Originally Posted by Samgotit
Little review please, Marvin. I've been eying a few different CZ's for a while now (I think I mentioned it earlier in this thread). I've can't find them local. Keep in mind, I have a small hand.
Also smallish hands with stubby fingers here. It's really one of the nastier consequences of being 5'6". Being shortish never bothered me, but having smaller hands have denied me joys of double stack Sigs.
As for what I think of it? I'm really liking it. I easily prefer it to all of the full-size polymer pistols I've owned (G17, M&P9, XD9, USP9). Against the Hi-Power... It's much closer with the CZ edging out the Hi-Power. If I knew before what I knew now though, I'd have skipped the SP-01 and found a
CZ 75 Compact .40 S&W.
Here's my findings in pro/con style.
Pros:
Very low recoil with minimal muzzle flip: High mass, good mass distribution, and low bore axis is a very good combination.
Cocked and locked is an option: Just in case you don't like the DA/SA transition. With the hammer design and the halfcock notch, decocking a safety equipped version is still safe and easy.
Inexpensive: Mine ran me $450 NIB with tritium night sights, two 18 round mags, cleaning tools, and a couple of snap caps.
Short trigger reset: No, it's not a 1911. But, it's on par with the best non-1911 designs. (Glock, S&W 3rd generation) I haven't tried Sig's new SRT style though.
Good accuracy: For a production duty style gun. Slide to barrel lockup is very good, and slide to frame is better than the polymer wonders. Practical accuracy is also easy to obtain due to low recoil, good sights, and decent trigger.
Ergonomics: Definitely a personal thing, but recontoured trigger and backstrap are big improvements on the CZ 75, especially for people with small hands. The checkered rubber grips are great.
Cons:
Looks: Functionally ugly. The dustcover rail makes it look a bit bulbous, polycoat is one of the uglier finishes, there are obvious machining marks throughout the pistol's interior, etc.
Weight: It is an all steel pistol. 42 oz when unloaded is fairly hefty.
Safety: Taking the safety off one handed is easy. Putting it back on one handed is next to impossible. The extended 1911 style is superior.
Balance: The CZ-75 has near perfect weight balance for me. The SP-01 is a bit nose heavy due to the rail. This is a tradeoff for muzzle flip.
???:
The trigger pull falls under both categories. CZ triggers are hit and miss. Many will have initial trigger grittiness due to a lack of finishing. A bit of grease and a lot of dry firing will fix this. After it smooths out, the trigger is a good DA/SA one, an excellent short, positive reset. Weight is a bit high when stock, mine breaks at 12 lbs DA/6 lbs SA.
DA, even at halfcock, is a long constant weight affair. Perfectly acceptable if you're used to revolvers. SA mode is a three stage affair. There's some pre-travel when you start the trigger pull, then a slight increase in weight as the trigger disengages the firing pin block. After that, the pull stiffens up and gradually increases until the hammer drops. This is due to the undersquare hammer/sear engagement angle on all factory CZs, and you're actually cocking the hammer a bit in SA mode. While it certainly works well enough, it's not the proverbial glass rod break.
Yeah, I'm being a bit tough on the trigger pull, but mainly because it's something CZ could fix with very little effort. Just squaring up the sear/hammer angles and polishing the trigger/sear/hammer group before sending it out would work wonders. Still, it's understandable given the CZ's military origins. Either way, only Sig still makes a better out of the box DA/SA trigger, and not by much.
) to regularize and load up over the winter.
Linear Mode
