SPHINX Systems Limited is today known for its high quality pistols for Special Forces and sport shooters. The company has been in business since 1876 and started to produce screws and other turned parts made of steel. Later the company started making precision tools and today the company is divided into 2 different groups; SPHINX Tools Ltd. and the only remaining Swiss manufacture of handguns SPHINX Systems Ltd.

 

The evolution of the modern handgun

To understand the development of the SPHINX 3000 pistol we have to go back in time where they only had revolvers and bolt-action rifles. The self-loading pistol was an almost solely middle-European invention, but with American know-how (revolver development) the first commercially successful semi-autopistol appeared in the late 1800. The first step from revolver to the modern semi-automatic pistol started in 1866 by the Swiss Frederick Vetterli, who had developed a tubular-magazine bolt-action repeater with a box magazine, which sat below and behind the breech. It was actually built for a bolt-action rifle, but other engineers such as Hugo Borchardt used his idea for developing semi-autopistols.

In 1884 Hiram S. Maxim designed a self-loading system, he invented a gun which, once the first round was loaded into the breech, would continue firing as long as fresh supplies of ammunition were present and the shooter kept his finger on the trigger. He was later on preoccupied with develop machine guns for the British Army. However, the application of his principle of using bullet energy to reload the weapon led to development of several self-loading pistols in the 1890s. During the end of 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century many test’s of self-loading pistols was carried out, such as Mauser (the C96 "Broomhandle"), Mannlicher (the Steyr Mannlicher M1894), DWM (Luger 1908) and Colt (the Colt M1900). Hugo Borchardt continued Maxim’s idea and produced the C93 in 1893 with further innovation, a pistol with 8 round removable magazine that was housed in the pistol grip.

In late 1890s John Browning designed one of the most famous autopistol M1911, originated in .45 caliber, and this self-loading handgun rose to become the greatest type of the 20th century modern centerfire pistols. Today it is popular with civilian shooters in competitive events such as IDPA, IPSC, and Bullseye shooting. Meanwhile the Austrian Georg Luger introduced the Luger pistol (P08) in 1898 and he also developed the cartridge 9x19mm Parabellum for this pistol. The German Army used the Luger pistol in World War 1 and 2.

The most widely used military pistols of all time, having been used by the armed forces of over 50 countries is Browning Hi-Power 9mm semi-automatic handgun. The design was based on John Browning design, but he died several years before the design was finalized, and later Dieudonné Saive at Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Belgium improved it. The Hi-Power name alluded to the 13-round magazine capacity; almost twice that of contemporary designs such as the Luger or Mauser 1910.

Now the brigs are laid for the foundation of the SPHINX 3000. But there should go more than 75 years and many different pistols with more or less success before the first SPHINX saw the light. Some of the most important and used pistol is listed below:

Tokarev TT-33 – Soviet Union 1930
Radom Vis-35 – Poland 1935
Walter PPK – Germany 1935
SIG P210 – Switzerland 1949
Makarov PM – Soviet Union 1951
Beretta 92 SB – Italy 1975
SIG Sauer P220 – Germany 1975
Heckler and Koch P7 – Germany 1976
Glock 17 – Austria 1982

CZ 75 the master of the clones

The father of SPHINX CZ 75 pistol is made by Česká Zbrojovka Uherský Brod (CZUB) in the Czech Republic and the brothers Josef and František Koucký designed it. The first pistol was introduced in 1975, and it has a good reputation amongst pistol shooters for quality and versatility at a reasonable price, and is widely distributed throughout the world. Today World Champions as Adam Tyc uses a new and highly improved version of the CZ 75.

“Jeff Cooper, a long-time advocate of the Colt 1911, hailed the CZ 75 as the best-designed double-action autoloader available at the time”.

CZ-75 is a short recoil operated, locked breech pistol. It uses a combination of a standard Browning locking system and a Swiss construction made by Charles Petter, with cam-shaped cut below the barrel, which lowers the barrel on recoil stroke. Barrel locks into slide with two locking lugs, located just ahead of the ejection port. The slide rides on the internal rails, machined on inside of the frame. This system, originated by the Swiss SIG P210 pistol, provides more smooth cycle and better tolerances, resulting in greater accuracy. In basic models, the double action trigger system with exposed hammer has a frame mounted manual safety, which allows for "cocked and locked" carry.

The design became popular and other manufactures got license to produce clones based on the CZ75 design and worth mention are Tanfoglio Limited, Jerico 941 and Springfield P9. I really like the grip design and the shooting characteristics and that’s probably why it is so popular among shooters around the world.

Chronologically development of SPHINX

The history of SPHINX Systems Limited is a little confusing and I have tried to make a chronologically history line from all the sources I could find on the net, in books and articles. One thing is for sure “they” have produced pistols since mid ’80, but the real big step was when Armin Landolt took over I 1997.

The first version of the SPHINX evolution is AT-84 and -88 made by International Technology & Machines AG (ITM) in Solothurn – most likely a part of the Swiss Government. The design was very similar to the pre-B CZ guns and was assembled from parts largely purchased from Tangfolio in Italy. All the ITM pistols were based in the city of Solothurn and were marked "Solothurn ITM Switzerland" on the side of the slide. The AT-88 introduced several improvements, including the firing pin safety and slightly different barrel / slide locking.

