Springfield Armory's New Emissary 1911 Goes AOS

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If you’re scratching your head after reading the headline for this report as pertaining to the “AOS” reference, let me explain. AOS stands for Agency Optic System, and as it relates to Springfield’s Model 1911-style pistols, it means the Emissary, the Operator, and the Ronin 1911 lines now come with slides that are set up for the Agency Optic System for easy installation of a red-dot reflex-type optic. It’s the same optic-mounting system that Springfield uses on its Prodigy pistols. Here’s what makes the system so convenient.

The AOS System

Quoting from Springfield’s marketing information, “Developed in collaboration with Agency Arms, AOS employs a series of plates that accommodate a wide range of the industry’s most popular red-dot sights following the RMR, Shield, DeltaPoint Pro, and Docter footprints. This flexibility allows shooters to configure their handguns according to their unique preferences for optimal performance.

“All AOS-compatible handguns ship with a cover plate featuring a rear sight that matches the classic contour of the 1911’s slide. Machined from billet steel for durability and precise fitment, additional AOS plates designed for a wide range of optics are available for purchase on the Springfield Armory Store. In addition, purchasers of a 1911 AOS pistol will receive a discounted price on one AOS optic plate of their choice of just $49—an $80 savings.”

In addition, Springfield Armory Vice President of Marketing Steve Kramer stated, “The 1911 is easily the most respected—and proven—pistol in history. With the new 1911 AOS, Springfield Armory is taking a revered 20th-century design and updating it for the 21st century with the ability to accept a wide range of today’s most advanced optics.”

A Top-Notch Example

I’ve written about and/or handled almost every version of Springfield’s Ronin 1911s before, and the full-size Operator and Emissary pistols as well, and I gave high marks to all of them. All new AOS versions in all three families are offered in 9mm and .45 ACP with 4.25-inch and 5.0-inch barrels. But I chose the .45 ACP AOS Emissary to highlight here because it is hands-down an excellent example of a 1911 that blends form and function and is loaded with custom-grade features. In fact, that’s exactly how I described it back in 2021. Here’s a recap, with updated specifications and new shooting results.

The 1911 Emissary weighs 43 ounces with an empty magazine and is 8.4 inches long, 5.25 inches tall (again without a magazine and without a red-dot optic installed), and 1.26 inches thick at the thumb safety. The thumb safety is not ambidextrous. The slide is 0.92 inch thick, and the grip is 1.11 inches thick with a circumference of 5.25 inches. The pistol’s defining features are the tri-top slide, the 5.0-inch bushingless bull barrel (outside diameter of 0.70 inch at the muzzle), the integral accessories rail on the frame, the textured VZ thin-line G10 grip panels, the texturing on the forged stainless-steel grip frame, and the square trigger guard.

The forged, carbon-steel slide has polished sides and four forward-­angled cocking grooves at the rear and three up front. The front grooves are extra wide and are located on the angled flats that form the tri-top shape. The top flat has fine striations (40 lines per inch) for light diffusion and glare reduction. The pistol utilizes a full-length one-piece recoil guide rod. The skeletonized hammer, grip and thumb safeties, slide stop, flat mainspring housing, and magazine catch button are matte black.

The rear sight that is part of the optic-mounting plate has a 0.147-inch U-shaped notch and fine horizontal grooves. The dovetailed front sight is 0.145 inch thick and 0.233 inch tall, and it has a green tritium dot that’s surrounded by a white ring. While the company doesn’t currently offer the 1911 Emissary AOS with a red-dot optic installed, our Emissary AOS came with a Vortex Defender-CCW red-dot optic already mounted on the slide. It has a 6-MOA dot, and both sights are tall enough to co-­witness with the red dot of the optic.

The match-grade, stainless-steel, heavy barrel, as mentioned, is bushingless with a recessed muzzle crown. It is nitride finished, and at 1:16, the twist rate is the standard for the .45 ACP. The chamber is throated and polished, and the feedramp is polished. A notch at the rear of the barrel hood serves as a visual loaded chamber indicator.

