Ever heard of a CZ 40B?

[Guest jaypee]

Hi y'all,

Recently we learned that the Browning Hi Power clones have just about dried up. The Argentine FM 95's won't be imported any more, the Charles Daly HP's are out of production, and FEG is bankrupt, leaving us who shoot on a budget in the lurch for a good, low-priced pistol. Well, maybe not.

Anybody ever heard of the CZ 40B? I just bought one from CDNN for $289.95 and I think it's just about the finest firearms buy on the market today. It too has been discontinued as of this year, but there are still lots of them in the pipeline - CDNN still has them and this gun is really worth pursuing. From everything I can learn about it, and from my first experiences with it, I think it's money in the bank.

The CZ 40B began life a few years ago as a joint venture between Colt and CZ to help Colt get its foot back into the police firearms market, so the story goes. The gun is a dedicated built-from-the-ground-up .40 caliber - not an adaptation of a 9mm frame. They made it with an alloy frame, a double stack mimic of the 1911 grip frame style, and the Sig-style locking system. It's only commonality with the CZ 75/85 series pistols lies in the use of the CZ 75/85 double/single action trigger, the CZ 75/85 sear blocking safety, and the CZ 75B magazines. All else is brand spankin' new. The gun was first produced by CZ for Colt as the Z40 and had a newly-designed DAO trigger at that time.

Colt was not able to continue marketing the gun and had to back out of its end of the deal. So CZ replaced the trigger in what had been the Colt Z40, made some other changes, and began marketing the gun as the CZ 40B. The production run lasted for several years, but I can't determine the exact years of production. My new gun was made in '06.

When I did my homework on this gun I was struck with how much shooter attention it had attracted on the CZ forums. The forum entitled "Club CZ 40B" had been visited 2,202 times and had generated 331 responses. Reading through them, I concluded that this gun has a very large and dedicated following. The folks in the CZ gunsmithing business say it is the most reliable and trouble free of all the CZ's, which is really saying something in my book.

But don't anyone conclude that this gun is just a worked-over CZ 75B. To the contrary, it doesn't look, act, or feel like any other CZ I've ever handled or shot. It has the 1911 style grip frame, which is totally different from the usual CZ ergonomics, and it has a feel all its own. It doesn't heft like a CZ 75B, nor does it heft like a 1911. If I had to stick my neck out real far, I'd have to say it hefts more like a Sig than anything else I've ever handled.

Now for the accuracy department. The gun is reputed to be an unusually accurate .40, and my brief experience with it on the range the other day bears that out. Weather limited me to only shooting 65 rounds in it, but those were very supportive of it being a very accurate pistol. Here's how it went:

I was able to shoot ten-shot bench rest groups from 10, 15, and 25 yards with Winchester whitebox 165 grain hardball, and one five shot, 25 yard group with Winchester Ranger LE 155 JHP's. The gun delivered a 2" group at 10 yards, two 2 1/2" groups at 15 yards, and a 4 1/2" group at 25 yards. The five-shot Ranger LE group at 25 yards was a scant 3 1/2"....and all this with 65 year old motor skills, arthritic hands, and a new pistol fresh out of the box. The gun performed flawlessly. It is equipped with very substantial three dot fixed sights on the order of Novak, Heinie, etc. The ones at CDNN have night sights. Dunno if its Tritium, but the dots are pale green, so they might just be Tritium.

Having arthritic hands I was a little concerned about an increase in recoil because of the lighter alloy frame. However, my take on that is that the increase in recoil is, first, entirely acceptable, and, second, tends to be more in the muzzle flip department than in straight-back felt recoil. I don't think I'd have much trouble handling it in a combat match despite my hands, I'd just have to work a little harder, that's all. I think the gun probably recoils about like a similarly loaded 1911 .45......how's that for subjective?

The one thing the lovers of the 40's built on 9mm frames will have to get used to is the 40B's size.........it's a BIG gun compared to the Browning Hi Power. It's an unapologetic, purposeful looking, combat pistol designed for police service, and it has no semblance of a "recreational" appearance at all IMHO. It's a fighting gun and it looks like it.

The pistol comes in a blue CZ pistol case with one magazine and a super-thumb style CZ loader. The factory mag that comes in the gun is a ten shot number that sells for $30, but the $18.95 MecGar 12 shot CZ 75B .40 caliber mags work super in it, so that's the way I'm going with it.

So that's my thumbnail sketch of the CZ 40B, folks. To each his own and I'm not about to go throw out my Hi Power or my CZ 75 and 85. But this gun is one that I have no intention of letting get away from me and I think it will give years of service. I also have no doubt that CZ will offer factory parts and service for it for years to come. Hope this is useful to anyone looking for an extremely good, accurate, and economical .40 caliber automatic pistol. Best wishes

JayPee

PS - (1) The gun does not have an ambi safety. (2)I checked with CDNN a couple of days ago and they still have around a hundred of these in stock. FYI. (3)And the second pistol in the two lower photos is a Charles Daly Hi Power with MMC adjustable sights and CDNN's cocobolo grips. It is identical in size to the Browning Hi Power I referenced above.

[Guest gcrookston]

Excellent writeup and review. I may have to keep my eyes out for one of them

[davej48]

I have never had the urge to own a 40 untill now. I may have to order one of these. Anything made of steel with a 1911 type grip does it for me.

[Guest jaypee]

Dave,

It has an aluminum alloy frame and steel slide.

Jer

[davej48]

I just reread your review and noticed that. It still seems like an awfully well made pistol for the money. I love my 75B and my cz82.

[Guest jaypee]

That's right Dave. It is as well built as my CZ 75 and 85 but is just an entirely different design. It has the standard CZ 75 DA/SA trigger, which came with a little creep in it but smoothed out after about 50 rounds. The locking system is the SIG system instead of the Colt/Browning system, and the sights are humongus sonofaguns. I couldn't get over how much room it has in it for getting hands and tools in there for cleaning. The 1911 style grip frame puts the slide stop just a little farther away from your hand than the '75 does, so I use the left thumb to release the slide on reloading. Because it was designed as a .40 from the beginning, the slide is wide when compared to a 9mm slide, which doesn't show up in the photos I took. Like I said in the writeup, it feels to me like a Sig in a lot of ways. I sure don't see how a guy could lose money on one for $289.95. I'd bet you could sell it on the CZ forums pretty quick. Let me know if you have any questions I can help you with.

JayPee

[Guest jaypee]

I checked with CDNN again today and they still have a stock of 40B's.

JayPee