SPHINX Engineering SA who made machine-tools and engineering components in Porrentruy started weapon production when they acquired ITM AG of Solothurn in 1989, along with the rights to its handgun designs. A rumor says that the Swiss Government stopped the manufacture of these pistols by ITM because they were being marketed in various 3rd world countries for paramilitary use. If it is correct or not is hard to say, but the merge of the two firms gave birth to a new and improved generation of pistols named Sphinx 2000. SPHINX name replaced "ITM" on the slides and the gun was a fixed BBL blowback chambered for the 9mm short round, with an automatic firing-pin safety, a self-cocking action and automatic de-cocking like the AT-88. The SPHINX AT 2000 pistols are based on the earlier ITM AT-84 and AT-88 pistols and were produced since 1990/92. It is unclear for me who and when they stated to produce the SPHINX AT-380 because I have seen this pistol in a “SPHINX and Solothurn” version and without Solothurn.

SPHINX continued to develop the SPHINX 2000, original CZ 75 design, which a decade later evolved into SPHINX 3000 model. Through the years SPHINX pistols has made thousands of pistols, but they are not mass-produced and are carefully fitted to tight tolerances, so SPHINX pistols are more expensive than mass produced products. The slide and frame is made from solid blocs of steel and fits each pistol with high quality barrels. Each pistol part is machined to very close tolerances and assembled by SPHINX master gunsmiths.

SPHINX 3000 high precision pistols

From the year 2000, the new construction of SPHINX 3000 series began. Armin Landolt who still is an active IPSC shooter took the basic idea, needs and requirements from this sport and based it on the modular system. The first production line began in 2002 “in house” and the evolution of this model is a still ongoing process with improvements almost every year. The next description of the new 3000 model is written by Matt Berger from Combat Handguns, because it is so well written and I couldn’t have don it better myself!

“Every part in the pistol is CNC machined from a single block of stainless steel using the most modern equipment and techniques. All pistols must go through stringent quality control stages and must pass a drop-test, exposure to sand and mud, extreme temperatures, an overpressure test, a parts precision inspection, and longtime loading tests, just to name a few.

The frame, milled from stainless steel bar stock, is a two-piece modular unit that retains the outstanding ergonomic qualities of the CZ-style pistols. The inside of the grip is EDM (electrical discharge machining) wire eroded to hold very precise dimensions. The two pieces (grip and frame) are fit together with a dovetail cut and held in place by two internal screws. This dual-piece design permits steel-to-steel interface between the slide and frame, and the option to utilize aluminum alloy, titanium or stainless steel for the grip thereby changing the weight and balance of the pistol.

A heavy dustcover with integral accessory rail adds weight forward to help control muzzle flip. The frame/slide rails are reversed from what is typical so that it receives the slide that rides down inside it (editor: like SIG P210). The results are another performance-based feature, a lower bore axis for better muzzle flip control.

The triggerguard is squared at the front and shallow vertical serrations are cut into the front and back straps, which provide a textured surface. Additionally, the grip panels are from rubber, and have checkering molded into about 3/4ths of their surface. An extended grip tang further helps to control muzzle flip. A highly raised magazine release may be reversed for left-handed shooters. What appears to be a thumb safety is actually an ambidextrous decocker with a raised and serrated shelf for indexing and positive engagement, and the slide stop shares these features. Hammer is a spurred and skeletonized unit.

The magazine well is beveled, even though the truncated profile of the 10-shot Mec-Gar magazines (editor: 16 rounds in EU) combined with the yawning magazine well should make quick loading easy enough. The trigger’s profile is that of an aggressive forward curve. The mode of operation is double-action (DA) for the first pull, and single-action (SA) for subsequent shots.

The frame is roll-marked “SPHINX MADE IN SWITZERLAND” on the left flank on the right with the Sphinx logo just forward of the triggerguard.

The Sphinx’s slide has both forward and rear cocking serrations, and since it rides down inside the frame, it sits much lower than with most pistols. It’s machined from CrNiMo-steel bar stock. An external extractor is employed, and fixed combat sights (editor: Sphinx-BoMar adjustable sights) are fitted into dovetails. Each sight is fitted with one tritium vial to be aligned one atop the other. The slide rails run the entire length of the pistol, and I was barely able to manage a hair of play between the slide and frame while using a great deal of strength.

A 9,5 cm CrNiMo-steel ramped barrel mates directly to the front of the slide, so no bushing is necessary. Bore is button broached with a 2,5-in-25-cm right-hand twist, and six lands and grooves. The Sphinx uses a Browning-style cam system, and is locked to slide by single lug via large ejection port. The Sphinx also employs a full-length guide rod.

The fit and finish was excellent throughout, the pistol’s black coating is Sphinx’s AlTin. All machining was clean. The pistol was without machine marks even inside the slide and frame.”

This article is a tribute to one of the best pistols ever made and I hope that SPHINX Systems Limited will continue to develop this “almost perfect gun”. Behind this success lays thousands of hours behind the desk designing hammers, locking systems etc. and also by the machine where the finest material brings to live by the greatest craftsmen finding the best way to produce the perfect gun.

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Literature
The World’s Great Handguns – From 1450 to the present day by Roger Ford, Brown Packaging Books Ltd
Modern Combats Pistols – The Development of Semi-automatic Pistols for Military and Police Service Since 1945 by Maxim Popenker
Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia on World Wide Web
The Complete Encyclopedia of Pistols and Revolvers by A.E. Hartink, Chartwell Books Inc
Visier - Das internationale Waffen-Magazin, issue October 2009 by László Tolvaj
Combat Handguns, issue May 2009 by Matt Berger
SPHINXarms.com – SPHINX Systems Ltd
Worldguns website
Other relevant websites with information