2015 CZs: Some Good Changes?

I recently purchased a CZ 75PO1 and I can say with absolute authority that I am impressed, impressed in all the wrong ways that is! The trigger seems to have been geometrically impressioned from the finger of a twelve year old boy, the DA pull come in at about 17 pounds, with the SA incredibly long, with ample play. It also generates absolutely epic trigger slap, the worst I have seen since the HK P30! The slide was noted to be slapping hard on just nato ball, and I mean hard, implying the thing is under sprung from the factory, The last item of note being the beveling of the pistols mag well, which strongly appears to have been the work of the same twelve year old boy who modeled his finger for the trigger, the mag well being beveled on one side only, which is simply inexcusable inattention to detail for a pistol now carrying a retail stamp of around $700.00!

I consider the gun one notch above junk, there is no way I come to believe this thing capable of anything remotely close to the developmental accomplishments claimed by CZ-USA, and if its NSN is to be believed, it was obviously the result of some generals pulling strings for their former Iron Curtain opposition as a favor!
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Sorry to hear your SP01 did not work out for you. EDIT: Oops, sorry, just saw you bought a P01.

First time I tried an SP01 was shooting my Son's. I agree with you about trigger shape and trigger quality on his SP01, especially when it was new.

Because of that I bought the SP01 Shadow and just love shooting it. CZ85 Combat trigger, much better trigger action pull in SA and DA, full mag well, better safety and magazine release, better sites, more up swept beaver tail, and comes with three magazines for only about $250 more.

So far no issues with it and have read/heard of very few problems with CZ 75 pistols in general. Already one of my favorite pistols to shoot among my SIGs, HKs, Walthers, and Gen 2 Glock 19. Definitely not for CCW for me though LOL.
 
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The best price you'll find on a NIB PO1 is currently $592.00 and from Bud's, Bud's is easily the lowest price you'll find on most every firearm, you will not be able to convince me a better price can be had by you at this time! my other post has the price mis-stated!
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Buck Shot Sporting Goods has it NIB for $530.99.

Sorry, but Bud's is not always the least expensive. Most times I can find something for less than Buds and do not get hammered for using a Credit Card.
 
I recently read a description of the P -01 as that of a Mig fighter jet. Spartan yet lethal, mine is unfinished inside but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I sent mine to Cajun country for a tune up, basically because of the lack of know how and tools. It came back looking just the same, short of Mepro's and a new hammer. Looking back, the PCR is sexier and I am quite possibly the human being that hates those grips. Any price over $600 is too much, as of January ,2015.
 
Lots of info here and some real CZ fans --- I've owned at least three CZ rifles and the fit , finish, quality and accuracy were top notch so I'm a firm believer in the brand--- just recently ordered my first CZ handgun from Bud's, the CZ 75B Omega--- most of what I've read over the years has been in total favor of the CZ 75 series --- I'm not expecting to see any issues with this 75B, should come in to my FFL tomorrow or Wednesday ---- I'll get back on the forum and report on it when I get it ---- John
 
TunnelRat said:
So what is this finish inside my frame then?
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Can't really tell, but yours may be in the white. That's the first I've seen like that, that didn't have something done to the metal, intentionally.

I've had maybe 20 CZs over the years, and haven't had one that looked like that. Most of them are a uniform light gray -- that shows the signs of wear, when things like the recoil spring rubs on the metal. They all looked like an very thin Manganese Phosphate finish. That's certainly a different appearance than mine.
 
TunnelRat said:
So what is this finish inside my frame then?
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Can't really tell, but yours may be in the white. That's the first I've seen like that, that didn't have something done to the metal, intentionally. One that I removed all of the enamel from (a pre-B) was MORE Silvery than that.

I've had maybe 20 CZs over the years, and haven't had one that looked like that. Most of them are a uniform light gray, but darker than yours in the photo. With mine, signs of wear were obvious, where the recoil spring rubbed on the metal. (They also showed more wear on the top of the frame from slide/frame interaction.)

That's certainly a different appearance than the ones I've owned.
 
