CZ 97B, comments please.

[DeltaElite]

I held one of these with the polished blue finish.
What a beautiful weapon, does anyone have any input on these Czech beauties?
Are they ammo sensitive?
Is there any leather out there for them?

Inquiring mimes wanna know.

 

[Mylhouse]

They're beefy.

I've heard they are OAL sensitive.

They have the same lame out-of-the-box trigger pull as the CZ75B.

Should be a kick-butt handgun once you get the trigger and ammo issues taken care of.

 

[Nightcrawler]

The trigger on mine is GREAT, actually.

Ammo sensative? I dunno. Mine didn't like 185 grain Silvertips, but it swallowed Wolf fine. Sometimes Blazer cases get stuck in the slide coming forward.

Some hollowpoints (the flying trash cans) might not feed as well as others; the CZ-97 has a pretty steep feed ramp. It gets more reliable with breaking in, though. Run a few hundred rounds through it.

Other accessories to get: Wolff extra power recoil springs (if you plan on shooting any +P) and a full length, steel guide rod. Both of these are the same as for the CZ-75. I've put a bit of +P and .450SMC through mine with no problems. IT's a big, beefy gun, and I love it.

Gun leather is available from High Noon Holsters.

Takes the same magazines as the Witness .45. Don't buy the magazines from CZ-USA; they'll charge you $38.00 for the same Mec-Gar mag you can get from CDNN for $17.00.

 

[DeltaElite]

Hmmmmmm, it is sounding like the time spent on the polished finish should have been put into reliability.

Keep em coming, I am not totally depressed yet.

 

[CZF]

Built like a tank. Fit and finish like a SIG. Superb accuracy.
Low recoil. Designed around the S&B Hardball, but will
shoot most JHPs acording to owners.

Not many Glossy Blued 97Bs out there. The DA and SA trigger
on mine was very good. Now that i converted it to SA Only..
it is way sweet

Look for more info on CZF's 97B CLUB, or the 97B page on
CZFSHOP. If you have hands big enough for the 97B. Then
you are lucky.

The finest (modern) CZ that i've ever owned.

 

[Pilot]

Well, how about from someone who owns one.

1. More accurate out of the box than any other pistol chambered in .45 ACP that I've ever encountered. Dare I say, "match grade accuracy".

2. Large gun = low recoil and easy shooting.

3. Beautifully made and finely crafted.

4. 100% reliable with all loads including JHP's and handloads.

5. Under $500 purchase price.

6. Great grip feel and points naturally.

This gun is a winner.

 

[PCRCCW]

Ok....Ill jump in here
The 97 is, as previously stated before, one of the most accurate guns CZ or "FILL in the Blank" has ever made...
They rival the CZ SA's for accuracy...most tests I read shoot less than 1" from a fixtured gun...The 2 Ive had/have are pretty damn close to that.
Ammo picky? Havent seen it nor heard about it...The one Ive shot it ate everything I fed it......It was gloss blue and the only gun Ive seen that rivals its finish is the Nickel Browning BDA....you could swim in the finish.
CZ's are typically very reliable...the 97 is just a big bruiser version of the 75B...similar to the Large Witness in frame size...
The triggers are generally very very good...most who have other experiences with them are having bad gun karhma....my opinion.
Ive had 8 so far....all have had very good triggers. The CZ83 has to be felt to be believed.....that good.
Shoot well....make up your own mind with facts and go from there....you can find very accurate info on the CZForum....if the gun has a prob....we all know about it....
Shoot well

 

[Nightcrawler]

Hmm...maybe it's just mine then?

I've been dickering with different recoil springs. The 16lber works well for all ammo except Blazer alloy cased stuff.

As for the 185 grain Silvertips...*shrug*

Should I send mine in for a reliability tune?

 

[dleong]

CZ 97B

Might as well chime in here too.

I have had a 97B for about a year now. Here's what I like about it:

1. Extremely well engineered and built like a tank. My particular example had a flawless polycoat finish.

2. ACCURATE!!! I am able to consistently obtain 2" groups centered around the bullseye at 20 yards offhad with my 230 gr. reloads.

What I don't like about it:

1. Heavy, but this is to be expected from an all-steel pistol with so much metal in it.

2. Currently, there are no aftermarket synthetic grips available for it. The factory walnut grips look and feel great, but they do dent and chip rather easily, and I would like to replace them with synthetic ones, preferably from Trausch.

Some other comments:

1. While working up a load for the 97B, I found it to be extremely sensitive to cartridge length. With FMJ projectiles, cartridges loaded less than 1.25" would frequently hang up on the feed ramp. I currently load ammo for my 97B at 1.26" and have had ZERO feed failures with them.

2. The 97B came severely undersprung from the factory. After some experimentation with a Wolff Recoil Calibration Pack, I found the ideal recoil spring to be the 22 lb. one.

Hope that helps!

DL

 

[Rangegod]

No, DeltaElite you don’t want to buy one of these CZ junk guns.

(CZF, Pilot and PCRCCW please don’t let everyone in on our little secret. Otherwise, CZ may start selling the 97 for what its worth, and I don’t want to pay a grand plus for my next one.)

BTW, I agree with Pilot’s assessment of the 97 100%.

JAC

 

[DeltaElite]

This is sounding like a much better idea all the time.
Thanks for all the input, keep it coming, please.

