Smith & Wesson CSX E-Series Review

The Smith & Wesson CSX E-Series. Let’s check it out. 

 

Guys, back in 2022, Smith & Wesson introduced their CSX.

This is a single action semi-automatic pistol, similar to your 1911 style. It’s one of those micronines, but yet it has a solid grip to it. I’ll tell you guys, after the review, this became my primary EDC for carry.

The way it feels in your hand, and it has that aluminum frame. I just fell in love with the CSX. So now Smith & Wesson has introduced their CSX E-Series.

There’s a number of upgrades to address some of the issues that were going on with the original CSX, and some things that really are wanted. And one is it’s optics ready, but there are some additional features that have been upgraded. Guys, I shoot a lot of guns.

I have a lot of guns, but I’m going to tell you something. The CSX really stands out for concealed carry for me. And so we’re going to look at the CSX E-Series.

This also comes in a 3.6 inch barrel. This is a 3.1 inch, and it has a 12 round, 15 round, and 17 round mag capacity. So it gives you a full size grip for a very small handgun.

And guys, I want to give a big thank you to Smith & Wesson for sending the CSX E-Series for this review and allowing me to keep this handgun because they know I am going to be carrying this now as my primary EDC. Smith & Wesson CSX. This is their E-Series.

It is a single action, kind of a micro 1911 style. It is nine millimeter, and it’s excellent for concealed carry. In fact, when the original came out in 2022, I did the review and I started carrying it immediately.

And this has been my primary concealed carry. It’s funny because over the years, I mean, I’m a big fan of Smith & Wesson. I have a number of revolvers and a lot of their standard M&P Series, the Shield, but I’d never really carried a Smith & Wesson on a regular basis until the CSX came out.

And then they came out with the Bodyguard 2.0. So it’s my micro compact that I do for deep carry. And then this is really one of my primary concealed carry options. We’re going to look at some upgrades over that model with the new E-Series because there were a few issues and so they were addressed, but this is a 12 plus one.

And so we’re going to go ahead and pull our 12 round magazine out. It also comes with a 15 round and a 17 round, and there is a grip adapter that’s really cool. We’ll look at that in a minute.

Check the chamber, the gun’s empty. Now, first off the serrations, they’re excellent. They’re directional, they face forward.

So it really just kind of bites into your hand, but it’s not too aggressive. Very smooth action as well. We have an aluminum frame.

I like that. I’ve kind of gotten away a little bit from your polymer frames. I think there’ve been so many out there.

And so I just really have started liking again, the aluminum frame. It just gives you a little more rigidity. Feels really solid in your hand.

Now the texturing is very well done. And of course these are removable. There are other options to be able to change these out.

And the front is also an insert and we’ll look at that. It’s a little bit different on the front, but we have our mag release right here. Really drops the mags out.

Now with that shorter grip, you got to be careful not to bind it in your hand, but that’s with all the Micronines. And you can switch it to the other side, which makes it nice. And it’s all ambidextrous, ambidextrous frame safeties.

They are extended. And then we have slide stops on both sides as well. So really this is fully ambidextrous.

The black Armanite finish is beautiful. It’s a nitride finish, has a very satin look. I’ll tell you, Smith & Wesson probably has the best finish on their slides.

This is a stainless steel. And then of course that gives it a lot of corrosion resistance. This comes in a 3.1 inch barrel, which this one is.

And then there is a 3.6 inch, which just extends the slide out just a touch. We have a commander style hammer and the trigger is the E-Series trigger. This has been a big upgrade.

We’re going to do a comparison with that as well. The nice beaver tail that comes up just allows you to get this really high up. And it gives it a fairly low bore axis, as you can see.

I mean, it is really shootable. And that’s one of the reasons why when I took this out to the range the first time I was hooked. I just really like this handgun.

But one of the problems was with the original is the reset. And on the first model, the reset was very quiet. And so here we’re going to drop our magazine, check the chamber, and the gun’s empty.

