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Sphinx Compact Alpha
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9mm compact pistols are all-too common. While the US military dickers about the relevance of the M9 platform (mainly because of the poor performance of 9mm ball ammo), most handgun innovation seems centered on larger calibers in smaller packages. So it is somewhat of a surprise to me that anyone would be investing in perfecting a high-end 9mm. Thankfully companies do, and Sphinx, a Swiss firm that’s still new to the American handgun market, knows there’s more to the 9mm than the M9 arguments would suggest. These guns are being imported by Kriss USA, and the Sphinx’s Compact Alpha makes the 9mm look really good.
The Sphinx Alpha compact is much heavier than it looks, which adds to the guns stability.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ALPHA COMPACT
Caliber 9×19 mm
Overall Length 7.4 in / 188 mm
Overall Height 5.35 in / 136 mm
Overall Width 1.37 in / 35 mm
Weight 28.18 oz / 799 g
Barrel Length 3.7 in / 95 mm
Sight Radius 5.7 in / 148 mm
Front Sight Iron blade with white dot
Rear SIght Serrated fixed sight
Action DA/SA
Single Action 4.0+ lb / 1.8+ kg
Double Action 10.0+ lb / 4.5+ kg
Slide material Steel
Slide finish Black with TIAIN coating
Upper frame Hard anodized aluminum
Lower Frame Polymer
Grip Polymer with rubber inserts
Magazine catch left / right – reversible
Magazine 15+1
Slide drop and decocker. No external safety.
If you take a look at this list, there are a couple of things missing. There isn’t’ any mention of a safety. This pistol doesn’t have a built in trigger lever safety. There is no grip safety. There isn’t even a thumb safety on the slide. Instead, the Sphinx is equipped with an ambidextrous decocking lever that allows you to drop the hammer to a half-cock position, much as you would on a Sig P226 or a Beretta 92 G.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll repeat it. Guns meant for self defense shouldn’t have external, manual safety mechanisms. They stand in the way of immediate use, and can be a fatal obstacle. If you ever have to draw you gun from concealment, acquire your target, and fire, response time will be your greatest obstacle. In many defensive gun uses, the bad guy already has a gun drawn, which means you have to have an even faster response. A gun like the Sphinx isn’t going to add one more step in the equation. You draw and (assuming you’ve chambered a round) it will fire.
When decocked, the hammer falls to a half-cock position that allows the thumb to catch it again, if needed.
Yet lawyers exist. Some people want that extra measure of safety provided by a grip safety and thumb safety. I see it differently, and I think Sphinx does, too. The responsibility for safe usage, safe storage, safe carry…these are all responsibilities of the end user. You. Me. The gun is inherently safe. It isn’t going to shoot itself, despite what some of the liberal media would like you to think. You may be inherently unsafe, but there is very little Sphinx or anyone else can do about that.
And I say to-hell with the arguments about the stopping power of 9mm. Pick your ammunition carefully. Train like a mad man. Learn to shoot accurately, even when you’re under stress, and don’t miss. Shoot to kill.
On to the Alpha
Let’s break down the guns form a bit further. The Alpha is an exceptionally well made gun. The slide is milled from steel. If you look at the profile of the pistol, you will see that the slide sits deep in the frame. This design provides a lot of stability, What it doesn’t provide is a ton of surface area on the sides of the pistol to grip. The gun does have forward serrations, and rear serrations (obviously), and I never had difficulty manipulating the slide or clearing jams. The frame itself is slick, so my hand slides down, even when I do grab too much of the slide.
Here you can see where the polymer grip-frame joins the actual frame, which is milled from a billet.
Below the slide, the Sphinx has an upper frame made of aluminum. Some of us associate aluminum with cans, but it does have substantial strength and mass. As I mentioned above, the frame is tall. It has a solid feel. The weight of the heavier frame helps balance the recoil motion. The steel slide, riding back on the Alpha’s full length rails, would have more muzzle flip if the whole frame were made from polymer. On this gun, though, it doesn’t.
The Alpha also has what Sphinx refers to as a lower frame. I think the term “grip frame” would be more suited. It is a well finished piece of polymer that mates to the upper frame and forms the grip, and frame for the interchangeable rubber inserts. It also forms the trigger guard. The texture of the front finger grooves could be more aggressive, but it is sufficient. The rubber on the rear of the grip is sized for various hand sizes. It is really grippy. Even with wet hands, the grip is easy to maintain.
