Finally, the CZ Shadow 2 Carry
The CZ Shadow 2 is one of the best guns of the century. Full stop.
The original Shadow line, an all-steel, large-capacity SA/DA pistol, was descended from the CZ 75 SP-01 and used successfully to pull down a first-place production division finish in the 2005 IPSC World Shoot. Given improved sights, a longer barrel, and better ergos, the Shadow 2 debuted in 2016, followed by an optics-ready model in 2020.
Today, it is used by two out of three of the top competitors in IPSC Production and Production Optics divisions, most notably by nine-time IPSC World Champ Eric Grauffe.
With Shadow 2 fans petitioning CZ for a slimmed-down version of the gun, the company introduced the Shadow 2 Compact in 2023, which cut weight with a forged 7075 aluminum frame and a 4-inch barrel. The magazine’s capacity is 15+1 with a flush-fit double-stack mag. Like the standard Shadow 2, the Compact ships with textured aluminum grips and a “butter smooth” trigger pull (single action 3.4 pounds; 10.3 for double action).
We shot the Shadow 2 and Shadow 2 Compact side by side while touring the CZ factory at the foothills of the Carpathians in Czechia last year and were thoroughly impressed with how they performed.
The Shadow 2 Compact, for all intents and purposes, is just a little brother to the more competition-oriented Shadow 2. It is smaller, lighter, and easier to carry, but retains the DA/SA with a manual safety. As it’s based on a competition gun, there’s no firing pin block plunger system, which can be a pucker factor for some on being drop-safe if carried with a round in the chamber.
With the Shadow 2 Compact’s safety question, folks were gun-shy, pardon the pun, about carrying it, especially concealed.
However, CZ has updated the design in the new Shadow 2 Carry, introduced this week. It retains everything folks loved about the Shadow 2 Compact but deletes the manual safety lever in favor of a simple de-cocking lever while adding a safety notch on the hammer and an automatic firing pin block.
I’ve been testing one that CZ sent me, and I have to admit, it is pretty sweet. I mean, it should be at $1,400…
More in my column at Guns.com.