The New TRP Carry Contour AOS Pistol from Springfield Armory

The 1911 just keeps getting better!

June 25, 2025 By Patrick Sweeney

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Springfield TRP Origins

The TRP grew out of the FBI requirement for a pistol for their SWAT teams. That was back in the 1990’s, and the result was a pistol that had all the hallmarks, and the good stuff, of the era. Springfield Armory is not a group to let the grass grow under their feet, so the TRP has evolved since then. And boy, is it ever a great 1911. With the extras just added, it is even greater.

The basic (as if there is such a thing) TRP is a single stack 1911A1-based pistol, with cocking serrations fore and aft, and a rounded-top but grooved slide. The grooves down the centerline aid in acquiring the front sight, and those sights have a tritium front cell on the blade, and the Springfield Armory U-notch steel sight on the rear. The thumb safety is an ambi, the frontstrap is checkered, and the frame has an accessory rail on it. The rail extends back onto the frame past the join of the dust cover to the frame and adds support to the slide stop pin.

That’s where the barrel bears when it locks up, so more is better. It is also overlapping the point where high-mileage (50,000 rounds or more, often much more) frames can crack, where the dust cover meets. With the extra metal there, that should not be a problem. The grips are aggressively machined G10, and if you find them slippery you really need to see a doctor, because your hands can’t be that wet and still be healthy. But wait, the TRP is now more.

Modern Upgrades

Right side view of TRP — The TRP showing the ambi safety, frame rail and the very sharp-looking FDE Cerakote finish. (Photo provided by author.)

Now the upper rear of the slide has the Springfield Armory AOS (Agency Optic System) so you can mount a red-dot optic there if you wish. When it became readily apparent that a red dot could actually survive riding on a slide, the gathered multitudes had to have it. (For many years before then, we used frame-mounted systems to attach a red-dot to our pistols. This was a competition-only approach.) However, this meant, in the early days (not that long ago, really) that every 9mm striker-fired pistol got some sort of extra work first so it could accept a red-dot optic. The 1911 was not first in line to get that treatment. But Springfield Armory, working with Agency Arms, has figured out how to manage that and now we have the AOS for many 1911s in the Springfield Armory lineup. Well, now there are eight more TRP pistols that can be had with the AOS, ready for the red dot of your choice, including this one.

Rear sight and optic plate — Now with AOS, the TRP is even better. Add in the light-weight frame, compact size and ambi controls and you have an excellent daily carry pistol. (Photo provided by author.)

The TRP pistol that arrived here came with a four-pack of adapter plates so I could mount the red-dot of my choice on it. (That’s what diligent gun writers get. Well, at least until I have to send it back.) The regular TRP will come to you with the cover plate and its sight installed, as well as a coupon to purchase the mounting plate of your choice, a coupon for a plate at a discount. Instead of $129, the discounted price will be $49. (Don’t lose the coupon code.) Now, most of you who want to mount a sight will already have your favorite. Or the recommended one the best shooter in your club uses. So, you need that one plate.

Us grubby scribes have a shelf of sights and rotate through the inventory. (Don’t hate us.) So that’s why the clever people at Springfield Armory sent me all four plates. I used it to mount a Defender-ST for some of the testing, using plate number A15B. Yep, it works, just as you’d expect a red-dot optic to work, and the mounting plate also has a built-in iron sight just in case the battery died. However, I had a match coming up that would require iron sights only, so I took advantage of the clever aspect of the Springfield AOS. That is, I swapped the Iron-sight plate and the Defender-ST back and forth as testing and practice required. And didn’t lose my zero at any time. That’s why you go Springfield Armory, and you go AOS where it can be had.

Plates for TRP CC — For the review, Springfield Armory sent all four mounting plates, just in case. You’ll get a coupon for a discount to buy the one you need. (Photo provided by author.)

Now this particular TRP is the Carry Contour model, meaning it has all the other TRP details, plus more, but minus one. So, it has the ambi safety and dual cocking serrations of the other TRPs. It has the slide top grooves front to back, to line up the sights. It has the Gen 2 speed trigger, 20 LPI checkering on the frontstrap and VZ Grips Hydra grips. Back in the old days we’d slave over checkering, trying to make the tiny pyramids line up in a semblance of regularity. Springfield Armory produces them with precision. The VZ Grips Hydra pattern starts out with G10 scales and then they are machined with an aggressive set of depressions. Except for the left side, where there’s a groove leading to the magazine button, to make reloads faster and easier. G10? A synthetic material that is tougher than a two-dollar steak and impervious to all known solvents, including New Jersey tap water.

Front strap checkering of TRP — The frontstrap has 20 LPI checkering, aggressive and ready to keep the TRP from slipping. (Photo provided by author.)

