Grayrider
Member
Gang,
This will likely be my last review of an EAA gun due to the departure of Marc Galli from the firm, but I wanted to pass along my impressions of the new 10mm P-Carry model for fans of the 10mm round. I also wanted to fill you in on the quality holsters offered by Cross Breed Holsters for Tanfoglio and CZ pattern pistols. I happened to meet the owner by chance as he lives near me, and have found his selection of holsters quite appealing. As the new Tanfoglios are often hard to find holsters for, having a neighbor that can help out is quite handy.
I ordered the P-Carry in 10mm quite some time ago and it took Tanfoglio a while to bring the new models into the United States. For 2006 they will feature a full length dust cover with accessory rail. The 10mm offers a 15 shot capacity in a pistol roughly the size of a Commander configuration 1911. It is a bit wider at the top, but other than that the dimensions are quite similar to my Kimber CDP Pro that I typically carry for CCW purposes. My hope in getting the P-Carry was to have a cheaper gun for CCW use when traveling. The replacement cost of my Kimber is high enough that I prefer to only carry it near home. I wanted a light pistol that was C&L capable, with a good capacity in 10mm as I am a fan of the round. I had tried a G20 for this role but it was too fat. I also prefer a manual safety. While I have a 10mm Elite Match, it is also a bit too large.
The P-Carry size has proven just right. It fits my hand quite well with the familiar CZ feel. The grip is very thin and relatively short for holding 15 rounds of 10mm. Tanfoglio did a good job at minimizing the gun in that area. Interestingly the gun is much wider in the slide. The 2006 P-Carry in 10mm is supposed to have been beefed up to improve durability when firing hot 10mm loads. It has a truly massive slide that is much wider than that on my Witness Elite Match in 10mm. Looking at the gun from the back it has a rather odd profile shaped something like a mushroom. However, the gun is attractive in general and I like the two-toned finish provided by the “Wonder Finish” (tennifer) slide. This will also protect it from rusting when near my skin.
Sights are the typical three-dot pattern with a “Carry” style rear sight. The front dot is red. Unfortunately the front sight is part of the slide so I will be living with this pattern. I prefer the flat black adjustable sights on the Elite series guns. No matter really as these work well enough. The controls are adequate and the safety not mushy in engagement. I was concerned about that as some base Tanfoglios have this issue. As for the trigger, well I have to admit it. I would guess the DA pull is over 10 lbs. The SA is perhaps 5 lbs and pretty crisp. The tremendous difference between them is odd. I would say anyone planning to carry the gun C&L will be happy. I prefer to carry with safety on at half-cock, so this gun is off to my smith for one of his amazing trigger jobs. It has a serrated trigger much like other companies are offering on polymer pistols. The reach is acceptable.
The barrel is one of their new cone locking designs, and is truly a bull barrel profile. You can see that below in my pictures. This means (coupled with the heavy slide) that the gun is very front heavy. They also used very heavy dual recoil springs. When shooting this allows for rapid sight recovery despite the recoil of the 10mm. I consider this one of the easiest shooting 10mm pistols I have owned. One feels the recoil but can get back on target quickly. I found double taps easy and acceptably close together.
It shoots quite well. I ran to the range with 100 rounds of commercial 10mm. Nothing hot, just regular target loads. The only feeding issues were with the magazine it came with. I had noticed when I got the gun that the magazine did not drop free. I have plenty of 10mm magazines, so a quick swap showed the problem to be the magazine. I assumed it was slightly off in dimensions. However, when I got to the range that magazine immediately produced failures to feed. I know that poor magazine fit causes many of the feeding issues in Tanfoglios, so I will try to get this one replaced. I switched to my other 10mm magazines and was able to fire the remaining 85 rounds with no malfunctions. I fired a few shots to get comfortable with the gun, and then proceeded to group it. To my surprise despite the short barrel it is quite accurate. I put around 70 rounds through a hole about 2” wide and 1” tall at 12 yards. It shoots a hair low but other than that is on the money, and is more than adequate for defensive use. It is worth noting my Match 10mm with its nearly 5” barrel put around 40 rounds through a 1” by .5” hole at the same range. The cone locking barrel of the P-Carry is doing a pretty good job of making up for the barrel length.
I will need to shoot it more and have the trigger worked on, but am optimistic that the gun will be carry worthy. Given that I needed leather. The profile of the P-Carry is such that it almost fit one of my cheap Glock holsters, but I wanted something of quality. Having just made the acquaintance of Mark at Cross Breed Holsters (www.crossbreedholsters.com) I decided to leave my P-Carry with him for some new leather. He had just been working on a faux alligator OWB holster for CCW use. It carries a gun high and tight, also allowing for cant adjustment. The finish is very attractive and I like my holsters pretty even if they are never seen. He told me it would be no problem to do a holster for the P-Carry. The result is most impressive. As you can see in the pictures it fits the P-Carry nicely, is attractive, and I can tell you it carries quite well. I am able to easily hide the pistol while wearing an untucked shirt as is my normal attire for CCW purposes. The gun fits snugly but draws readily when needed. The holster is extremely comfortable. I strongly recommend Cross Breed Holsters for your CZ/Tanfoglio needs. He should be able to provide holsters for all the frame types, including hard to fit models with rails or full length dust covers.
So with this post I will likely be finishing my series of Tanfoglio product reviews. I hope some of you have found them informative. If everything goes well I will likely be doing the same for ArmaLite’s pistols in the future.
