Questions for/comments from CZ75 .40 owners

[Mylhouse]

I'm thinking of buying a CZ75B SA in .40S&W , but I'd like to hear some feedback from owners first...

1) How is the case support on these guns? 6 oclock position of chamber? Would anyone mind measuring the inside diameter of the chamber?

2) Do you get typical .40 precision, or is the CZ an unusually tight shooting pistol in .40?

3) One thing I've noticed when dryfiring DA/SA CZ and Witness pistols is the somewhat jerky hammer fall or maybe trigger overtravel, which tends to make the front sight jump ever so slightly to the right (I'm a righty). I've shot Bullseye, and I'm not a beginner by any means, so my trigger control is not at issue, but the CZ and clones are the only pistols that I've had this issue with. Do the CZ75 SA pistols exhibit this behavior?

I appreciate your help, and any comments and experiences with .40 cal CZ75 pistols are appreciated!

 

[wally]

Individual guns vary. But I like the out of the box triggers on my .40 S&W CZ 75B and CZ 40B. I'm not a bullseye shooter so what's great to me may suck for you, but these are to me amoung the best SA triggers on a stock DA/SA handgun. Only my early S&W revolvers, HK P7 or 1911s are better in SA mode.

Hammer fall is very smooth dropping on the snap cap included with the gun. I can detect a bit of creep dry firing that I never noticed at the range. My sights stay right where they were when the hammer drops.

The CZ has a series 80 style firing pin block. DA pull is much better from half cock than full down. I think this is the way it was designed to be carried if you don't like cocked'n'locked, and is what the decocker option (you lose cocked'n'locked mode) gives you on the 75D model.

There is a lot more SA take up than with any 1911 but this is common to all DA/SA guns, but once you hit the resistance, trigger is very crisp. Much better than average for mass produced guns out of the box IMHO, but then maybe I just got lucky twice.


Its been a while since I shot my SIG P220, but I had it before my first 1911 and recall thinking how much better the SA trigger was on the 1911. The DA trigger on the SIG is better than the CZ, but the lack of cocked'n'locked makes my SIGs safe queens as I've never been able to get comfortable or competent with the DA to SA transition.


Case support seems about as full as it gets. I made some near max reloads with 180gr FMJ and JHP (6.3 gr Unique, Alliant website lists 6.4 as max) and saw no case buldging. These were hotter than I like showing signs of the firing pin "hanging" on ejection making the primer indentation "flow" a bit back towards the hammer. Dropping to 6.0 gr Unique this flow was gone and I get good clean primer craters. The case head just above the extraction groove expanded about 0.003 compared to the unfired rounds on the hot loads -- another thing that made me back off. I've no real way to make accurate chamber measurements so I can't help you there. These were loaded with a Lee Factory Crimp Die as the final step.


I really feel like I've missed out by ingnoring CZs all these years, the only autos I shoot better are my 1911s, these handle very much like a 1911 but have the possibility of DA hammer down carry or cocked'n'locked with possible second hit on a hard primer -- I'm used to tap-rack-bang so I always do this instead of pulling the trigger again so its not much of a feature for me.

I don't miss the hammer drop, but I see how some folks might -- if CZ came up with a three-way safety like on the Taurus PT92/99 PT100/101 & PT9xx or Beretta's 9000S there would be practicallly nothing to complain about on these guns. At ~$390 for the CZ75B and ~$290 for the CZ40B these have got to be about the best bang for the buck in a new, full size gun on the market right now!

HTH.
--wally.

 

[CZF]

The SA was designed to give Match Grade accuracy with affordable pricing.
My .40 version was very accurate, even with Wolf Ammo. 155 gr Gold Dots
were superb.

 

[Mylhouse]

wally,

Thank you so much for such a thorough and thoughtful response! I appreciate your time and effort in responding, and your post did in fact help alot!

CZF,

Are you saying that the SA models are made to shoot at a higher level of precision than the standard DA/SA models?

 

[cratz2]

I don't think barrel/slide etc is much different between the SA vs the standard CZ75B. The trigger is single action obviously and there is an overtravel screw.

I can say with authority that a CZ75B SA (or a single action derivative from EAA) with a trigger job from Evolution Gun Works can be might impressive. I think they charge right around $125 but that involves new harder internals. I'm told that CZUSA provides very decent trigger jobs as well though I've never experienced one. If they can make the CZ75B SA as good as the trigger on my former CZ IPSC Standard, I'd be very impresed.

I'm not a bullseye shooter by any stretch but shooting from a rest at 100 yards, the CZs and EAAs are at least as good as the 1911s I've had. Don't know if the sight radius is slightly longer or if the ergonomics make the difference, but I like 'em.

 

[Redhat]

Mylhouse,

What's your purpose for the pistol. A bullseye pistol it ain't! I have a 75B/.40 I purchased back during December and it now has 750 rounds of WWB through it with no stoppages or malfunctions. The gunis mor accurate than any other .40 I've fired (Glock 23, and HK USP). The trigger was a little rough when new but has smoothed out well. To me it's a great combat pistol, in the workhorse sense, and probably good for IDPA type games. My biggest beef is that the rear sight notch is too narrow or the front sight is too wide to get a good picture. Also the double action can be a little long in the reach depending on your hand size.

 

[wally]

IMHO SA (Single Action) always shoots better than double action DA.

That's what I'm refering to. Problem with SIGs is "on safe" they are DA for the first shot, then SA for the rest until you re-apply the safety.

I do poorly with the transition between DA and SA.

CZ75B gives SA cocked'n'locked or DA/SA if you manually lower the hammer.

CZ75D has a decocker only -- no cocked'n'locked so it handles like a SIG or Beretta.

Others are refering to a CZ SA as a model variation, one that I'm not familar with. Acronym collision, sorry.

--wally.

Edit: Maybe the sights have changed slightly, but I find the rear notch width to be about perfect, I could do without the three dots, but its a minor annoyance and some folks love them.

 

[PCRCCW]

The SA is built around an entry level Comp. gun. Its got many IPSC model parts in it and make it more Comp. friendly. The SA guns are typically slightly more accurate than the STD. CZ line. The Slides seem to have a tighter tolerance in the barrel/muzzle/rail fit. Also the barrels are the best of the best of the CZ's. I had mine Cryo Accurized, which has been very good at making good barrels into great barrels......there was on difference in the SA I had it done to in regards to before and after accuracy.

Id say you cant go wrong with it.......the gun is an absolute shooter.

Shoot well.