Now, the TRP CC also has some extra features, at least in some models, but they have to give up one of the features of the regular TRP and that is the two-piece magazine well funnel. You see, the frame of the TRP CC in the 4.25" barrel models is made of aluminum to shave some weight off. And the mainspring housing is machined to a new curve, bobbed is the term, to make it a bit easier to carry in your daily routine. The bottom of the frame can’t accommodate the two-piece mag well funnel, but Springfield Armory does bevel the edges of the mag well opening to make reloads easier. That is the nature of life: to get something you often have to give up something. If you want the Carry Contour, you can’t have the two-piece funnel. The bobbed frame provides a surface at an angle to your clothing that reduces the likelihood of your jacket, whatever, of catching and “printing” when you are carrying concealed. Light weight and easier to keep concealed? Sign me up.

Back strap with bobtail mainspring housing — The Carry Contour cut on the main-spring housing. This reduces the chance of the TRP printing when you are doing your daily carry tasks. (Photo provided by author.)

So, we have a lightweight, compact, single stack 1911 that can have a red-dot optic mounted or be left with iron sights. How can it get better? 9mm. (A little, historic, bit of me winced when I wrote that.) Yes, a single-stack 1911 in 9mm, with a barrel three-quarters of an inch shorter than government size. Oh, and the 9mm barrel is integrally-barreled, that is the feed ramp is not part frame, part barrel. It is one piece, extending down below the pickup point of the cartridge nose (that aids reliable feeding) and at an angle to allow for complete case support. So, should you decide that the suitable carry ammo for you is something in the +P range the 9mm TRP CC AOS barrel will give the case all the support that any case can be given in a pistol.

To help in that, Springfield armory includes three magazines with the 9mm TRP CC AOS. That means you can walk out the door in classic style: pistol, loaded, and two spare magazines. For a total of 28 rounds of 9mm emergency-addressing rounds at your disposal, and the magazines are already drilled for you to bolt on a base pad if you wish. That was another classic step we took, to make reloads faster. No, they aren’t there to soften the drop (but they can, and do, sometimes) but the old nickname of “slam pads” should make it clear. So, go retro and attach some pads to your magazines.

As a daily carry item, the commander-size in the lightweight version was what we all asked for back in the day. In fact, the day I could shelve the all-steel government model I had been carrying and slip on the lightweight was joyous. That one was in .45 ACP, which wasn’t all that much fun to shoot. (however, it was easy enough to shoot that it earned me an E ticket at Gunsite), but today the world is a 9mm world, and the TRP CC is ready for that. I tested it with some zippy 9mm loads, and despite the lighter-than-steel weight, the recoil was easy. Not like nothing, but nothing like a .45 (Which you can have in a TRP CC, should you wish, even an AOS. Springfield Armory is nothing if not accommodating.)

Disassembled TRP CC — The TRP CC disassembled for cleaning.(Photo provided by author.)

You might look at the trigger pull weight and think to yourself “I want something lighter.” Perhaps you do, and perhaps you don’t. Were I using the TRP CC AOS solely as a competition pistol, yes, I’d want something lighter, but as a daily carry pistol, having a clean trigger pull of that weight is not a hindrance. In fact, it is an asset. Cold weather, nerves, tension, all work to make your fingers less sensitive, and having a bit more weight on the trigger is not a bad thing there. As long as it is clean, and this one is. (In fact, all Springfield’s are, as I think back over the many I’d tested.) If you really have to have something a bit lighter, tuning a half-pound or so off of it is a simple task for any competent pistolsmith.

The TRP comes in two colors, not counting the California compliant version (stainless, that one is) where your choices are Cerakote in Black, or Cerakote in FDE. With each you get matching-color VZ grips Hydra grips, and on the FDE versions the sights and small parts are black. Now, I’m not a make-it-colorful kinda guy. I just recently admitted to liking nickeled guns, and stainless was okay as long as it wasn’t buffed up. Hard chrome was cool, but that was the fashion when I started IPSC competition back when the late Jimmy Carter was President, but I have to say that I’m really liking the looks of this TRP in Cerakote FDE. The contrasting black parts, and the really effective VZ Grips Hydra grips also add to the effect.

Target showing TRP accuracy with WC ammo — Using XTP bullets the Wilson Combat load was brilliant for accuracy. (Photo provided by author.)

Accuracy? Reliability? Really, you have to ask? Alright, I had no problems usually keeping all my shots on or touching the two-inch pasters I use as aiming dots, except for the group photo. (You can see why I wanted to use the TRP CC AOS as a practice pistol for the upcoming match.) It worked with all ammunition, and I would have been more than surprised had it malfunctioned. In fact, had it, I would have phoned Springfield Armory right there on the range to find out what was up. That didn’t happen, nor do I expect it to, ever.

Pistol in DeSantis holster — The DeSantis holster holds the TRP CC securely and has clearance for the Defender-ST optic. Adjust the tension as you feel the need. (Photo provided by author.)

For a holster I went to the holster shelves and found a perfect setup: DeSantis Cazzuto. This is an OWB kydex holster with tension adjustments. It comes as a paddle holster, so there is a hooked flap on the back that catches on your belt when you properly insert it between belt and trousers. If that isn’t your thing, it comes with an adapter to make it a belt mount. It is cant adjustable, and it is cut to accept pistols that have optics mounted. So, the perfect combo to go with the TRP.