With a reset, you pull the trigger. When it racks and fires, the reset is almost, you don’t feel it. And it’s not really that audible.

Now I had my buddy Robbie Wheaton actually do some work on it to where I could feel the reset just a little bit more. So that’s one of the reasons why I carried this. My daughter rides the reset really close.

And so she was having issues not releasing it to the reset. Me, I went ahead and was letting it out to go ahead and get a good feel for it. I didn’t have the issues at first, but once I started riding the reset, it was definitely a little bit of an issue.

But with the new E-Trigger, this gives you a nice trigger pull and you feel the reset and you hear the reset. And it’s more of a straight pullback. We’ll get a closer look at that in just a second.

But one thing you’ll also notice is here on the front, how the texturing comes all the way out. With the first model, it was just a little small insert. So you had a lot of just plain, smooth aluminum where this really felt good.

But once I put the new E-Series in my hand, it gives you a lot more texturing and just a better grip. But another big difference is they have optics ready. And so we have our optics plate here.

One of the beautiful things is this fits the RMSC or the Holosun 401k footprint. So you don’t have to have adapter plates, just take the plate off and you can attach it. We’ll look at that in just a second.

We have three dot white sights. Of course you can get tritium or fiber optic if you want, and they are dovetailed in so you can switch those out. Now the extended safety, it’s a nice click.

It’s not too much, but it’s a little bit more than the original. And I like that. I felt like that with the original, when we bring up the safety, it wasn’t quite as positive as the new model.

I think they beefed that up just a touch. And that way it doesn’t just slip off because you’re carrying this cocked and locked in a holster. So it gives it a nice feel to it.

I’m tell you something, I’m not big on frame safeties, but I’m so used to shooting 1911s that it made it really simple to get back to. There’s no accessory rail, has a rounded off trigger guard. You see the undercut right here and it allows you to get your hand up high again.

And it’s a really good solid grip. Now it’s 1.12 inches in width, very thin. It has serrations on the top to keep glare down.

Of course, with your cover plate, which is a little bit different than the original, which had serrations all the way across the top, but not optics ready. Sights are the same, hammer’s the same. A lot of the controls are the same, but they’ve been just corrected and beefed up just a little bit more, even though you don’t see it on the outside of the handgun.

Now the original had a 10 round and a 12 round magazine. This is the 12 rounder and it does have a spacer and the spacer is attached to the base. So this isn’t going to slide around like some of the other type spacers, but we also have our 15 round magazine and the base has been brought up.

So it gives you a full grip on the handgun and it’s got texturing all the way around it. So we have 15 rounds and then we can go with the 17 round magazine, which gives you even more extension. And so this is even for larger hands.

I mean, you’re going to be able to grip this really well, or if you’re like me, I’m going to carry it with the smaller mag because it’s easier to conceal. And then I’m going to keep this in my back pocket and that gives me 17 plus one backup. With the 15 rounder, the spacer comes off.

With the 17 rounder, the spacer also comes off. That 12 round spacer, it locks it in. So you’re going to have the capacity to have 10 rounds with a flush base plate if you have an older model like I do.

So I could carry the 10 rounder in here, or I can switch it to the 12 rounder and we have that spacer. They do make 10 round capacity magazine versions as well for the States that have magazine restrictions. But here we have a couple of grip adapters and this makes this very modular.

Now included is a small tool and you put it in the bottom of your grip and there’s a little detent. And when we push it in, it just depresses. And then it allows this to back out just like that.

And you can see you have a little lip here that fits into the top. And when you put it back on, it’ll actually press on. This way we can take our other magazine adapter.

We could put this on just like this. So now we have a different grip that’s not quite as extended as the other one. You do have this solid piece right here, the aluminum, and it’s a little bit smooth, but front and back are what you grip.

And so that is really where all the tension goes. On the sides, it’s not as important. And it does have a slight detent right here or slight groove that just rests right here for your thumb.

