CZ vs S&W

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Fat Boy

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Looking at a cz p.09, a S&W m&p, and Beretta px4

All in .40 s&w

Wondering which would be the best for reliability, and longest life span.


I like the feel of the Smith, the rotating barrel on the Beretta, and the CZ overall.

Can only buy one
Thank you
 
The three have somewhat different operator interfaces. The S&W is striker fired, the other two are hammer fired... choice of better SA pulls on the Beretta and CZ versus same-on-all-shots trigger for the S&W. The CZ gives you the choice of a frame-mounted safety or decocker, the S&W a choice of a frame-mounted safety or not safety, and the Beretta (IIUC) a slide-mounted safety/decocker. Not many people end up agnostic between those various control arrangements.

They're all decent-quality guns, so if it were me, I'd be picking based on other stuff than life span. If you wear any of them out, you'll have put many, many times the cost of the gun through them in ammo.
 
I'd say it's a wash. All three will likely outlast you, unless you are shooting frequently with very large quantities of ammo. All you gotta do is make a resonable attempt at cleaning and lubing and basic maintanence. Same for reliability. All of those guns are about as trouble free as any. Feed it good ammo and you should be good to go.

It's gonna come down to what you prefer. You've got a striker in the M&P. The other two are hammer fired, but with different arrangements. The Beretta is a decocker either with (type F) or without an additional manual safety (type G). The CZ can be either manual safety only or decocker only. Not really apples to apple here.

I like decockers with no other safeties myself. I've got CZs, so I have had my eye on the Beretta in 45. Kind of a wish list kind of thing. The F model is the only one I see around here, but according to the internet it is quite easy to convert with free parts from Beretta.
 
Own the P07 gen2 9mm. Love it. Have the P09 .40 on the way from Bud's. I will have to get back with you on that one...

I did get a chance to "troubleshoot" a friend's early model P07 (A prefix) "Duty" in .40 and I was favorably impressed. Nice shooter, softer recoil than I anticipated in the 40 caliber, but it did not like Perfecta ammo at all, which is what he had stocked up on, unfortunately. :rolleyes:

I understand CZ has upgraded the P07 Duty to feed more reliably and designated them with a "B" prefix.

I did own a Smith M&P .40 for awhile. I think I traded into it. Liked the feel of the grip, but never liked the recoil and didn't think the grip design helped. It didn't really stay around very long.

Anyway, good luck

M
 
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I wouldn't expect any of them to wear out for MANY thousands of rounds.

If you can rent them, buy the one you can shoot the best. If not, buy the one that feels best in your hand.
 
I like how the M&P feels, but I haven't held the P-07...yet
I would like to try a P-07 as I do like cocked and locked hammer fired pistols. If the ergonomics are similar to the CZ-75, I'll likely have to seek one out.
 
Fat Boy

Tried the P07 but didn't care all that much for the overall feel of the gun. Like both the M&P and the PX4.
 
If you don't like the stock sights on the guns, the M&P will have more aftermarket sight options.
 
If you don't mind buying used, the M&Ps, especially in .40 are cheaper and more plentiful than the CZ P09.

The CZ and the S&W both have decent aftermarket upgrade options. Not so sure on the Beretta.

If you buy brand new, the S&W will have a lifetime warranty, the CZ has 5 years, not sure on the Beretta.
 
Though I recently had a fantastic experience with CZ's customer service/warranty dept, you can't beat S&W's lifetime warranty. Plus, it's 'merican made. Also, the Smith is a very common and popular pistol, which generally means good re-sale/trade ptotential, which is something I always like to factor in.
 
Given those equally capable choices I pick the one made by US company in USA.
 
I love my M&P's....but I love my CZs more, and that happens to include a P-09 in 9mm.

Had it 2 or 3 years and maybe 3-3500 rounds without one failure so far. I really want a p-07 now, but I'd like to have it in 40 because I'm lacking a 40 in my collection at this time.

But then again, I hate to deviate from 9mm considering I don't have a mold for 40's and spent a bunch for a custom 9mm mold.

A couple of my friends have the M&P Pro's one being a CORE and they've both been 100% thru thousands of rounds thrown at plates. I apexed the CORE for my one friend and it's a pretty darned good trigger, but I don't mind the factory trigger.
 
