CZ P-01 Range Report (Continuous Shooting Log)

[Atticum]

Hi, THR.

I keep an ongoing shooting log for my the new P-01 I recently purchased. I'm a new shooter, but I thought maybe some people will find value in it. Pictures will hopefully come soon. Here it is:

CZ 75 Compact P01 Shooting Log
Idea and format courtesy of defensivecarry.com forum member ccw9mm. Read his thread here.
​

Forward

The author's intent is to document the performance of the CZ 75 Compact P01 9mm pistol over a long range of time and usage. To the best of my ability I will fairly document and track different statistics as well as my own personal opinions on my performance as well as the pistols. The major disclaimer to this log is that the author is a new handgun shooter. Thus, the contents of this log should not interpreted as the objective judgment of an well-qualified expert but as the personal experience of a novice new to both the platform of the P-01 and handgun shooting in general. Perhaps there may be something of value in this perspective.

As a final note, thank you to defensivecarry.com forum member ccw9mm for giving me permission to copy his format so closely. It helps people understand better when information is presented in a consistent manner. Please read his range report through the link I posted above to compare my experience with those of a much more experienced handgunner.

Initial Inspection: CZ P-01 9mm

March 30, 2010

• Engraving -- This P-01 has the European slide. The gun sold so well in the US that CZ had to redirect some of the parts from Europe to meet demand. CZ uses different nomenclature overseas, and thus the P-01 sold in Europe has "CZ 75 D Compact" engraved on the slide which is the only actual difference between the two versions. [See Picture]

• Initial Field Strip and Cleaning -- The gun came smothered in grease. The slide was extremely tight, which may just be a result of my unfamiliarity with center fire handguns. I have a holster being made and I am anxious to test the weapon's concealability. Outside and inside wiped down with a CLP-soaked cloth. Basic disassembly is fairly easy but popping the slide release out was a big pain.

• Trigger -- DA trigger is long... fruit by the foot and energizer batteries long. It is going to take a lot of practice to overcome the DA trigger.

• Sights -- Sights work well enough during the day but they are definitely not night sights. I can already see a trigger job, night sights, and thin grips in this weapon's future.

• Dry firing -- Came with two snap caps. Dry fired several hundred times before the first range trip.

Range Report #1: CZ P-01 9mm

Weapon: CZ 75 Compact P01 9mm. See weapon stats here.
Purpose: The P-01 is my first center fire handgun. My intentions are for it to be a range, bed stand, and perhaps a carry weapon sometime down the road.

Apr 1, 2010 - First range session

• Goal -- Test initial reliability and begin breaking in the gun. Also evaluate my own skill level.

• Ammunition -- 150 Rounds of RWS 124gr Sport FMJ (1110 fps, 341 ft-lbs). 50 rounds of WWB 115gr FMJ (1190 fps, 362 ft-lbs).

• Usage –- Utilized the decocker to shoot DA for ~40 rounds. Shot utilizing the modern isosceles stance from 7 - 15 yds.

• Aim -- At 7yds my DA groupings were about 3x the size of the SA groups. The sights seemed dead on. The groupings opened up more laterally than vertically- again probably due to the influence of the trigger pull. As a novice shooter I could feel the occasional flier as soon as it happened.

• Grip & Ergonomics -- The grip is extremely comfortable and fits the hand very well. Maybe too large as I had to adjust my grip to fully depress the slide release. My hands are on the smaller side. Aside from a tired trigger finger I believe I could have shot it all day with little pain.

• Magazines -- Five magazines tested at least twice. All five magazines had the rubber base plate which greatly aided in comfort.

• Recoil -- Recoil was more than expected, especially the muzzle rise. Felt more like my friend's .45 than a 9mm. I definitely need to firm up my grip.

• Trigger -- DA trigger was terrifying. So long that I didn't know whether to shoot with one continuous pull or make it a two step process. Most shots I took out the slack, re-sighted in, and fired. SA trigger had a lot of slack and the extra travel probably degraded accuracy. Otherwise the SA trigger was quite nice.

• Ejection and Feeding -- No problems whatsoever. Casings ejected up and behind. Feeding was perfect.

• Jams / Failures -- Zero jams or failures.

• Cleaning -- Post-session, field stripped and wiped down interior and exterior with CLP.

Parting Thoughts -- My mixed feelings about the recoil can hopefully be attributed to inexperience. Would really have liked to shoot more. I might be partaking in a defensive handgun defense course requiring 1,000 rounds which could really break the P-01 in. Next range trip I'll bring a camera and a ruler.

Overall Reliability -- 0 Failures in 200 rounds = 0.0% failure rate = 100% reliability rate.

