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Range Day and Smith & Wesson CSX Review

631 Views 26 Replies 14 Participants Last post by  Workaholic
Started the day at the indoor range. Glock 43, Smith & Wesson 640, and a Smith & Wesson CSX.

G43 had one failure where the extractor failed to seat on the round chambering. Easy to fix. Mix of Federal 147 ball and Federal 124 HST. HST was more accurate, no surprise there. Wrote G48 on the targets, brain seizing up.

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Federal HST 124...
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Smith & Wesson 640...
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Spent some time helping a young fella with a new S&W 442. His first revolver. Wasn't grouping. Showed proper grip, sight alignment for 25, 15, and inside 7 yards. Suggested he paint the front sight post. Got him lowered, on paper and grouping around 14 inches at 5 yards. Think he will stick with it and improve with practice.


CSX...
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CSX with Federal 124 HST...


The CSX is an interesting pistol. Feels good, natural pointer, very accurate instinctive shooting. Funny trigger feel. Sometimes nice and light, other times heavy, heavy squeeze. Grip is like sandpaper, rough on the shooting hand.

Compact, compelling form factor. Recoil is not bad at all for such a small pistol.

Safety is too light in my opinion. Disengages too easily and no click in either direction. Slide cycles with safety engaged and disengaged. There is also a trigger safety which is ridiculous on a single action pistol in my opinion. Also the source of a problem.

The CSX ate everything, no failures. Until the end. Running Federal 124 HST the trigger went dead. Flopping loosely. The guide rod extending 1/4 inch forward of the slide. Slide will not cycle. Locked up tight with a live round in the chamber.

Will ship the CSX back to S&W for repair. With the live round chambered.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CARRY.

I would take a hard pass on the CSX. Thinking I will pickup another Glock, a G26 though will be fatter than the CSX.
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Sounds like the RSA broke.
Likely. First one encountered where I can't get the slide to move.

My guess, S&W may have to destroy the pistol frame to disassemble.
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At first glance, the CSX struck me as a stinker. Sorry that your experience so far validates that.
Think it was a good idea perhaps poorly executed. Maybe the 2.0 version would have these features:

  • Steel frame
  • No trigger safety
  • Positive click safety
  • Standard M&P slide cuts for sights
  • Get rid of the plastic slide part(s)
  • Make a decent bottom plate for the extended magazine

The pistol has potential. Just not in the current configuration.
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Nah, we had a Glock 27 do the same thing. It was a pain, but we got it apart.
I have had to step on ejection levers of Ruger Mini's before. Tap slides with a mallet. This one won't move. Tried pushing down on the barrel shroud. Pushing forward, backward. Had a young strong fella try. Tapping forward with mallet. Tapping backward. Had to take some care around the muzzle due to live round. No joy.
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S&W wouldn't take the pistol back. Wanted me to visit a gunsmith on my dime. Screw that.

Put the pistol on the bench, placed a shop rag on top and began banging with a heavier mallet. Took 3 strikes to get back in battery. Slide still wouldn't move.

Rotated the pistol 90 degrees, repositioned rag and 2 hard strikes on the side midships to the recoil spring assembly. Slide moves, round ejected.

Disassembly noted unusual wear marks on the barrel near the shroud. Low round count too.

Going to replace the recoil spring assembly and sell this pos.

Three bad handguns in 9 months from Smith & Wesson. Forum rules don't permit my non Christian response.
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I am surprise that s&w would not fix it .. They been pretty good about repairs for me even on out of warranty stuff ...Maybe cause there was a live round stuck in the gun they would not legally be able to take it back ? And od to me saying take to a smith as this is a newer gun with limited to no spare parts out there

How odd
They didn't want to deal with the live round. I wanted them to assume responsibility for any damage a gunsmith might do. Smith & Wesson is sending crap out the door lately.
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The round on the left is the one that was partially chambered. The round on the right is a Federal HST 124 straight from the box.

Unable to determine if the bullet is partially out of the case or sealant was improperly applied.

The CSX design is too complicated. Too many small parts.

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Is the cartridge that was in the locked up pistol the same length as unfired cartridges? Hard to tell from the picture.

Maybe it was an ammo issue?

Does the gun work now that it’s been cleared?
I couldn't tell without a caliper. Can't be more than 1/16 if it is. Likely going to try and run it thru a Glock. Betting the Glock will eat it without issue.

Thought about giving the CSX another go but having had a good look at the internals, not keeping it. Maybe if they come out with the 2.0 version and simplify the mechanics. But I don't trust this pistol.
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The CSX may just be another bad S&W, but there's nothing wrong with your shooting - it's good!
Thank you!
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