The_Shootist
Member
Anybody able to give me some input on this one? The .45 model CZ puts out? CZ has a pretty good rep and I'm wondering the pros/cons of this pistol vs say...the SIG 220 (another non-1911 .45 I'm looking at).
Cz 97 B
- Thread starter The_Shootist
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chris in va
Member
owned one , very impressed...
big heavy very accurate , grips need reduction for most people , probably the best value in a real 45acp on the market today , superior to the 1911 for control and firepower, quality is excellant , just too dammd big for most people to handle , if it fits you , buy it , you won't find better...
big heavy very accurate , grips need reduction for most people , probably the best value in a real 45acp on the market today , superior to the 1911 for control and firepower, quality is excellant , just too dammd big for most people to handle , if it fits you , buy it , you won't find better...
12 Volt Man
Member
The CZ97 is easily my most accurate handgun. As HD mentioned, make sure you have large enough hands. They are very nice and should cost you less money than the Sig 220.
jrpeterman
Member
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2003
- Messages
- 173
I really love mine. I've had good results using it for plate and pin shoots. Bought it as a replacement for a S&W 645 that I had to sell earlier. Less sharp edges on the CZ as compared to the Smith. CZ=10+1 rds. vs. S&W=8+1. The only other gun that I considered was the Glock 21. I liked how the CZ felt better in my hand, it was slightly thinner than the Glock, especially around the grip, and doesn't weigh much more than a steel frame 1911.
I really like mine. The "too big" grip is a drawback for some. I think the grip size is just right. Accuracy is great. Reliability has not been a concern; mine feeds ball and all of the HPs I've tried with no problems. I did swap out the recoil spring and guide rod, but that's all I've done to it (other than shooting & cleaning).
u084708
Member
I love mine for the reasons noted above: affordable, very accurate, a joy to shoot. I was able to reduce grip size so that DA was achievable using a trick noted on the CZ Forum board (cited above). Use a Hogue wrap around grip for a CZ 75B, place the rubber one-piece grip in boiling water for ~1 minute, dry quickly, attach to one side of the 97B grip and then quickly stretch to fit on the other side and quickly attach grip screw. Now you have a slightly smaller grip, plus a rubber grip with finer grooves. It is perfect for me and may be just the ticket if you find the standard wood grips a bit wide for a DA pull. Enjoy. 
Lt. G
Member
Mine is great, I love the way it shoots and how scary accurate it is. It's a shame that it doesn't see much sunlight. I use other weapons for carry and car duty. Maybe it's time to find her a good home...sigh...
GregGry
Member
Its an awesome .45, I am going to be buying one shortly. The only thing I didn't like about the one I shot, was the factory grips. I would perfer a little wider, and smooth style grips. Other then that it was perfect. Great size (could even be a bit bigger grip wise) good weight, great accuracy, etc. For the money, I can't find a better fitting gun. The way I see it why get a glock 21 (which is ok for some people, not me) when the 97b is around the same price, mostly metal, and is a lot nicer in my opinion..
The CZ97 is the one handgun that I lust for but cannot own. My medium-sized hand just will not fit that big pistol such that I can reach the trigger with anything more than the tip of my finger. I've fired two of them, barely, and love them to death but without a longer fingertip transplant, no can own.
<sigh>
Noah
<sigh>
Noah
Black Snowman
Member
I don't own a more accurate semi-auto centerfire handgun. I have revolvers that compete closely with it but they cost more.
The 5 punching out the X shows that it's accurate, the 5 not punching out the X show I need practice.
The 5 punching out the X shows that it's accurate, the 5 not punching out the X show I need practice.
chris in va
Member
I was shocked how accurate the gun is. A guy let me try two, one stock and the other with a smithed trigger group. Oh man, amazing machine.
Does anyone carry one of these as a CCW?
Does anyone carry one of these as a CCW?
Peter M. Eick
Member
Nice guns, but watch out. Here is an example of what can happen to one.
This is the barrel link down lug. It sheared off at around 3000 rounds of commercial ammo. I am not the only one who has experienced this little enhancement. When it happens your gun is now a big chunk of metal as it requires a hammer to get it open again.
I totally lost faith in the gun and even after it was repaired under warranty, I could never trust it for much other then range work. I had previously used it as a carry/service gun but no more. I sold it.
Hopefully you will not be faced by this problem when the chips are down. It is quite unnerving.
This is the barrel link down lug. It sheared off at around 3000 rounds of commercial ammo. I am not the only one who has experienced this little enhancement. When it happens your gun is now a big chunk of metal as it requires a hammer to get it open again.
I totally lost faith in the gun and even after it was repaired under warranty, I could never trust it for much other then range work. I had previously used it as a carry/service gun but no more. I sold it.
Hopefully you will not be faced by this problem when the chips are down. It is quite unnerving.
Peter M. Eick
Member
Yeah, I have been thinking the same thing. I want a 10mm 97b. I think it would be a perfect combination, but given this experience, I have questions.
Maybe it was a bad barrel, but then again, that is not a lot of metal to handle the link down forces on the barrel. To bad they do not redesign it so there is either:
1) More metal to handle the forces.
2) A full loop of metal like a Sig 210 or a Browning Hi Power or even the CZ75.
The real scary problem was how badly this tied up my gun. It just locked up tight. Had this been a gun fight instead of a range session then I would have a club. It gave me a whole "shake your sould" kind of moment.
Hence the reason I repaired the gun and sold it. It was great, accurate, and easy to shoot. I bought 6 mags for it, changed the spring regularly etc. I really liked the gun. But once you lose confidence in it, there was no point in keeping it.
Maybe it was a bad barrel, but then again, that is not a lot of metal to handle the link down forces on the barrel. To bad they do not redesign it so there is either:
1) More metal to handle the forces.