Inside the well is smooth and well finished. Mags drop out freely. This pistol has dropped a number of magazines and show little wear.
The magazine, which holds 15 rounds of 9mm, fits easily into the beveled mag well. While I’d like to see even more of a flair on the mag well of a duty pistol, the Alpha is meant for concealed carry, so Sphinx minimizes width by keeping the grip as narrow as possible for a double-stack pistol. There are cut outs on the base of the mag well, though, that allow you to get a thumb and finger into the well to strip a magazine free, if you ever have a double feed or a mag that won’t drop. This is another one of those really minor additions that puts the Sphinx into a class of pistols that are meant to be appeal to those of us with experience. If you have ever tried to yank a magazine out of a gun and had to pry it out, you’ll know what I mean.
All told, the Sphinx feels very intentional. While the gun looks good, the features are all meant for ergonomic, practical use. Take the beaver-tail as an example. This is the one hindrance that many concealed carry experts will point to in the Sphinx’s design. It protrudes from the back of the gun and can get hung up in something. Well, I doubt it. I find the beaver-tail perfectly positions my shooting hand, as I hit it hard in the holster. I jam the web of my shooting hand into the back of the grip and it rides there, high on the center-line of the gun. As long as that tail is tucked into the web of your hand, it isn’t going to catch on anything.
The trigger on the Sphinx is really crisp and clean. Its short reset makes for fast follow up shots.
The other features are nice, too. The double action pull on the Compact is over ten pounds. The single action pull is supposed to be around 4 pounds, though this one breaks just a bit higher. You can cock the external hammer if you need to. And you can decock it, which is always useful. When decocted, the hammer protrudes from the slide, just enough to thumb it down. When the trigger is pulled on an empty chamber, the hammer falls flush with the frame.
The gun is available with a threaded barrel. It comes black, or in a green, stainless, or two-tone finish.
Shooting the Sphinx
I’d put this gun up against any 9mm I’ve ever fired. It is that capable. The weight of the gun gives it a distinct advantage where it counts. Lighter guns may be easier to carry. Smaller guns may be much easier to conceal. Yet the Sphinx has enough size and enough weight to really make the most out of the platform when it comes out of the holster.
Recoil will still be a factor, but the Compact has little muzzle rise. I have really fast split times with the pistol because I barely lose the sight picture. Shooting at a silhouette from 7 yards, I can keep all of the rounds in a 12 inch circle, shooting as fast as the trigger reset will allow. If I slow down and use the sights, and really position what I’m doing carefully, I can place a round inside bulls-eye.
The Sphinx offers pinpoint accuracy, or fast performance. This is from a fast magazine dump. The first round hit dead center.
This is where I think the compact excels. If you need defensive maneuverability, and rapid-fire reliability, the Sphinx delivers. If you want to pin down a single shot, you can do that too. The Sphinx isn’t going to ask you to compromise.
So how much does this marvel of Swiss engineering cost?
It isn’t cheap. Retail on the Compact is running somewhere around $1,100. That puts the gun well about the polymer framed 9mm market. Rightfully so. I see more potential for the Sphinx than I do for a lot of what dominates the shelves of most gun stores. This gun has everything you could want for serious concealed carry. It is functional enough for duty carry. The differences in performance that the Alpha Compact provides may seem minimal, but they do exist. And that’s something you can put a price tag on.
There is only one thing I’d point out about the Sphinx. Holsters are much harder to come by than they are for some of the more ubiquitous 9mm pistols. This is a gun that should really be worn close to the hip, strong side, in a nice Kydex holster. It isn’t going to disappear like some of the the more compact compacts, but it will shoot circles around them. You have to be realistic about exactly how much obfuscation is needed. If you are tiny, and wear tight, shear clothing, than the Compact Alpha isn’t going to hide well.
For the rest of us, though, it is perfect. I’ve had this gun in for review now for over a year, and I’ve put more than 1,500 rounds through it. I’ve run it dry. I’ve run it in the rain. I’ve kicked it around in a range bag, and carried it on my hip, and I’m still as enamored with it today as I was when I removed it from its box at my FFL. The Sphinx line is going to be big, at least with those who don’t mind paying a grand for a pistol. They have a full size model and a sub-compact in the works, too.
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The rear sight on the Sphinx is streamlined and efficient, but sacrifices too much functionality in the sake of speed.
