New Sphinx Alpha Subcompact 9mm

[Clarkston_cz]

Hey buddy.

I would be all over a Alpha sub-compact to replace my almost 13 year old RAMI,
but the Sphinx weighs as much or more.

I really don't need 13 rounds of 9mm aboard as 9 have been fine for over a decade of carry.

The Alpha is on the same CZ75 platform that I've grown to love for over 25 years,
and no doubt a high quality piece, but still a bit heavy for me to carry with my bad
back.

My vote was for both the XD-S and the Glock 43 over the Alpha.

The fact that it was ran with most any load except one..tells me that it might
be a gun that you have to work on load experimentation.

My old (gorgeous) 75 Stainless ran everything except alum cased Blazer.

I shoot mostly Blazer Brass (made a mile from my house) and Remington
hardball if I can find it.

I'm partial to S&B if I want imported ammo.

 

[SynapticSilence]

I've had my share of CZ and CZ clones over the years and they're great guns, especially the ones coming out of Turkey at ridiculously low prices these days. This was a very expensive impulse buy, something I don't usually do. I think it will probably turn out to be a nice pistol, but not until I've put a whole bunch of rounds through it and settle on a personal defense round I know will work. Just wasn't expecting this from a gun as highly touted as a Sphinx. I've put it away in my safe where I don't have to look at it and get mad. Eventually I'll make friends with it again.

 

[Clarkston_cz]

Kind of like with my PPS. An impulse buy that I truly regret.

I'd always been curious about them, and just had to try one out.

Slim. light and accurate once you get the rythym of the trigger.

Extra Mags, 3 holsters, and 2 weeks into carrying it.

I just couldn't adjust to the paddle mag release.

PPS prices are lower than ever..
even if the cheap ones only get one mag in the box. Mine
came with two in the box..

An somewhat expensive lesson for me.
I'll have to wait and sell it when prices climb back up after summer.

Anyhow, best of luck with your Alpha.

 

[SynapticSilence]

Just the opposite for me. I have a PPS that's been my primary carry gun for about two years. For some reason, the paddle mag releases just didn't bother me a bit. That's probably because I have a Walther P99 AS with the paddle mag releases and got to where I actually prefer them. In fact, I bought a Walther PPQ Mod 2 (with the conventional push button mag release) and got rid of it for that reason. Just liked the paddle releases better. I think we all have our preferences and what works well for us. Same goes for wives. I traded the first one in and am infinitely happier with the second one, even though people told me I was crazy for going from having no kids after 20 years of marriage to instantly inheriting three of them aged 10, 12, and 14. Turned out to be the best decision of my life. I just think of them as paddle mag releases.

 

[Clarkston_cz]

Lo, I think if I was trained on the Walther/H&K mag release early on, it would be
PPS is the best carry gun (for me) ever!

Sadly, even hough I adore the quality, and everything about shooting it.

When it come o reloading it, I would be fumbling in the dark.

There are some cool Euro type heel release guns on the market as well.
I would think of them as guns for backup or deep cover that I would
not carry a spare mag for.

Enjoy your sweet PPS, because for most folks they are perfect.

 

[Blackcobra]

Sorry to hear about that

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.

Bubblegum - sorry to hear that it isn't quite as it should be. Do you think it will loosen up with some more rounds through it?

I had an LH9C - great gun, just didn't care for the "triple' action mechanism. They sure are handsome firearms, though.

If you decide to get rid of the Sphinx, give me a crack at it; I can probably find something in trade that you may want.

 

[SynapticSilence]

Will do. It may very well be one of those guns you need to run a ton of ammo through before the tolerances loosen up. As it is now, I've been so busy the past month or so I haven't had enough time or motivation to get to the range. It shows, too. Last time I was there I swear the bullets were curving away from where I was shooting them. It does run reliably with far more ammo types than it did. It may just be a picky eater. That's fine, as long as I have enough rounds through it to know for certain which ones work 100 percent. My normal 9mm rounds of choice are Federal 124 gr Hydra Shok or Speer Gold Dot 124 gr +P. I didn't have but a box of each the last time I was out with it and it seemed to run them fine. So right now I'm just taking a break from it long enough to be objective in critiquing it. I imagine I'll end up keeping it and liking it. It really is a well put together piece of machinery.

 

[twowheels]

Do you know what they did to it?

I bought one of the very first subcompacts in December and it doesn't feed reliably with anything I have fed it. It has the same problem you describe. The chamber has some radial striations that look to be poor machining. I've sent a couple emails to the us distributor that went unanswered. I need to call them. I have been very busy and kind of forgot about the pistol until reading your posts. It si buried in the safe. The pistol feels great, has superb build quality, has a fine trigger, and is accurate but of course it needs to be reliable.

 

[soberups]

From everything I am reading here, this gun is basically an $850 Taurus.

If I am spending $850 on a handgun, especially one I will be relying on for concealed carry, it had better run 100% right out of the box with any factory ammo I feed it, no BS and no excuses. It is unacceptable to spend that amount of money on a carry gun and then have to waste time troubleshooting problems and arranging to have it returned to the factory.

