Early in June 2023, I received an email from Sportman’s Outdoor Superstore. In it, I saw that they had a deal on SCCY handguns. I was familiar with SCCY, and had actually looked at an earlier version of their CPX-2 in a local gun shop years ago. As I recall, it was priced at $289 at the time. MSRP on the latest Gen 3 version (RED-DOT Ready) is $249.99. Considering a sale price of $149.99, I decided to buy one on a lark. With free shipping and tax I paid a whopping $159.51 to have it delivered to my FFL.
Part of my justification for the purchase was a concept that has been explored before by other bloggers and firearm personalities. I wanted to know if there really was a viable budget option for new gun owners that wouldn’t break the proverbial bank. Certainly there are still some occasional police trade in deals and other inexpensive options, but the SCCY has long been of interest to me. There were a few other reasons driving the purchase as well.
Living where I do, guns that natively use 10 round magazines are of particular relevance. The double action only trigger and hammer fired action are appealing to me given my interest in revolvers. Furthermore, having the same trigger pull every time is probably a good thing for newer shooters. The gun is relatively compact and is relatively concealable. Given the price, it is virtually disposable in case of theft or other damage or loss. For this reason alone, it would make a good travel gun. While it would be upsetting to have it stolen from a suitcase in transit, it’s hardly irreplaceable.
I should also mention that I didn’t make this purchase completely in a vacuum or on a whim. Claude Werner, the Tactical Professor, has written about a SCCY CPX-2 that he has put quite a few rounds through with demonstrated reliability. (As a matter of fact, a recent Patreon entry from the Tactical Professor describes the first trouble free shots through his new Gen 3 version. So I’m in good company.)
Claude Werner’s experience notwithstanding, I have to acknowledge that the SCCY does not have a good reputation among serious gun enthusiasts. My LGS owner could not stop laughing at the purchase and predicted frustration and failure. Time will tell…
As a tangential observation, including the SCCY, the last two new manufacture handguns I’ve bought have come from the factory optic ready. To me, this speaks volumes about the current state of the industry. I will probably eventually mount an inexpensive red dot on the SCCY, if for no other reason than the fact that the double action trigger coupled with visual feedback from a red dot sight should make an excellent training platform.
I chose a bright orange frame color with a blackened slide. I went with orange because my wife thought the lime green was hideous. Why a high-visibility color like orange? Why not? I have lots of stuff that’s orange due to my hunting pastime. I went with the blackened slide after reading a review that described the available stainless finish as rusting easily. Ah, the irony! I can always buy another color slide or even grip module online and change it out. As near as I can tell, the serialized parts are held into the grip module with two pins.
Upon unboxing the gun, I noted three immediate concerns in quick succession. First, one of the screws holding the optic slide cover plate in place was loose. Second, the rear sight had drifted out of alignment in the slide. Third, when manipulating the gun, the slide wasn’t reliably locking back with an empty magazine inserted. At first, I thought it might be user error. Then I tried the other magazine that came in the box and thus discovered that one magazine that shipped with the gun may be problematic. Indeed, the magazine in question wouldn’t even drop free. The other mag seems to work fine in all respects. Not really an auspicious start.
The slide cover plate screw was an easy fix. I tightened it down with the appropriate hex head wrench.
Next, I took a closer look at the rear sight. The sight blade is secured with a 1/16” hex head screw. In tightening it, I initially thought that it was stripped. Upon closer inspection, I realized that I had tightened the set screw to the point that I was forcing the plastic sight up out of the sight dovetail. Seeing as the latest generation of SCCY pistols use Glock 43 style sights, I will probably update those with an inexpensive set from Ameriglo. For those on a budget, I would either black out the dots on the rear sight with a sharpie, or turn the sight around in the dovetail to enhance the contrast of the front sight against the rear notch.
The potential magazine issue is quite annoying, but hardly a deal breaker. Magazines are consumables. Magazines haven’t changed across the various generations of CPX pistols, and are readily available from the website for $21 with a flat magazine floor plate or $24 for the extended floor plate. At least the gun ships with two mags. The steel magazine body has two witness holes at the five round and nine round marks.
Altogether, the issues identified above are easily fixed, but not ideal for an inexperienced or new gun owner to have to work through. To me they are a annoyance. For someone that may never have changed out sights or isn’t familiar with how guns work, these things could be problematic. Especially if they are already on a budget and this is a first gun purchase.
The trigger was about what I expected… long and gritty with stacking near the end. Time will tell if it smooths out with use. Disassembly is relatively easy. Lock back the slide, pull out the disassembly pin, and then slide the top half of the gun off the frame rails. The recoil springs are captured on the guide rod. To reassemble, reverse the previous steps. Pretty simple overall.
A few of the other changes with the third generation pistol include a new mechanism eponymously called the “Roebuck Quad-Lock” after the designer, a short section of Picatinny rail on the front dust cover, and the deletion of the finger grooves and the rear ventilated area on the grip, resulting in a shorter reach to a redesigned trigger. Altogether, these changes make for a pistol that fits my schmedium hands well. I find that sinking my trigger finger to the first knuckle as advocated by Claude Werner for revolver shooting also seems to work well with the compact double action only SCCY.
Also in the box was the legally mandated child safe lock. I have to say, of all the trigger locks I’ve accumulated over the years, this one is the neatest. The lock appears to be specific to the firearm and uses an actual barrel lock key. I’m pretty sure the keys are polymer. One could probably defeat it with a screwdriver in short order, but for a simple device that is legally required at point of sale, it is well executed.
Stay tuned… the second part of this review will be forthcoming at some point and I will detail how it shoots for me as I have time to go to the range. As mentioned above, I may explore some steel sights, alternative sighting options (RDS), and additional magazines. So far, I’ve found at least one legitimate concealed carry holster, along with a fair amount of holsters that I would generously refer to as “junk.” Galco also offers a few models for this gun, but that is getting dangerously close to the holster costing as much as the gun! Among other things, another plan for this gun is to revisit strong side OWB carry, harkening back to my misspent youth.
So for my first impression… not necessarily impressed but also not entirely disappointed. Fundamentally, it’s an inexpensive gun and as with most things in life, you get what you pay for. Is it good enough? Time will tell.
Thanks for reading!
CIVILIAN GUNFIGHTER 
Following with interest because a used .380 (CPX-4?) has been teasing me recently…
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