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Some controls on the Sphinx are ambidextrous, and others, like the mag release, can be switched.
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The front of the grip has nice swells, and the rubber on the back mitigates recoil.
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The mag well has a slight bevel. For a compact, this is sufficient.
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The nice curve on the back of the grip makes getting a good, high grip very intuitive.
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While the front slide serrations are minimal, they are a big help, as the bevel makes grabbing this part of the slide difficult.
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The front sight is milled into the frame, and ideal for its purposes.
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The slide has a nice flat top that serves as a sight of sorts when moving quickly and shooting close.
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The rear sight is adjustable, and you can lock it down. Great for an accurate carry gun.
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See how the slide catches the light? Nice squared off slides make for fast defensive shooting.
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The slide has sharp edges, which makes the expanded beaver-tail a useful addition.
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White on black. While I’m not in love with the sights, they do there job. I can call my shots at 25 yards to within two inches.
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These sights aren’t going to hang up on anything, but they are hard to use for cocking, if you had to.
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The steel slide rides full length rails in the aluminum frame.
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Though the frame’s “upper” is milled from aluminum, it is still robust and has handled the wear well.
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The Sphinx has a well defined rail for such a compact gun, and the teeth are aluminum, not polymer.
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The steel rail’s shifting weight is balanced well by the mass of the frame, which cuts out muzzle flip.
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I’m glad (or terribly sorry) to find out I’m not the only person experiencing the unrealistically tight tolerances in the Subcompact Sphinx. It locked up so tight out of battery the first time I chambered a round I had to tap the slide back with a rubber mallet to get the round out, fully expecting it to discharge at any minute. Luckily I was at the range and not home when it happened. The bullet had clearly jammed into the rifling so hard it couldn’t be dislodged otherwise. That was Winchester WB, but then the same thing happened with several other types of ammo. The only thing that would run consistently was HPR FMJ. I sent it back to Kriss Arms with a full explanation. They changed the barrel (supposedly, since it didn’t actually show it on the repair sheet I got back with the gun) and did some other tuning, fired 50 rounds apparently without any malfunctions, and sent it back. While it now will chamber a few more brands of ammo, it clearly has a short chamber that precludes the use of anything but rounds that are quite short on overall length. When I called Kriss back to complain the pistol was still having similar problems, I was told fairly bluntly that it was an ammo problem, not the gun. That’s the same explanation people got when they bought the highly touted and similarly expensive Kimber Solo when it first came out. I have zero confidence in my Sphinx Subcompact and will be selling it at a huge loss with full disclosure as soon as I can. I’m incredibly disappointed, more so than any other gun I’ve ever owned, and that’s a ton of firearms over the years. In my opinion, any gun that jams and routinely can’t be manually cleared is actually dangerous, especially when it’s specifically designed for concealed carry. I just bought one of the new FNS-9 Compacts and it’s light years better than the Sphinx Subcompact. And I don’t owe allegiance to any particular brand, but Sphinx is off my list forever because of this.
I own, and will be selling, a Sphinx SDP 9mm sub-compact. why? FTF was ABUNDANT. The tolerances are WAY to tight!! Hard to rack slide, de-cocker is terribly stiff, and the slide release is a real challenge. I left the slide racked for one month just to get the spring to lighten up. I have worked the slide somewhere between 1500 times (yes, I counted). I have worked the slide release and de-cocker hundreds of times. All in vain. This gun is like a beautiful pair of boots, which are one or two sizes too small… it just doesn’t work.
I would tell you it jams, but this is an understatement. This pistol would NOT chamber 5 of 6 different kinds of high end 9mm ammo and fails to go into battery 99% of the time, including with Hornady Critical Defense. Even Remington ball ammo failed to properly chamber. The ONLY ammo I could get this pistol to cycle is Speer Gold Dot. Some of the worst jams I have ever experienced with a pistol have been with this Sphinx sub-compact. In fact, the only pistol I have ever had jam this bad (where I had to wrestle the slide open) was on a Boberg pistol (which I sent back to the factory for a full refund). I also have a HK P2000SK, Sig 229, and XD Mod2, all of which are flawless. If you are interested in a sub-compact, consider getting the new FN FNs-9 sub-compact. Its small, light, shoots flawlessly, and ate everything I fed it. The only downside is no de-cocker.
