On the way up to the lake today I took a little detour to the lgs Had a Cz PO7 or PO9 in mind unless the prices were crazy. No PO7 in stock but had a PO9 for sale suppressor ready for just north of $700. Man that’s a big gun! I know it’s 19 +1 but it was just to big to feel right. So I’m browsing around and come across a table with clearance stuff on it. Miscellaneous holsters optics and a couple handguns. One caught my eye and I picked it up. When I held that gun the angels sang. Looked at the tag and it’s a Kriss Sphnix compact for $699. I hate to admit I never heard of them.

It’s a heavy gun no poly in it and fit and finish looked great. It 10 +1 which was disappointing but I couldn’t get over how nice it felt in my hand. Being I never heard of them and the fact it was on the clearance table I wanted to do more research. I found Prefontaines and Tundras thread here and that was good enough for me. Called the lgs back and gave them a deposit and will pick it up next week.

Those threads are a few years old so do we know more about these guns now and what accessories are out there?

Run away. I've owned several Sphinx's and their chambers are ridiculously tight, so much so that not one would make it through a magazine without a FTF; this includes the AT-2000 series and the SDP. After market support sucks. Read the previous SF threads and you'll see similar comments by others, but I'm usually the first in the breach with a warning. Needless to say, I no longer own or will touch a Sphinx.

Thanks for the response Dakor. I got a little enthusiastic. I’ve since been doing more research and have read some not so great reviews but still some good reviews as well. Cancelled the deposit for now. Wait and see if I can score a Po 7 somewhere along the way.

Forget the fake Sphinx pistols made by Kriss, check out the new guns coming from Switzerland, Phoenix Swiss.

Couple years ago I demo'ed a P229 Legion 9mm and subsequently lusted for one. Some time after that, I came across a used Sphinx SDP Compact Duty. It's full metal construction and equivalent to a Carry size pistol, i.e., compact slide + full-size grip. After buying & shooting the Sphinx, I forgot all about the Legion.

Of all my DA/SA guns, I shoot my Sphinx the best. My marksmanship is nothing to write home about, but the Sphinx makes me look good.

The DA pull is heavier than most guns. This can be lightened w/ a $20 aftermarket hammer spring, though I haven't done that yet. The feel of the pull isn't gritty, but it does have friction. It feels like roller bearings that don't have enough grease on them. The SA feels excellent, crisp, and has short reset.

I've never shot any of the CZ Shadows, but I have Beretta 92G Elite LTT Compact. The Langdon trigger on that is the best DA/SA trigger I've ever used, but I still shoot the Sphinx better than the Beretta, even though the DA pull on the Sphinx is twice as heavy.

Based on my ownership experience, I am biased in favor of Sphinx. I agree w/ Dakor though that aftermarket support is very small, even if you just want different sights. From what I've read, Kriss & Sphinx are very weak in customer service, so if you end up w/ dud, I wouldn't expect a lot of help from them.

My recommendation is to see if you can shoot the Sphinx you found before buying or get 24 hrs to return/restock - something where you can shoot it to see if it's a dud.

As someone who owns/has owned a lot of Sigs & CZs, the Sphinx is one of my favorite guns. I don't ever plan on getting rid of mine. Also, $700 is a lot for a P-09. You should be able to get a SP-01 Tactical for $700.

quote:

Originally posted by Speedwobble:
Forget the fake Sphinx pistols made by Kriss, check out the new guns coming from Switzerland, Phoenix Swiss.

My understanding is that Kriss bought Sphinx, so there are some SDPs that were made in Switzerland and some made in USA. There's nothing fake about the ones made in Switzerland.

I heard about and am interested in Phoenix AG but haven't seen them at any stores physically or online yet.

This particular one is made in Switzerland. I researched these quite a bit yesterday. There’s no shortage of reviews either way. I read the DA pull is god awful while others were more kind about the DA. One guy had it on a scale at 12lbs. That’s heavy. They did let me dry fire it and I was surprised at the DA pull but at the same time felt I could get used to it. The SA was awesome though.

From what I read Cajun Gun Works used to do trigger jobs on the Sphnix but stop doing so because the disassembly of the gun was so difficult. But like I said in my first post when I held that gun the angels sang I don’t think any other gun felt that good in my hand and that got me pretty enthusiastic. I’m surprised I left without it actually but think overall now in hindsight I’m probably glad I did. The lack of aftermarket accessories and customer support are certainly negatives.

This particular lgs is known for high prices at anytime but there’s not much competition for him locally. That CZ PO9 was about a hundred over msrp. Love the capacity of that gun but with capacity comes size and that gun was a handful and then some. I might go back there in a week see if I can shoot the Sphnix. If it cycles fine for a couple mag dumps I might take a chance on it if he’d go $650 on it. Thanks for the input gents.

I’ve always wanted one. I’ve heard mostly good reviews. I guess I better research a little more. They are going for around $875 around here if you can even find one.

Minor thread drift, but I was looking that the Phoenix Redback mentioned above and I found several models with Aluminum slides. What other guns have alloy slides? All of the ones I've owned have been either carbon or stainless steel.

