Engineering:Sphinx Systems
| Sphinx Systems Limited | |
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| Place of origin | Switzerland |
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| Used by | See Users |
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| Manufacturer | Sphinx Systems |
| Produced | 1876 – present |
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| Feed system | Detachable box magazine:
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Sphinx Systems Limited is a Swiss-based manufacturer of high quality pistols used mainly by special forces, elite police units and sports shooters. Sphinx was founded in 1876, specializing in tooling and machining, and then diversified into the firearms industry during the 1980s. Sphinx is best known for its ongoing development of the original Czech designed CZ 75 pistol, which has been evolved into the Sphinx 2000, Sphinx 3000 custom competition pistol, and Sphinx SDP Compact.
Sphinx started its work with pistols based on the CZ 75 design when they redesigned the ITM AT-84 licensed copy of the Czech CZ 75 and ITM AT-88, a first evolution of the CZ 75 that had been developed in Switzerland by ITM who later went out of business.
Sphinx manufactures all pistols in Switzerland, slides are made from solid billet steel, frames from casts, forgings or also from billet, and fits each pistol with high quality barrels. Each pistol part is machined to extremely close tolerances and assembled by Sphinx master gunsmiths, which has given Sphinx the reputation for creating extremely accurate and reliable firearms.
All Sphinx pistols except the AT380 are shipped with an actual test target, which confirms the accuracy of each pistol.
Past Sphinx pistols were not mass-produced and were hand fitted to tight tolerances, so Sphinx pistols were more expensive than mass-produced products. In 2010 Sphinx joined KRISS Group and began production of the SDP Compact in 2012. The SPD Compact is Sphinx's first mass-produced firearm, which lowered the price by over 66%; partly due to Sphinx earning their ISO certification in 2013. Initial reviews have been very positive and the Sphinx SDP Compact has been featured in Combat Handguns, Recoil (which found it to be 25% more accurate than a full size CZ SP-01), and more.
Although Sphinx products were historically imported to the United States by SILE corporation, and until 2008 by SABRE Defense Industries. Sphinx products are presently being imported into the US by KRISS USA in Virginia Beach, VA.
Sphinx Systems AG was declared bankrupt on 30.11.2015 [1]
Sphinx pistols
AT380 Series: A sub-compact pistol. This pistol is highly accurate. It is Double Action Only, which can slightly detract from the shooter's ability to produce tighter groupings; however, this pistol was not designed for competitive target shooting—DAO designs such as this have been shown to be easier to operate under stressful situations and therefore preferable to traditional Double Action designs when self-defense is concerned. Tolerances on this pistol are very tight and quality very high, as with all SPHINX pistols. Slightly smaller in general overall dimension than the Walther PPK/S, it also has a larger magazine capacity (10/11/15). The sights are adjustable. Safeties include: 1. an automatic firing-pin block type which precludes the striker from being hit unless the trigger is pulled, eliminating slam-fires etc. 2. Manual firing-pin block safeties on "M" models (similar in function to the Beretta 92F). This pistol is reported to prefer "hotter" ammunition in order to cycle properly until broken in. This is due to its European origin, where hotter ammunition (in comparison to the U.S.) is commonly produced & used. Due to tighter firearms trade restrictions, the AT .380 is no longer imported into the United States.
Sphinx 2000 Series: A full- and medium-sized defense and sports pistol that shows its CZ 75/AT-88 heritage.
Sphinx 3000 Series: A full- and medium-sized defense and sports CNC machined pistol made out of various metals such as stainless steel, aluminium and titanium. The Sphinx 3000 was designed as a modern combat pistol with features like a Picatinny accessory rail, a low bore line, extended magazine release, various safety system options, various finishes, sights, pistol sizes and materials to choose from.
Sphinx SDP Series: The SDP, chambered for 9mm, made its US debut during the first quarter of 2013 as the Compact Alpha model, followed in 2014 by other Compact models. SubCompact Alpha and Standard Alpha models were introduced in late 2014/early 2015.[1] All models have a DA/SA trigger, ambidextrous decocker and a TIAIN-coated steel slide. The Compacts are also available with threaded barrels. In the Compact size (7.40" overall length) are the Black, Krypton and Sand lines, featuring hard anodized aluminum upper and lower frames (29.06-29.72 oz), and the Duo-Tone and Stainless Steel lines with all steel upper and lower frames (42.43-42.64 oz). All metal Compacts all have interchangeable polymer grips. The Alpha line comes in three sizes: SubCompact (6.55" overall, 24.90 oz), Compact (7.40" overall, 28.18-28.39 oz), and Standard (8.19" overall, 31.43 oz) sizes. They feature hard anodized aluminum upper frame and polymer lower frames. Unlike its larger cousins, the SubCompact does not have interchangeable backstraps. Although slated for manufacture, Standard and Production-sized models have yet to be imported into the US by the distributor, KRISS USA.[2]
Users (Sphinx 3000)
Belgium: Belgian federal police
Denmark: Danish Special Forces
Malaysia: Royal Malaysian Air Force PASKAU[3]
Norway: Norwegian Special Forces
Singapore: Police Special Operations Command[4]
Switzerland: "Kantonspolizei" (Canton law enforcement police) of Obwalden, Schaffhausen & Valais. However, Canton Valais has replaced the Sphinx 3000 pistols with the Heckler & Koch P30 in 2011, some municipal police forces are also using the Sphinx 3000 as their standard sidearm. The Kantonspolizei Obwalden use the Sphinx SDP Compact. The Sphinx 3000 is also in use with the BKW-FMB Betriebswache (security force) of the nuclear power plant in Muehleberg in the Canton of Bern.
References
- ↑ http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2015/01/jeremy-s/new-sphinx-sdp-standard-sub-compact-pistols/
- ↑ http://www.sphinxarms.com/
- ↑ "PASKAU Malaysian Special Air Service Weapons". Military Factory. http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/paskau-malaysian-air-force-special-forces-weapons.asp. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
- ↑ Singapore Police Force Eye Treats at WPS 2005
External links
- SPHINX official USA website
- Product info for SDP Compact
- Sphinx Systems Ltd. website
- Sphinx 2000 at Modern Firearms
- Sphinx 3000 at Modern Firearms
- Sphinx Systems 3000 SOP Special Operation Pistol self-loading pistol (Switzerland) at Jane's
- Sphinx Systems 3000 Standard self-loading pistol (Switzerland) at Jane's
- Sphinx 3000 Tactical 9mm - High-End custom quality CZ 75 clone—breed for competition circuits by Denis Prisbey
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