2) A full loop of metal like a Sig 210 or a Browning Hi Power or even the CZ75.
The real scary problem was how badly this tied up my gun. It just locked up tight. Had this been a gun fight instead of a range session then I would have a club. It gave me a whole "shake your sould" kind of moment.
Hence the reason I repaired the gun and sold it. It was great, accurate, and easy to shoot. I bought 6 mags for it, changed the spring regularly etc. I really liked the gun. But once you lose confidence in it, there was no point in keeping it.
Gordon
Member
A 97b USED to be my truck gun. It was accurate and looked rugged,if somewhat large. I had a buddy who doesn't own as many guns as me and he shot his alot more than I shot mine; I fired a few hundred rounds to sight in ect. and maybe a hundred every couple months. He fired a couple hundred rounds every couple a weeks. His lug broke too at about 3000 rnds! I sold mine back where I bought it (on consignment) and bought a Witness Compact Wonderfinish. It is not quite as accurate, but has a better trigger overall. It fits my hand better and the Wonderfinish should do well in the truck.
Kamicosmos
Member
I love mine.
For the guys that had the lug break (and I'll check over at CZ Forums, especially since I'm a Mod for the 97 forum!!) what was your gun's age? As in, what year of production? Mine is a 2K2 or 3, so maybe that was limited to earlier production guns? Any word from CZ about how wide spread a problem it could be? As in, it's a limited batch of barrels, or several thousand guns?
Kind of spooky. I use mine for carry sometimes during the winter, and I love it a lot, one of my favorite guns. I have maybe...1200 rounds through mine so far, give or take a few hundred.
For the guys that had the lug break (and I'll check over at CZ Forums, especially since I'm a Mod for the 97 forum!!) what was your gun's age? As in, what year of production? Mine is a 2K2 or 3, so maybe that was limited to earlier production guns? Any word from CZ about how wide spread a problem it could be? As in, it's a limited batch of barrels, or several thousand guns?
Kind of spooky. I use mine for carry sometimes during the winter, and I love it a lot, one of my favorite guns. I have maybe...1200 rounds through mine so far, give or take a few hundred.
Peter M. Eick
Member
I used to post over on the 97b forum, but since I sold the gun, now I am in stealth mode and just observe. These pictures and my posts are on your site. Do a search on my name for the thread.
Lets get specific though:
Bought new in 12/11/00 sn a516x
Broke on 1/8/05
Shot 3251 rounds prior to the failure. Mostly PMC ammo, 230 grn hardball.
Repaired by CZ after 3 months (I actually thought they lost it for a while).
Gun was sold with a detailed description of what happened and all paperwork.
Good luck and I hope the best to all other 97b owners. Mine was a great gun, accurate, reliable but once it broke, I just could not trust it anymore.
Especially after I started poking around and finding out that this is a more common problem then most folks would care to admit.
Lets get specific though:
Bought new in 12/11/00 sn a516x
Broke on 1/8/05
Shot 3251 rounds prior to the failure. Mostly PMC ammo, 230 grn hardball.
Repaired by CZ after 3 months (I actually thought they lost it for a while).
Gun was sold with a detailed description of what happened and all paperwork.
Good luck and I hope the best to all other 97b owners. Mine was a great gun, accurate, reliable but once it broke, I just could not trust it anymore.
Especially after I started poking around and finding out that this is a more common problem then most folks would care to admit.
briang2ad
Member
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2005
- Messages
- 683
how wide spread?
Peter:
How wide spread is the problem? I am contemplating a new 45 next year, and will do research before the buy - considerations are Ruger P345, Witness, IMI, CZ, and used Smith. But, I had read your thread on the CZ Forum months ago, and always wondered about the rest of the story and what others have experienced. Thanks.
(Also, what did CZ-USA say?)
Peter:
How wide spread is the problem? I am contemplating a new 45 next year, and will do research before the buy - considerations are Ruger P345, Witness, IMI, CZ, and used Smith. But, I had read your thread on the CZ Forum months ago, and always wondered about the rest of the story and what others have experienced. Thanks.
(Also, what did CZ-USA say?)
Peter M. Eick
Member
CZ said it broke. No reason why, no comments, nothing. They hard fit a new barrel and hand stenciled on the serial number again. It was very "icky".
How widespread? Well, there are not a lot of 97b out there, but I know of now 4 cases of this happening all right at around 3000 rnds give or take. If you consider how few of us have them, and how few of us are on the web, that seems like a lot to me.
Now there are a lot of great 97b's with no problems. Mine was not one of them. I found it a great gun, accurate, reliable, but this one quirk got me. I was not going to keep a gun around I could not trust.
How widespread? Well, there are not a lot of 97b out there, but I know of now 4 cases of this happening all right at around 3000 rnds give or take. If you consider how few of us have them, and how few of us are on the web, that seems like a lot to me.
Now there are a lot of great 97b's with no problems. Mine was not one of them. I found it a great gun, accurate, reliable, but this one quirk got me. I was not going to keep a gun around I could not trust.
Grayrider
Member
Hmm...perhaps we have found why CZ was luke warm to the 10mm idea.
Oh well my 10mm Witness Elite Match will be here soon. Still that 97 is a tack driver.
GR
Oh well my 10mm Witness Elite Match will be here soon. Still that 97 is a tack driver.
GR
rbernie
Contributing Member
I liked my 97B, but it was simply too big for even my larger-than-average hand. Yes, it was accurate, but no more accurate than my 1911-pattern 45ACP pistols. It was relatively easy to field-strip, but not as easy to detail-clean as other designs.
In the end, I traded it for a cosmetically-challenged Combat Commander in 9mm and was quite comfortable in doing so.
In the end, I traded it for a cosmetically-challenged Combat Commander in 9mm and was quite comfortable in doing so.
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