Can't really tell, but yours may be in the white. That's the first I've seen like that, that didn't have something done to the metal, intentionally.
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This and the other two P-01s I've owned have all looked like that inside the frame. It might be some light powdercoat and then the polycoat applied to only the exterior? That's why I was surprised by what I saw from sigarms228's pictures. I had a 75B some time in the past but I can't remember anything about the interior.
 
Sorry to hear your SP01 did not work out for you. EDIT: Oops, sorry, just saw you bought a P01.

First time I tried an SP01 was shooting my Son's. I agree with you about trigger shape and trigger quality on his SP01, especially when it was new.

Because of that I bought the SP01 Shadow and just love shooting it. CZ85 Combat trigger, much better trigger action pull in SA and DA, full mag well, better safety and magazine release, better sites, more up swept beaver tail, and comes with three magazines for only about $250 more.

So far no issues with it and have read/heard of very few problems with CZ 75 pistols in general. Already one of my favorite pistols to shoot among my SIGs, HKs, Walthers, and Gen 2 Glock 19. Definitely not for CCW for me though LOL.
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The DA trigger on my PO1 came in at just over 16 lbs on a Timney, about as bad as an 80's era Walther PPK, The SA broke at a reasonable 5 lbs, but with ample take up, and more then a bit of grittiness just before breaking. The other guy(TR)seems to have convinced himself I am biased against the model, which is pretty typical of the blindly loyal, in other words, he's not going to accept the word of anyone who doesn't comport with his pre-conceptions!

I bought the little CZ through Bud's, my local hardware store acting as my FFL, I always love how folks ante up the pontifications about what should have been done by whomever got the shaft from a certain manufacturer, I merely inspect the gun for finish, and rudimentary function, we established on site that the trigger pull was awful, but that would never stop me by and of itself, the half beveled magwell I assure you, would have been missed by virtually all on this page, it wasn't even something on my radar. It was only after having taken it home and detail stripping the pistol, grips ect...that it was discovered, also, the lanyard loop cap, it freely rotates which I didn't even waste a dime to CZ about, it shouldn't do that, period!

CZ has a reputation for runs of poor QC, A couple of years back a fellow by the name of Todd Green, blogged about that after witnessing four of them fail significantly at a weekend course he had given, naturally his page filled up with the usual angry fanboys who insisted that he was mistaken, there Czubs were perfect, so it was impossible, or operator error or whatever.

I have returned the pistol to CZ USA with a request for replacement!
 
Badfinger said:
The DA trigger on my PO1 came in at just over 16 lbs on a Timney, about as bad as an 80's era Walther PPK, The SA broke at a reasonable 5 lbs, but with ample take up, and more then a bit of grittiness just before breaking. The other guy(TR)seems to have convinced himself I am biased against the model, which is pretty typical of the blindly loyal, in other words, he's not going to accept the word of anyone who doesn't comport with his pre-conceptions!



I bought the little CZ through Bud's, my local hardware store acting as my FFL, I always love how folks ante up the pontifications about what should have been done by whomever got the shaft from a certain manufacturer, I merely inspect the gun for finish, and rudimentary function, we established on site that the trigger pull was awful, but that would never stop me by and of itself, the half beveled magwell I assure you, would have been missed by virtually all on this page, it wasn't even something on my radar. It was only after having taken it home and detail stripping the pistol, grips ect...that it was discovered, also, the lanyard loop cap, it freely rotates which I didn't even waste a dime to CZ about, it shouldn't do that, period!



CZ has a reputation for runs of poor QC, A couple of years back a fellow by the name of Todd Green, blogged about that after witnessing four of them fail significantly at a weekend course he had given, naturally his page filled up with the usual angry fanboys who insisted that he was mistaken, there Czubs were perfect, so it was impossible, or operator error or whatever.



I have returned the pistol to CZ USA with a request for replacement!
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You're welcome to call me blindly loyal but that would be odd seeing as what I carry and use for general defense are Glocks. I merely pointed out what to me were some oddities about your story. Also if by detail strip you mean a complete parts out of frame disassembly, as what I think of when I hear that term, there is the possibility for a mistake on reassembly. It's not uncommon for folks on the forums to be overly critical or exaggerate so I treat everything with a dose of skepticism. Every manufacturer can make a lemon (and I've had my share of issues from every manufacturer) but my experience with CZ has been very good as have those of a number of others here. I hope things go well with CZ.
 