But this just gives you a smaller option. And next we have the grip extension. And so this way we can go ahead, just do it like you did the other one, pop it into place.

And now you have a more of a permanent or a fixed grip adapter. And now we can throw in our 15 round magazine and it’ll be flush fit. So it gives you a full size grip.

It’s almost like the X series from Glock. The G19X has that longer grip with the shorter slide. So it really adds to the leverage that you have with the handgun and it allows it to shoot flatter.

But you do have an extended grip. So this makes it really great for the range if you just want to shoot. And then for concealed carry, you can go back to the standard configuration.

So this really does give you a lot of modularity with the grip. And the front grip is permanent. You don’t pull this out.

It’s metal on the back. So that just gives you that good, solid front grip. And then of course you change out your back straps.

This also has a little bit of a palm swell, so it really fits well in your hand. It doesn’t really feel like there’s micro nine millimeters. It gives you a little more purchase on the handgun.

And then put back in our 12 round magazine and we’re back in business for concealed carry. We’ve removed the screws from the cover plate. And so you want to take your cover plate off.

Be careful because the back sight is actually also attached and secured by the cover plate. And so this actually comes off. And now we have a 507K from Holosun and you can see the adapter bars there and it fits to the site.

And so it just goes right on. And then we can just put our screws in and it is flush to the slide. I really like that.

Now, what I don’t like is having no back sight, but if you’re carrying a red dot and it’s really secure, you’re going to be in good shape. But personally, I really like to have my sight retained. But with the Holosun K you do have a little dovetail to be able to line up with the front sight.

So it does give you co-witness. So really the sights built in to the optic itself. And of course this also takes your RMSC footprint.

One additional thing that I like is it has the M4 thread. So you know what thread pitch you’re going to be using for your sight. Now this magazine release actually is only for the left side and we have a right side mag release that’s additional that comes with the pistol.

So we can switch that out by turning the screw. It’ll come out and then you can install the other side. So you have the capacity to be able to drop that magazine this way.

Now on the E-series trigger, you’ll notice that there are some fences around and with this on the original, it’s just smooth. This also comes out just a little bit. Now here we have a small blade safety and that is in case the trigger gets hit anywhere except right on with the pad of your finger.

So that is just a redundant safety along with your frame safety. So here, very short take up right to here. There is a small step and then a nice break.

It’s not super crisp, but it’s definitely a solid break. And then for reset, okay, I heard the reset. I felt the reset.

So that is much better than the original. Let’s check trigger pull weight with our Lyman trigger gauge and brown ales. Five pounds, five ounces.

Five pounds, 9.4 ounces. And weight on the CSX E-series, 19.4 ounces. Guys, check out suitsgear.com. We have a lot of merch over there.

We also do monthly giveaways and we do a lot of other stuff. So check out suitsgear.com. A big thank you to Fiocchi for sponsoring our ammo. All made in the USA.

One of the biggest suppliers of ammunition in the country. And also we want to give a big thank you to Lula Loaders for making these mag loads easy. Well guys, this is one that I’ve been very excited about.

The E-series of the CSX. Much more textured grip. You can feel it at the range.

We’re going to shoot it side by side with the standard version. I like that it’s optics ready. I didn’t put an optic on it just because a lot of guys are going to have this without optics, but they have the capability.

I love the magazine capacity. 12, 15, 17 rounds. We’re going to test those magazines out and we’re going to test the extension out.

But overall, this is a great shooting gun. It’s a little thicker in the grip, but not too fat. And yet it just gives you a lot of shootability.

Very easy to manage. Even shooting it one-handed. Front and rear cocking serrations.

The sights, they’re three dot sights. You can switch those out if you want the tritium or the fiber optic. The trigger, definitely an improvement over the original.

There were some issues with reset. You couldn’t hear it or feel it with this. I can feel the reset.