Many thanks for the great thoughts- I actually found an HK USP compact today at a good price- 3 magazines with the HK box, so my search is over. Now for a trip to the range :)

Thanks again-
 
The HK USP is an excellent choice. They tend to be expensive so if you found one at a good price it's a no-brainer.
 
Not a polymer guy, so I carry a CZ-75D PCR (compact, alloy framed), and have several other CZ pistols. I do like the P-07, and P-09 but with the other choices from CZ, I feel no need to get one. The Beretta and S&W are also good guns.
 
Pilot said:
Not a polymer guy, so I carry a CZ-75D PCR (compact, alloy framed), and have several other CZ pistols. I do like the P-07, and P-09 but with the other choices from CZ, I feel no need to get one. The Beretta and S&W are also good guns.
Click to expand...
Ditto in all regards.
 
RE: Polymer CZs.

While I've been a long-time CZ enthusiast, and have had many CZs (still have an 85 Combat and Kadet Kit), and CZ-pattern guns (including my current AT-84s semi-custom, several Sphinx, and currently a Sphinx SDP), I think I like the CZ P-07 about as well as any of them, and certainly like it given it's relatively low price. It's a great shooting gun.

Those who avoid the P-07 or P-09 because they're polymer may be overlooking two superior guns. (I'll probably swap my way into an P-09, one of these days.)
 
Walt Sherrill said:
Those who avoid the P-07 or P-09 because they're polymer may be overlooking two superior guns. (I'll probably swap my way into an P-09, one of these days.)
Click to expand...
I'm a big CZ fan and might talk myself into trying a P-07 or P-09 one of these days, but not sure. My first and only venture into actual ownership of a polymer gun left me completely doubting my decision making ability, and practically angry with myself. :banghead: After getting it home and handling it back and forth between some of my other all-metal semi-auto 9mm guns, I couldn't figure out how I could have ever thought I'd like it. :confused:
 
After getting it home and handling it back and forth between some of my other all-metal semi-auto 9mm guns, I couldn't figure out how I could have ever thought I'd like it.
Click to expand...

I understand your point -- and it may be the BIG point for you. But until you actually shoot any new gun (if you don't get a chance to test fire a similar one), the differences may be more matters of taste than function or shootability.

I've had a BUNCH of SIGs over the years, and almost none of standard P-series guns have stuck with me. That included a P226 X-Five in .40! (I still have one, a P228 that was tuned by Gray Guns before I got it, and it's a keeper; the rest I don't miss.) There's no accounting for taste.
 
I've owned many of the popular polymer platforms (granted I haven't done a ton of shooting with all of them):

Glock (shot a lot)
M&P (shot a lot)
CZ P09 and P07
FNS
XD
Sig SP2022

There are others that offer more versatility in the platform (Glock in particular) but just straight full size 9 to full size 9, the P09 is the best in my opinion. Especially vs. the M&P, which I shot in competition for years... same day, same ammo, same shooter, the P09 is noticeably smoother shooting, less recoil, more accurate, basically better in terms of every shooter quality I can name. If I were going to shoot a plastic gun in competition again, that would be it. I also got a P07 to replace my G19 for carry.
 
I like all three of those guns and would be happy to own all of them. In fact, the P07 may be my next pistol. I do own the px4 in 9mm, so I can speak to that one. Of the three, the PX4 will likely be the softest shooting one due to the rotating barrel. My PX4 is the softest shooting 9mm I have.

Since you're looking at .40S&W, taking a little of the "snappiness" out of shooting it could be a good thing.
 
I hope you like your HK. That's one of the very few major brands I've never owned.

You didn't mention if you were planning on carrying it. I happen to own all three and I am currently trying to decide between the Beretta and the CZ as my carry gun. My M&P is a police trade 40, and while it's a great gun to take to the range it will never be carried by me. Others may feel differently (I used to) but I'm uncomfortable carrying a striker gun with no safety.

I know the safety rules and I follow them religiously, but I also know that if I ever have to draw a gun for real I will be stressed to the max and I want a little trigger distance between the draw and the shot. Unlike the NYPD I don't have an army of lawyers to justify why I accidentally shot two bystanders :)

I'm actually thinking of making a Frankengun: a full-size PX4 with the grip chopped to accept the compact magazines. I don't understand why Baretta put a 3.2" barrel on the PX4 compact.
 
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