 

[Atticum]

RANGE REPORT #2: CZ P-01 9mm

RANGE REPORT #2: CZ P-01 9mm

April 8, 2010 -- Second range session

• Goal -- Continue break in. Test 115gr ammo. Evaluate my shooting at 7yds. Practice high firm grip, arms extended, both eyes open.

• Ammunition -- 250 rounds total. 100 rounds of Remington UMC 115gr FMJ (1145 fps, 335 ft-lbs). 100 rounds of WWB 115gr FMJ (1190 fps, 362 ft-lbs). 50 rounds of Federal American Eagle 115gr FMJ (1180 fps, 356 ft-lbs). The P-01 now has 450 rounds total through it.

• Usage -- First two magazines shot double action only from 7 yds. Majority of shooting done at 7 and 10 yds, medium rate of fire. Twenty rounds shot strong hand only at 15 yds for an online competition that I won (last place). Had a friend put add a snap cap into two magazines to practice misfire procedures. With the exception of the 20 rounds strong hand only all shots were fired in the modern isosceles stance.

• Recoil -- Recoil was much less noticeable using the 115gr ammunition. The breaking-in process might be helping. I concentrated on keeping my arms fully extended, wrist locked, and a firm grip with decent results.

• Trigger Action -- Very noticeable change in the DA pull. Much less grit and lighter. I'm happy with how it is settling in. One big gripe I have is that the trigger reset is quite long. The length of the pull is long enough that it is no use letting out the trigger just enough for it to reset. It is much easier to just let it all the way out.

• Ejection & Feeding -– Ejection feels crisp and powerful. The P-01 has performed flawlessly.

• Grip & Ergonomics -- Finding that creating a straight line from the barrel through my forearm is difficult because my hands are not quite large enough. Perhaps smaller grips would allow me to seat the weapon better. That's a sad thought considering how comfortable the weapon feels in my hands.

• Aim -- The pictures from 7 yds tell the story. I'm still new to this, but I'm catching on the subtleties of handgun aiming. At times it's so much fun that I forget my fundamentals and rush a lot of shots. Seemingly inexplicable fliers are a likely symptom of flinching which dry firing and .22lr practice will alleviate.

• Jams / Failures -- None. That's a stat to treasure.

• Non-CZ Shooting -- Wish I had a CZ Kadet Kit but the Ruger MkIII 22/45 is great practice. Group sizes were surprisingly similar between the MkIII and the P-01, and at least the consistency is a good sign.

• Cleaning -- At home the weapon was field stripped and cleaned with Break-Free CLP. Concentrated on cleaning the slide grooves and kept the weapon fairly wet for the two day course I'm taking this weekend.

Parting Thoughts -- This weekend I'm taking a two-day Defensive Handgun course through Critical Incident Strategies in Smyrna, TN. I'm very excited to see how the P-01 holds up. One of my goals is to improve the technical aspects of my stance and grip. It is more important to me to practice correctly than to practice. I'll also add more grip strengthening and forearm strengthening movements into my normal exercises.

Overall Reliability -- 0 Failures in 450 rounds = 0.0% failure rate = 100% reliability rate.

 

[Atticum]

Range report #3

RANGE REPORT #3: CZ P-01 9mm

April 10-11, 2010 -- Two day, Defensive Handgun Course. Third range session.

• Goal -- Gain familiarity with the P-01. Learn everything I could soak in. Have fun.

• Ammunition -- Shot 600 rounds total. 300 rounds of Remington UMC 115gr FMJ (1145 fps, 335 ft-lbs). 300 rounds of WWB 115gr FMJ (1190 fps, 362 ft-lbs).

• Usage -- Usage varied widely. Lots of rounds shot DA. Positions ranged from modern isosceles to one handed strong arm, weak arm, kneeling, prone, and supine. Lots of practice drawing from the holster as well as malfunction drills, reload drills, fire and movement, target transitioning etc. Most of the shooting was done at 5 yds. Some at 7 and 10 yds. Very little past that. I was using a Galco M5X470 paddle holster. My Crossbreed Supertuck is still on order.

• Trigger Action -- When time counts I don't even notice the DA trigger. Next range trip I'll be better qualified to say whether the trigger has lightened up and smoothed out, but honestly.. trigger wasn't a big factor for most drills because we were 5 yds away and shooting center mass at a "bad guy" target. My group sizes were good but not spectacular, and trigger control clearly played a large part. That said, I am sure that speed had a much, much greater impact on my accuracy than however good or bad the trigger on my CZ was.
  However, that's not all I have to say about the trigger. The reset on the P-01 is extremely long. Taking a class with Glock-people you constantly here about trigger reset. The CZ just doesn't do that. The reset is so far out that it honestly doesn't make much sense to even try to ride the reset. Follow up shots felt faster just letting the trigger out all the way, while trying to maintain contact between trigger and finger. Worse, when I tried to ride the reset I found myself pulling the trigger too early and not firing. I'm sure repetition and muscle memory would help, but outside the range this could have disastrous consequences. I won't be riding my trigger resets and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't envious of the quick follow up shots the Glock owners had using that method.

