bac1023 said:
From the SDP's I've handled, I would definitely conclude its not as good. That's my opinion.
I'll make this my final response on this topic.
Your comments above seem focused on what you consider the critical importance of build quality; I also infer there's a related assumption that great build quality will automatically (when it executed by a gifted gunsmith) to nearly all of the other virtues sought in a gun. I understand. I even agree. But, I would argue that many of those other virtues sought in a gun can often be found in guns made with a lot less master gunsmith involvement.
As I noted earlier, the SDP was re-engineered so that the new Sphinx guns could be produced using state-of-the-art technology that made high gunsmith involvement less necessary. There goal was to create new guns, in higher volumes, that still performed like the older "high build quality" Sphinx guns. I think they may have done it -- but since I don't have a 2000-series Sphinx any more, I can't do a shoot-off to test my belief. You apparently don't think that approach can be successful. You tell us that you have handled but haven't fired an SDP, as doing so is not necessary given what you know about quality guns and what you can discern by handling the gun, alone. You may be right. But until you actually try one out, you'll never be sure, The game may be changing... at least for the larger gunmaking firms.
I think I understand your point, and I think I also understand how you view and value these issues; in fact, I think I've seen it elsewhere.
I've had friends, over the years, who used and collected high-quality mechanical watches (self-winding, not quartz, and very expensive); their appreciation of fine watches seems much like your appreciation of high-end custom handguns. For these friends, owning a fine watch seemed to be an end in it itself. They owned Breitlings, TAG-Heuers, Omegas, and Rolexes. One of them inherited a Patek Phillippe, from a family treasure, and you would have thought he won the lottery! These fine watches, like fine handguns, are quite expensive. Fine mechanical watches, like high-end custom handguns, are often beautiful and quite precise (i.e., accurate), with superb fit and finish. But owning a fine watch has a downside: they need periodic and costly maintenance generally done only by highly-skilled (and highly-paid) craftsman. Such watches will require a watch winding machine if they aren't worn every day and the costs of those machines get higher and the number of watches owned gets higher. (Not wearing these watches, keeping them properly wound can lead to expensive problems.) The owner of a fine handgun can run into similar problems if he or she ever needs to replace an important spring or a small part...
While these fine watches are very accurate, they generally aren't as accurate as many far less expensive quartz watches. If your reason for having a watch is to keep track of time, even a cheap quartz watch from Japan or China could be a better tool than one of the fine automatic watches mentioned above. These less expensive quartz watches won't always make a fashion statement, won't inspire awe and wonder in their owner's mind, and are clearly not status symbols. But if accurate time-keeping is very important, a calibrated Swiss-made quartz watch (that can be purchase for several hundred than thousands of dollars) might be the better choice.
I think fine custom handguns are a bit like fine watches: they aren't so much admired for their ability to function well --
although they do -- but for what they represent: very well-made, unique machines made by gifted craftsmen. The men who build these guns seldom do anything new or all that different and they seldom really advance the watch or handgun state of the art, but they build beautiful machines. I would argue that, in the final analysis, it's not their machine's performance that makes these watches or handguns so alluring, it's the fact that each of these machines is an example of the pinnacle of fine (watch or gun) machine making. Some people just admire that and can't get enough it.
Fine handguns perform better than less costly weapons, but they're also appreciated for traits or characteristics that aren't normally associated with a working handgun: small groups when shot from a very great distance, beautiful fit and finish, including tight slide-to-frame fit (even though most experts feel that slide/frame fit isn't all that critical for function or accuracy), fine detailing in areas that where the hand must grab, and exquisite grips, etc. These are all impressive traits but they are things that sometimes offer the shooter only a small functional benefit. While the high build quality of a high-end firearm is very impressive, you can find many of these same and other functionally-important characteristics/values in far less expensive guns: good ergonomics, very good accuracy, great reliability and minimal required upkeep.
But, alas, these lower-cost alternatives, like cheap quartz watches, offer no bragging rights.
My marvelous little CZ P-07 comes from the low end of the handgun spectrum -- I bought it used for $325 -- and it continues to amaze me. My SDP fits somewhere in the middle of the Spectrum. My SIG P-210-6 or my SIG P226 X-Five (both now gone) were examples from somewhere above the middle, but both demonstrated good examples of high build quality. While the P-07 and SDP are both great guns with many of the highly important functional traits found in more expensive guns, I suspect neither of them saw that much hand work or master gunsmith attention when they were being built. (As
rt said, his SDP performs almost as well as his high-end SIG, despite what you seem to consider the SDP so-so/mediocre build quality.)
In my hands -- probably in many of our hands -- my guns will probably work as well as most of the high-end handguns -- not because my guns are really that good, but because I'm NOT that good. And, unless I (or someone else using the high build-quality gun) can suddenly develop new physical skills (and fast-twitch muscles) like those demonstrated by some of the great professional shooters, most of the handguns I've mentioned have far greater potential than most of us will ever fully use. I think that's true of the high build-quality guns, too. I'd argue that the shooter's limits and abilities play a bigger role in real world performance than the gun alone... unless all you do is shoot from a rest, comparing one gun to another. With most reasonably competent handgun, I think the shooter may be as important as the gun. I wish I were a better shooter.
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