GR
P-Carry in the Cross Breed Aligator Finish OWB Holster
P-Carry 10mm Right Side View
P-Carry Cone Locking Barrel Detail View
This will likely be my last review of an EAA gun due to the departure of Marc Galli from the firm, but I wanted to pass along my impressions of the new 10mm P-Carry model for fans of the 10mm round. I also wanted to fill you in on the quality holsters offered by Cross Breed Holsters for Tanfoglio and CZ pattern pistols. I happened to meet the owner by chance as he lives near me, and have found his selection of holsters quite appealing. As the new Tanfoglios are often hard to find holsters for, having a neighbor that can help out is quite handy.
I ordered the P-Carry in 10mm quite some time ago and it took Tanfoglio a while to bring the new models into the United States. For 2006 they will feature a full length dust cover with accessory rail. The 10mm offers a 15 shot capacity in a pistol roughly the size of a Commander configuration 1911. It is a bit wider at the top, but other than that the dimensions are quite similar to my Kimber CDP Pro that I typically carry for CCW purposes. My hope in getting the P-Carry was to have a cheaper gun for CCW use when traveling. The replacement cost of my Kimber is high enough that I prefer to only carry it near home. I wanted a light pistol that was C&L capable, with a good capacity in 10mm as I am a fan of the round. I had tried a G20 for this role but it was too fat. I also prefer a manual safety. While I have a 10mm Elite Match, it is also a bit too large.
The P-Carry size has proven just right. It fits my hand quite well with the familiar CZ feel. The grip is very thin and relatively short for holding 15 rounds of 10mm. Tanfoglio did a good job at minimizing the gun in that area. Interestingly the gun is much wider in the slide. The 2006 P-Carry in 10mm is supposed to have been beefed up to improve durability when firing hot 10mm loads. It has a truly massive slide that is much wider than that on my Witness Elite Match in 10mm. Looking at the gun from the back it has a rather odd profile shaped something like a mushroom. However, the gun is attractive in general and I like the two-toned finish provided by the “Wonder Finish” (tennifer) slide. This will also protect it from rusting when near my skin.
Sights are the typical three-dot pattern with a “Carry” style rear sight. The front dot is red. Unfortunately the front sight is part of the slide so I will be living with this pattern. I prefer the flat black adjustable sights on the Elite series guns. No matter really as these work well enough. The controls are adequate and the safety not mushy in engagement. I was concerned about that as some base Tanfoglios have this issue. As for the trigger, well I have to admit it. I would guess the DA pull is over 10 lbs. The SA is perhaps 5 lbs and pretty crisp. The tremendous difference between them is odd. I would say anyone planning to carry the gun C&L will be happy. I prefer to carry with safety on at half-cock, so this gun is off to my smith for one of his amazing trigger jobs. It has a serrated trigger much like other companies are offering on polymer pistols. The reach is acceptable.
The barrel is one of their new cone locking designs, and is truly a bull barrel profile. You can see that below in my pictures. This means (coupled with the heavy slide) that the gun is very front heavy. They also used very heavy dual recoil springs. When shooting this allows for rapid sight recovery despite the recoil of the 10mm. I consider this one of the easiest shooting 10mm pistols I have owned. One feels the recoil but can get back on target quickly. I found double taps easy and acceptably close together.
It shoots quite well. I ran to the range with 100 rounds of commercial 10mm. Nothing hot, just regular target loads. The only feeding issues were with the magazine it came with. I had noticed when I got the gun that the magazine did not drop free. I have plenty of 10mm magazines, so a quick swap showed the problem to be the magazine. I assumed it was slightly off in dimensions. However, when I got to the range that magazine immediately produced failures to feed. I know that poor magazine fit causes many of the feeding issues in Tanfoglios, so I will try to get this one replaced. I switched to my other 10mm magazines and was able to fire the remaining 85 rounds with no malfunctions. I fired a few shots to get comfortable with the gun, and then proceeded to group it. To my surprise despite the short barrel it is quite accurate. I put around 70 rounds through a hole about 2” wide and 1” tall at 12 yards. It shoots a hair low but other than that is on the money, and is more than adequate for defensive use. It is worth noting my Match 10mm with its nearly 5” barrel put around 40 rounds through a 1” by .5” hole at the same range. The cone locking barrel of the P-Carry is doing a pretty good job of making up for the barrel length.
I will need to shoot it more and have the trigger worked on, but am optimistic that the gun will be carry worthy. Given that I needed leather. The profile of the P-Carry is such that it almost fit one of my cheap Glock holsters, but I wanted something of quality. Having just made the acquaintance of Mark at Cross Breed Holsters (www.crossbreedholsters.com) I decided to leave my P-Carry with him for some new leather. He had just been working on a faux alligator OWB holster for CCW use. It carries a gun high and tight, also allowing for cant adjustment. The finish is very attractive and I like my holsters pretty even if they are never seen. He told me it would be no problem to do a holster for the P-Carry. The result is most impressive. As you can see in the pictures it fits the P-Carry nicely, is attractive, and I can tell you it carries quite well. I am able to easily hide the pistol while wearing an untucked shirt as is my normal attire for CCW purposes. The gun fits snugly but draws readily when needed. The holster is extremely comfortable. I strongly recommend Cross Breed Holsters for your CZ/Tanfoglio needs. He should be able to provide holsters for all the frame types, including hard to fit models with rails or full length dust covers.
So with this post I will likely be finishing my series of Tanfoglio product reviews. I hope some of you have found them informative. If everything goes well I will likely be doing the same for ArmaLite’s pistols in the future.
GR
P-Carry in the Cross Breed Aligator Finish OWB Holster
P-Carry 10mm Right Side View
P-Carry Cone Locking Barrel Detail View
