Between these two. Which would it be?

Springfield EMP 3inch chambered in 9mm

Colt Defender 3 inch stainless. 9mm as well.

Thanks fellas. Sometimes I need a shove in one direction.

They are both a 1911 style pistol, so not much real difference between the 2.

The best deal? Sometimes that's what it comes down to.

Functionally, not much difference. I'd choose the Colt because I like Colts, but that's not a very good reason really.

Colt.

Yup Colt..

Neither. 1911's were designed for longer slide travel. Chopping them off to 3" make them really prone to jams and finicky on ammo. Much better compact 9mm pistols on the market.

I carry a Defender in 45 and have no problem with it. Just felt better in my hand.

If I had to pick a 1911, it would be a Colt with a proper Commander or Govt length barrel.

If I had to pick a "1911-ish" gun that has a better chance of being reliable with 9mm and a 3" barrel, I'd pick the EMP. There is a reason most folks advise against shorter than 4" barrels in 1911's. I am sure someone will chime in with some "200 flawless round" exceptions. But the general consensus points to shorter barrels in a true 1911 design being less than reliable.

I am not an expert on EMP's, but it seems like they have made enough modifications to the original design for it to be a bit more reliable with short barrels and non-.45acp ammo.

I had a Defender that wouldn't feed factory ammo

chamber dimension not to spec... I returned it for being defective

based on that exp. I vote for EMP

GReat points... probably best to try a 4" barrel 1911 for reliability purposes.

I owned a defender in 45, and an emp in 40. Both shot well, but had to adjust the extractor on the defender to make it feed right. Currently have a para elite carry 3 inch in 45, and have had no issues with failure to feed or jams of any kind, and it has alot of rounds shot through. Think either one would be fine for you, but might want to check on magazines, i think the emp has its own magazine, and not any 1911 9mm mag will work.

1911 and 9mm just seems wrong to me...

Springfield does short 1911's really good. you might look over on the 1911forum. they have sections for each manufacture

I'd choose the Colt because I like them better than Springfield. I have no idea why I like them better though.

That's pretty much what a Browning hi power is and it's about as right as right gets. If I wanted a 1911 style 9mm the high power would be my pick.
For the OP's original question; I would get the Springfield.
For a 1911 in 45 ACP the colt is my pick

X2

I ran a 9mm Colt Defender for 1000rnds. Only two failure to fires in the first hundred rounds, most likely ammo related.

EMP is my vote. No offense to the Colt but I love those EMPs

Emp

I like EMP's too.

I would go with the Colt personally

COLT

Gee, now you a solid and unified answer!

I can't offer an opinion because I only own 9's that are based on the CZ design.

Fo sure! Fellas, I sure do appreciate all the feedback. Price point is about the same on both. And I am leaning towards the Colt.