I've had 2 of them.
One was the full stainless model and the other is a Steel/Aluminum/polymer version.
I have since sold the full Stainless version. I regret selling it.
Both are absolute tack drivers.
Yes.... they are fitted tight.
But unlike many who buy one, take it straight to the range and shoot it bone dry, I lubricated mine first.
Both were 100% reliable and made my CZ-75b feel lonely and unwanted.

The triggers on both guns came in at around 10 lbs DA and in the 4+ lb. range single action. Just about what I would expect from a self defense pistol. Both were smooth and were noticeably better overall than stock CZ/CZ clones I've shot/handled.
I remember several years back, folks were bitching because they didn't come with a 6 or 7 lbs. DA pull.
These guns were marketed as Self Defense pistols, not target guns.

I have the Swiss-made Subcompact Alpha in 9mm. It is my favorite smaller pistol. Very accurate and absolutely reliable. First 200 hundred rounds were tight (like a new Les Baer or Ed Brown, as the machining is so precise) and after break-in it shoots like a dream. Never one mis-fire or jam in about 2500 rounds so far. Very high quality manufacturing. I will never sell it.

https://www.recoilweb.com/prev...ubcompact-62725.html

Ugh I’m really torn on this gun. I gave Kriss a call to give CS a little test. Told them I seen it at a gun store and the owner knew very little about it and I knew less than that. I gave them the model and serial number and asked them to tell me about the gun. The gal said sure but rather than have me hold she would call me back. So hung up and I thought let’s see if and what I hear back. Half hour later she calls back. It’s the SDP Compact Alpha steel slide and aluminum frame with a 10 round capacity frame. Comes with two rubber grips a speed loader and a cleaning kit. Made in Switzerland. So at least they called me back and much sooner than I expected with a please don’t hesitate to call with anymore questions.

I wonder if Prefontaine and Tundra are as still enamored with them as they were several years ago?

I have a Swiss Made SDP, steel, and I've had CGWs do work on the trigger. Its one of my most accurate guns. Its a heavy carry piece, so it doesn't get carried. There are very few places that have parts for them. Every once in a while I find some 15 or 17 round mags still sold. I have extra parts.
The new version, the Sphinx 3000, is selling for $4,800 because it has a straight trigger (and its 45ACP/SAO). Trigger pull is 3.5lbs on the scale.

There is also a new Phoenix edition that is not Kriss owned, also very expensive.

I like the model, love the way it shoots in SA

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
It’s the SDP Compact Alpha steel slide and aluminum frame with a 10 round capacity frame.

Unless I'm mistaken, Alpha indicates a model w/ combination aluminum alloy and polymer frame. The all-metal frame models are IMO more desirable and definitely more expensive, which is why I was surprised to read in your intial post that the LGS had the all-metal frame model for only $699.

Around the end of last year, I did see some places online clearing out Alpha models NIB for around $650.

Thanks Iron Chef perhaps she misinformed me or I misunderstood. We were talking over each other at times so chances are I misunderstood. Thanks for clearing it up.

It isn’t a steal but given the current demand, surely you can buy it and shoot it. If it turns out to be a dud, you can get enough out of it so it is basically a rental fee.

Cajun gun works quit working on them because Kriss fucked them around. Nothing to do with disassembly. Kriss didn’t want to sell CGW parts, and that’s all I should say about that.

The Swiss versions are phenomenal. Kriss, not so much. I had 4 of them, 2 compacts and 2 subcompacts and a shit ton of magazines. They are high quality pistols. I just lost faith in Kriss.

It’s not the Swiss that f*ed up Sphinx, but that terrible company Kriss.
The Swiss guns are excellent. I own a few, including the newly made Phoenix Redback, which is a class of it’s own.

I purchased a new Sphinx SDP Carry model a couple of years ago and it's been flawless in operation. The DA trigger is a little heavy, but SA is a dream.
In my opinion the Sphinx is one of the better firearms out there today, although is remains one of the least known about brands out there. IMO Kriss is making a mistake by not promoting this model more, but from what I've been told, Kriss is investing most of their manufacturing capacity to the Kriss Vector which is one of their best sellers.
With so many firearm offerings out there today it's hard to make a decision, but to me the Sphinx is one of the best.

Just thought I would bring this full circle. I ended up ordering a CZ PO7 from Scheels. They had one in stock for $479.00 and I had a gift card that still had like $260 on it so a no brainer. I was shocked to find a PO7 in stock! The Scheels is about a two hour drive for me so I'm going to pay shipping and a $25 transfer fee at my FFL so out the door it will run me about $325. NICS checks are backed up so I didn't want to make the drive and then have to drive back again the next day when the NICS check goes through. Don't have time for that.

I did however go back the the lgs and planned on leaving with that Sphinx. This was before I knew about the PO7. It was still there on the clearance table at $699. Told the guy it's a bit of a obscure gun and their are very mixed reviews and I was hesitant to drop $700 and asked if he had a little room on it to sway me. He laughed and put three guns on the counter and said if I bought all three he'd knock five bucks off the total. Jackass.

The CZ is a sure thing and I'm happier knowing I didn't give the lgs jackass any money. Looking forward to getting the CZ and putting some rounds through it.