[Hands-On Review] Springfield 1911 TRP Operator 10mm

What’s the most exceptional caliber ever invented for a fighting handgun? 

Is it .45 ACP? .357 Magnum? 9mm? 

Nope, none of those. It’s the glorious 10mm—the rounds designed by both Jeff Cooper and Norma to be the ultimate handgun caliber. 

No debate needed, it’s the best–and my weird 10mm cult and I won’t ever let you forget it! 

Okay, okay, maybe I am a little full of hyperbole, but the 10mm is one helluva round.

It’s an excellent overall round for a variety of applications. It’s powerful, offers excellent penetration against soft and hard targets, and allows you to have a modern capacity in an automatic handgun. 

The 10mm is only as good as the gun it’s chambered in–and this 1911 is trying to get as good as it gets for a 10mm.

Today, we are looking at the Springfield 1911 TRP Operator 10mm. This 1911 sports a 6-inch barrel that gives it a very distinct profile and appearance. I’m not the biggest 1911 fan, but this one intrigues me. 

The Point of the Big Guy 

The 10mm TRP Operator Longslide is most certainly not a concealed carry gun.

It’s much too large for that role, and the big six-inch barrel would get awfully uncomfortable awfully fast. That’s not to say it couldn’t be a defensive weapon or a carry gun. 

It just depends on what you are defending yourself from and how you are carrying the gun.

The Operator Longslide is equipped with a rail, and you toss on a light and make your Operator a home defense weapon. 10mm is plenty potent and a very capable cartridge for a defensive weapon. 

In terms of carrying it, well, it would be an excellent woods gun or even a hunting pistol.

The 10mm is a strong, flat-shooting round that can take deer, hogs, coyotes, and more. In a defensive role, the 10mm has stopped bears before, and if you want a little protection for your hike or hunt, the 10mm TRP Operator Longslide is an excellent gun for that. 

A nice, long sight radius of the gun makes it easy to shoot with precision, and precision is a necessity for a humane kill while hunting. That extra barrel length allows you to squeeze out just a bit more velocity, and more velocity is always a good thing, too. 

There is an argument that this could be a good bowling pin gun. 

That argument is solely made by me since I still love shooting bowling pin competition. The longer barrel and precision ensure excellent accuracy, reasonable control, and the 10mm ensures the pins get knocked down. 

Range Time! 

I love shooting 10mms, and 1911s are admittedly kinda fun as well. This is a top of the line production gun that is packed with features. The 10mm TRP Operator Lonslide is a cannon and is certainly quite heavy. 

Heavy is good, heavy is reliable, and heavy ensures the recoil is low. This chunky sucker weighs 45 ounces total, and the forged frame and slide certainly aid in making the gun heavy. 

The TRP Operator Longslide’s 6-inch barrel is a stainless steel, match-grade model with a fully supported ramp and chamber. It’s designed to utilize some seriously powerful loads and to withstand the pressure they create. The Longslide is perfectly set up to handle the mighty 10mm. 

It comes outfitted with exceptionally aggressive G10 grips, including the front and backstrap. This aggressive grip keeps the gun in your hand when you are shooting those powerful loads. 

The better grip you have, the faster you make accurate follow up shots.

The TRP Operator Longslide is equipped with something called the Octogrip checkering, and I can say it works very well. Even with full-powered, hard cast lead, the gun does not try to wrestle its way out of your hands. 

Real 10mm rounds have some recoil to them, and the gun is designed to allow you to control them. The extended beavertail also allows for a nice high grip, and you can maximize your grip on the gun, as well as your control. 

The Operator has an ambidextrous safety that’s quite broad and very easy to engage.

I do like the very tactile and audible noise the safety makes, and it feels outstanding. I’m not a huge ambi safety guy on 1911s in general, but this is a well made and easy to use one. 

The grip of a 1911 has always been a strong point in its design. It’s slim and sleek, and the single stack design is quite comfortable. The Springfield is no different. 

It fils the hand and is quite comfortable. 10mm double stacks are quite rough for those with smaller hands, so a single stack model makes the round a bit more accessible. 

One thing I love is how smooth the slide feels when I rack the weapon. It glides like it’s on ball bearings. It’s superbly smooth, and while a silly thing in the grand scheme thing, it does deliver a lot of tactile satisfaction.

One downside to the long barrel is that it makes the gun feel very front heavy, and front heavy guns feel unbalanced. 

Accuracy for Days

The Operator is equipped with metal tritium night sights, and the rear sight is fully adjustable. This allows you to make fine adjustments to maximize your precision on target. The sights are honestly very well done and do make accurate shooting quite easy. 

They are night sights but have high visibility white inserts around the sights, which means they work well for both day and night scenarios. These sights are easy to acquire, and adjustments stick once made. 

As a single action, you expect a good trigger, and the 10mm TRP Operator gives you a great one. It’s quite crisp and very smooth with just a hair of pretravel. The wall is almost immediate and takes a hair of pressure to push past.