The Sphinx IS very well built indeed, and was darn accurate when it did shoot, but the tolerances are WAY, WAY to tight. This is a terribly stiff, difficult to operate pistol causing far more problems than it solves. Lord help it if it got dirt or mud in its moving parts, this would be catastrophic indeed based on my miserable experience after tearing this pistol down and lubricating it. I’ll re-visit this pistol years down the road once more reviews get out and the manufacture realizes that tight tolerances might be suitable for a Swiss made watch, but not on a combat pistol.
No sooner does Gunsamerica.com do a positive review on the Sphinx SDP Compact when a bunch of CZ fanboys fly in with nothing but hate on a gun having very little at all in common with their favorite range toy. The Sphinx slide does resemble the one on the polymer framed P-07, but that’s where the similarity ends. Sphinx has been in the firearms business since 1876 and the SDP compact has been around a lot longer than the P-07 has. Sphinx has been making some of the very best professional target pistols in the world for many years. Instead of sneering at and directing hate toward DAVE HIGGINBOTHAM for actually LIKING the gun. How about expressing curiosity and directing questions about it instead? Unless you own one of these beauties for yourself, you really ought to reserve judgement. I see lots of great guns and the last thing I do when seeing a really nice new one is feel threatened that my current stable of lead flingers is somehow inadequate.
Ed Brown uses CZ parts and nobody accuses him of making CZ knock offs. A lot of gun makers use the CZ design, but that doesn’t make them CZ anymore than a Canick is a Glock. There are hundreds of 1911 makers. Why are they called 1911’s? Because they all look like the original gun introduced in… 1911!!! Are they all clones of one another? Duh…. C’mon, people.
I’m on the CZ train and lovin’ every minute of the ride & drinkin’ every glass of their CZ kool-aid.
CZ makes e a terrific side arm and these clones show up like popcorn on a hot day.
CZ must be doing something right. In fact, they’re doing EVERYTHING right.!!
Carry on, CZ — Carry on.!
I’m on the CZ train and lovin’ every minute of the ride & drinkin’ every glass of their CZ kool-aid.
CZ makes e a terrific side arm and these clones show up like popcorn on a hot day.
CZ must be doing something right. In fact, they’re doing EVERYTHING right.!!
Carry on, CZ — Carry on.!
I’m on the CZ train and lovin’ every minute of the ride & drinkin’ every glass of their CZ kool-aid.
CZ makes e a terrific side arm and these clones show up like popcorn on a hot day.
CZ must be doing something right. In fact, they’re doing EVERYTHING right.!!
Carry on, CZ — Carry on.!
Springfields look more aggressive and spit out any ammo you put in it..sphinx is overpriced and will generally never make it in the 9mm polymer market. glock ,sig, s&w, and colt all winners also.
Don’t like to be critical but with so many good choices in 9MM CC pistols, this one seems not only overpriced but has inferior features compared to the others. Also, never did like a steel slide riding on an aluminum frame.
Inferior features? Like what? HK style polygonal barrel, the sweetest match trigger you’ll ever lay hands on, precision CnC machined slide with TiAIN finish, Halo sights, precision machines T6-7075 aircraft aluminum frame or the best feeling grip you’ll ever get on a gun? Or maybe it’s the $900 price tag? If you can’t afford the gun, there’s no need to be a brave keyboard warrior and debase it. Just save your nickels and dimes and get one for yourself.
My experience in shooting investigations suggests that the ‘fast draw’ response to armed aggression is a oft-cited myth. Safety on/off? Choose your own solution. A weapon not in your hand during the start of a gunfight is a liability- Relying on the other side missing or some ability to “take one to give one”, is not realistic at all… (Hoping for the best is not a plan for emergencies.) Training in shooting- particularly when moving, tactics, awareness, recognizing pre-attack indicators, and use of cover will be of greater use than any quick draw.
What is compact about it 7.4 inch length really
Many of the arguments in favor is external/manual safeties, against light triggers, and against carrying a 1911 in “condition one” (or, heaven forbid “condition zero”) were devised years ago, long before the development of modern pistol craft with its training dictum “Keep your trigger finger out of the trigger guard and off the trigger until it is necessary to shoot.” All of the above-mentioned concerns date from a time when shooters were taught to automatically present a handgun with their fingers on their triggers. Modern pistol craft teaches a technique that eliminates the raison d’être for these old concerns.
