New CZ75B

I'll agree regarding the factory plastic grips. I didn't like them either. When I bought the pistol I also picked up a set of Pachmayr rubber grips. They are the wrap around type but I didn't install the front and rear parts. They were a pain and I like it just fine without them. Added a bit of width to the grip but, for me, that worked out good.

I won't say it's a better pistol than the Hi Power because I don't have one of those to compare it to. I don't see, however, how the Browning could be -that- much better though. Especially when you take price into consideration.

Joe/Ga
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joe Klug:
I'll agree regarding the factory plastic grips. I didn't like them either. When I bought the pistol I also picked up a set of Pachmayr rubber grips. They are the wrap around type but I didn't install the front and rear parts. They were a pain and I like it just fine without them. Added a bit of width to the grip but, for me, that worked out good.

I won't say it's a better pistol than the Hi Power because I don't have one of those to compare it to. I don't see, however, how the Browning could be -that- much better though. Especially when you take price into consideration.

Joe/Ga
[/quote]

There are soft rubber grips available from CZ, that are thinner than the stock plastic grips. They look better and feel much better.

(I have them on my CZ-85 Combat. I only have two guns that will outshoot my CZ-85: a S&W Model 52 and a SIG P-210. The S&W 52 only holds five rounds, and SIG P-210 design makes it difficult to do fast mag exchanges.)
 
Sorry guys, but in the past I have had two HP's (Made in Belg, assembly in Portugal), and one CZ-75, and now have CZ-85. CZ-75 was the same or better than HPs, CZ-85 is noticeably more accurate (despite the shaity trigger). I am talking stock guns, with factory ammo. To me CZ-75 is a SA only proposition. The grip feels better than HP (to me). They both have about the same length of trigger reset. And CZ-75 can be converted to SA only which will improve the trigger.
So I think the two guns are very comparable, with HP getting the nod for concealment, CZ getting the nod for capacity and grip feel, and price of course, and the most important to me, it has a .22 conversion.
 
Gabe Suarez, founder of the Halo Group: http://www.thehalogroup.com wrote the following quote. I agree with Gabe 100%
This is an article printed in his The Tactical Operator news letter. TO is good reading... I find that his philosophy on personal safety and the proper application of focused violence to respond to a threat is exactly like my own as I had been teaching for years. Go check out the Halo Group's page... and subscribe this news letter. You'll like it.
Also - Gabe is a TFL Member who we wish to see more of around here.
This is long - but worth the read.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The CZ75B .40 S&W -
A Modern Alternative

There was a time when the only handguns found in the holsters of American Lawmen (as well as military operators) were made by Colt or Smith & Wesson. This all began to change when the U.S. Armed forces adopted a pistol made by Pietro Beretta - the excellent 92F. Almost overnight (in terms of the snail-like speed of police weapons acquisitions), European weapons began appearing in American holsters. Names like Beretta, SIG, Glock, and Heckler & Koch became household names to even the most gun-averse police-politician.

Private citizens have always shadowed the military and police choices in terms of defensive pistols, and this was no different. Everyone wanted a "Wunder-nine" with 15 or more chances at dragon-slaying before the need to reload became evident. Sometime after this, the .40 S&W became available and offered the first real compromise between the nine-millimeter, and the forty-five.

As we all know, magazine capacity became an issue of contention with the so-called Crime Bill to end all Bills. Magazines became limited to ten rounds, and the price for replacement magazines for the "wunder-nines" went through the roof. New weapons came as-issued with ten round magazines. In some locales, even police officers had to turn in their high-capacity magazines for ten round magazines (so much for supporting, and taking pictures with the liberal clowns, eh boys?). This began the death-song for the high-capacity nine in America. After all, why would anyone want a large wide-framed, full-size pistol that held only ten small 9mm rounds? The move toward smaller pistols and larger calibers began.

One such pistol is the CZ75B in .40 S&W. Almost ignored by professional operators in this country, the CZ is the top choice among many Eastern European counter-terrorist teams, and some in Central America as well. Many of these operators, in fact, purchase their own CZ75s in preference to the issued pistols. These teams get a great deal of practical experience in light of the situation in those parts of the world. American shooters would be wise to take a look at their choices.

Ceska Zbrojovka (CZ) has been producing weaponry for over 60 years. They were producers of weapons for the governments of Eastern Europe for many years, including during WWII. With the communist takeover, CZ was absorbed into the National Enterprise (Narodni Podnik) factory system. Their manufacturing facility in Uhersky Brod became a member of the Zbrojovka Brno Narodni Podnik in 1965. At some point during these transitions, the trademark BRNO Arms was used, but the pistols remained the same. With the falling of the Iron Curtain, and the return of capitalism to Eastern Europe, the national enterprise in Uhersky Brod is once more "Ceska Zbrojovka". Realizing the massive market for arms in the United States, CZ opened up shop in Kansas City as CZ-USA, giving American shooters access to the CZ pistols.

I had taken a contract to train a group who issued the CZ as their duty weapon. In order to tune up for the assignment, and learning that they were now available in .40 S&W, I obtained a CZ75B in that caliber. The pistol came in a plastic (lockable) storage box with a single magazine, a cleaning rod and brush, and the mandatory manual and miscellaneous paperwork.

