The firing pin retaining pin can be a pain. It is tapered and only goes in/out one way. It comes out right to left and installed left to right. Hammer spring is super easy. Just remove the grip retaining pin and twist the plug 90 degrees and the plug and hammer spring comes out. The firing pin block lifter spring requires you to take out and take apart the sear cage. On the Sphinx the sear cage is held in place by the decocker levers. It is way easier than the CZ decockers for sure. But, that spring could easily be left stock if you want.
A Good Dilemma: Sphinx SDP Compact or CZ P-01 with CGW Parts
- Thread starter TunnelRat
- Start date
The firing pin retaining pin can be a pain. It is tapered and only goes in/out one way. It comes out right to left and installed left to right. Hammer spring is super easy. Just remove the grip retaining pin and twist the plug 90 degrees and the plug and hammer spring comes out. The firing pin block lifter spring requires you to take out and take apart the sear cage. On the Sphinx the sear cage is held in place by the decocker levers. It is way easier than the CZ decockers for sure. But, that spring could easily be left stock if you want.
I am sorry sir, but that is an extremely inaccurate opinion. All our parts start out as solid alloyed high carbon steel blanks and are produced using the most advanced EDM machinery in the USA. Then heat treated to RC53.
I respectfully request you do your homework before you comment on a companies products.
sigarms228
New member
I am sorry but you took my post out of context that I intended and yes I could have worded that part better and I apologize for that. I know your parts are NON MIM and very high quality and do wonderful enhancements in performance and durability of the firearms they are engineered for at a very reasonable investment.
My point is that IMO a CZ P01, even with your wonderful CGW parts in it, would not be quite up to the overall quality of a factory Sphinx SDP.
I also wanted to edit my original post but it seems I can not. I requested that a moderator delete my post. I certainly did not intend to tarnish the reputation of your great products.
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Independent George
New member
Own both... SDP Compact and CZ P-01 (stock).
The P-01 is one of my very favorite pistolas... very well made, great ergos, very accurate and a great 'carry' gun. However...
IMO the Sphinx SDP is probably one of the best made pistolas out there for the money. Quality and finish is A++, great trigger, soft-recoil and DEAD accurate... very impressive pistola!
Have never used CGW but everything I've read/heard about their CZ-work is exceptional... you won't be disappointed!
So, the bottom-line... you really won't go wrong with either choice (dollars are close).
Won't say 'get 'em both' because you may eventually do that, but again... your choice, you'll be happy either way.
The P-01 is one of my very favorite pistolas... very well made, great ergos, very accurate and a great 'carry' gun. However...
IMO the Sphinx SDP is probably one of the best made pistolas out there for the money. Quality and finish is A++, great trigger, soft-recoil and DEAD accurate... very impressive pistola!
Have never used CGW but everything I've read/heard about their CZ-work is exceptional... you won't be disappointed!
So, the bottom-line... you really won't go wrong with either choice (dollars are close).
Won't say 'get 'em both' because you may eventually do that, but again... your choice, you'll be happy either way.
Walt Sherrill
New member
Canik Stingray Mag for the Sphinx SDP.
A note about CANIK STINGRAY mags:
Got two in earlier today from J&G Sales, and popped them into my SPD. They wouldn't stay locked in.
I compared STINGRAY baseplates to SPD baseplates. The Stingray base plates are just like the SDP, but have an extra 1/16th of plastic material around the top (which wraps around the metal). That extra little bit of material keeps the mag release from CATCHING the notch on the Canik mag.
It took about 3 mintues to fix them.
Using the SDP mag baseplate as a guide, I used a silver Sharpie to color the little area of plastic from the TOP of the base plate, and then used a cut-off wheel (on a Dremel) to remove the silver (excess) material. (You're removing about 1/16th of an inch of plastic -- maybe a bit less! (I found some packs of larger cut-off wheels at Northern Tools, and I've used them for a lot of different things, lately. They were cheap, too.)
Now the mags seem to be 100%, and really look like factory base plates. The material removed was not structural/functional, and removing it had no effect on the ability of the baseplate to stay on the mag. I'll probably go to the range tomorrow...
I had the same problem some time back with some Hi-Cap mags I bought from Mec-Gar for a P226 X-Five. The extra material kept the mags from locking into place. The solution was the same, and gave me some Mec-Gar X-Five Mags for about 1/2 the price of the SIG factory mags. The only apparent difference was that the X-Five factory mag base plates were silver, while the Mec-Gar (aftermarket mags) were black. Sort of the same story, here...