When evaluating a handgun’s safety, it behooves us to not just blindly apply “rules’ that were devised for their times, and to determine if modern techniques have responded to those concerns, and that old concerns can be discarded, having been met by the new techniques. Contrarily, an old technique, if employed as intended, does not necessarily present a safety problem. For instance, the shooter who draws his 1911 with his finger on the trigger is not creating a safety hazard so long as he also regularly has the thumb safety engaged. His last step before shooting would not be to put his finger on the trigger, but to swipe the safety off with his thumb. This is perfectly acceptable, even though it violates the modern teaching of keeping the finger out of the trigger guard until the decision to shoot has been made.
No thanks. I’ll spend my money on a Sig Tac Ops. Best shooting handgun I ever owned!
The Sig is a fine gun, but the author wasn’t trying to sell you a Sphinx so it isn’t necessary to proclaim your devotion to Sig Sauer Gmb. Besides, it’s not against the law to buy both guns. I did – there’s no need to have poverty of the cerebral cortex here. Both guns are made by Swiss companies. Both are good, reliable pistols. The Sphinx has a better trigger and barrel, but the P226 Tac Ops is no slouch. I enjoy shooting both, but the Sphinx just has a much better feel of quality about it.
I’ll spend my money on a Sig tacops. You get 5 more rounds and it comes with 4 mags. Best shooting handgun I ever owned.
” If I slow down and use the sights, and really position what I’m doing carefully, I can place a round inside bulls-eye.” ???? At SEVEN YARDS? you gotta be kidding me! If a gun won’t put them all in the bulls eye at 7 yards when you “slow down and really position carefully”, it’s not worth buying.
Look at the bias! If it was made in Turkey (Sarsilmaz- Canik) or Italian made ( Witness) Author would have been mentioned million time such as CZ copies or CZ colons. Sarsilmaz and Canik quality wise much better gun than original CZ 75 and chipper, My personal opinion 9mm guns shouldn’t be heavy because of the low recoil of 9mm. What is going to justify heavy weight of Sphinx? My Glock 19’s are perfect carrying and target shooting 9mm guns in period!
The Glock 19 is probably their best gun. But it has significantly more recoil than the Sphinx SDP has. Glocks are light, plastic guns, so that’s understandable. I prefer guns that have less recoil regardless of caliber because secondary follow up shots are more easily made. But you should also understand that there is a whole world of people out there who don’t like Glocks for numerous reasons. Nothing against your favorite gun, so you shouldn’t take it personally. There are many who can open carry. I open carry at work and on my own property, and my Sphinx is very comfortable on my hip. Some days I wear a Beretta. Others, I wear a Sig 1911, or a LionHeart LH9 MKII…
See?
I highly doubt the Caniks and Sarlimars are better than CZ’s. And as good as the Glock 19 which I also like, is as good as the CZP07, P01, and no one gun can actually claim as the best 9mm. One thing I can tell about CZ’s, they have flaws like all guns have, but they have the most reliable and like BHPs and not to mention 1911’s, are very much copied and revered. And I don’t like 1911’s as much as I like Glocks and CZs.
So, I gather that the author isn’t a proponent of the 1911 as a good self-defense, carry piece due to its external safety? I call BS…
I don’t like a safety on a CC gun either, that’s why I own a Walther PPQ. (PPQ M1 not M2)
They cost about $650. http://www.waltherarms.com/products/handguns/ppq-m2/
Review —> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dp4W1Zz7dE
As far as a “Best New Gun” The Boberg XR45-S can’t be beat. (also comes in 9mm. if needed)
9mm. starts at $1049. and the .45 starts at $1199.
http://store.bobergarms.com/collections/firearms?utm_source=buy%2Bbutton&utm_medium=firearms%2Bpage&utm_campaign=home%2Bpage
Review —> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJkG3g-4-UU
IMHO, These are the best pistols in the World. ; ) prove me wrong.
The PPQ is a great gun. Great ergonomics and the best trigger on a plastic gun by a long shot. If I ever decide to replace my G19, it will be with a PPQ.
The Boberg, however, places a lot of hype on its ability to fire rounds at a higher velocity, thus the claim to being the “most powerful” handgun. However, real world tests don’t really show an advantage: http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/rifling.html Also, aesthetically, it resembles a Hi-point, which isn’t good.
Sphinx is not new to the US market. They have been around a long time. They just haven’t been exporting many models here in the last 5 years.
