The Joy that is the CZ75
One of the neatest designs that have gained traction over the past few years in the US has been the CZ75 line of pistols. These durable and slim doublestacks have an interesting background that has made them available in a huge variety of styles and flavors.
After World War 1, the country of Czechoslovakia rose from the ashes of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. This new country inherited a number of former Austrian military arms factories that became known as the Ceska Zbrojovka (“Czech Armory” in Czech.) This evolved over the years as a powerhouse small arms group that survived German occupation in World War 2 and Soviet occupation during the Cold War, while still turning out a number of famous designs including what became the Bren gun, the Sa vz. 58 assault rifle, and the Skorpion vz. 61 machine pistol.
In the early 1970s, a pair of brothers who worked for CZ started work on a double-stack 9mm pistol for the export market. These brothers, Josef and Frantisek Koucky, had by 1975 perfected a handgun that is known today as the CZ75, after the factory abbreviation and the year of first production.
Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk
