Despite my aversion to double-action 9mm pistols, I’ve always had a soft spot for the CZ 75:
Made by the fine Ceska Zbrojovka Company in the Czech Republic, the CZ 75 is probably one of the most respected DA pistols ever made. Reliable to a ridiculous degree, I think it was prevented from beating out the Browning High Power as the world’s most popular 9mm pistol only because Czechoslovakia had the misfortune to be once part of the Evil Empire, and as such it was difficult to export the guns to the Running Dogs of the Capitalist West. To add to the irony, the CZ 75’s action is based on that of the High Power, so the design is as sound as a bell.
CZ is such a damn good company in so many respects, they put most American gun companies to shame. For starters, their marketing is excellent—there are as many variants of the CZ 75 as you could wish for. Their advertising is likewise great (check out their website for an example of how a gun company should advertise their product line, with great pictures and feature-rich product data).
And they are accurate. It should be remembered that I am, in all honesty, no better than a “competent” shooter with a handgun, but I can shoot the CZ 75B well enough to impress even serious shooters. Oh, and one more thing: take a CZ 75B out of your gun bag at the range, and nobody will ever look down on your choice.
Here’s the best part, however. For what you get, the CZ pistols are great value for the money. You can get a new CZ 75B for less than $650. For that price, you may have to spend another $90 on a trigger job — like all DA pistols, the pull is not always to the individual’s liking — but then again, it may suit you fine.
As I always say: IF I were in the market for a 9mm pistol, and IF I didn’t prefer single-action (e.g. Browning P35 High Power) over double action, I’d already have a CZ 75B. And all that said, I’m still tempted. Maybe a stainless model? I don’t have one of those…
Make mine a Cz 75 Compact. Shop around and a better price than $650 may be found.
A budget conscious yet comparable choice may be the Cz 82. Actually, prefer the Cz 82 over it’s Russian cousin the Makarov PM. It suits – what else can I say?
Nice pocket pieces all with no nasty quirks.
CZ82 in 9×18 is my current choice in carry gun.
High enough capacity, better ballistics than .380, reliable and accurate.
Carried cocked-and-locked, but you have the option of double action if that’s the way you roll.
It’s a bit heavy. Can’t have everything.
I loves me some CZs, handguns and rifles. I scored one of the early 75B Omega versions some years ago, supposedly from a South American police contract that fell through. Got it for all of $400. It’s been faultless.
My bedside gun is a CZ SP-01, fully worked over by Cajun Gun Works. 3 pound single action, 6 pound double action, and the trigger is just glorious. 58 rounds of 147 grain HST ready to go, with 20 in the gun. She’s a heavy bitch, but she just eats recoil. Softest shooting non-rimfire pistol I own. And if you put the Kadet .22 conversion upper on her, there’s literally no recoil to speak of.
https://i.imgur.com/jF45LRM.jpg
” IF I were in the market for a 9mm pistol, and IF I didn’t prefer single-action (e.g. Browning P35 High Power) over double action, I’d already have a CZ 75B.”
You should look at the CZ-75B SA.
This. I passed on a 75B SA (single action) a few years ago, I’ve been kicking myself ever since.
Except for that “9mm” thing…
LOL There’s a vid on YT of a 10mm 97B. Would that suit ya?
I have the CZ P-07. Reliable and more accurate than my mediocre pistol skills. I like DA autos.
Shot a friend’s 75 – much heavier but very smooth and comfortable.
With my CZ, I could swap out the decocker for the safety it came with and it would then be single-action.
Bedside is a P-07 w/ a light. 17 rnds /w one in the chamber.
Definitely in my top two bracket for metal TDA 9mms (the Beretta 92 is the other).
They’re also one of the few offering TDA plastic guns.
Kim, I was enamored with the .40SW when I first got into shooting, and eventually my first NEW gun purchase was a CZ-40.
After a while of shooting, I realized I don’t like the wrist-snapping that caliber causes and the narrow grip, so I stepped up to a 97B in .45ACP. I sold my CZ-40 to a friend who also had the Colt branded version (being NIB), and am pleased with the heft and fit of the 97B in my mitts. You might give it a look, too.
If I could, I’d get my wife a 75B instead of the Glock she has her eyes on…fortunately, being money poor has some advantages.
I’ve shot the 97 several times, and if I were not a 1911 owner, I’d have gone with the CZ. You just cannot say enough good things about CZ and their guns,
I recently went the 80% route for a carryable weapon. In particular the Polymer80 PF940SC combined with OEM Glock parts otherwise to create a Glock 26 clone. This is my first time delving into 9x19mm. And, yes, Kim, I bought 1000 rounds of Mil Spec ammo for it. The completion milling was pretty easy with a hand drill and a Dremel. Parts slipped in easily, but before I had a chance to go to the range the captive recoil mechanism broke and I had to buy a replacement. It was only $21 or so with S&H.
At the range last week the first round failed to eject but all subsequent ones fired and cycled correctly. The slide stop failed its mission at the end the first two magazines but for the next two worked OK, It should be fine when fully broken in.
What I liked:
1. Nice recoil; rapid recovery of the sight picture and target beyond it. This gave sub-two second controlled firing.
2. 1911 grip angle suits me better than stock Glock.
3. Some design elements of the Glock really impressed me. The way the slide lock is installed and in particular the magazine retainer/release. It consists of a straight piece of spring steel that slides into a notch in the front of the grip and a plastic molding. The retainer itself slides in and the other end of the spring is manipulated into a notch in the retainer. Simple, reliable, and cheap. That’s design.
The trigger mechanism, on the other hand, reminds me of the comment my mechanic made when he saw the convertible top on my Mercedes CLK350. “Lots of monkey motion.”
4, I don’t plan any enhancements for this gun, but Glocks are like small-block Chevy engines and 1911s. There are aftermarket parts galore available.See https://www.glockstore.com/ or Brownell’s for example.
5. Not having to say, “Please, Sir, may I have another.” to the govt.
What I don’t like:
1. I’ve been a .45 guy when it comes to pistols and I don’t think I’ll try to reload the 9x19mm.
2. That the spring mechanism broke on me when just cycling the mechanism by hand. Replacement Glock parts are relatively inexpensive, but aftermarket ones are extremely expensive.
3. Working the slide takes an extreme amount of effort. It seems better today after the thirty rounds I put through it.
4. The magazine springs are similarly stiff. Magazines are almost impossible to load without a loader gadget, but even with one loading a couple of magazines will affect your finger tips.
5. The trigger. Lots of creep and the let off isn’t particularly crisp. Aftermarket triggers can go for nearly $100.
6. Because of a consent agreement/decree, center-fire shooting hours are very restricted at my local range. It is only four miles from home, however.
Did your OEM recoil spring break???
Not the spring per se but the retaining mechanism. Look at the pictures https://www.ebay.com/p/GLOCK-OEM-Recoil-Spring-Assembly-Gs26-27-33-SP02211/2254517488 here. In the third one the stainless steel disk that retains the whole mess pulled off the center rod. To repair it I’d have to fabricate some sort of spring compressing jig.
Not that I’m doubting you, but we’re talking about an OEM recoil assembly, not any kind of a knockoff? I mean, sooner or later everything breaks, but I was under the impression that component was durable and reliable.
Yes, OEM Glock, purchased as part of a complete slide assembly. Slip it on the gun and shoot.
Back in the Bad Old Days, there was a way to get a CZ in The West:
But a TZ from Tanfoglio of Italy (it was the Evil Gun of Choice on “Law & Order”).
I have a Tanfoglio Poly-Witness from EAA in .45acp, bought back in the Clinton Ban Days when I lived in CA where 10-rds were the max on everything, so I figured if I’m only going to be allowed 10, I’ll have the biggest 10 available. Relatively light-weight, with the dependability of the Browning Hi-Power design, and CZ’s modernization of a SA/DA action.
Cocked & Locked, or hammer-down on the half-cock: Draw and squeeze.
And, for those of us who “grew up” with the 1911, the safety is still on the frame – where it belongs, not up on the slide (Walther…..Beretta…..).
> For that price, you may have to spend another $90 on a trigger job — like all DA pistols, the
> pull is not always to the individual’s liking — but then again, it may suit you fine.
Put a thousand rounds through before doing that.