The purchace of my 9mm

I

infotech168

Inactive
Here is my story of my new purchase.

I was in the market for a 9mm pistol for the range. Money wasnt a factor in my choice. Here is my report. In total i tested 6 guns. I rented all 6 at my local range. I also asked some range officers and members for opinion and experiences.

Here is the order of my choices. 1 being my choice

1) CZ 75 / 85

Ergonomically: The best feeling pistol out of the bunch. It is very reliable, had 0 malfunctions. One range officer said he had one with over 20,000 rounds threw it and no major problems.
Price: Doesn't matter.
Accuracy: Shot at 20 yards freehand. Best group of 10 shots was 84 out of 100.
Comments: I choose the CZ 85 Combat, because of the ambi safty and adjustable sights. I just love the feel of this pistol.

2) Sig 226

Ergonomically: Excellent feel also. The grip was the best out of the bunch i tested. I didnt really like the top of the slide. Many members have this pistol. They all recommended it.
Accuracy: Shot at 20 yards freehand. Shot 76. I didnt like the longer/heavier trigger.
Comments: I might look into getting its bigger broither P220 in .45.

3) Glock17

Ergonomically: It didnt feel right for my hands. The Mag release sucks big time. I hope there is a extended on aftermarket. The grips were pretty thick. Pretty ugly pistol.
Accuracy: Excellent. I was very impressed with it. Shot 75. The gun had alot of muzzle flip. I had to re-align sights after every shot.
Comments: Excellent for carry purposes. Not that good for target use. It would definatly be my favorite carry piece.

4) Walther P99

Ergonomically: It felt like a toy. The Flip was very bad. The Plastic guide rod isnt very impressive. I dont know how it would hold up after a few thousand rounds. The plastic was really cheap.
Accuracy: It was comparable to the glock. It had alot of flip.
Comments: It is a fun gun to shoot. Not sure of its reliability.

5) Beretta 92 FS

Ergonomically: It felt great holding the pistol. I didnt really like the thick grips.
Accuracy: it wasnt that impressive. It had many malfunctions. It had alot of problems with FTF and FTE.
Comments: Members and range officers had alot of bad comments on this piece. I shoot 100 rounds per week, and they all said it woudl last me 1 year. One owner of the 92 FS, said he had to get his 92 Bridgedier fixed 3 times. He said the small parts in the pistol sucked. It would't hold up to many rounds.

6) HK USP

Ergonomically: The grips were huge. I have fairly large hands, but i had alot fo trouble wrapping my hands around the grips. The front ceckering on the grips made my hands really sore. I shot 20 rounds, adn my fingers were all red and hurting badly. I could never shoot 100 rounds in one session.
Accuracy: No comment. My hands hurt to bad to try and shoot good.
Comments: If i had bigger hands i might like it better. I just hate the grips and the ceckering.

I hope my review helps new shooters. I am going to enjoy my CZ 85 Combat.




Bullseye
 
Thanks for the review. Everybody who has CZs seems to be nuts about them. Makes me curious about what all the hoopla is about....
 
P99 review

I'm disappointed to hear you didn't like the Walther P99. I carry a Glock-17, which might be too big for my hand, & I'm thinking of switching to a Walther P99 Quick Action as my carry pistol. The P99 fits my hand like a glove. That 8# Quick Acion trigger is sweeter than the 3.5# trigger on my Glock. Glocks come with a plastic captured guide rod. Mine broke & I replaced it with a stainless steel captured guide rod. I hear a lot of good things about the P99 on TFL.
 
The CZ is a nice pistol, and from the ones you listed I would have chosen either that or the Glock. (The CZ's price is right, too.) SIG's and the new HK's seem to work well, but don't fit my hand. Early Beretta pistols gave problems, and even the new ones are reputed to break earlier than they should when fired with +P or +P+ ammo. And they just seem bulky for a 9mm. Walther fans have an almost religious reverence for the P99, and more than once have implied that I should be burned at the stake for reporting problems I've observed with St. Walther's pistols.

Too bad you didn't get to try a Browning Hi Power.
 
jack_the_sailor

It is good to hear that your glock had a 3.5 pull. The one i shoot felt like it was 5 or 6. It had the worst trigger of the bunch.

The walther fits in the palm the best, you can customize the back strap to 3 sizes. One will fit your hand. It is okay when you hold the pistol. But when you actually fire the pistol, the flip of the muzzle caused the grips to slip alot. It just doesnt fell like a pistol that would last along time. The plastic and polymer parts are no where close to the quality in the HK, Glock, or Sig. The guide rod felt like a $5 piece of plastic. The exact or similar design guiderod is found in the new Springfield XD polymer pistols. But there's was made out of steel. It was alot more solid.

HankB

My range didnt have a new issue Browning HP. They only had a 1960's model. Not sure on the model. It was beatup and looked like it was dug up from a grave.
 
Funny about your Berettas. Mine has over 20,000 rounds without any malfunctions or problems of any sort. From the comments of other posters here, my experience is not unique. Mine has little noticable wear - mostly just on the finish.
For H&K USP's, you might try their compact line.
 
croyance

I am looking for a pistol for range use, so i much prefer a larger fullsize pistol. I just hope the USP would make the grip the size of the mags like regular semi-autos. I can tell from the bottom on the grips that there is at least 2 tp 3 cm of space thay can make the grips smaller.

