My hand & the CZ 75

L

LAH

New member
I have a PreB CZ75. This pistol was purchased to teach a sixgun shooter the ins & outs of a pistol. After all it can be fired DA, SA, & carried cocked & locked. My thinking was to study & shoot this gun & learn the platforms & later decide on which I wished to pursue.

Any way I love the little gun. It runs prefect, no malfunctions from the ammo I’ve used. It shoots jacketed or lead loads & shoots them well. My only gripe is the pistol doesn’t fit me which is no fault of the gun. My hand is just too small to work the CZ 75 without altering my shooting grip. Don’t get me wrong, I can shoot it & shoot it well but to operate the safety, mag release, & fire the gun DA I must move my grip at least some.

With well over a 1000 rounds down range & countless hours of drawing & dry firing I testify they are a good pistol & one I would bet my life on. Look the pictures over, measure your hand & hopefully you can at least get a “grip” on how it will fit you.

My hand with the end of the tape pressed into the web.


My hold on the gun.


With the hammer down using the full DA pull. I cannot pull the trigger straight back, the pressure is applied more to the side of the trigger than the trigger face especially at the beginning of the pull.


With hammer on the safety notch the reach is better but still not a straight pull to the rear.


The gun in condition one the reach is great for me without being too short like on a J-Frame S&W.


And finally from the firing grip the frame is just a little too thick for me to operate the safety. My thumb is turned in here to the max.
 
I don't know if I'd alter a Pre-B, but you may want to contact David at Cajun Gun Works and ask if the short reach trigger package will work in a Pre-B. He also posts here sometimes.
 
CZ's seem to be the darlings of the internet, but I simply don't like them. Most people rave about the ergonomics. I've owned a few and shot a few others and they don't fit me at all. And I wear either a large or XL glove. The trigger reach is OK in SA, but DA is a reach even for me.

They are the only gun I've ever tried that I simply couldn't make work. The narrow slide is difficult for me, the beaver tail curves down instead of up like on every other gun and digs into the web of my hand when fired and the triggers were pretty bad out of the box. I found the safety poorly designed

Even though I didn't like them, I found them to be above average in accuracy even with the bad triggers. Mine were below average in reliability though. I gave up on them and moved on.
 
CZ's seem to be the darlings of the internet, but I simply don't like them. Most people rave about the ergonomics. I've owned a few and shot a few others and they don't fit me at all. And I wear either a large or XL glove. The trigger reach is OK in SA, but DA is a reach even for me.

They are the only gun I've ever tried that I simply couldn't make work. The narrow slide is difficult for me, the beaver tail curves down instead of up like on every other gun and digs into the web of my hand when fired and the triggers were pretty bad out of the box. I found the safety poorly designed

Even though I didn't like them, I found them to be above average in accuracy even with the bad triggers. Mine were below average in reliability though. I gave up on them and moved on.
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So how does this help the OP who wants to see if the guns can fit him? There are many different CZ models. The newer ones have an upswept beavertail, and the polymer guns have different grips too, so if one doesn't fit another may.

They fit me great, and all have been accurate and very reliable for me in over twenty years of CZ ownership.
 
When I hold my Cz-75 clone like you show in the second picture, my wrist is not in line with the front & rear sights and my elbow. Admittedly, our hands are not likely the same size.

If you position the thumb of your shooting hand higher, like above the thumb-safety, does it get banged by the slide? If not, you might try leaving your thumb in the high position. It helps ME get the butt of any pistol centered between sights and wrist/elbow.

Just a thought.
 
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The Short Reset Trigger kit from the CZ Custom Shop or Cajun Gun Works will help, but it may still be too short for some hands.

One of the drawbacks to the basic CZ-75 design is the LONG trigger pull, necessary to allow the DA function. The original design was unique, and for some years the only gun that offered the option of a true SA (cocked & locked) start as well as a DA start, if you wanted it.

