Stopped by one of my local shops that always seem to have police surplus/ guns sold by the government, and my eye immediately went to a gun on the bottom shelf. I recognized the Cz looking shape and sure enough it was a Springfield P9! (These photos are after cleaning)

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Looks like this gun was in evidence of something and I guess the government that had it sold it after a while.

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Exterior looked ok but when I broke it down, a fair amount of surface rust.

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That all cleaned up relatively easy though
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One thing I did notice is that it appears the firing pin block is missing.

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I’ll eventually source one, but I plan to take it to the range tomorrow to put some rounds through it.

I’m stoked that I found it!

Were they imported CZ75’s with the Springfield name, or made in the US.

They were made by Tanfoglio.

I’m not sure If completely made in Italy by them or if Springfield purchased the major components and finished the guns in IL.

There is no Italian or tanfo markings anywhere on it.

One thing that should help you, if you didn't know already, the P9 is a Tanfoglio pistol, the earlier frame design, also brought in as the TZ-75, TA-90 and the first generation EAA Witness. So, you should be able to get that block easily! Nice find!

Are you sure that it ever had a firing pin block?

I've got a P9 from way back and I don't think mine has one either.

I've not shot it since 1990something (when I switched to a STI 2011) as my P9 was an open gun in IPSC and it was kind of chewed up and worn out.

I guess I kind of assumed since there is a big gaping hole there

I'm not saying that some models didn't have the block in place.

I think mine has the same hole.  Am I going to have to go get mine out of the back of the safe and look?

When I get home I’ll take a look at the seat cage to see if there is a corresponding “lifter” to engage the FPB

The trigger will be better without the FP Block.

My gun had already been converted to open use with a comp and scope along with a very light trigger so if it had a block, it could have been removed.

I probably have the parts you are looking for.

I looked thru my pile, I do indeed have the parts.  If you want a competition firing pin, I have those too...

Cool... you have the super rare P9 shadow!

Well it seems you are right. There is no lever to engage the FPB, so if one were installed, it wouldn’t be able to be disengaged. I compared it against my sp-01  which does have the FPB and mechanism on the sear cage

I'm glad I could be helpful and that my memory was right considering it was so long ago that I last saw the inside of my P9.

I wanted one of these desperately in the early 1990s. Sadly, they were rarer than an honest politician.

I've still never seen one in person.  

Damn, that's pretty! Do they make that in 10mm?

Springfield didn’t as far as I’m aware but I know Tanfo did/does

OP, what gun shop?  Neat, didn't know SA had imported a CZ clone.

GT Distributors in Dallas

Can someone fill me in on the appeal of these? Are they better than a 75 in any way? Or just cause they are something rare and somewhat exotic?

The CZ was not available in the days of the Iron Curtain.  So the Tanfo clones filled the need.  These were the new “wonder nines” back in the day for sport shooting/open division etc.

And they were great in open but you'd keep bending slide stops from the hot loads.  I had a bag of them and when they had to be pounded out I'd put in a new one.

The other problem was eventually the locking lugs on the top of the barrel would chew up the locking lugs on the inside of the slide and you'd have to replace both slide and barrel.  After the second time I switched to a 2011.

Of the Tanfoglio CZ-75 clones, the Springfield P9 was probably the best of them.
Tanfoglio supplied the parts and Springfield assembled and finished them.

Another clone was at Action Arms AT-84 which while it was stamped "Made in Switzerland" it was made from parts supplied by Tanfoglio.
I had one that was a jammer and even Action Arms gave up on trying to correct it.
I sold it and bought a Springfield P9 and was very happy.

The firing pin block in the Tanfoglio guns operates when the trigger is pulled and the sear block is rotated upward.
The lobe on the right side of the sear pushes the firing pin lock UPWARD and unlocks the firing pin.
All you need to do is install a new block and spring and it will function correctly.
My Springfield P9 did not have a firing pin lock and NO hole in the slide for one.  I'd guess someone removed the firing pin lock from yours.

