CZ 75 modifications

H

HistoryJunky

New member
I just bought a CZ-85B. The DA reach is a bit much. With the gun at half cock the reach is manageable.

I was looking into getting a set of aluminum grips and a short reach package from CGW.

Does anyone have experience with these mods and which gives you a better reach advantage? Each one is around $90, which is expensive for me. If I can, I want to just buy whichever one does the most improvement until I can afford the other.

Anyone have experience with these?
 
Just about anything you can get (or afford) from CGW is worth the time and effort. You do know that you can carry and start the 85b from cocked & locked, too, don't you?

I have an 85 Combat, and it remains one of my favorites. (Same basic gun, but without the firing pin block mechanism, an extended mag release, adjustable rear sight, and drop-free mag brake (which may now be standard on most new CZs.)
 
Walt Sherrill said:
Just about anything you can get (or afford) from CGW is worth the time and effort. You do know that you can carry and start the 85b from cocked & locked, too, don't you?

I have an 85 Combat, and it remains one of my favorites. (Same basic gun, but without the firing pin block mechanism, an extended mag release, adjustable rear sight, and drop-free mag brake (which may now be standard on most new CZs.)
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Yes I do carry it cocked and locked right now. I would prefer to carry it hammer down so I don't have to worry about the safety.
 
I don't know the answer to your question, but I'm anticipating the responses because my hand size must be the same as yours. I'm lusting after the SP-01 Tactical and the reach to the trigger in the decocted position is just a hair too long. It's do-able, but would be better if the reach was even 1/8" shorter.
 
I found swapping the grips to be relatively easy and honestly all I needed. For reference I wear a men's medium glove with just a little bit of space left in the fingers. I did get and install one of the RRK from CGW. On top of the slimmer grips it was honestly just a bit too far back for where I like my finger placement, though it did allow me to use the "power crease" if you remember that term from revolver shooting. Installing it wasn't brain surgery but it wasn't trivial either and sending the pistol in just for that seems wasteful imo. If you do send it in go whole hog and have a complete action package done.

My advice would be to start with the grips. For that matter, were I you I'd order some of the VZ grips from Amazon. Try them, install them, and if you don't like them send them back for a total loss of shipping one way. Hard to beat that. I'll also say I really like the VZ grips as they're both lighter and where I shoot it gets darn cold in the winter so having something that doesn't conduct cold as much is a plus.
 
I'm fairly certain if you install the Reduced Reach kit that you also have to install the Short Resest system, else you will be left with a trigger that does not reset. At least that's what I think I read from CGW's site last time I looked.
 
Give David a call first. Last I heard he was swamped with service orders but you may be able to just install the parts yourself.

BTW CZ's are designed to be carried at half notch. My P01 decocks to that position as well.
 
I found swapping the grips to be relatively easy and honestly all I needed. For reference I wear a men's medium glove with just a little bit of space left in the fingers. I did get and install one of the RRK from CGW. On top of the slimmer grips it was honestly just a bit too far back for where I like my finger placement, though it did allow me to use the "power crease" if you remember that term from revolver shooting. Installing it wasn't brain surgery but it wasn't trivial either and sending the pistol in just for that seems wasteful imo. If you do send it in go whole hog and have a complete action package done.

My advice would be to start with the grips. For that matter, were I you I'd order some of the VZ grips from Amazon. Try them, install them, and if you don't like them send them back for a total loss of shipping one way. Hard to beat that. I'll also say I really like the VZ grips as they're both lighter and where I shoot it gets darn cold in the winter so having something that doesn't conduct cold as much is a plus.
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How do the VZ grips compare to aluminum grips? I took the grip panels off of my CZ last night to see the trigger reach without them and it was a great feeling.
 
They're fairly similar if I recall, perhaps a tiny bit wider. I've only felt the aluminum grips on a pistol, I haven't owned one with them. You can get them in different levels of aggressiveness as well. I like the frag pattern, with the tactical diamonds being somewhat aggressive and the diamond backs good for competition or if you like to rub against cheese grates. Again, if you order them and don't like them, send them back. That's the beauty of Amazon.
 
chris in va said:
BTW CZ's are designed to be carried at half notch. My P01 decocks to that position as well.
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All decocker-equipped CZs decock to the half-cock notch. And almost any CZ (except the DAO models) can be carried or started from the half-cock notch. That said, I don't think you can make the case that it was "designed to be carried at half notch."

My first pre-"B" CZ-75 didn't have the half-cock notch. None of the early manuals mentioned the use of that notch as a starting position. The notch was introduced later. I would argue that the half-cock notch was intended to be a SAFETY notch for the earliest CZ-75s, which could start from hammer down or from cocked & locked. It was there to offer a little extra protection, as in 1911s, if the hammer was inadvertently dropped while manually decocking.

I think it was only after CZ introduced it's decocker versions (which decock to the notch and start from that position) that folks started considering it a an alternative starting method. It does shorten the trigger pull and lighten it a bit... Note: you can't (legally) start a non-decocker CZ from the half-cock notch in an IDPA match; I'm not sure, but I don't think it's allowed in USPSA, either.
 
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