I've been looking for a cz97 for a while now with pretty poor results. New they run $600-$650 but nobody can get them. I've seen a few used guns, one currently on Armslist, but they are all $700+.
Now I've never been one to leave a gun alone, I like to tinker so the plan was to spend some money at Cajun Gun Works.
So I'm wandering their website and I see they sell complete guns. Lo and behold they have a 97 with their top of the line package done to it, polished/tuned etc for $1350.
I'm tempted to buy it but I worry that after a while the novelty will wear off. Those of you that have bought custom built handguns, high end 1911's etc, any regrets?
Option B is a police trade in 220 that I customize myself.
I have done a fair amount of custom work to multiple guns on multiple platforms over the years. I have custom 1911s, 6+ Browning Hi Powers, CGW CZs, Sigs P Series guns and have bought off the self high end guns like the Wilson EDC X9, Les Baer TRS and GI No Name pistols. I have to agree with @
tarosean No regrets but custom guns can become a never ending rabbit hole. Once you start to shoot heavily customized guns picking up stock pieces may leave you wanting more. They can be addictive.
IMHO the CGW Pro Package CZ97 is a good package. They do fantastic work. It is increasing the reliability and the shoot-ability of a pretty decent platform. For me the reason question for me is have you shot the CZ97 stock? IF you have what did you like and what didn't you like about it. Does the CGW package address the perceived weak spots in the CZ97 that you encountered when you shot it. For me CZs in general are rough right out of the box. They the triggers can be heavy, gritty & have an avg reset. The grit smooths out over time. The weigh really doesn't. Springs and parts are the only real way to lower it effectively and reliably. Also I am not a huge fan of CZs stock sights. The work but there are better options out there. So for the things I want to "correct" on a CZ are the trigger pull weight, smoothness of the trigger, the trigger reset and the sights. All that said I still have stock CZs. They work and go bang everytime I shoot them but I "prefer" to upgrade them.
I have a Pro package CGW on a 75B, All Steel P01 and a Shadow 2. I do not regret doing the work on them. They are greatly improved on vs the stock factory gun. That said the ROI is a subjective thing. The law of diminishing returns really starts to kick in on custom work. In your scenario you are paying almost 100% more for a CZ97 with the CGW modifications vs a stock gun. You will not get a 100% upgrade in performance. IMHO. Your groups will not instantly be cut in half after the modifications. I think that if you understand what you are getting from the custom modifications and your expectations are realistic you will not regret it.
Here are 2 of my CGW guns.
As to the question of doing the work yourself or having a known smith do the work for you a lot depends on the type of person you are and do you think you will ever sell the gun. 99% of the time you do not get your $$$$ back on custom work. If you put $500 worth of work into a $500 pistol if you sell it later as a used gun you will be lucky to get 50% of the cost of the customization. Even less if you did your own work. I personally will not buy a gun that was worked on by the owner unless I know the owner well. Contrast that will a custom gun that has a build sheet from a known builder. I could sell my Garthwaite BHP for almost what I paid for it minus a few hundred $$$. I could sell the all Steel P01 for what I have in it including the CGW pro package because people know the level of work CGW does and the rarity of the gun itself. If I had bought the steel P01 and installed the same parts myself I would get less.
So if you there is a chance of selling the pistol down the road with the enhancements IMHO having a known smith will add to its resale value and it shorten the time from listing to sale. This may not be a consideration for you but if it is paying known smiths to do the work is the better option. It is not the cheapest one but still IMHO the right one. Also the warranty and support you will get post modifications from good pistol smith also has huge value because sometimes things do not function as intended after modification and not have the expertise to diagnose and fix said problems can be an issue.
I would go for it. In the end I think you will like the end result and if you have regrets someone one the CZ forum or here would take it off your hands without losing too much $$$.