The pistol’s forged stainless-steel frame is finished in black Cerakote. The frame’s integral accessories rail has three cross-slots. The G10 grip panels are held in place by hex-head screws. The blocky texturing on the grips is very similar in pattern to the texturing on the pistol’s grip frame frontstrap and the flat mainspring housing. The bottom of the grip frame is beveled. The solid trigger has a striated surface. The fingerpiece is 0.24 inch wide, and the trigger pull of this sample pistol averaged 4 pounds, 14 ounces over 10 measurements with an RCBS trigger pull scale. Those measurements were incredibly consistent, with just two ounces of variation between them. The trigger pull did have a slight amount of take-up, but that is to be expected with any Model 1911.

The pistol’s high-sweep beavertail-style grip safety has a smooth memory bump that helps ensure a positive grip for proper function every time it’s gripped. The beavertail prevents hammerbite. All parts are precision fitted, and the fit and finish of my test gun are excellent. There’s absolutely no detectable wiggle between the slide and the frame, there’s no slop between the barrel hood and the slide, and the barrel doesn’t move at all when pressed on while in battery. The Emissary AOS comes in a soft zippered carry case, and it also comes with a gun padlock, a disassembly pin, and two Mec-Gar magazines. The magazines are made in Italy and have black bodies, black polymer followers, and removable black polymer baseplates. They hold eight rounds of .45 ACP ammunition each.

Range Results

I put the new 1911 Emissary AOS .45 ACP pistol to the test by firing seven different factory loads, ranging in bullet weight from 185 to 230 grains. All loads produced five-shot group averages that measured 3.00 inches or less at 25 yards. Overall average accuracy for all loads was 2.46 inches. That’s for three, five-shot groups with each load. That first Emissary I test-fired three years ago (the non-AOS version) averaged less than 3.00 inches at 25 yards with each of 10 loads tested. Clearly, the 1911 Emissary is a very good shooter.

The new pistol’s tightest group average was 2.00 inches, and I achieved that with two of the factory loads. They are Hornady’s Critical Defense 185-grain FTX and Federal’s Gold Medal Match 230-grain FMJ. The average velocities of those loads were 1,011 fps and 829 fps, respectively. Velocities were measured with a Competition Electronics ProChrono Digital chronograph placed 12 feet from the gun’s muzzle and are averages for five rounds fired with each load.

The load with the smallest extreme spread (17 fps) and standard deviation (7 fps) was the SIG SAUER 200-grain JHP. And at 2.25 inches, its average group accuracy was quite good, too. The shooting results are listed in the accompanying chart.

Longtime Shooting Times writer Layne Simpson often fires a new Model 1911 that he happens to be reviewing right-side up, right-side down, and upside down to test its function. I did that with the new 1911 Emissary AOS, and it operated perfectly in all positions. Three years ago I did that with the other Emissary pistol, too, and it also functioned in all positions. Clearly, the 1911 Emissary, in both versions, works reliably.

With that task completed, I also fired this new Emissary AOS on reactive targets, including swinging steel plates, and it was fast and accurate. Undoubtedly, the red-dot optic helped in that regard. So, the Springfield 1911 Emissary AOS shoots great, functions reliably, and is optics ready. In fact, the AOS system makes installing a red-dot optic quick and easy. 

1911 EMISSARY AOS SPECS

• MANUFACTURER: Springfield Armory springfield-armory.com
• TYPE: Recoil-operated autoloader
• CALIBER: .45 ACP
• MAGAZINE CAPACITY: 8 rounds
• BARREL: 5.0 in.
• OVERALL LENGTH: 8.4 in.
• WIDTH: 1.26 in.
• HEIGHT: 5.25 in. (without red-dot optic)
• WEIGHT, EMPTY: 43 oz.
• GRIPS: G10
• FINISH: Black Cerakote
• SIGHTS: Tactical Rack white-outline U-notch rear on cover plate, integral U-notch rear on AOS mounting plate, tritium/luminescent front
• TRIGGER: 4.88-lb. pull (as tested)
• SAFETY: Manual thumb safety; beavertail grip safety
• MSRP: $1,378

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