Shooting the Smith & Wesson CSX Hammer-Fired 9mm Micro Compact [VIDEO]

By
Jeremy S.
-
64

A quick trip to the range to put some more rounds through Smith & Wesson’s new CSX hammer-fired micro compact concealed carry piece. If you like the idea of these 10+1 round (or higher) teeny 9mms like the S&W Shield Plus, but prefer an external hammer, the CSX may be your huckleberry.

Click HERE to view the video — which is also embedded up at the top of this post — over on Rumble.

 

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64 COMMENTS

    • This looks like a miss by S&W. Lots of negative reviews out there. Haven’t seen one yet in the flesh so I have no personal opinion. Sure is a helluva lot of micro gats to chose from!

      • That’s all it really needs to share. It’s a pocket pistol that’s a single action.

        Much better choices available now.

        • Everything in this category is single action, though. Shield Plus, P365, Hellcat, Kimber Mako, Ruger MAX-9, etc. This one just has a hammer instead of a striker.

        • Jeremy, that may be technically true, but traditional hammer-fired single action is a different story. There’s a difference between having a manual safety and needing one. Unless you would be comfortable carrying this with hammer cocked and safety off, it’s really not like every gun in the category.

    • The micro 1911’s are actually safer to carry than the Glock and Glock copy cat guns that have no manual safety. The problem is people panic when they see a hammer cocked back but are unaware that the Glock is cocked within the gun and they cannot see it so they do not fear carrying such an unsafe weapon. The usual accidental discharges are legend with the Glock type weapons.

      Even a 1911 with the hammer down can be quickly cocked on the draw so the perceived advantage of the Glock is not a reality because you lose more in carrying an accident waiting to happen when you carry a Glock compared to a 1911.

  3. I was hoping for a successor to the CS9. Ideally with a steel frame.

    I like that it’s hammer fired, small, and 9mm. Not sure I’m stoked about it being single action. Polymer guns always feel funny to me, like they are top-heavy, and don’t soak up recoil well. But I’m cautiously interested.

    • Agree with you on the steel frame hopes.
      And I know that there’s a lot more ammo that does well from a short barrel commercially available. That said, I don’t find a four inch barrel particularly hard to stow/ conceal, and I am by no means a big or heavy guy.
      Keep the frame width and height and stretch the barrel/ slide accordingly ( like they now do with the Shield,the Sig 365XL and Springfield offering.
      I find that a lot more shootable ( sight radius for me) , better ballistics and still disappearing on my skinny frame in an untucked shirt

      • Busybeef,

        Intriguing…I just looked it up, and you are right!

        I am now much more interested. I wonder if I can find someone to do a Seecamp conversion on a CSX…?

        I bet there’s a custom shop somewhere…

    • Less weight, more rounds, less “glittery”.

      But there’s definitely some family resemblance there…

  6. Worst trigger evah! Tried at local gunshop wonder who will be the fool to blow $500 on it. Wierd take up, gritty, sloppy and generally makes all foreign 1911 clones feel secure in their manhood. Go find a 9mm firestar on gunbroker…much better gun than this…and generally cooler name from when wondernines were coolish. Kimber micro 9 farts in its general direction. It should go away before it gets taunted again …not a Hillary hole but S&W is burning new guy goodwill with this pne.

  7. Just another future iron pipeline second hand purchase whose future is destined to be an evidence locker of some white supremacist MAGA insurrectionist gun violence partaker. Which is why we should ban all guns. If it can save even just one single life, we should do it. No amount of freedom, enjoyed by 330 million americans, is worth more than a single life, regardless of how many forefathers died for that freeeedumb.

    • I think the pencil neck is right! And I volunteer him to be the first to begin collecting those firearms. Personally. If he will do that, I’m right behind him. I’m also not worried.

      • ^This^ is the problem with the left. They’ve completely ruined the art of parody by preemptively out parodying themselves before the right can even parody the left from yesterday. It’s become a losing battle trying to come up with something in jest that is even more ridiculous than what the left is suggesting in all seriousness.

    • Sorry mate, Imma need your keys. Too many lives lost on the roads. More than guns infact. Sorry again to bother, too many people dying in bicycle accidents too. Gonna need your cycle. Ummm it’s me again, someone got trampled and we want to do what we can to save a single life so if you don’t mind hopping up here on the table we gonna have to remove your legs.

    • ‘…white supremacist MAGA insurrectionist…’

      JUSTICE FOR JUSSIE!!!!

      • no one can tell anymore. Real Life dacian and Babylon Bee dacian are all but indistinguishable.

  9. I enjoy hammer fired designs but something about this one looks a little weird to me. Something is off.

    • “Something is off.”

      Probably the that trigger safety doo-hickey that striker-fired pistols like the Glock uses…

    • From the photos I’d say what looks “off” is the the depth of the grip in comparison to the slide height. It’s probably just a proportional mirage, but I won’t know for sure until I’ve held one in my hand.

