ll support American gun makers, but I make an exception for Springfield.
For those of you just tuning in or with a short memory, read it:
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/springfield-rock-river-illinois-sell-picking-pieces/
They sold the gun community out, and then when caught simply lied about it. The same folks at Springfield that are responsible for this betrayal remain in control of that company (the lobbiest they fired was just a convenient scapegoat).
And I’ll let John Boch correct me if I’m wrong, but my understanding is that the bill that passed the IL senate by one vote (as a direct and proximate result of Springfield’s mechanations) became law during the next session due to the quirk in state law that lets bills passed by one house “carry over” to the next session. IOW, the sell out breached about the only firewall PotG had in that state, so it was hardly “no harm, no foul.”
Good write up. Anyone who’s read my comments knows I love a 1911. As I’ve said before, God carries one. And an M-1 rifle. Maybe an 03-A3 on a slow day. Don’t care for a long slide though. Or adjustable sights on anything I might use for self defense. 5″ bbl, Novak, or Hienie sights. The Guru really pushed the 10 mm, but I never jumped on that band wagon. Anyway, nice pistol.
Too many firegunms and to little money. The list of wants keep growing.
You and me both, brother…
That makes 3 of us. Although, I think I can bump this one up the list since I’m rebarreling my Remy rolling block back to 45-70 and not buying that new-to-me Marlin in the same.
Now there’s a rifle I would go for over a 10mm any day. That or a Sharps.
seems as nice as a d. wesson or sti.
10mm in this platform should be sweet.
i keep hoping cz makes a 9710.
I had them side-by-side and for the money I chose the Rock Island Tac full rail 10mm at $500, because I was in the process of getting two guns the MK25 also was on the list, they have a cheaper version of this, but not the long slide and minus the front serrations and night sights , it’s the RO Elite operator for around $850- $900
Nice gun but too bad it’s made by Them Who Collaborated With The Enemy.
Wut?
Has this already faded into our 6.9sec memory bank?
Springfield chose business over 2A principles. So did RRA, in the same series of actions.
Pretty sure youre thinking of Springfield? Remington is mainly guilty of mismanagement and stupidity. Their 1911s are rock solid, however.
Holy shit, this is a springfield product. I’m dumb.
Springfield will be on my “do not buy” list. Well…forever. They opened the floodgates to the dims.
Walker, not sure what you mean. Would you please explain? I have not heard of this.
Springfield supported some major gun control efforts in Illinois, with carve outs for themselves. It passed and it was a big kick in the nuts to the Illinois gun rights movement, which up until then was actually gaining traction. I don’t live in Illinois but it was incredibly shady and I will never buy anything of theirs again, unless they were to come under new management and actually support 2A efforts, like what Ruger did.
It did not pass the year they were accused of negotiating a sweet heart deal. Springfield immediately fired its lobbyist and distanced itself from the bill. A similar bill passed this session over Springfield’s opposition. Get your facts straight.
Mark N. – The facts were straight in the comment, your contribution of information does not change the original comment’s truth.
Springfield distanced themselves AFTER their dirty dealings and bedfellows came to public light.
Yes, they cut ties with the lobbying group, only after the public outcry. No, the legislation did not pass. Yes, they did financially support the legislation in secret. Yes, some of us hold that against them; they were traitors to the US Constitution and its Bill of Rights, for financial benefit!
It didn’t pass that year. See the nearby article about IL passing gun dealer oversight law, which is basically it.
Springfield( and Rock River Arms) conspired to get a carveout from onerous dim regulations. And LIED about it. Said it was a paid lobbying group. But it was them. All over the gun world about 18 months ago. Now we’re screwed big-time in this shite state with carveout’s for bigbox stores. There may be only HALF the FFL’s left in ILLinois this year…😫I’m sure Boch could’splain it in graphic detail!
It’s a damn crying shame, because SA make nice firearms.
M1A scout squad
XDm .45 acp w/ 4.5″ bbl
Before they thew mom and pop under the bus.
Thanks for the review…..this site needs many more of these.
Too bad its an SA.
Just what the world needs: Another 1911 variant.
Damn, I almost typed “Tupperware gun”. Fuck, it’s hard to keep track of all the shit we’re supposed to despise.
Good write up though.
If you are a 1911 fan you just got your dream gun. I would get the 6″. My 10mm Auto Tanfoglio is the best gun I have ever owned. This 1911 is perfect for taking down domestic shooters, when there is no rifle anyway. A gun like this in the hands of proficient policeman sure would help his confidence entering a deadly scene like that school shooting. Up’s the odds over a 4″ or less 40S&W. If we had open carry I would use my bullseye 10mm Auto. A 150 grain Lehigh XD at 1250 fps would be a fine load. There are lots of great bullets available for the 40 cal. I like the 190 Cutting Edge Bullets. HG Solid for dangerous game 🙂
I’m surprised it’s only 8+1. Aren’t .45 caliber 1911s 8+1 with fatter bullets? I figured they could fit one more in the same grip length. Looks like a fantastic gun though.
I really appreciate that there are gun reviews once again, keep up the good work folks.
Interesting revelation.
Many years ago when .44 magnum Smith & Wesson Model 29 guns were as scarce as hens teeth I had no choice except to buy a .41 Model 29. Now the .41 S&W is actually a more powerful caliber than the 10 mm (keep this in mind momentarily). I was out at the range one day (a private one in a wood lot). I also had a Ruger Blackhawk in .30 Carbine. A fellow I knew that was home visiting parents but lived in Alaska was with me. The discussion was about what to carry while fishing in Alaska for personal protection against bears. I asked the fellow what he carried. He astonished me when he said “A Ruger Black Hawk in .30 Carbine. I said “Why not a pistol in .41 Magnum or .44 mag? The fellow told me to take on shot each at a fallen tree limb laying on the ground with the .41 Mag and the .30 Carbine. It was only the .30 Carbine bullet that fully penetrated the fallen tree limb. He said nothing further because no further comment was needed as seeing was believing. One picture was worth a thousand words compared to what comes from a prostitute gun writer.
THE ORIGINAL VLAD TEPES.
Harker and Quincey dispatched The Original Vlad Tepes with a kurkri and Bowie knife, respectively. At that very moment, he crumbled to dust. So I find it hard to believe that you are him.
Would love to hear how springfield came out with a price 2/3 more than a comparable rock island. Besides brand name recognition, which these days counts for nothing….looking at you colt!
That’s easy, no holster designs for a full rail for Rock Island Armory, LOL!!
I fit mine just fine into both my Safariland OWB and Alaska chest harness, which I originally got for a Sign Scorpion.
Yes I have a fobus, but I was wanting something in leather eventually, I will get one made, but the variety of the Springfield shorter rail is much better
I’ve owned and shot a TRP in 45 cal. for many years. Just as described in this article, but in a softer shooting caliber. Tack driver for sure that’s put together like a Swiss watch.
I happen to have a 44mag Ruger Super Black Hawk Hunter that is a no none sense Tack Driver Extrodinar, with the right loads.
Unless your barn door is tiny this brute will hit it every second shot.
I also own a Browning Hi-Power and at the risk of being called a lier, I’ll say that little Hi-Power is easily the MOST accurate Auto I own, and I own plenty. Strangely I also have a tiny Sig P938 that nearly hits as dependably as the Browning.
That’s all, no real point besides what you already know. No two guns are the same.
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