Then we have the 15 round magazine. Hangs off just a touch and gives you more of a full grip. Man, those rounds go fast, but you have 15 round mag capacity with this micronine.

Then we have the 17 round grip. For those guys with much bigger hands and yet you have a very small handgun. That’s a lot of fun.

It’s just got that short barrel, short recoil system, but that grip and then extending it, it really gives it a great feel in your hand. Guys, I’ve been carrying the original CSX for the past three years, but I’m going to upgrade to the new E-series. Well guys, we have the grip module on here, the extension, and this is made again for the 15 round magazine.

We’re going to just shoot it just to get a feel for it, but I already know that it’s really going to be more like shooting a regular handgun or a full-size handgun. Gives you a lot of control. It gets that leverage in a great place and it feels like shooting a full-size handgun.

You just have a shorter sight radius. Well guys, now we have the smallest grip insert. It’s small.

It goes right across the back strap, but you have this larger area of aluminum that’s in between. I just wanted to try that out to see if there was any real difference. I could tell immediately with that palm swell, with the one that it comes with, it’s a little bit thinner and it gives you a little more grip.

If you have smaller hands, that’s going to be great, but honestly with the medium grip, I really like it. I can tell a little bit of difference just because I can feel the aluminum, but it’s still very comfortable to shoot. All right, for disassembly, let’s go ahead and drop our magazine, check to make sure the gun is unloaded.

Now there is a small notch up at the front. There’s your slide stop. That’s your takedown notch.

Then here at the back, we have part of the takedown lever that comes through on the other side. Smith & Wesson includes a small little rod that you can use to push this out, but once we get the slide back, we have to find the little slide stop crescent. If you look down in it, you’ll see when it appears right there between the slide.

We’re going to hold this into place and then we’re going to push through the other side just like that, and it does pop out. This is your slide stop. Then we’re just going to bring this on out.

You don’t have to pull the trigger to get the slide off. Here we have a metal guide rod and recoil spring. It is the flat recoil spring, which helps mitigate recoil.

Then we have our barrel, short little 3.1 inch barrel. Again, you can get this into 3.6 inch. Slide, very well done.

We still have the factory lube on it. We have not shot it. You have your firing pin safety right here.

It depresses when it’s getting ready to fire, but very clean. Of course, no tooling marks or anything, which is typical for your Smith & Wesson. Then here, very simple.

Again, more like your 1911 single action. We do have rails though that go all the way down, and that is on both sides. That gives you a little bit more slide to frame fit.

A lot of times with the polymer striker fires, they have short little rails at the front and back. This does have rails all the way here at the back as well. That’s just going to give you more glide from your slide to your frame.

Guys, that’s all we need to do to field strip. For reassembly, we’re just going to bring in our barrel, recoil spring, and guide rod. Then we’re going to put our slide back over our frame.

I’m going to go ahead and put in my slide stop to get it into place in the barrel, and then just line up that little notch like that, and it goes right in. It’s a lot easier to find putting back than it is taking out. We’re good to go.

Keeping your firearms maintained and cleaned is vital. Otis makes some of the best cleaning equipment out there. They make a number of different kits that are dedicated for different rifles, pistols.

They also have Shooter’s Choice, which makes excellent CLP and bore solvent and different cleaning materials. The Ripcord is one of their signatures, and there’s a whole system based around it. They are suppliers to the US military.

Check out Otis Technologies. Highly recommended, and we want to thank Otis for being a sponsor of the channel. Guys, it has quite a few accessories with the 17 round, 15 round magazines with spacers.

Of course, you get your 12 rounder. There is an additional spacer that’s just included in case you have another 12 rounder. Then we have our grip extender, which that’s a pretty cool system, and then we have the smaller grip module.

Also, with the mag release and with the tools that you have, this gives you just a lot of options. It makes this a very modular handgun, and it comes in just your standard Smith & Wesson cardboard box with all the instructions, lock, all that stuff, and really a very comprehensive manual. There, it just gives you all the different details about how to disassemble it, about your mag changes, taking off the base pads, even adjusting your sights.