Beyond its sleek visual lines in a time of boxy, blocky, and clumsy pistols, much of the CZ's appeal is due to its rugged reliability. The CZ internals are largely based on the Browning design with some notable improvements in both barrel lock-up, and internal linkage. I've spoken with operators who've used the CZ in "the Dark Place" who speak highly of its reliability under less than ideal conditions, as well as its specific features.

The CZ offers a number of features that have made it popular with "advanced operators". The pistol is described as a double-action pistol, and it does have this capability, thereby making it saleable to those fearful of single-action designs. Of the stock DA triggers on various modern designs, the CZ's is by far the easiest to manage. Although somewhat long for my taste, it runs a very smooth 9 pounds without the gritty stack-and-creep-stop-and-go feel of the competition's triggers from Western Europe. More importantly, the CZ is a selective DA, which means that it may be carried cocked-and-locked. This, in effect, over rides the double-action feature, and is the recommended carry method, as far as I am concerned. The single action feel of the trigger is approximately four pounds, with very slight creeping prior to let-off. Although not perfect, this was quite manageable, and acceptable for a stock military weapon. For those desiring a crisper trigger break, remedial gunsmithing should be no problem.

The pistol has a frame mounted safety lever reminiscent of the Colt/Browning pistols. On the 75B, it is ambidextrous, and of suitable size to disengage quickly. The other controls (slide stop, magazine release, etc.) were all easily accessible and again reminiscent of Browning's designs. The pistol has a few sharp edges evident, most specifically, the bottom of the trigger guard and the tang extension of the frame needed. The weapon was tested as issued, but I eventually removed these sharp edges prior to carrying it. The rest of the weapon felt smooth in the hand. This "feel" is perhaps the biggest selling point of the CZ. The pistol sits in the hand easily, and points exactly in line with the bones of the arm. The only other pistol with this essential "feel" is the Glock.

The pistol came with high visibility three dot sights. They were painted with some sort of luminous material. When these sights were exposed to bright light (Surefire 9P), they retained luminescence in dark environments. They worked fine, and the pistol came with a computerized test target from the factory certifying a cursory "sight in". Eventually, the sights would be replaced with Trijicon Tritium Sights.

The stocks on the pistol are held in place with single phillips head screws. They are checkered plastic, and slim. They are simple, and without frills, as pistol stocks should be. The frontal frame and backstrap are smooth and uncheckered. In spite of the lack of checkering, the pistol behaved well in shooting drills. This was due in part to the well-designed grip frame angle, as well as to the low profile of the weapon in the hand.

The magazine that came as issued mirrored the pistol in quality. I'm advised that Mec-Gar will be manufacturing the magazines under contract for CZ. All of these magazines are ten-round capacity.

The CZ75B in .40 S&W offers many important advantages over the various other competitive weapon systems. First of all, it is available in .40 S&W, which I consider the ideal defensive/tactical caliber. The CZ75B's magazine holds exactly ten rounds of ammunition, fitting within the ridiculous magazine limit law. Most importantly, it allows cocked and locked carry, thereby bypassing while satisfying silly policy issues requiring double action linkage.

My recommendation - Try it, you'll like it.
[/quote]

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You might laugh in the face of FEAR... but unless your armed, its a nervous, unconvincing, little laugh.
 
George,

Thanks for posting that article. Good reading. I went to the Halo web site and signed up for the newsletter also.

Joe/Ga
 
To the best of my knowledge only a few thousand CZ75s were produced with the short slide rails. The slide rails were lengthened when CZ was going after a contract from Sweden. The contract fell though but CZ kept the modification. Some CZ75 were actually made with the Swedish crest stamped on them. These pistols are very rare and expensive.

There was an early CZ75 military model. This pistol came with cobby wood grips, an odd squarish rowel hammer, short slide rails and a lanyard loop at the bottom of the main spring housing. Later CZ produced this pistol with the classic plastic grips with the CZ logo and kidney shaped rectangles and stipples, but replaced the unique hammer with a spur design and dropped the short slide rails for the longer ones. The major difference between later military and standard commercial CZ75s is the lanyard loop. If you've got an early CZ75 and it doesn't have a lanyard loop it's a standard commercial and not military model.

Later CZ dropped the military model and began producing the same pistol for commercial and military contracts. Recently it has revived the military model. I think the only difference is a polymer finish and night sights as standard.

There's a very rare CZ75 model that was made by Solothurn in Switzerland. The pistol is not an AT or Sphinx clone but a true CZ75, identical in all aspects except for the Made in Switzerland stamp. I've only heard of these pistols, but I've never examined one.

CZ75s are excellent pistols and I recommend them highly. I know quite a few folks that have carried in war time in Latin America. They've got nothing but praise for the pistol. It feeds the hottest ammo without a burp. If you can afford it I recommend a Bauska Import CZ75. These are, IMHO, much better than the newer CZ75Bs. Not that these's anything wrong with the 75B, but hand fitting is superior on the older pistols and you don't have the redundant passive firing pin safety. The newer firing pin safety makes it much more difficult to remove the pin for maintenance.

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So many pistols, so little money.

[This message has been edited by Tecolote (edited June 13, 2000).]
 
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