 

[SynapticSilence]

Call them. They changed the barrel, polished the feed ramp, changed the recoil spring assembly, and did something else. Then fired 50 rounds without a failure. I think the barrel is out of spec badly in a significant number of these guns and Kriss should stand behind their product. There are two reviews on Budsgunshop, one of them mine, and both with only one star. And there are other reviews out there with the same experience. I'm going to write Kriss a letter asking that they give owners some recourse other than to accept a very highly priced gun that can even be dangerous, as it was in my case and others where the gun gets stuck out of battery and jammed so tightly the gun can't be cleared. In a self defense situation, that makes the gun useless. We'll see what happens.

 

[twowheels]

This thread prompted me to send another email. It was responded to immediately. They provided a shipping label and I sent my piece off this past week. I really hope they install a new barrel because the chamber in mine had radial striations and was definitely too tight.

It is disappointing to buy a high dollar piece and have it not be perfect. I am also surprised these passed QC. But not everything is perfect. If it comes back right, I will be satisfied.

I love the CZ platform. The gun feels great in hand. The trigger is excellent. The materials, machining, and finish are pretty spectacular (except for the wonky barrel). I expect we will get past my problem and I will have an exceptional piece.

 

[SynapticSilence]

An update on mine. Took it out and put at least 300 rounds through it with zero problems. Ran Federal HydraShok, Speer Gold Dot, and Hornady Custom FTX through it with ease. Practice FMJ ammo included HPR, UMC, and a few others. It still won't chamber WWB 115 gr FMJ, but WWB is also by far the longest loaded round I tried, so screw Winchester. The trigger, which was exceptional to begin with, has smoothed out even more, with the DA pull from the half-cock decocked position light and smooth and the SA pull at may 2 1/2 pounds, if that. So, I'm hoping you have the same luck I had. It'll stay in the stable for now. Can't think of any rational reason at this point to let it go. They're complex machines and I'm sure they were going through growing pains with the new production. It's one of the few pistols I ever bought just when it hit the shelves, so I take some responsibility in not being more disciplined. But having had several CZ variants and even clones in the past, I just wanted to get my hands on one. As of now, I'm glad I did, regardless of the hassle of getting it repaired.

 

[twowheels]

I'll let you all know what comes of this.

 

[clearconscience]

I know I'll probably be shuned for this, but this is why I buy ugly plastic glocks. I've bought cheap trashed filthy glocks that cleaned up "ok" that have 100s of rounds through it with no issues. I carry it almost daily.
I have two others. Mags are cheap, easy to work on, and I can use the same mags with my 26, 17, and 34.

If I had the money I'd buy guns for looks and really for fun, but since I don't I buy them for function and security.

I'm soory you had trouble with it, but I'm also glad they made good on it and it's firing right.

 

[SynapticSilence]

Nothing wrong with anything you just said. I've gone up and down and sideways, everything from Colt 1911s to high end S&W revolvers to Glocks to Walthers, Bersas, CZs and Turkish and Italian CZ clones, a KelTec, a SCCY, and revamped Korean Army K5s, now known as the Lionheart LH9. I would have been really upset it it hadn't turned out ok, but I've never had one that was an absolute disaster yet. You buy what you can afford, shoot the heck out of them, and don't feel bad about it. Ever.

 

[twowheels]

Hey CC glocks are great don't sweat your like of them. Everybody's got at least one.

 

[clearconscience]

Or had.
I had a Beretta 92 and a Glock 27 and hated the sub .40 and for some reason really wanted a Sig 229 so I sold both and bought the 229 and for whatever reason it shot (or I shot it) about 8 inches low. So I adjusted my point of aim and it was dead on. Couldn't stand that as much as I wanted to love it.
Bought the glocks and been happy with them.

But if I had the fun money I would have a few 1911s, springfield EMP.

I'm glad you had a good turnout. My biggest fear is always a firearm malfunction when you need it most.

And it's always good to hear about gun makers that take care of their customers. They could have easily just did one of the things you mentioned and sent it back to you and nickel and dime you. I've heard of that happening too often.

 

[SynapticSilence]

My everyday carries, depending on how I'm dressed, are either my beloved Walther PPS 9mm or my cool little Magnum Research Micro Desert Eagle .380. The PPS is ungodly accurate for as small as it is and the MDE is, at least in my opinion, the best true micro pistol made. Of course, the MDE is actually a rebranded Czech gun called the ZVI Kevin, and this whole discussion started about a CZ clone. So I'll wait the Sphinx out until it proves itself over 1000 rounds or so. Still have plenty others to carry if it comes to that. I'm fresh out of 1911s, having sold my last one about 18 months ago. But the EMPs are sharp little guns that call my name. So we'll see.

 

[clearconscience]

Yeah I've been so close to buying and EMP on several occasions. Like actually about to click and buy button on the internet. I've heard nothing but good things.

 

[twowheels]

SS I agree with you on the MDE I have one and it rocks like the Who in '68.