    • “I’m think I’m going to hang onto my Rami.”

      Preach it, I sure love mine.

      10 round or 14 with the extended mag that comes with it, I only wish I would have remembered to get the BD model with the de-cocker instead of the safety.

      To me, the BD is an ideal small 9mm, as long as it’s chambered, you can’t forget to flip off the safety in a high-stress situation. The long, heavy trigger pull means a lot lower chance of a negligent discharge catching you with an ugly surprise *Boom* to ruin your (or someone else’s) day…

      • glad to see you’ve come to grips with your 2075. i’ve had some near misses acquiring one.
        i’d rather safety with these da/ sa (i’d rather sao but… they don’t do that in compact), seems to me the decock (hate that term) “safely” lowers the hammer. you get excellent purchase on that ring hammer; i’ve zero qualms lowering it manually, i carry at half cock with the safety off. slightly longer pull, but def sharter than full low.
        the plastic grips are crappy, the identically formed rubber ones are great.
        and sometimes this guy has stuff ready to ship:
        http://www.marschalgrips.com/

  11. Eh, not feeling this one. It looks like a rushed design with some kinks to be worked out yet. And there’s better options at the size and price point in 9mm. Each to their own, of course.

  12. Hmmm…

    Hammer; check
    Rotating multi-chamber cylinder; _____________

    Sorry, close but no cigar.

  13. If your a plastic gun guy and a Hammer guy, this would seem to fill the niche. I do like the hammers, but yea, I dont know what it is, but it seems like something’s missing.

  15. The point of this is to have a nice trigger. So it’s weird that they dropped the ball on the trigger. Someone should be fired over this. A future Performance Center version would probably be nice.

    • I agree: an SAO with a trigger significantly heavier than a Glock’s is pointless. I accepted the challenge, did a trigger job, and now mine is under 4lb (with less total travel, after the safety takeup, than my Witness Hunter with both pre- and over-travel screws).

      I’ve never experienced the “mock reset” issue, and if I ride the reset, trigger travel is practically imperceptible.

  17. As a person who treasures a 1911 and carried one for decades, there is no WORSE ccw defense choice on the planet. The manual of arms is too complex in a rapid deployment versus today’s modern choices. I like hammers, but the single action makes it a dead man’s gun for a vast majority of people. Those with enough 1911 experience to deploy the weapon safely are too old to have fast enough reflexes to get off the first shot (me included). Worse yet, most 1911 ccw folks I meet put down fewer than a few hundred rounds per year, and usually don’t do that from concealment.

    I’ve been on both sides of concealed draw challenges using a 1911 and other pieces like my p229 and p365. I’ve yet to see a 1911 user deploy from concealment and get a shot off before the safety-less DA or striker does. It’s been a tradition in my classes for several years. YMMV, but for the average user an SA ccw piece is nuts.

    • I’ve yet to see a 1911 user deploy from concealment and get a shot off before the safety-less DA does.

      The scenario you “have yet to see” is exactly what happens at every IPSC match, where SAs are dominant and safeties are no obstacle. It’s not that DAs aren’t allowed; they just aren’t competitive (unless your choose a division that protects you from having to compete with the “WORSE”, “too complex” SAs🙄).

      • Umm:
        Yeah, but he’s not talking about IPSC competitors. He’s talking about old guys like (yours truly) who aren’t quick-draw McGraw. That’s why I like my XDs Mod. 2 with grip safety. It’s striker fired, and I don’t have to worry about manipulating a manual safety in a pinch. I once carried an S&W compact 1911 in .45 ACP and came to realize what a bad idea that was (for me). And, carrying a SAO hammer-fired pistol in other than condition one is another very bad idea.

        • Wiping off a safety requires some training at first, but very little if it’s in the intuitive, ergonomic 1911 position. Then it’s once and done. The other alternative to prevent an ND – a crap trigger – works against you every shot.

          Admittedly, the CSX safety requires a little more training than it should because of its size. I blame gunwriters who distort the picture for readers by insisting on “maximum” width measurements rather than standardizing on grip width (the real factor for concealment). I’m a big fan of “gas pedals” myself; no one ever got caught printing because of a 1/2″ long protrusion (especially one that’s on the inboard side of the pistol while being carried!).

          A properly set up grip safety is deactivated every time you hold the pistol, and therefore does nothing to prevent an ND during the only time it could possibly happen. The alternative – one that is stiff or awkward enough to occasionally prevent an intentional discharge – is even worse.

  18. I’m not hearing anything wrong with this other than the trigger return isn’t great, and I’m not hearing anything wrong with the trigger that can’t be solved with a new stronger trigger spring and a little stoning.
    Considering how fast S&W responded to trigger complaints with the Shield, I’ll bet they’re going to produce an upgraded version of this too.

    Gripping hand: If I was a 1911 kind of guy, this would be a great little backup or summer gun.

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