This topic came up on a local (NC) forum a day or so ago, and I'll repeat here what I wrote there -- some may find it interesting:
A photo of mine... I noticed a blemish on the front of the frame -- some kind of artifact of when I made the photo. Maybe I wiped something off? It's not there, now.
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The CZ 85 Combat is a continuation of the original CZ-75 guns -- it doesn't have the firing pin
block found in all of the "B" model CZs. That, in fact, is what the B originally meant in the CZ model designation. A "pre-B" 75 was an older model without the firing pin block. ("Pre-B" is not an official term, just something CZ enthusiasts came up with to describe the older guns. Unlike old Fords, there ARE B model CZs, but no Model A CZs!
)
The lack of a firing pin block in the 85 Combat is also why it has an adjustable sight: CZ needed something to offset the lack of FPB, to meet US import "points" requirements; adjustable sights did it. You'll find adjustables on some other guns when adjustables don't really seem needed -- as with some small imported .32 and .380 guns.
The 85 Combat is very similar to the 85B. The 85B is simply a 75B with ambidextrous safety and slide release. (The mag release is not ambi, on any of these three models and can't be reversed; it can be reverse on the PCR, the P-01s and some of the other newer models, like the stainless steel guns.)
The 85 Combat can be tuned to have great trigger a bit more easily than any of the 75B or 85B models, simply because there are slightly fewer moving parts to lift or move or polish. If the one you handle has a smooth action, and it wasn't new, it may already be broken in. Mine was pretty nice out of the box. New, they
sometimes feel better than similar B models.
The 85 Combat comes with a slightly extended mag release, ambidextrous safeties and slide releases, a mag brake that allows the mags to drop free (common on many of the newer CZ models), a trigger over-travel adjustment, and adjustable sights. The sights are OK, but nothing to get excited about. You can't buy a new CZ-85 without adjustables.
Re: sights. To fit the sights, CZ mills away an area behind the dovetail so that the adjustable sight can be lowered completely. If you take them off, you have an unsightly area, and if you go to different sights, you'll have to find something that looks right.
I've had a bunch of CZs over the years, (25+) and am a big CZ fan. The only CZs I have at the moment are an 85 Combat (with a Kadet Kit), and a P-07 (and two other CZ pattern guns.) If the price isn't a lot more than the standard 75B or 85B, it's certainly worth consideration.
And then there's the Kadet Kit...
The Kadet Kit is a stellar addition to the gun. It's a.22 top end that can be a tack-driver. By design, the top end (barrel) and sights are always aligned; the slide -- a small section in the larger upper assembly (which looks like the slide but isn't) is the only part that moves as it feeds and remove cases. Like most .22s, a fixed barrel gun can be quite accurate!
Remove the mag, pull the slide stop, slide off the 9mm top end, slide on the .22 top end, reinsert the slide stop pin, insert the Kadet Kit mag, and you're ready to do .22! When I got my Kadet Kit I also had a gorgeous stainless Ruger MKIIO Government model with the long slab-sided barrel; I eventually traded it for a nice .45, because the Kadet Kit was just as accurate.
The Kadet Kits are expensive. ($250+ used, almost $400 new.) And the standalone Kadet (a 9mm frame with the .22 top end) is no longer being made.
CZs are known for their outstanding ergonomics -- like Browning HPs and 1911s. They also have a good reputation for accuracy and durability. While it's taken a good while for them to become known in the U.S. shooting community -- they are still hard to find in some parts of the country -- they've made big strides in the last few years.
