9mm 1911 vs. CZ 75B SA

[Lothar]

From your original post ...

"The intended use of the gun is strictly for slow-fire bullseye target shooting. It will not be a home-defense or carry weapon. I don't compete, so it's just for personal fun. What's fun to me is getting the tightest possible groups on slow-fire targets, and occasional steel shooting."

If this is really what you want to do, then there are better choices than either the CZ75 SA Target or the STI Trojan. I would highly recommend the STI TargetMaster for this kind of activity. It has a 6" bull barrel and mine was impressively accurate if I did my job correctly.

Unless one takes the time to lock each gun up in a bench rest to test for accuracy, I think we're wandering into nit-picking land.

As for "reliability", I never had issues with my TargetMaster (nor have I had issues with my STI Sentry or the CZ). I presume you're concerned about alleged 9mm 1911's being "finicky". I'd venture to say that in fast-moving competition shooting, you might have a point. However a friend of mine who shoots IDPA is qualified as ESP Expert with a 9mm 1911. He's close to making Master. I would think he'd dispell the notion that 9mm 1911's are problematic.

Bottom line is try to handle and shoot both. Consider other options to match up better with your stated intention. Nobody wants to spend their money recklessly. Good for you in doing lots of research -- I did that and have not had any regrets.

Good luck!

Thanks for the comments, etaoin. Of course there's always a better option out there, for almost any gun, for somebody willing to spend the money. For me though at this point of my shooting "career," $1100 is about my max, and even that is pushing my limits. So I'm not looking for the best possible gun available for my intended shooting purpose, but rather the best that's available in my price range. When I'm ready to step it up a level, as I mentioned earlier, I'll probably go with a Sig X-Five or maybe even an X-Six Scandic. The latter is my dream gun, but prohibitively expensive.

I've been trying to get my hands on both of the pistols that I posted about in my OP for a couple of weeks now, to try them out, with no luck (mostly because the one place near me that would likely have them available for rent has been closed down for renovation). So this discussion is just sort of a stop-gap measure for me to try to learn more about them until I can try them out. If I like the feel of both of them equally, then I may be biased toward the one that seems to be getting the best comments here. If one feels and shoots better than the other to me, then that's the one I'll buy, regardless of what is being said here. I still appreciate hearing everybody's comments though either way.

 

[railroader]

Lothar where's your location? Maybe someone is local to you so you can check out a cz or a sti. Here's another option that is cheaper. Dawson has the STI spartons for $628 and dawson installs one of their fiber optic front sights for free. I have actually heard good things about these guns. http://www.dawsonprecision.com/ProductDetail.jsp?LISTID=80000AE1-1263828368 Mark

 

[1SOW]

For a pure 'fun-gun', personal preferences will have to drive the choice.

The Target SA is really a nice pistol with reliable mags/ capacity options. The trigger can truly be a class act. One thing it doesn't have (in my opinion) is an easy-to-reach 1911-type safety like the STI if draw and shoot is included in your fun. It's do-able but not great due to the longer reach.. Read the threads by Target users on http://www.czfirearms.us/

CZ parts and optional accessories are widely available and reasonably priced if that's a concern.

 

[bluetopper]

True, the much cheaper STI Spartan will mechanically do everything the Trojan will do. I bullseye shoot too with my Dan Wesson 9mm 1911, I've had it for 4 years and couldn't be happier with its performance. It makes me want another 9mm 1911 and I'm going to pull the trigger on a Spartan soon, just want a little variety. It seems the lighter you load 9mm the more accurate they become. I shoot 100% cast lead reloads. I can shoot 9mm for what good 22 ammo costs.

 

[Lothar]

@railroader: My LGS actually does have CZ 75's available for rent, and probably has STI's as well... it's just a matter of me waiting until their range renovation is completed before I can try them. Hopefully that will be next week. Thanks for the idea about the Spartan, I'll check that out too.

@parisite: That is one fine-looking gun that you posted!

@1SOW: Yeah the Target SA sure does look like a nice gun, but I have one concern about it: the Champion rear sight is elevation-adjustable, I am told (that's what I want), but as far as I know, it is plain black (somebody please correct me if I am mistaken). My eyes have a lot of difficulty focusing on all-black sights, especially against the black NRA targets that I shoot. I am told that there is not enough metal in those sights to modify them to hold fiber optic tubes, but I am toying with the idea of buying another version of Champion sight that I think should fit the same Novak slide cutout. They're tritium sights, but tritium would be of no use to me in a well-lit range, so I'm wondering if I can drill out the tritium tubes and install fiber optic tubes in their place. I'd have to cut grooves, rather than holes, so that they could pick up ambient light from the top. Here are the sights I am thinking of:

http://www.theshootersbox.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=128_144_172&products_id=530

The other option is to go with the LPA TTF fiber optic sights that CZ Custom sells, but from what I've seen of them in photos, they're much too tall for my tastes. I don't think they'd fit on the SA Target anyway.