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badfinger said:
CZ has a reputation for runs of poor QC, A couple of years back a fellow by the name of Todd Green, blogged about that after witnessing four of them fail significantly at a weekend course he had given
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And I remember all the people running to his defense when he got called on the exaggerations and falsehoods he wrote in that story too. :) Whatever. :D

Every company will produce lemons or two. Saw a Smith Model 29 with a smooth bore once, factory fresh. Saw a Kimber fail, trigger broke right out of the box. Had a brand new UZI Model B that couldn't get through a single magazine without a jam, and talk about a gun legendary for reliability!
I haven't had a CZ fail on me yet that wasn't related to my own reloads, but I know eventually it has to happen, law of averages will catch up to me someday, After all, I've had more than one Glock fail in my hand. :) Nothing is perfect, can't be - I only report what I see and feel with my own two hands.

Back to the original post - the marks inside the slide were a common bone of contention about CZ quality, which I never really understood, but OK, it's a mark of high quality to have no machining marks inside the slide. I think it IS newer machinery, but they've been doing it for a bit - this is the inside of my CZ P09 slide.







The point is it was made in 2012.
 
Love CZ pistols.

But the changes I'd make would include more aggressive wider grip areas and serrations on their slides. The slides are so narrow they would benefit from a full slide rail of serrations, or larger more aggressive serrations.

I'd also add factory night sites. When they were $300 guns, I can see the cheap paint. Now at $600, it's time to step up the game a bit.

I just bought a few knock off EAA CZ clones that seem every bit as good to the average person with no brand loyalty. 1/2 the price of CZs.

Love CZs, but am also practical...
 
I bought a new CZ-97B recently with the aluminum grips, and fiber optic front sight. I have owned CZ's since 1995, and I am very impressed with this pistol. It is a great shooter also.
 
The color of the metal in armoredman's photos, above, is the color I'm used to seeing when looking inside a CZ. Not at all like the "white" metal seen in TunnelRat's photos earlier. That was the reason for my comments. (Even my Satin Nickel 85 Combat has a darker hue to it than the gun in TunnelRat's photos -- and did the day I bought it, new.)

I also have a P-07, and it really looks as though some of the old "problem" areas -- called that because the unpolished look caused some critics problems -- now look as though they've been nicely bead-blasted with a very fine media. It could be they're doing something else, but if bead-blasting gets folks off their back, more power to CZ.

Those "problem" areas were never areas where a less refined surface affected functionality.
 
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leadcounsel said:
But the changes I'd make would include more aggressive wider grip areas and serrations on their slides. The slides are so narrow they would benefit from a full slide rail of serrations, or larger more aggressive serrations.

I'd also add factory night sites. When they were $300 guns, I can see the cheap paint. Now at $600, it's time to step up the game a bit.
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I agree about the sights, but I've never had any problems with the slide. Here's what I would change:

1. Standardize the sight dovetails. There's no reason for the PCR to have that pseudo-novak rear sight, or the RAMI to have different dovetails entirely. This just seems needlessly complex and makes swapping parts more difficult than it has to be while creating a barrier to 3rd-party accessories.
2. While we're at it, how about putting the rear sight's height on the outside so you can read it without hammering it out of the slide.
3. Get rid of thay stupid hook at the bottom of the magazine brake. I know most people will never bother with it, but that's actually even more reason to remove it - it doesn't affect most owners, and it just annoys the people who do use it.
4. Standardize the slide lock geometry, so that owners can switch them as needed. People with small hands might prefer putting the full-length slide release into the compact or RAMI; others might want the low profile release for carry purposes. Because they are not interchangeable, your options are limited based on which gun you've got.

A lot of the ergonomic changes I'd want in the 75 were actually implemented in the P-01 (such as the checkering), so they are clearly refining it as they go along.
 