I have a true stainless steel EAA Witness Tanfoglio in .45 I bought in the early 90's.
The slide and frame are stainless, barrel and all other parts are carbon.  EAA only imported a real stainless version for a couple of years.
Unfortunately, both the frame and slide are castings and rather porous and not as well cast as Tanfoglio carbon steel guns are.

I always liked the clones of the CZ-75 and recently I found the one I always wanted..... a stainless steel 9mm that is higher quality then the Tanfoglio versions.
I bought a Turkish Sarsilmaz SAR 2000ST.  This is a clone of the Tanfoglio clone, which is a clone of the CZ.
Quality is just astounding, with NO machine marks anywhere, inside or out.
The slide and frame are forged CNC machined, the barrel is stainless hammer forged and finished inside and out in a mirror finish.
Quality puts it as a Best Buy for cost-value, and having been inside a number of Tanfoligo guns and a few CZ guns, the SAR is far better finished with none of the machine marks of the others.
For quality of manufacture it outstrips the Springfield P9 easily.

@dfariswheel

What is interesting though is that on the Sear cage fore P9, there is no lobe to interface with a FPB.  Nothing moves up when you start to manipulate the trigger

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As compared to my SP-01 which has a very prominent Lobe


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You're looking the wrong way.
Look at the sear lob IN FRONT of the arrow you drew on the P9 picture.
When the trigger is pulled the sear rotates upward and that lob on the sear is what contacts and pushes the firing pin lock upward.

Just hold the hammer back and pull the trigger,  Notice that the sear will rotate and the lob moves up.

CZ used an entirely different design than the Tanfoglio system.

I promise I’m not trying to be dense, but nothing moves upwards when I pull the trigger.

[youtube]shorts/1QEMfUXqagg?feature=share[/youtube]

Shot you a DM

So per our DM convo… it appears I already have a competition firing pin?  No flat spots to interface with a FPB

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This is what the firing pin looks like that works with the FPB.

If you posted a link to a video I can't seem to see it.

I'm not sure what you have going on but that part is the sear.
When the trigger is pulled the trigger bar pushes under the sear and causes it to rotate upward to release the hammer.
At the same time the lobe on the right side presses the firing pin lock upward into the slide and unlocks the firing pin.

Try holding the cocked hammer in place and pull the trigger until the hammer releases.....the sear has to rotate, rising up on the front and down on the rear under the ejector block to release the hammer.

Either you got a P9 that shipped without a firing pin lock in place and a non-lock firing pin, or someone replaced the firing pin and removed the lock and spring.
As I said, my later 1980's P9 had no firing pin lock and no hole in the slide.

Trying to post the link to the video again

https://youtube.com/shorts/1QEMfUXqagg?feature=share

DUMB ASS, STUPID MISTAKE BY ME.

I had a brain fart.
I just looked at my SAR 2000 CZ-75 clone to refresh my fading mind.
I just somehow got it backward.........

When the trigger is pulled the sear rotates DOWNWARD.  The lobe on the right moves DOWNWARD.
This allows the firing pin block to move DOWN, out of the slide and unlock the firing pin.
Obviously I was thinking of a different gun, probably my Kahr Arms K9 or my Series 80 Colt 1911.  Most autos seem to operate by pushing the firing pin lock UPWARD.

The Tanfoglio clones have the firing pin locked until the trigger is pulled and the firing pin block is free to be pushed down by the block spring.
This is why removing the firing pin lock doesn't so much for improving the trigger pull.....It's not pushing the lock up, it's allowing it to move down so there's no real tension on the trigger action.

Business wise there would be no advantage to a sear cage made differently.

I have a Solothurn assembled AT-84 and it’s been a super reliable pistol.  It’s a close clone of the pre-B CZ-75 with some minor detail and cosmetic  differences.  Although the barrels will interchange there are enough fitting differences that the slides won’t interchange.

Based on the Springfield P9S I have seen I would not rate the P9 higher in quality.  But like them or not, the AT-84s now bring serious money at auction.

The AT-84S guns were made using Tanfo parts.

The very early ITM AT-84 guns were CZ pre B parts assembled in Solothurn.

I love my Tanfoglio pistols.