The combination of goods sights, a great trigger, and a long sight radius do wonders for accuracy. 

Hitting targets at 50 yards is actually quite easy—even somewhat small targets. I can easily hit the heart zone of a deer target at that range with a solid position. 

Ringing steel is also addictive at various ranges, and a good 10mm load makes a gong swing hard. It’s quite fun to see and hear. 

I used a mixture of ammo. This includes a lot of cheap Fiocchi loads that are more or less hopped-up 40 S&W loads. On top of that, I used a box of heavy-duty Buffalo Bore hard cast lead loads that are hopped-up 10mm loads. In the middle of those two, I fired one box of 10mm JHPs from SIG Sauer. 

SIG Sauers 180 grain loads are nice and hot, with 1250 fps, and are the closest I can find to a real 10mm load that’s widely available. 

Accuracy wise I saw the best from the SIG Sauer stuff. Reliability wise I had no issues with the gun going bang with every single round, and it never jammed or failed to extract and eject in any way.

My total round count is about 450 Fiocchi loads, and 20 rounds of Buffalo bore, and 20 rounds of SIG JHPs. 

Recoil was predictably based on what load I was using. The heavy loads hit harder in both directions. Regardless no round ever feels like the gun is difficult to control or painful. The grip texture does a good job of keeping your grip on the gun.

The SIG JHPs were actually pleasant in the gun and would be a great defensive load. The Fiocchis were pussy cats, and the Buffalo Bore was a thunderous round with some snap to it. The long barrel adds front weight, and that actually gives you some good leverage over the gun, and muzzle rise is very soft. 

I appreciate the guns 18.5-pound recoil spring, and the gun does use a G.I. style recoil system with a long slide plug. It comes together to be very reliable and forms a good shooting gun. I hesitate to say soft shooting, but it’s controllable and comfortable. 

Carrying It 

The Springfield 10mm TRP Operator Longslide is a massive gun.

It’s not shy about being long and tall, and heavy. You’ll need a good holster for it, and most 1911s won’t fit. 

Also, you ain’t gonna be concealing this bad boy anytime soon. It’s huge and would take a seriously dedicated concealed carrier, and even then, I wouldn’t know why you’d want to. 

I did find out that with a TLR-1 equipped, I can use my standard Omnivore holster. The TLR-1 needs to be positioned towards the front of the rail. The Omnivore encases the gun and supports it well. 

Looking for other handgun flashlights? Check out our top picks.

Also, plan for a good belt when you strap this thing on, ‘cause you’ll feel that 46 ounces of steel.

By the Numbers 

Reliability 5/5

The gun runs and runs well. It’s not picky when it comes to ammo or even general maintenance. I haven’t cleaned the thing yet, or even added oil. It doesn’t seem to mind, and if it doesn’t mind, neither do I. 

Accuracy 5/5

As far as traditional handguns go, this is as good as it gets. This thing steps outside of the normal handgun range and delivers very accurate performance. It is most certainly a gun accurate enough for hunting with. 

Ergonomics 3/5

The Springfield 10mm TRP Operator Longslide handgun has nice thin grips and an excellent beavertail. The downside is that the gun is quite heavy and is very front heavy. On top of that, I don’t like the poke I get from ambidextrous safeties. 

Looks 5/5

The Operator looks fantastic, and the Black T finish and green G10 grips go together very well. The sheer size of the weapon and its long slide makes it a helluva cool looking gun. It looks like it should be on the cover of a video game. 

Customization 3/5

It is 1911, so there are lots of options. However, as a long slide and a chambered in 100, so aftermarket shrinks a little bit compared to other 1911s. I really don’t see a need for must customization, and the gun is already a heavy hitter. 

Bang for your Buck 3/5

A $1,700 price tag is a hefty one to compete with. This is a specialized weapon that does fill a specific niche. It’s not for everyone, but it’s still a fantastic firearm, and I do see where the cost comes from. 

Overall Rating 4/5

The Springfield 10mm TRP Operator Longslide is a whole lotta gun to love, and it’s easy to love. It’s accurate, easy to handle, and fun to shoot. I’m also happy with good guns, but I fall in love with great ones. 

Conclusion

The Springfield 1911 TRP Operator in 10mm is a freaking sweet pistol. Springfield decked it out with features to ensure it was more than a longslide 10mm. Nice thin grips, ambi safety, rails, very usable sights, and reliability/accuracy. Not for concealed carry but perfect for home defense and even hunting.

They make it comfortable, good looking, accurate, and for a 10mm, it’s easy to shoot. I think they did an amazing job on the gun, and the TRP Operator Longslide is a slick shooting hand cannon. 

What do you folks think? I like it, but does it appeal to you? Also, who handgun hunts? If this big boy excites you, check out the Best 10mm 1911s! Or how about our review of 4 of the TRP .45 ACP versions?