• Aim -- The P-01 points great. Trigger control is the big thing when slow firing. We did the walk back competition (hit at 7yds and move to 10, move to 15, 20, 25 etc). As for distance shooting, my decrease in accuracy going from 10 to 15 yards is very frustrating. Blending accuracy and speed was a theme of the training. To increase speed a front sight that really pops out would be a vast improvement. The instructors taught hard sight picture and soft sight picture, soft sight picture being a half-step above point shooting. It is my opinion that soft sight picture would be far more useful with some kind of XS-like sight system. With plain white dots, I didn't find it very effective. I did find point shooting to be effective. I was able to put 4/5 shots in the BG target's head on the move to the 2 o'clock starting the movement at 7 yds, which was as good or better than I was doing using the soft sight picture. It might not be everyone's thing but I catch on quickly to muscle-memory based activities like point shooting. BTW, I'm not advocating headshot practice but the target was all shot up and, well, it's fun.

• Grip -- For this training course I tried to use a "crush grip" that Massad Ayoob teaches or taught at one time. With my offhand I pull back and the strong hand pushes forward to create isometric tension, all while the arms are fully extended. This tension reduces muzzle flip. I also ran my offhand thumb along the weapon underneath the slide. Getting more hand on the weapon to allowed for better control. My challenge is to replicate the same grip every time, even (especially) off the draw.

• Ejection & Feeding –- Ejection was perfect as always. My magazines were dirty but the P-01 kept feeding/cycling. One feeding problem occurred. I'll discuss it in Jams / Failures.

• Magazine Action -- My five magazines are all factory with the rubber base. We did many reload drills, most of them resulting in the magazine dropped in the dirt. They weren't caked in mud but I was still impressed with their performance. They are much easier to load than they were the first time I went to the range. One note of concern: I hear rattling in one or two of the magazines once they have over 10 or so rounds in them.

• Jams / Failures -- There were several operator-induced failures. The instructors made us utilize the slingshot (slide rack) even for tactical reloads (one in the chamber still). I had to get a firm grip and push forward with my strong hand at the same time as I racked it hard with my offhand or I would induce a double feed. I don't know if this works better on Glocks than other autos but I don't think I'm keeping that technique in my toolbox.
  At the end of the final day I had my first weapon malfunction. Shooting one handed while leaning I had a FTF that was most likely due to limpwristing. I cleared it out right away and was good to go after that, but honestly, and this might be silly, I felt deflated. I saw a lot of Glocks jam due to limpwristing that day, but was hoping my P-01 would go through unscathed. I don't know if dirty mags played a part or not. I found one "sunken" round in a box of WWB earlier but I picked up the round that jammed and saw no issue upon inspection.

• Cleaning at Range -- The most cleaning I did during these two days was wiping the dirt off of the magazines with my fingers.

• Cleaning after the Range -- None. I'm going to add a few drops of CLP and take it to the range. I don't expect perfection from dry and dirty, but wet and dirty should run without a hitch.

Parting Thoughts -- This class suited my needs perfectly. I learned a lot about handgun use in general. The class didn't concentrate on concealment so it was a good preparatory step toward a permit. Lots of trigger time and weapons handling has me feeling much more comfortable with the P-01. Despite the one FTF I'm still very confident in its reliability. I've gotten pretty hung up on the trigger reset, but honestly its not a big deal. I want to compete in IDPA or some league soon and my equipment is a distant, distant second to the importance of taking the fundamentals from this class and applying them. More time at the range with the P-01 and my MkIII will certainly improve my accuracy, especially past 10 yards. I wish I had an experienced shooter to shoot with to help me with these fundamentals. Maybe I could find someone at a competition. Anyways, I'm still feeling great about the P-01, and I'm not going to clean it before I take it out again. I want to push its limitations some more.

Overall Reliability -- 1 FTF in 1050 rounds = 0.10% failure rate = 99.90% reliability rate.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

DA trigger is long... fruit by the foot and energizer batteries long.

I have the similar PCR and have found its DA trigger to be short and very easy to shoot. It does have a pretty long stroke when the hammer is totally at rest, but when a round is chambered and the gun decocked, the hammer starts from a "one-third cock" position.