As somebody else noted, using CZ followers with SIG P228 mags will work, too. That was a surprise! Mec-Gar P228 mags and CZ followers cost more than the CANIK/Stingray option for J&G sales.
A note about CANIK STINGRAY mags:
Got two in earlier today from J&G Sales, and popped them into my SPD. They wouldn't stay locked in.
I compared STINGRAY baseplates to SPD baseplates. The Stingray base plates are just like the SDP, but have an extra 1/16th of plastic material around the top (which wraps around the metal). That extra little bit of material keeps the mag release from CATCHING the notch on the Canik mag.
It took about 3 mintues to fix them.
Using the SDP mag baseplate as a guide, I used a silver Sharpie to color the little area of plastic from the TOP of the base plate, and then used a cut-off wheel (on a Dremel) to remove the silver (excess) material. (You're removing about 1/16th of an inch of plastic -- maybe a bit less! (I found some packs of larger cut-off wheels at Northern Tools, and I've used them for a lot of different things, lately. They were cheap, too.)
Now the mags seem to be 100%, and really look like factory base plates. The material removed was not structural/functional, and removing it had no effect on the ability of the baseplate to stay on the mag. I'll probably go to the range tomorrow...
I had the same problem some time back with some Hi-Cap mags I bought from Mec-Gar for a P226 X-Five. The extra material kept the mags from locking into place. The solution was the same, and gave me some Mec-Gar X-Five Mags for about 1/2 the price of the SIG factory mags. The only apparent difference was that the X-Five factory mag base plates were silver, while the Mec-Gar (aftermarket mags) were black. Sort of the same story, here...
As somebody else noted, using CZ followers with SIG P228 mags will work, too. That was a surprise! Mec-Gar P228 mags and CZ followers cost more than the CANIK/Stingray option for J&G sales.
rt11002003
New member
I wasn't thinking the other day when I asked the group for advice about the Sphinx. My rule of thumb is that there are as many opinions as there are people in the discussion, plus one. Someone always changes their mind. Many, many opinions is what makes these forums interesting, but not necessarily specific to one's needs/desires.
Thanks to all of you for your input. You've convinced me; I need a Sphinx standard, all stainless with a CGW work over. I'm hoping my CZ75 Tactical Sport (if I ever get it from Buds Gun Shop) will cool down my CZ fever, at least for awhile.
I do mostly target shooting, so gun weight isn't a real big factor. I have four guns suitable for carry;that's not a factor for a new gun. As an old mechanic I have a passion for precision equipment such as BMW motorcycles , Porsche, Audi TT's, Schure (sp.?) tonearms, Thorens turntables, fine cameras, etc., you get the picture. The problem is all those things are also expensive. Requires one to be selective when buying.
Thanks to all of you for your input. You've convinced me; I need a Sphinx standard, all stainless with a CGW work over. I'm hoping my CZ75 Tactical Sport (if I ever get it from Buds Gun Shop) will cool down my CZ fever, at least for awhile.
I do mostly target shooting, so gun weight isn't a real big factor. I have four guns suitable for carry;that's not a factor for a new gun. As an old mechanic I have a passion for precision equipment such as BMW motorcycles , Porsche, Audi TT's, Schure (sp.?) tonearms, Thorens turntables, fine cameras, etc., you get the picture. The problem is all those things are also expensive. Requires one to be selective when buying.
Walt Sherrill
New member
Most old mechanics I know -- my father was one, and a good one -- have the taste, but not the budget. You must've done it right.
(I got a chance to shoot a friends multi-thousand $ USPSA race gun this week, and I felt like a farmer, used to driving John Deere tractors, trying to drive a Porsche 918... My taste and my budget don't even talk to each other.)
If it ain't broke you don't fix it. I have read here where you take an EDC gun and based on somebody's say so, you swap out the mainsprings to lighten the trigger pull, and based on what somebody else says, you experiment with magazines that aren't made for the gun you have. AFAIC, I'm sorry & I ain't stupid, such a modified gun is not suitable for everyday carry! I don't make science projects out of any of my guns, much less my carry guns!
But as far as the CZ P-01, I can tell you that one of the instructors at an LGR I frequent has a P-01 with a CZ Custom Shop Short Reset Trigger System on it, and the Meprolight Tru-Dot night sights installed. Recently I had a chance to run a box through this gun and I can tell you that you want a P-01 with these upgrades for an EDC! Based on what I have witnessed, I trust what the CZ Custom Shop can do to upgrade the performance of this gun for its intended purpose. I would say that most other CZ defensive pistols would probably benefit from these particular upgrades. Otherwise, IMHO, leave your CZ EDC gun alone!