The writer fails to mention the fact that the Sphinx is just another CZ clone, albeit a VERY expensive, unnecessarily heavy CZ clone. Weak. Just as the sales of this gun will be.
The author fails to mention the fact that the Sphinx is just another CZ clone, albeit a VERY expensive CZ clone. Weak. Just as the sales of this gun will be.
The author fails to mention the fact that the Sphinx is just another CZ clone, albeit a VERY expensive CZ clone. Weak. Just as the sales of this gun will be.
The author fails to mention the fact that the Spinx is just another CZ clone, albeit a VERY expensive CZ clone. Weak. Just as the sales of this gun will be.
The Sphinx came out in 2003. If anything, the P-07 is a clone of the Sphinx… Except that the Sphinx has a HK type polygonal barrel, a spectacular match trigger, CnC precision machined slide and frame and an amazing feeling grip that fits your hand like no other gun ever will. For about $900, you can also obtain one with Halo sights which are red/orange tritium in the rear and green TFO up front.
Personally I’m having trouble understanding what your motivation is for commenting to the derogatory in the first place? Do you somehow feel threatened by this guns existence?
This pistol is ridiculously overpriced for its accuracy and lack of innovative or new features. BHP fan is absolutely right, this pistol is available for half the price from a far more reputable manufacturer. I would also like to point out that the sights do their job, not there. HAIL GRAMMAR!
I was laughing at the previous comments about how the Sphinx copies the CZ, true. What this article failed to mention is the CZ P07 which this gun clearly copied and the writer so eloquently paraded as the greatest thing since sliced bread. It’s funny how thorough this article is yet the only nice article I found on the CZ P07 is a re-hashed and bounced around writ featured in Defensive Carry. The funniest part of this article is the title, Best New 9mm!
http://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/the-p-07-duty-40-sw-from-cz-usa/
The Sphinx has been around since 2003, so it’s nothing new. If anything, the P-07 is a cheap knock off of the Sphinx – if you’re petty enough that such things matter to you. If you’ve never held the two side-by-side, I’d advise you to withhold your sneer. Since I sell guns and instruct for a living, I can assure you that the CZ looks, feels and shoots like a cheap Chinese knock-off compared to the Sphinx. The slide might resemble the CZ P-07, but the frame, grips and ‘guts’ of the gun couldn’t be more different. At 10 yards I can shoot a golf ball sized circle in a target and then put on directly in the middle. I am not able to do that with any other gun. Add to that the fact that the gun has the lightest recoil of any that I own, Halo sights and one of the most spectacular triggers in a production gun I’ve ever felt… It’s well worth the $800 I paid for it – because that’s what they go for.
What I don’t understand is why people like you troll these sights in the first place. Do you own a CZ P-07? Are you threatened that the reviewer liked the Sphinx SDP Compact? Really, what’s your problem? Someone talks about a nice gun and you seem to lose your chit over it and feel the need to put both it and the author down.
Funniest comment I heard from a customer: The Sphinx would eat a CZ for breakfast and crap out a better gun by lunch… I had to laugh because that just might be true.
Sphinx started out copying the CZ 75 series. Then they made a few mostly cosmetic changes and it became suddenly an original. It was a better finished CZ and heavy. It felt decent in your hand and had little recoil. The cost was the problem. So I started out looking for a Springfield P9 which is actually a CZ75 with a few differences. This current Sphinx is just another CZ modified just enough to use a different name. Its just about the same story between the Kel Tec .380 and the Ruger look alike which gun reports examined and declared to be so near identical as to make little difference. Makes one wonder what patents are for anymore or if major gun companies want to admit they are building legal copies of some one else’s gun.
The sphinx reminds me of CZ’s P-07. I wonder how a side by side comparison would be.
I sell guns and often place the Sphinx side by side to the CZ P-07. There is no comparison, the CZ feels and looks cheap compared to the Sphinx. Funniest thing I ever heard a customer say is the Sphinx could eat a CZ for breakfast and crap out a better gun by lunch.
In reality, do you call a Rolex a $1200 version Chinese knock-off? Both will tell you the time, so which one would you rather have?
In truth, the CZ is a cheap knock-off of the Sphinx SDP, which has been around since 2003.
The only one I ever saw saying CZ is cheap. How about saying the Sphinx is an expensive knock off of a CZ?
$1,100 for a Swiss-made CZ P-07??
Thanks, but no thanks.
Exactly!