Walt Sherrill
Member
That said, see if you can find a CZ 85. I think they called it a combat version. They have a great feel that is not unlike a HP.
The CZ-85B is simply an ambidextrous version of the 75B (i.e., ambidextrous safeties and slide release -- but not mag release, which also isn't reversible.)
The 85 Combat (I have had one for years) is the 85B without the firing pin block (what the "B" denotes in the model name), but it comes with a straight mag brake that allows the mags to drop free, an adjustable sight, a trigger adjustable for overtravel, and an extended slide release.
Because the 85 Combat doesn't have the firing pin block, the trigger can be tuned more easily. That model, however, is DA/SA, and while it allows for cocked and locked carry, the safety levers aren't as friendly as the 75B SA models. It would be simple to convert it to SA only, however, and then you could use the two-way adjustable (for takeup and overtravel) trigger available for the CZ 75B SA, and I suspect the larger safety levers would work, too. But there's no advantage, really in the 85 Combat over a tuned 75B SA... (I've had both, and all sorts of variants of other CZs.) As I noted earlier, the CZs do come close to approximating the "FEEL" of a BHP.
I think the OP's concern about a BHP self-destructing (particularly the barrel) is based on questionable info (although he is convinced it's good information); if he's worried about a barrel screwing up, he simply needs to buy a good aftermarket barrel (like a Bar-Sto) and quit worrying. Barrels that fail due to poor manufacture or inferior materials tend to die early, while good ones go on and on. Putting a new quality barrel in the gun would seem to be the best course of action, particularly given the work he has already had done to the gun. The CZs will come CLOSE to the BHP in most respects, but an ardent BHP lover will arguably always feel a CZ isn't quite as good. Me -- I like them both. And I have a customized AT-84s (a CZ clone, mine worked on by a big-name gunsmith) that I like better than the BHP and the CZ or even the Sphinx (and I've had several of those.)
A 1911 in 9mm isn't a bad choice, and the only drawback there is that they hold only 9-11 rounds (in stock and after-market mags), while the CZ can hold from 16-19 rounds.
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