Are you implying that other members here who understand how their gun works and modify it with the help of the manufacturer and professional gunsmiths are stupid? CGW offers a hammer spring kit and Sphinx told a member here to swap the hammer spring with a CZ compact spring to lower the weight on the DA pull. This makes these modifications based on something more than "somebody says so". That is the way I read your post. I have not seen anywhere in this thread where a person is using modified mags for carry. People have talked about modifying mags to make them run in the Sphinx but I have not seen anyone say they carry those mags. Maybe your powers of deduction are more keen then mine.
People have been running CZs with hammer springs as low as 12lbs with 100% ignition for a long time. Yes sometimes it take some trial and error to get the right lbs for the right gun but it is not hard to test and verify what will work in your gun.
What I find odd is that you advocate for a CZ custom shop modification but criticize people who know how to modify their own pistol. Hammer spring changes are not difficult and if you understand how the hammer spring and firing pin spring work together it can be done will 100% reliability. People like CGW and CZ Customs do it everyday.
Don't modify your pistol. It is your gun but don't disparage other people, who know more about their guns then you do, who choose to make these simply modifications.
WVSig;
Are you saying that You are a trained & certified gunsmith? Are you saying that you are every bit as qualified to work on a CZ as the CZ Custom Shop? My friend is an NRA Certified Instructor and I'm telling you what I was told, the CZ corporation stands behind the work of their custom shop, so who are you? Are you ready to go in business for yourself?
You can do whatever you want to your own guns but I'm not qualified to make these kinds of modifications to an EDC gun, so I'm going to follow the advice of the legitimate experts I do know and not do anything to risk the reliability & safety of my carry guns! It is what it is! I just hope you don't have to defend yourself in a legal case with one of your modified guns, you won't like what happens with the judge & jury!
Are you saying that You are a trained & certified gunsmith? Are you saying that you are every bit as qualified to work on a CZ as the CZ Custom Shop? My friend is an NRA Certified Instructor and I'm telling you what I was told, the CZ corporation stands behind the work of their custom shop, so who are you? Are you ready to go in business for yourself?
You can do whatever you want to your own guns but I'm not qualified to make these kinds of modifications to an EDC gun, so I'm going to follow the advice of the legitimate experts I do know and not do anything to risk the reliability & safety of my carry guns! It is what it is! I just hope you don't have to defend yourself in a legal case with one of your modified guns, you won't like what happens with the judge & jury!
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Walt Sherrill
New member
JDBerg said:
You seem to have the style of a religious elder of a well-established church trying to condemn the actions of a different denomination or a member of a different sect! It's as though you are reading from a TABLET that lists the THOU SHALT NOTS of gun ownership that you personally brought down from the top of the mountain...
It also seems that your are telling us that your local gun expert, the NRA Certified Instructor, is a trained and certified gunsmith. (That's the expertise you are implicitly giving him, isn't it?) An NRA Certified Instructor is certainly competent to teach folks how to handle and fire a weapon safely; their focus is on safe handling and use of firearms. A different type of instructor comes in handy if you're planning to shoot competitively, but safe handing and use is still a focus.
That NRA Instructor certification doesn't necessarily make any NRA Certified Instructor a bit more qualified to opine about what is or isn't proper in terms of modifications or adjustments to a gun than other shooters; if your NRA Certified Instructor is better qualified, its not from THAT certification process, but from a lot of other experiences and acquired knowledge.
In your presentaiton, you're indulging in the logical fallacy called "arguing from authority," to say "thou shalt not"; but what's unique about your approach is that you're using someone else's "authority." We may have to coin a new term for that: arguing from authority, once removed?
Working on your own weapon isn't profoundly different than working on your own a car or upgrading a home computer -- lots of folks DO THAT and are very successful at it. Guns are machines. Cars are machines. Computers are machines (with software added.) Unhappily for some of us -- who once out of interest or pecuniary need, did their own car work, cars are becoming much more like computers than the cars we grew up with!! Heck, some folks even do their own software -- with their computers and with their cars! (Those onboard car computers can be tweaked to give much better performance!) It helps if you understand the machines and how they work. Not everybody does.
Visit the MidwayUSA or Brownells site and see what parts are available to upgrade a wide range of personal weapons. Many of these parts (maybe the majority?) are installed by the gun owners rather than certified gunsmiths or NRA Certified Instructors. Installing a Ghost connector or aftermarket trigger system in a Glock is far more technical than changing springs, but literally hundreds of thousands of Glock owners have done it.