 

[heritageguy]

Everything everyone else said!. I'm extremely pleased with the 97B. Prints to the aimpoint at 25 yards with original sights.

It is sensitive to overall cartridge length, though! Using any of the shorter loadings (Speer 230 gr. Gold Dot or Federal 230 Hydra Shocks) I have to reduce the magazine capacity to eight to make it feed reliably -- not a problem for me.

I'm also using a full length guide rod and a 22lb. Wolff recoil spring.

I wouldn't trade this gun for anything.

 

[BevrFevr]

I have small hands and I still find the 97 comfortable to shoot. Recoil is about as tame as it gets for a .45.

In the right hands it is very accurate.

The one I shot would not feed winchester silver tips. It wasn't really broke in at the time though and i haven't even held one since.

Having shot a few expensive and some exotic 1911's I would consider a 97 a better overall platform except for carry. And if i were reaching for a .45 in the night with ball ammo I would be more comforted by a 97 than all other .45s.

-bevr

 

[chevrofreak]

while not the most reliable gun, it is the single most accurate handgun i have ever fired

para ordnance 7.45 LDA being damned close behind it

 

[12 Volt Man]

I have enjoyed the hell out of mine. I had a chance to get the beautiful gloss finish when I bought it, but a used polycoat one came up from a CZF board member and I jumped on it. If fact, the original owner was a mod on this board. The reason the person was selling it to me, was about the only complaint heard fairly often about these guns. His hands were not quite big enough for the long DA trigger reach. It is a fairly big gun and if you have small hands, it may not work for you. Test your grip out on the gun before you buy it. I agree with what others have said about putting in a stonger spring, mine has this, and the spent shells drop right at my feet. If you do not change the spring, you will be launching spent shells two lanes over. My final point is that I did not like the original grips. So you have a couple of choices there, Hakan's (which are for me too pretty to put on a gun I shoot often. But I will own a pair one day!), or you can stretch the Hogue grips made for the CZ 75b around it. It is a little tough to make it fit, some heat the grip up. Once it is on, it looks like it was made for the gun.
If your hands are not little, get one, shoot it..........a lot, and enjoy it!

 

[grodaorhgih]

http://madogre.com/Interviews/CZ97B_Review.htm
Nuff said.

 

[aircarver]

My favorite .45. It embarrasses my 1911 every time on accuracy. (All shots from the CZ-97 into one vertical slit, vs. the 1911 put them all into an area the size of a soda can.) Puzzled about the negative comments re: reliability. Mine has never missed a beat in 500 rounds, mostly S&B, but it will also digest Wolf, unlike my 1911, which will FTE when it gets hot & the Wolfs start gluing themselves to the chamber.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Mine will digest Wolf too.

Trition hollow points? Not so good.

Cor-Bon hollow points? So unreliable as to be useless. It's all I can do to get the stuff to chamber.

*sigh* Don't know if I should send it in for a throat & polish or not.

 

[aircarver]

Well, due to it's size, it's hardly a carry gun (unless you get the gun carriage attachment)
It's a range gun for me, so all I try to run through it is ball.

 

[dfariswheel]

I have a early stainless steel EAA Witness .45, but I LUST after a CZ-97B.

I never thought I'd find a suitable replacement for my 1911's but the CZ design just fits better, and has a much better safety and slide stop location.

The main problem with the CZ/EAA is trigger reach. The actual frame size really isn't that bad.
If you look at the CZ trigger, there's a large amount of over travel and take-up. the trigger just sits too far forward, and there doesn't seem to be any reason for that. If the trigger was placed farther to the rear of the guard, trigger reach isn't a problem.

Here's what I've done to fix the problem.

On my EAA I made a new experimental trigger from aluminum that has more curve and rests further to the rear. This worked so well, I never got around to making a permanent version in stainless.

Since then, I found it was easier to just cut the original trigger off, make a new finger piece, and weld it to the "stub" of the original. By reshaping the finger piece you can locate the trigger much further to the rear of the trigger guard.

If done properly, the rear of the trigger guard acts as a trigger stop and limits over. This has no effect on SA/DA operation.

When reshaped like this, even people like me with short fingers have no problem with the CZ/EAA guns.

This also works wonders on the 9mm size guns.

As far as the 97B, I've heard little BUT raves about accuracy, quality, and reliability.

Apparently, EAA ambi safeties can be fitted to the CZ.

 

[CZF]

Hakan can redo the stock 97b grips. Makes them much thinner, giving you more control and better trigger reach. He might have
some of his 97B grips for sale. Even people with small hands/
short fingers are amazed at how my gun fits them.

 

[jrpeterman]

I really enjoy my CZ-97b. The accuracy is very good. The trigger is getting better with more live and dry firing which also improves the accuracy. I have only shot CCI blazers through the pistol and have not experienced any problems using them. It weighs about 40 oz. empty, so it is on par weight wise with a 645 S & W (previously owned one) or a 5 in. 1911 Gov't model. The grip is slightly longer than on the 645. When I decided that I was in the market for a .45 acp, I checked out the Glock 21 and CZ-97 side by side. The Glock just seemed wide to me. Much wider than the G-19 and G-23s that I own. The CZ just seemed to fit in my average sized hand better. I chose the poly-coat finish. It wouldn't be my first choice for a CCW, but with the proper holster and clothing it could be done. If you end up getting one, I don't think that you will be disappointed.

 

[George Hill]

grodaorhgih -