CZ on the whole

[sds]

Finally found the board again!!

I'm curious about CZ pistols. Until recently I was unfamiliar with them at all. Everything I've read has been good and from the sounds of it the CZ 75 is in the upper echelon of pistols. I'm curious why I hadn't heard of them before. Are they relatively new? I don't think I've seen one in the local gun stores, though admittedly the selection here isn't great.

From what I've read on the internet (including the review on the the CZ 75B on this site) there a slightly cheaper pistol of the same quality of the Sigs and HKs. (No offense intended!)

Just looking for thoughts from people who own them.

Thanks,

SDS

[klmhq]

Well, as the designated CZ fan of the site, I can tell you they are great. I own a CZ-75 BD (decocker) and a P-01 (a slightly smaller 75 that's the new Czech National Police service pistol.

My dad owns 3 75s (including a champion), and a variety of others in various calibers (including .380). He hated automatics until I let him play with my 75.

Personally, I love them. They shoot anything. I've had one and only one misfeed in a CZ (the Champion believe it or not). Even the smaller P-01 shoots respectable groups at 25 yards.

www.cz-usa.com is the website.

They aren't very well known in the US for some reason, but everyone who has tried one loves it. I can't afford the money for a HK or Sig, but I never miss them.

If you have some specific questions, I'll do what I can to answer them.

[TMan]

I foget what I paid for the Hogue exotic wooden grips I've ordered for the CZ75B that I own, but I remember that I paid $400 for the CZ75B. So the grips were a lot compared to the price of the CZ75. The reason I'm telling you this is to impress you about how much I think of the CZ75. I put the Buffer Technology buffer in mine, and got it in backwards. That made it difficult to lock open until I reversed it.

I took my next door neighbor to the range. She had never shot a pistol before. I let her shoot the CZ75.

The gun is about the same size as the Browning Hi-Power (BHP), but its trigger is 4.75 lbs pull vs. 6.0 lbs on the BHP. Internally I think the design of the BHP is better, but CZ ranks right up there with Ruger in my estimation of a good value for the money. I think the quality of the CZ might be a bit better than Ruger, but I don't think it could possibly be any more reliable.

[Mountaineer]

sds, I bought a new CZ85 Combat, and a new CZ75B about 5 years ago, both of them in 9mm. IMO the CZ's are an excellent pistol. I have Brownings and Sigs, Glocks and S&W's etc. and I probably shoot the CZ's the best, and they allway's seem to work, and are pretty accurate. I'm not much of a 40s&w fan, but I like CZ's so well that I'm looking at a CZ 40B for $249 brand new.

[sds]

My curiosity started because I noticed that some of the CZs have a manual safety. I currently have a glock 17 that I carry occasionally. I don't mind carring with a round in the chamber, and I don't mind drawing a loaded gun, I just don't feel comfortable re-holstering. I've done it hundreds of times with it empty and cocked and never managed to catch the trigger on my shirttail but it makes me nervous.

Most of the handguns from major manufactures seem to have gone away from manual safeties. Personally I like the added protection. The HKs are great and I like everything about them except the price. I like 1911s though I wouldn't carry a single action pistol and most of the DAO 1911s are pricey as well. When I saw that the CZs have safeties, it peeked my curiosity. I appriciate the responses.

Does the 75 line have any known problems or gripes? I have fairly large hands so that generally isn't a problem. Does the finish hold up in a carry pistol?

I'm glad to hear that the overall impression is good.

Thanks for your thoughts!

SDS

[klmhq]

You can get the 75 with a safety or decocker. The CZ 100 B (9mm or .40) is double action only, but I've never handled or seen one.

All the CZ pistols come with a safety stop on the hammer and a firing pin safety. The testing requirements from the Czech Police for their new duty weapon are in the following article and are amazingly tough. I think you'll be happy with the safety of a CZ, even in combat carry mode.

Most of the CZs come with a polycoat finish and it seems to be very tough. You can get two-tone nickel and 'combat' which is polycoat green and brown. They say you can get blued, but I've never seen one.

BTW: I'm just the opposite, I don't like the thought of carrying with just a manual safety, but I don't mind a decocker. Don't know why, just the way I am.

The following comes from an article in American Handgunner:

"For instance, according to the information supplied by CZ, the gun [CZ P-01] had to withstand 4,000 dry-firings, 3,000 de-cockings, operator-level disassembly and re-assembly 1,350 times, complete disassembly (all the way down to pins and springs) 150 times, 100-percent parts interchangeability, a 1.5 meter drop test (54 times) on concrete, three meter drop test, firing after being frozen at –36 F for 24 hours, firing after being submerged in mud, sand and combinations — and after having been stripped of all oil. The service life must exceed 15,000 rounds of +P 9mm ammo and indeed, testing revealed the P-01 has exceeded 30,000 rounds with ball 9mm.

The reliability requirement protocol was particularly astounding. Set at 98.8 percent (.2 percent) failure rate, this was tough-enough for any gun. This equals 20 stoppages per 10,000 rounds, or 500 “mean rounds between failures” (MRBF). During testing, the average number of stoppages was only seven per 15,000 rounds, or .05 percent failure rate. This translates to a MRBF rate of 2,142 rounds. That happens to be about five times the minimum acceptable rate for the U.S. Army, which is set at 495 rounds for 9mm pistols with 115 gr. ball ammo."

www.americanhandgunner.com/FTR01.html