CZ will stand behind the work of their custom shop. Cajun Gun Works will stand behind its work, too. That means these firms will fix the part they changed if it breaks. Otherwise the factory warranty will still apply for original parts. That seems to be the case with guns that have been modified by their owners. It's mostly about warranty coverage.
If you're not comfortable working on your own weapons or other equipment, then you certainly shouldn't do so.
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What does being an NRA Certified Instructor have to do with gunsmithing or the legal ramifications of gunsmithing?
These companies make and sell these parts to individual owners. It's part of their business. Cajun Gun Works even has a phone line dedicated to technical help if you run into issues. They realize that frankly they do not have the staff and time to handle all of their customers were those customers to send their pistols in to have everything done nor will everyone wait 2 months. Now I agree I wouldn't expect them to get on the witness stand with you, but it is very far from an unheard of practice.
If WVsig isn't a gunsmith, I'm fairly sure you're not a lawyer either.
To quote Indiana Jones, "I've heard this bedtime story before." Typically it's by folks who have read an article by Massad Ayoob. Ayoob is an expert, no getting around it. However, the cases he mentions where modifications to handguns have come up in court are typically officers who claim to have accidentally discharged their firearms and the prosecution argued that the modifications those officers had made resulted in triggers too light that they placed the public in danger because of the ease by which those pistols could be discharged. The modifications only came up in court because the officers used them as part of their claim that they did not intend to shoot the suspect.
That being stated, let's walk into the long grass (relevant movie reference given recent releases). The modified CZ I mention would result in a first pull of ~ 8.5 lbs. That's 1.5X the trigger pull of the standard issue Glock, with a good 1.5X the length of travel as well. Is that more negligent then? For that matter, how minor or major of a modification will get you in trouble in court? If all I do is polish the internal parts but leave the pull length and weight relatively unchanged, is that still a problem? If I swap out one factory part for another factor part (i.e. Glock disconnectors) is that a problem? We've all heard the story of the aggressive DA holding our feet to the fire. In that case, what if you use a fullsize magazine in your compact gun? Why would you need more cartridges than standard? Did you just want to kill more people? Why do you have night sights on your gun? Do you plan on shooting people in the dark without identifying them? Why were you carrying a gun on you in the first place? Were you "looking for trouble"?
My point is we can easily go to extremes here. My advice is to know your local laws, know the disposition of your district attorneys, and don't modify the gun to a point where you think it could go off inadvertently and don't disable existing safeties.
JDBerg said:
Typical appeal to authority. Just because your buddy is a certified instructor does not mean he knows anything about CZ's business model. It also does not mean he knows anything about custom pistols. What it does mean is that he took a NRA instructor course and passed a test at a B level.
I believe he misspoke by telling you that CZ stands behind "their" custom shop. CZ Customs is not CZs custom shop but are one of several "authorized" custom shops. They have a relationship. If CZ customs screws up your gun CZ will not do a thing about it. Not that that is likely to happen.
http://cz-usa.com/links/customize/
I am not a gunsmith but I do understand how the mainspring effects a pistol. I also know how to test if a mainspring is too light. I also know how to consult with a certified gun smith who sells specific parts for the guns in question. This is not a hard thing to understand. Its like changing the brake pads on your car. You do not need to be a certified mechanic to do so. You don't need to be a certified armorer to install a mainspring. Look around and you will see that people who are not gunsmiths do it everyday successfully without issue in Sigs, Berettas, CZs, Sphinxs, Brownig Hi Powers, 1911s etc.....
JDBerg said:You can do whatever you want to your own guns but I'm not qualified to make these kinds of modifications to an EDC gun, so I'm going to follow the advice of the legitimate experts I do know and not do anything to risk the reliability & safety of my carry guns! It is what it is! I just hope you don't have to defend yourself in a legal case with one of your modified guns, you won't like what happens with the judge & jury!Your gun so if it makes you feel more comfortable to have them change your springs or do action work that is perfectly fine. What is absurd is for you to infer that others who do not agree with your mindset and make simple changes are stupid or reckless in some manner. You have setup a strawman argument in a weak attempt to prove your point. The reality is a judge and jury may see any modification to a firearm as reckless. Then again they might not. The what if hypothetical you are proposing is not a one to one direct causal relationship. It could be a factor it might not be a factor.
It seems to me like you might consider getting a new set of experts based on the info they are giving you. YMMV In the end it is perfectly Ok to disagree on whether to modify or not modify a gun or on who should do said modification but claiming that those who disagree with you "stupid" seems a bit much.
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