New Sphinx Alpha Subcompact 9mm

[SynapticSilence]

Just picked up one of the new Sphinx Alpha Subcompact 9mm pistols. Best I could describe it is that a CZ P-01 married a Sig P229 and had a baby delivered in Switzerland. Just a gorgeous pistol with the singular Sphinx design of a steel slide that rides inside the frame like a CZ, aluminum upper frame with full length rails, and polymer grip/trigger guard like an STI 2011. Fit and finish is the best I've had on any pistol before. DA trigger is smooth and easy from the decocked half/cocked position. SA trigger is crisp and light, prob around 3.5 or 4 lbs. Capacity is 13+1. Also comes with an internal recoil buffer in the frame. I'll have a range report soon. Technical specs are here (<broken link removed> ). Pics below.

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[No_Regerts]

Spendy?

 

[cmica]

Spendy?

that's what I was wondering.

 

[B5Ben]

Listed on GB for $800-$1k. Would like to play with one though.

 

[SynapticSilence]

Got it on Budsgunshop for $830 before tax/fees. So yep. Spendy. After I bought this one, the remaining subcompacts went up to $865.

 

[Blackcobra]

I have been looking at these for a while - never even seen one in person. Looking forward to the range report!

 

[SynapticSilence]

Probably be taking it Friday or this weekend up to Wolverton Mountain. I'll post the results after I do. I'm a bit rusty. Haven't shot for about 4 months since my knee replacement in December. I'm hoping the gun makes me look good.

 

[45 for me]

Hyundai Genesis?

 

[asiparks]

trying to get an idea of the size, looks small for a 13+1...can you post pics of it it alongside another pistol ?

 

[Blackcobra]

And, are you ready to sell it?

 

[SynapticSilence]

Well, maybe after it comes back from the factory. Took it out and tried six different ammo types (FMJ and JHP). Managed to get a few initial rounds out of it, but subsequent rounds would lock the pistol up out of battery with the bullet stuck so tight in the rifling I couldn't even rack the slide manually to eject it. The only thing that worked were Hornady Critical Defense with the very pointy (no shoulder) 115 gr FTX bullets. Clearly either a very short chamber but most likely improperly milled/throated barrel. It was locked up so tight I had to tap the front of the slide back with a nylon head hammer to get the bullet free of the rifling and eject the round. Not a fun thing to do with a live round sitting in the chamber. So, I am NOT happy. This is a $800 plus pistol we're talking about. Kriss Arms (USA importer) was great about it and promised to make it good with an RMA and shipping both ways. But if this isn't an anomaly, they're going to have a bunch of ticked off owners. My gut says it's a fluke since the rest of the pistol is so well machined and finished, but we'll see. I actually had a similar experience with a Sig C3 1911 that wouldn't feed anything and Sig turned it into an amazingly reliable gun. So...I'll be back with an update once I send it in tomorrow. Turn around time is supposedly three weeks since they're moving into a new facility. Guess I'll have to shoot something else in the meantime. Stuff happens.

 

[ripcity]

It can be frustrating to have a gun do that, especially one that costs as much as that one did. But I'm sure it will come back and be perfect.

 

[Blackcobra]

Sorry to hear that - disappointing, for sure. Let us know how it works out; I have a feeling they are going to make it right.

 

[SynapticSilence]

Me, too. I haven't heard anything bad about them since they came out. I've been lucky for the most part. I did buy a brand new S&W 686 Plus Pro .357 once whose cylinder locked up tight as a drum the first time I shot it with a cocked hammer and a round underneath it that took me almost an hour of fiddling to get it to unlock and drop the hammer safely. Turned out it wasn't anything I did, but the gun cooling off that did it. S&W looked at it and said the frame was out of specs so that when it heated up, the case heads didn't have enough room to rotate through the frame. Got a new one out of that. Kriss and Sphinx are both class companies, so I'm sure I'll get what I wanted eventually. The few rounds I did get off went right where they should have and the ergonomics are great, so I'm still looking forward to shooting it. Lifetime warranty, by the way.

 

[Clarkston_cz]

Hi, any update?

I might wait until guys buy them, add some Nites, and then sell them off as they gravitiate

to the Glock 43 like a whole bunch are doing right now.

The Sub-Compact would give me a somewhat lighter gun thanmy RAMI,
and even lighter if I could use 9-shot RAMI mags.

 

[SynapticSilence]

Still at Kriss for repair. Hope to have it back in a week or so, but they just moved into a new facility and things got a bit backed up. I'm sure they'll make it right. I've bought a couple of even pricier guns that had problems out of the box but ended up fine.

 

[SynapticSilence]

I already have the new improved version of the Glock 43, by the way. It's called a Walther PPS.

 

[Blackcobra]

Still at Kriss for repair. Hope to have it back in a week or so, but they just moved into a new facility and things got a bit backed up. I'm sure they'll make it right. I've bought a couple of even pricier guns that had problems out of the box but ended up fine.

You ever get that thing back?

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

I just see an expensive bersa pro carry.

 

[SynapticSilence]

Yep. So here's the scoop. At present, whereas before it would lock up tight with almost everything when the bullet jammed into the rifling, the only ammo it won't feed now is Winchester White Box. Everything else I've tried in it seems to cycle fine. Balance and accuracy is great, especially for a subcompact. Both the double action and single action is exceptional, and the machining is great. Is it worth what I paid for it? I'd have to say no, not when there are so many exceptional guns out there. I just bought a Lionheart LH9 and LH9C, each of which cost $200 less than I paid for the Sphinx, and they're just exceptional firearms I'd rank well above the Sphinx. The LH9/LH9C are improved versions of the Korean made K5 that's been in service with the Korean army for 20 years and was imported for a while in the 90s as the Daewoo DP51. Forged slide and frame, forged match grade barrel, superb factory Cerakote job, good sights, great ergonomics, etc. I'm going to hang on to the Sphinx for a while and see if it doesn't grow on me. If not, someone will get a pretty darned good deal since I'll have to sell it with full disclosure of its history. You live, you learn. And I've since found at least one review of someone who had exactly the same problems I had, so it wasn't just a single production error. I'm really surprised Kriss USA hasn't issued some sort of advisory or recall yet, probably because the subcompacts are the newest to the market. I haven't heard anything yet about the compact having any problems. As to the comment about it being an expensive Bersa pro carry, I had a Bersa Ultra Compact Pro 9mm as one of my first guns. It actually was an amazingly good pistol for what it was. That said, it's not a fair comparison. The best comparisons would probably be the newer version of the CZ P07 or maybe the HK P30SK. If I had it to do over, I would have just bought one of those and saved myself a considerable amount of cash and not lost much in the bargain.