A number of my friends over the years loved how the CZ fit their hand, but just couldn't deal with the DA trigger pull length -- and were uncomfortable with cocked & locked. They went the decocker route, with other guns, S&W 3rd Gen guns and SIGs.

jmr40 doesn't like the CZ safety -- and calls it a bad design. He's a very disgruntled ex-CZ owner... (I have a similar dislike for most of the SIGs I've owned -- quite a few, actually -- as I kept trying to love'em, but I am not as outspoken about my feelings.) The small CZ safety levers CAN be awkward for some shooters -- much like the original Browning Hi-Power safety lever was for me when I started shooting my T-series BHP. (Some of the later, redesigned BHP levers, but the design now used is pretty good.)

The CZ SAO models have a different safety lever that resolves that issue -- but they are for an ambidextrous frame and I don't think they can be adapted to work with non-ambi frames. Someone may know how to adapt them to a non-ambidextrous frame, and if so, that would be great! The SAO levers will work with the 85B and 85 Combat.... I keep thinking I'm going to convert my 85 Combat to use them (just a parts swap) -- but parts alone are about $90 -- and I just never seem to have the money for that extravagance. Maybe when I get my income tax refund?)

As much as I like CZs, I also like striker-fired guns, and that may be your best solution. Glocks -- which some find hideous -- can be greatly improved with a small $ upgrade or two, and have pretty good triggers. I've got two FNS-40s, now that I like a lot.

While CZs are great guns, the CZ-75B may just NOT be the gun that's best for you.

.
 
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wow, I've got a 7/8in of extra reach on you (just measured exactly the same way you displayed in your first picture). That's probably why the CZs DA pull doesn't bother me so much...big mitts and long fingers.
 
The Short Reset Trigger kit from the CZ Custom Shop or Cajun Gun Works will help, but it may still be too short for some hands.
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The Short Reset System from Cajun doesn't change the overall trigger reach. That's what the Reach Reduction Kit is for. Or is that what you meant?

I wanted to state that I wear a medium men's glove and the gloves aren't tight. With slim VZ grips I find the DA reach on say the P-01 just fine. And my pointer finger is shorter than the OP, only 3 5/8".
 
Swap out the grips for thinner ones.
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TunnelRat thinner stocks will make a difference. I'll not add pictures but did remove the stocks from the grip frame. With no stocks the DA reach is only a hair long & on the safety notch the reach is perfect. The SA is a hair short but fine. I still can't work the safety without breaking my grip slightly. So thin stocks will certainly help.
 
When I hold my Cz-75 clone like you show in the second picture, my wrist is not in line with the front & rear sights and my elbow. Admittedly, our hands are not likely the same size.

If you position the thumb of your shooting hand higher, like above the thumb-safety, does it get banged by the slide? If not, you might try leaving your thumb in the high position. It helps ME get the butt of any pistol centered between sights and wrist/elbow.

Just a thought.
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The camera angle isn't the best but the everything is very close to being lined.

If I position my thumb high as possible the slide won't bang it, not even close. The rear of the grip fame fits perfectly into the fold of my hand with the thumb laying on top of the current plastic panels. Like you say all hands are a little different.
 
wow, I've got a 7/8in of extra reach on you (just measured exactly the same way you displayed in your first picture). That's probably why the CZs DA pull doesn't bother me so much...big mitts and long fingers.
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You're just a brute Mike. Keep your mitts out of my gloves.
 
I was interested in the CZ75 several years ago because they made a left-hand friendly model(I think that's the CZ85). Trigger reach turned out to be too long for me when I got to handle one. If not for that, I'd probably have bought one.

Tape measure reads about 4" the way you're measuring in the photo.
 
About 3 3/8 to the center of the pad for me. Reach was just too long. I think CZ makes nice firearms. They're my favorite .22 rifles.
 
Duke I love the pistol & though it doesn't fit the best it is easy to shoot & more fun than a little bit. To be clear that measurement like yours is to the middle of the pad on my trigger finger.
 
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