In regards to the Beretta, maybe the range beretta wasnt functioning 100%. But the rest of the rental pistols didnt have any malfunctions. But the member who owned the 92 Bridgedier said that the quality of his Beretta wasn't close to his Hk or Sig. He had to send his his Beretta for repair 3 times. I am not sure on the problem.
 
I average about two hundred rounds a week in my Beretta, not including holidays since 1993. No problems. Just some holster wear. To me, an excellent carry piece. The Glock would also be a good carrying piece. The CZ is also very good, just be careful when you decock it over a live round.
 
I was looking at full-sized 9mm guns recently also. I have a Glock17 and a Beretta 92FS, both of which have functioned flawlessly. However, I'm down on the Glock trigger lately and the Beretta, though it has an action as smooth as glass since Ernie Langdon tuned it, is not particularly accurate for me. When I held the CZ, the grip felt very long to me, from front to back. I ended up going with a Sig 226, to match my 220, and I love it.
 
Check out the Springfield Armory XD-9. They are very good pistols that fit the hand very well. They're not very expensive either.
 
ditto about the browning

You seemed to like the CZ for 3 major reasons Accuracy, reliability and ergonomics. I think the hp on par if not better in these areas.
In fact, when I was deciding on my first pistol, the CZ was second on my list. I liked the idea of a steel pistol with so much history too.

And I'm spoiled by my hp's trigger. Only triggers that I've shot that are better are on 1911's.

I second the comments reguarding the USP/USPc ergo's. I have small hands and this was very important to me. The USPc was high on my list, the fullsized was not.

The 226's I've seen sure are accurate.

I really liked the p99. I recently got one and am trying to get used to the trigger. I don't shoot it as accurately as my hp (yet?).

My first intention was to buy a Glock, but after handling it I realized that I'd need a grip reduction done and didn't want to do that.

Handling Beretta with the reduced grip (Vertec) has me interested.

Nice post, should help others looking for their first.
 
Geez, it is starting to look like this place should add a CZ fan club.:D Oh yeah, there is already one at the CZ Forum. As a new CZ owner you should check it out. I'm a regular lurker there but I don't post very often (certainly not like here). Then again, I think there are as many CZ fans here as there are there.

Anyway, I love my CZ 75. Very accurate, reliable (I've had no problems in about 2000 rounds and I only had a minor hiccup or two at the beginning of my break-in period), durable and a great value. I like it so much I convinced my best friend to buy a CZ (he liked mine enough to get the CZ 85 Combat) and I'm trying to convice another friend who thinks he wants a Beretta (he hasn't shot my CZ yet, I'm sure that will cure him of Berettaitis). I just recently bought a CZ 40 to go with my 75 and just have to wait until the state of MD will let me pick it up.

In the near future I plan to buy some or all of the following:
- CZ 75 SA or CZ 85 Combat
- CZ 97
- CZ 75 PCR
- CZ 100

I think you made a good choice but the one problem to look out for is a severe addiction to CZs.
 
I highly suggest a purchase of the Hogue rubber grips for the CZ-75/85, they come in two sizes: One for the full size models, and another for the PCR/Compact carry models (13 rd preban)
 
kdmoore

Semms we have the sam conclusion on the Glock 17. I do really like thr reliability and carry use for the G17. It is so light, but more accurate than i expected.

chaim

I am so excited about the CZ. What finish do you recommend. I am still deciding. Some members from CZ-forum said that the satin/dual tone finishes are really slippery. And it is hard to pull the slide back. Any suggestions?

The Walrus

I will definatly look into the rubber grips. Is it similar to the CZ Ipsc model ones? or do they have the finger grooves?
 
You did the right thing in testing a quantity of guns you were thinking of buying. I like the feel of the CZ too, but I observed lots of parts breaking in them during IPSC matches I attend. I don't know of any of the shooters who kept them very long. These were in 9mm, 9x21, 38 super, and 40s&w. After a time of hard use, they started breaking little parts inside them. They are not the easiest gun to work on either.

I personally like the Sig 226 and 228 models. Maybe you didn't get one with the short trigger option but it makes a big difference in feel of the DA first shot. Not lighter, just quicker.

I would have at least tried the Browning HiPower, beat up or not. They are accurate, reliable, and very comfortable in the hand. I really like the one I have. About the only thing I dislike is the long trigger reset.

I do agree with you on the other guns feeling too big, too cheap, or too awkward.
 
I am so excited about the CZ. What finish do you recommend. I am still deciding. Some members from CZ-forum said that the satin/dual tone finishes are really slippery. And it is hard to pull the slide back. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Hard to say. I have the polycoat on my 75 (and on the 40 that is coming). The polycoat is a powdered polymer finish baked onto a parkerized base. Probably the most durable handgun finish out there. However, you can't beat the CZ nickel for looks (though the slide is fairly narrow so I can see how some people may find that finish slippery and hard to get a good grip on it). The CZ blue is also a beautiful blue.
 
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