That’s pretty cool from Smith & Wesson. When it comes to price, the MSRP is $699, and of course, at dealers, you can typically find it for less. What are some pros and cons? Well, first, it’s a very small, compact handgun, and yet it has a really nice grip to it.

I like the palm swells. It gives you a solid, full grip. It feels like a little bulldog.

I think that’s one of the reasons why I like it. Then, we have a lot of modular options with the grip, whether it’s just the short back strap, or we can do the extension, and it just gives us a more solid feel, a little bit more permanent than just the spacers. It does come with a 12, 15, and 17-round magazine, which gives you a lot of capacity.

Trigger has been definitely upgraded. The reset, you can hear it, and it is more of a straight pullback. All ambidextrous features, and again, you have that one piece.

If you want to switch out your mag release, they give you the other option to where you can just switch them out. I like the front grip strap. This gives you a lot more texturing than the original model.

It’s that single action design, and while the trigger is not incredibly crisp, it is definitely a nice trigger, and the single action just helps with that. Of course, it’s optics ready, which is a big plus, but the sights themselves, I mean, they are just a white three-dot sight, but there will be, if not already, a lot of different options if you want to use night sights, or fiber optic, or whatever. It just gives you a lot of options, and because it’s Smith & Wesson, we’ll see a lot of options.

As far as holster options, the one I’ve been carrying is the Kraft holster, and this is just an outside the waistband. I’ve been loving carrying that. It just makes it really comfortable all day long, and as you can see, this holster has been worn quite a bit for the past three years.

Again, this has been my standard EDC, and if you’ll notice, I mean, it has wear on it from holsters, pulling them in and out, also just going to the range, but it just has that nice patina to it, and I’ll tell you, this has been an excellent gun at the range. I love shooting this handgun, and you will notice a little bit of red right here on the mag release, but that comes from the holster. Of course, one thing about the optics cuts, I love that it is direct mount.

You can just mount the RMSC or the Holosun 507K, and it just gets it in that right spot, and again, we’ve got two different options with the 3.1-inch barrel or the 3.6-inch barrel. Just gives it a little bit longer, yet it’s a very concealable, very thin, but yet you have a good solid grip on the handgun. It’s not super thin like a lot of the little Micro-Nines.

It’s going to give you a good feel to it, plus it has a nice beaver tail to bring back just to nestle in that commander style hammer. Serrations are exceptional. What are some cons? Well, if you want an accessory rail, it’s not going to have that, and if you’re not a big single action guy, I mean, I love single action handguns.

I definitely carry the polymer striker fire pistols, and for that matter, the double single action automatics, but there’s something about the single action that I just personally love, but if you want the polymer, you can go with the Smith & Wesson Shield Plus, which that’s what my wife carries, and it’s an excellent handgun as well, but I really like the low bore axis on the CSX, and the CSX, again, has been out for three years. It’s just an excellent handgun. This just gives it more advantages, especially this front strap.

I really like that. The optics ready. I love that, and the improved trigger, so all three things to me have been really good upgrades to make me switch from the original to the new E-Series model, and I just love the aluminum frame.

It just gives you more foundation. It gives you a little more strength, feels more solid in your hand, and that’s a big plus, but yet it’s still incorporating the polymer in the places that count. So guys, while I love the original CSX, the upgrades that are made to the E-Series really stand out and make it worth the switch.

Optics ready, this modular grip system is over the top, and with the improvements of the trigger, it just really makes the CSX come into its own, and then if you want the 3.6 inch barrel, that’s available as well, so check out the CSX for concealed carry. I’m telling you guys, this is what I love to have on my hip, and I have a lot of confidence, and again, a big thank you to Smith & Wesson for sending the CSX E-Series for this review.

 

Be strong, be of good courage. God bless America. Long live the Republic.

 

-Don