Questions about the CZ75 platform.

[hipower]

I hope you can make it to the NRA convention this weekend. They have one of every CZ in their lineup along with all their rifles and shotguns. In fact, the highlight of the show for me today was meeting Angus Hobdell. He was one of their first successful pro shooters and now runs CZ Custom out in AZ. He's an awesome guy. He had some cool stories about getting in/out of countries with his guns back in the day for international matches.

 

If you get there, be prepared for wait in line to hold anything on their display.

 

Ad if you get the chance, look longingly at the custom CZ pistols on the opposite side.

[JPR1959]

The CZ booth was really nice. Loved their pistols!

[res308]

I wish I could've gone to that.

[Guest mechanically]

I started with Glocks. It's what you're supposed to buy, right? I was younger and didn't know any better. The marketing machine chewed me up and spit me out, and I ended up with a 21, 22, and 27. That was my initial foray into the carry world. 

 

I never liked them, they were just easy to find. 

 

Then, I realized even the 27 was a little heavy for some situations, and picked up y first J Frame. Very handy when a lightweight is called for. 

 

After a couple years, I'd added and removed several platforms from the safe. Ruger P-series, a couple Hi Powers, Sigs, Kahrs, Taurus, a brief fling with a 1911. Most of them were great guns, but they all had a fault of some sort or another. 

 

I did decide at that point that I wanted to stay away from single action safety pistols. My J Frame didn't have a safety, nor did the Distinguished Service Magnum I occasionally carried when I was feeling like a lucky punk. So, out went the Hi Powers (Except the Argentinean model I got for a song.) the 1911, etc, etc.

 

I spend a year in Slovakia in college, and generally had a great time. Thus, I have a strong affinity for anything Slovak, Czech, or Czechoslovak, if it's more than a few years old.

 

I stumbled across the CZs online, and no one in Chattanooga carried them. There was just no way to track one down. I'd rarely see one at an IDPA meet, but didn't know how to ask, "hey, can I shoot your gun?" in that setting...

 

In the end, bought a 75BD off a member here without ever having handled or shot one. Best decision ever. Then, in pretty quick succession I picked up a SP01 Tactical, PCR, 83, SP01 Phantom, a Sarsalmaz K2 .45 turkish clone, and a 2075 Rami BD. Woot. 

 

I absolutely love them. The J Frame is the only device that gets any carry time other than CZs. You've already heard from a couple folks that holsters are harder to find, mags cost more, etc. I won't rehash it. It's all true, and it has never once bothered me. 

 

My 75BD got a Cagun Gun Works spring kit, and once I tasted that little piece of Cajun heaven, the PCR and Rami got the works. Springs, short reset kit and disco, enhanced firing pin, etc. 

 

I've done all the work myself. Is it different than a Glock? Sure. I think someone earlier referred to clockwork? I don't think so. I'm very mechanically minded, but there just aren't more than a dozen parts I've ever taken out at one time, including breaking down the decocker sear pack, which is certainly the most complex part on any CZ. 

 

I haven't dabbled in the new Omega-equipped polymer offerings, but I'm thinking a P07 with a red dot milled into the slide would be.... interesting. Also expensive. We'll see. 

 

I've decided to standardize on 9mm, so the SP01 Tactical and the Sar will get sold off to someone else who needs to be bitten by the same bug as me. 

 

The 83 was liberated by my father-in-law after shooting a single magazine through it. Still trying to find a replacement for it. But, I like his daughter a lot, so I don't hold it against him. 

 

I'm pretty much in for life, thanks for letting me recount my silly affection for Czechnology. 

 

Now, when is CZ going to get around to making that single-stack Rami!?!?   :yum:

Edited April 16, 2015 by mechanically

[Bigiron]

I fondled every CZ on display at the NRA show and decided that the P01 will be my next purchase.  The only drawback, which is not

really a deal breaker, is that it is not ambidextrous.  They must be quite popular, as I have never seen a used CZ at a gun store.