It’s a nice gun. I think so, and several gun magazine writers like Jan Libourel agree that it’s a “beautifully-made” high-capacity compact semi-auto. In fact, Libourel stated in an article on pocket handguns that the Sphinx AT-380M is the “most appealing of the high capacity .380s.”
It’s this kind of talk that set me upon the track of one of these fine Swiss pistols. It was much easier to find than I thought, there being one in each of the two gun stores in town, and the employees there were all honestly impressed by the gun.
The AT-380M is extremely compact for its capacity. Only a bit larger than the Walther PPK and a bit shorter than a Sig-Sauer P230, it beats their 7- and 8-round capacities all to hell with its whopping 10+1. (A 15-round magazine is “available”.) It is, of course, bulkier and heavier than these two pistols to accomodate the double-stack mags, but it is absolutely tiny compared to Beretta’s Model 84 “Cheetah” 10-rounder.
Machining on the gun is wonderful–the slide is made of stainless steel and comes bare or with a matte-black finish. The AT-380M’s frame and trigger are the same for either of the two available finishes: stainless steel with a weird anodized finish. A friend at the gun store once told me what this weird alloy is, but I don’t remember what he said and couldn’t find any verification for it at the time. Suffice it to say that it is some very shiny, corrosion- resistant metal.
The AT-380M, like the other Sphinx guns, are built to be carry-pieces. No nonsense DAO, with ambidextrous slide lock and an ambidextrous safety. Field- stripping consists of only removing the slide and slide spring from the frame–the barrel is non-removable but is easily accessible for cleaning. The sights are a fixed blade in front and a fixed notch in the rear. Straight out of the box, this gun is ready to roar, for anything from target-practice to military combat.
My first shot, using a PMC FMJ 90gr. .380, went right through the bullseye at 7 yds. I continued shooting with this ammo and S&B; (a very dirty Czech ammo, also 90gr. FMJ).
After a while, I noticed a few things:
- The gun is wonderful to grip and easy to point.
- The sights are both black and not so easy to pick up (I like three-dot configurations.)
- It jams a whole lot on 90gr. ammo. Three times in 75 shots.
- The gun is extremely accurate right out of the box up to 25 yds.
- It kicks like a horse.
- Sometimes the DAO action screws up and the hammer won’t drop. This is part of Sphinx’s patented “Safe System” that tries to keep down staging of the trigger. The trigger is designed to pull from front to back in one quick (and painful) motion.
Only three complaints so far, and all of them can be easily explained and/or remedied. The AT-380M is a disctinctly European gun. Not like the Walther and Beretta .380s that are ear-marked for an American market, the Sphinx pistols disassemble in the European fashion and more importantly, are designed for the hot European ammo. The slide spring is therefore too strong for American 90gr. and tries to reload too quickly, jamming the fresh round into the roof of the chamber. Using the Italian Fiocchi 95gr. ammo solved this major problem in the pistol’s reliability.
One down, two to go. Unfortunately, the latter two complaints cannot be easily remedied.
“It kicks like a horse.” This is a sacrifice of comfort for concealability. One of the main reasons Berettas shoot so comfortably is their size as compared to their calibre. Isaac Newton’s conservation of momentum law shows that a bigger gun will absorb more of the recoil than will a smaller, less massive gun. That’s why Berettas are so huge for 9mm pistols. And that’s why Sphinx made their AT-380M out of stainless steel for that extra, recoil-absorbing weight. Still, there isn’t enough mass to keep the gun from kicking so hard, but it’s indicative of the single-mindedness with which Sphinx manufactured this quality gun.
The trigger problem. I don’t know if there is any real threat in the “Safety System” to one’s safety. I figure if I were being assaulted and had to quickly draw and fire my pistol then there wouldn’t be time for me to stage the trigger. For a law-enforcement officer, it might be a different story, but what kind of officer would use a .380 as his main pistol anyway? I definitely recommend the Sphinx for tight situations and hesitantly recommend it for law-enforcement use. Maybe putting a thousand rounds through the thing will loosen up the slide spring and the action so that there aren’t these tightness problems.
Here are the specs for those who are interested:
Sphinx Engineering AT-380M
| Calibre | .380 / 9mm Short |
| Length Overall | 6.03 in. |
| Height | 4.57 in. |
| Width | 1.36 in. |
| Barrel Length | 3.27 in. |
| Weight | 25 oz. |
| Magazine Capacity | 10(+1) |
Sphinx Engineering SA
Chemin des Grandes-Vies 2
CH-2900 Porrentruy/Suisse
Sphinx is distributed in the United States by Sile Distributors (address unknown).
Sile handles the warranty. Their contact number is now (the one in the phone list is no longer current)
- New York 800-221-9408
- Connecticut 800-243-3404
Both locations have a gunsmith that is specifically trained in repair of Sphinx arms and have genuine parts.