US made Sphinx?

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divil

New member
Anyone have any experience of how the US made Sphinx compare to the Swiss made version? Someone near me is selling a Sphinx Compact Alpha and I would love to have one of these based on everything I've heard, but everything I've heard is based on the gun being made in Switzerland. Apparently they closed that factory and now make them in the US. This one is marked "Kriss USA Inc" so I'm guessing it's made in the US.

The seller also has a Swiss made version for $100 more, but it's the Duty version with the longer grip which I wouldn't like as much. But are they better?
 
Being marked Kriss USA is just the name of the importer. It doesn't mean it was made here. In fact the fact that it's marked Kriss rather than Sphinx would make me think it was an import and not made here. I wasn't aware Sphinx had finally set up Sphinx USA and was making pistols here. Kriss has been the importer since the beginning.


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TunnelRat said:
Being marked Kriss USA is just the name of the importer. It doesn't mean it was made here. In fact the fact that it's marked Kriss rather than Sphinx would make me think it was an import and not made here. I wasn't aware Sphinx had finally set up Sphinx USA and was making pistols here. Kriss has been the importer since the beginning.


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The gun are now made in the US. Sphinx in Switerland went belly up again. Production was moved to the US. Kriss bought Sphinx. They are now solely owned by Kriss USA while previously Kriss was just the importer. They are being made in Norfolk, VA IIRC. I have Swiss versions and like them but my sub-compact did have to go back to the factory for warranty work. They replaced the barrel and slide stop. It has been 100% since then.

I have not heard any changes in quality. The original Swiss guns were almost too tight. A fair number had to go back and be tweaked. If you like the one you looked at I would get it.
 
Interesting. But are the ones stateside marked Kriss USA? Who's making them stateside? The one I owned years back was marked Kriss USA because Kriss imported it.
 
TunnelRat said:
Interesting. But are the ones stateside marked Kriss USA? Who's making them stateside? The one I owned years back was marked Kriss USA because Kriss imported it.
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Edited the above message but I will retype it here. Sphinx were made by Kriss Arms in Switzerland. They were imported by Kriss USA, formerly TDI. They changed their name when they moved the production facility for the Vector to Norfolk, VA.

Kriss Arms when belly up but Kriss USA did not and they bought Sphinx from Kriss Arms as I understand it. So the guns are now made here by Kriss USA.

So it makes sense your older Sphinx says Kriss USA because they were the importer at the time. Now they are marked Kriss USA because they manufacture them.

Here is an older Sphinx made in Switzerland.

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Looking at the picture more closely I take it the way to tell if it's a Swiss made one is whether it's marked Made in Switzerland on the frame?
 
TunnelRat said:
Looking at the picture more closely I take it the way to tell if it's a Swiss made one is whether it's marked Made in Switzerland on the frame?
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On that one I don't know. I have not seen a NIB Sphinx in person in a few years. Frames might still be made in Switzerland allowing them to keep the older rollmark.
 
I found higher res pics of the 2 in the ad I was talking about, and they both have the same markings as the one in your pic - Kriss USA, Virgina Beach on the right, and Sphinx Made in Switzerland on the left.
 
divil said:
I found higher res pics of the 2 in the ad I was talking about, and they both have the same markings as the one in your pic - Kriss USA, Virgina Beach on the right, and Sphinx Made in Switzerland on the left.
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Frames might still be made in Switzerland allowing them to keep the rollmark. I would call Kriss USA and they can tell you.
 
Kriss told me today that they still have components that were made in Switzerland so there are still new guns being assembled in the US with "Made in Switzerland" rollmarks.

Eventually when those parts are exhausted there will be a new rollmark.
 
Thanks for the info. I asked the seller and he just said "it's marked as made in switzerland on the slide" so it sounds like he thinks it was made in the US too.
 
So pistol cases a lot of times come with a label on the outside that has a date on when it was packaged. That might serve as an indication too.
 
Good point...in this case the seller has everything (unfired NIB) but hasn't offered any more info about that so I'm guessing he knows it's US made and he's just telling me what he thinks I want to hear.

One other hint is that the ad says it has night sights. From all the reviews from a few years ago, a common complaint was that there was no night sight option yet, so might be an indication that it's a recent production model.
 
divil said:
Good point...in this case the seller has everything (unfired NIB) but hasn't offered any more info about that so I'm guessing he knows it's US made and he's just telling me what he thinks I want to hear.

One other hint is that the ad says it has night sights. From all the reviews from a few years ago, a common complaint was that there was no night sight option yet, so might be an indication that it's a recent production model.
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Factory installed night sights are definitely a tell for a US made gun. They were not available when the guns were being produced in Switzerland. If they were installed post factory it could still be a Swiss gun but to be honest I would be willing to bet you could take 2 guns, one Swiss and one USA made, shoot them back to back and not know which was which.
 
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