Independent George said:
1. Standardize the sight dovetails. There's no reason for the PCR to have that pseudo-novak rear sight, or the RAMI to have different dovetails entirely. This just seems needlessly complex and makes swapping parts more difficult than it has to be while creating a barrier to 3rd-party accessories.
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The dovetails are the same. It's that darned rib on the top of the slide that causes problems. Never have understood why it's there.

Independent George said:
2. While we're at it, how about putting the rear sight's height on the outside so you can read it without hammering it out of the slide.
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Good idea. Some other gunmakers have the same problem, when they bother to mark the sight heights at all.

Independent George said:
3. Get rid of thay stupid hook at the bottom of the magazine brake. I know most people will never bother with it, but that's actually even more reason to remove it - it doesn't affect most owners, and it just annoys the people who do use it.
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I just break the end of the loop off. I also don't understand why it's there. It works fine without it.

Independent George said:
4. Standardize the slide lock geometry, so that owners can switch them as needed. People with small hands might prefer putting the full-length slide release into the compact or RAMI; others might want the low profile release for carry purposes. Because they are not interchangeable, your options are limited based on which gun you've got.
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An extended slide release would be nice. I had one with my Compact, some years ago, and foolishly let it go with the gun, when I sold it. (It was an EAA slide release.)

I think you could standardize the length of the lever, but different models have slightly different frame widths, and the .40s require a different "reach" inside the slide (to be activated by the slide follower) than the 9mm models.

The idea is good, but practical application is not as easy.

I'd also like to see some aftermarket safety levers for the P-07 or P-09, and for other safety-equipped CZs, so you have more to PRESS on, when releasing the safety. The standard safety lever (for the Non-SA models) leaves something to be desired. You'd spend $80+ just swapping out the standard safety levers for the SA levers if you gun could use them. (I almost did that recently with my 85 Combat, but the price turned me off.)
 
I can see the cheap paint. Now at $600, it's time to step up the game a bit.
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Actually the finish on the CZ's which they refer to as polycoat, is a powder coat, which is quite durable and protective when applied uniformly. Glock pistols used to be powder coated after they had been treated in the salt bath, there are specimens out there to this day whose slides look as good as the day they came out of their box! I would be quite satisfied with CZ's polycoat if only it was applied with complete attention to detail, Powder coating can be extremely durable, but like anything, it depends on attention to detail! Actually, CZ's are finished in a duplex process, the substrate being first phosphated, then powder coated, and if done right this should prove very effective protection indeed. BTW, the sample I recently obtained was produced in 2015, its barrel unfinished carbon steel, just as they always were, so I conclude that the op simply got a superior effort produced on a good production day!
 
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Badfinger said:
BTW, the sample I recently obtained was produced in 2015, its barrel unfinished carbon steel, just as they always were, so I conclude that the op simply got a superior effort produced on a good production day!
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Most of the newer CZs I've seen had barrels that had been carburized, a surface hardening treatment that left them with a semi-rough black coating -- but which is easily removed. If you got yours NEW, that's a surprise.

If it was used, the prior owner might have removed the residue of the carburization treatment, probably with polish or steel wool. (I've been told that it doesn't hurt to do that, I'm told, as the black finish is easily scratched, and looks ugly with use.)
 
BTW, the sample I recently obtained was produced in 2015, its barrel unfinished carbon steel, just as they always were, so I conclude that the op simply got a superior effort produced on a good production day!
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Well the store actually had two of the P-01s. Both the one in the case and the one I got from out back had the same level of finish as best as I could tell. But you're right that two samples don't tell a full story and it could just be a very dedicated batch. The photos from sigarms228 combined with the fit and finish the '15 455 I have made me think it was product line wide. But what you say brings that into doubt.
 
Most of the newer CZs I've seen had barrels that had been carburized, a surface hardening treatment that left them with a semi-rough black coating -- but which is easily removed. If you got yours NEW, that's a surprise.
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I believe nitro-carburizing would impart a somewhat dark grey surface to the steel, and such would be the case with the one I received, nonetheless, there was no attempt on my sample for a cosmetic finishing of the barrel...
 
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