 

[armoredman]

Sounds good sir, my experiance with my P01 is quite similar, but mine came broken in, and the trigger was/is almost perfect. Sorry about the jam, once in 1100 rounds, not as good as it could be. Mine has only jammed with my bad first generation reloads, my fault, not the guns' fault. Ditto on starting from half cock/decock position, that's where it's designed to be carried, for that first round.
Try some Hakan Pek grips, very good. Also, Crimson Trace lasergrips are a great accessory.

 

[Atticum]

Haranguer - The DA trigger has gotten much, much better. To the point where I didn't even notice during the speed drills we did in the course.

armoredman - Thanks for the advice. Are those hakan grips noticeably thinner than the stock grips?

 

[armoredman]

He can make them thick or thin, hand made in Norway, and fantastic. http://imageseek.com/hakan/

 

[redarmy67]

nice job on the report. I love my P01!

 

[Kenpo]

Hey great read. I love my P-01 but would like a shorter reset as well.

Good luck and keep up the report!

 

[dom1104]

Huh I never really noticed the reset being bad on my P01, maybe I am just not "in tune". but it shoots great so, I guess thats what matters.

 

[mslatter]

Point 1) I'm jealous of your P-01. How was the recoil this last trip? Are you adjusting to it?

Point 2) Explain to this newb why you rack the slide on a tactical reload. Seems like the purpose of a tactical reload is to keep your gun hot (trying to sound cooler than I am) while you swap to a fuller mag. Why then take the time to eject the good, usable round in the chamber and take one from the magazine? I'm lost (again, a newb, so forgive me.)

 

[armoredman]

Actually, that sounds like a weird requirement to me as well. Tac Reloads taught to me at the Dept range are simply bring up extra mag, grab ejecting mag and replace with full, replace partial in mag pouch.
Then again, this was a game range, so it may have been required in that scenario, (you've been issued bad ammo, etc.), I've shot some that are odd, like starting off with an empty gun and unloaded mag, load 5 and fire before the target carrier reaches you with the fake knife attached.

 

[Atticum]

All but one malfunction can be cleared with a simple tap and rack motion, so doing it on every reload reinforces that muscle memory so that no matter if you are out of rounds or have a malfunction you do the same action.

I suppose I see the merit in this logic but it didn't work well for me. At least not with the P-01.

Report #4 inbound.

 

[armoredman]

We use Tap Rack Assess with all jams, but a tac reload isn't a jam. I still think it's odd, but hey, that's the rangemasters' thing.

 

[Atticum]

Range report #4

RANGE REPORT #4: CZ P-01 9mm

April 15, 2010 -- Third Range Session

• Goal -- Mainly, range time with the Ruger .22 and work on fundamentals. Also gauging if the two day training did anything for my accuracy with the P-01. Evaluate whether adding more trigger finger will help me solve my down-and-left POA-POI discrepancy.
• Ammunition -- Shot 100 rounds total through the P-01. 50 Remington UMC 115gr FMJ (1145 fps, 335 ft-lbs). 50 rounds of RWS Sport 124gr FMJ (1110 fps, 341 ft-lbs).
• Initial Field Strip and Cleaning -- I added a few drops of CLP. Other than that, the P-01 was in the same condition as it was at the end of the course four days ago.
• Usage -- All magazines shot first round DA and subsequent shots SA.
• Aiming -- Performance is much better at 7 - 10 yds. I'm focusing hard on that front sight post. In the picture below, I was doing fine punching paper at 7 yds. I can do almost as well at 10 yds. However, I'm still having big problems at 15 yds! My last 8 shots of the session were at 15 yards. The group size was maybe 5" range vertically but almost 12" laterally. This was with the RWS 124gr. which is much hotter than the 115gr. Remington UMC and WWB.
• Trigger Action -- The trigger has infinitely improved since day one. Not to say that the DA isn't still heavy or doesn't still creep, but it's blessedly better than it was before. I'm fairly prone to shooting low and left, so I tried adding more finger to my trigger pulls. Before I've been pretty traditionalist with using the pad of the finger. I'm beginning to think that pulling with the first joint of my finger allows for a six o'clock motion rather than a 7 o'clock motion which might be why I'm pushing left.
• Jams / Failures -- None.
• Cleaning --Post-session, field stripped and wiped down interior and exterior with CLP. Before I head back to the range I'm going to clean the magazines as best I can.

Parting Thoughts -- The P-01 felt natural in the hand and pointed well. I'm getting adjusted to the three dot sights, too. Something needs to change about my shooting past 10 yds. but I'm not sure what it is yet.

Overall Reliability -- 1 FTF in 1150 rounds = 0.1% failure rate = 99.91% reliability rate.

Pictures --
Below: 9mm and .22lr shot groups @ 7 yds.

Below: Ruger MkIII 22/45 @ 7 yds.

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Below: CZ P-01 @ 7 yds.