Tag Archives: Cz-75

CZ Shadow 2 Carry, a Deep Dive After 2,000 Rounds

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The Shadow line, originally based on the CZ 75 SP-01, has been a top choice in competitive shooting since winning the 2005 IPSC World Shoot. The well-reviewed Shadow 2, launched in 2016 with improved features and an optics-ready option in 2020, is now widely used by leading IPSC competitors, including Eric Grauffel.

In response to demand for a lighter model, CZ released the Shadow 2 Compact in 2023, featuring a 7075-aluminum frame, 4-inch barrel, and 15+1 magazine capacity on a gun that was about a pound lighter. Both versions offer textured grips and smooth trigger action.

full-sized Shadow 2 and Shadow 2 Compact side by side
Testing both models, the full-sized Shadow 2 and Shadow 2 Compact side by side in Czechia at CZ’s range in 2024, revealed impressive performance that differed little between big brother and the new kid on the block. (All photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

As the Shadow 2 Compact is based on a DA/SA competition gun, there’s no firing pin block plunger system, which can be a pucker factor for some, being drop-safe if carried with a round in the chamber. That led to the Shadow 2 Carry, which retains everything folks loved about the S2 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.

Additionally, it features a direct mount with a K-series footprint, while retaining excellent sights, unlike the universal plate-based optics pad on the Compact, which requires removing the rear sights. The magazine release has also been made shorter, more akin to that on the P01– something we complained to CZ about directly back in 2024 on the Shadow Carry, so you are welcome.

CZ Shadow 2 Carry
Boom. The CZ Shadow 2 Carry as made in Europe for the U.S. market. As you can tell from our installation of a Holosun 507K, it is optics-ready (but doesn’t ship with one). 
CZ Shadow 2 Carry
The new CZ Shadow 2 Carry has a 4-inch barrel, giving it an overall length of 7.5 inches. All the dimensions are a 1:1 comparison with the Shadow 2 Compact, which means you can swap barrels, many internals (not controls), and holsters. 
CZ Shadow 2 Carry
The width over the ambi decocker is 1.5 inches, while the height is 5.4 inches. 
CZ Shadow 2 Carry compared
As you can see, when compared to this early 1980s CZ75 “Pre-B,” it carries forth the same lineage that has been the benchmark for the company’s 9mm family of semi-auto pistols for over 50 years. 
CZ Shadow 2 Carry compared
Including the low bore axis and gliding internal slide rails. 
CZ Shadow 2 Carry compared
And the overall grip angles and feel. People love the classics, man. 

Quick summary: CZ responded to those who wanted a safe-to-carry Shadow 2 Compact with the same race gun lineage known and loved for generations, and the resulting Shadow 2 Carry delivers on that promise, blending style, performance, and dependability in one platform.

For the full 2,500-word/30-image review, head on over to my column at Guns.com.

CZ Salutes WWII Free Czech RAF Squadrons

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CZ is marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II with a salute to the often unsung “Free Czechs” who served with the Allies with a special Spitfire-themed CZ 75.

Occupied by Germany on the eve of the conflict, just months before the shooting started, thousands of Czechs escaped to continue the fight against a common enemy.

Some 2,500 Czechs served in the British RAF during WWII, filling three fighter squadrons (No. 310, 312, and 313), one bomber squadron (No. 311), and one night fighter squadron (No. 68) as well as flying alongside British pilots in other squadrons. They also played a vital role in No. 138 Special Squadron, an outfit that dropped agents and supplies into occupied Europe– including Czechoslovakia.

A Czech Spitfire pilot of No. 313 Squadron
A Czech Spitfire pilot of No. 313 Squadron in conversation with his rigger and fitter at Hornchurch, 8 April 1942. (Photo: Imperial War Museum)

 

These men, exiles far from home, chalked up over 28,000 fighter sorties (at least 16 Czech “aces” flew with the RAF), dropped 2.6 million pounds of bombs on enemy targets, and made a difference from the Battle of Britain to the beaches of Normandy and beyond. Nearly 500 were killed in action.

The CZ 75 RAF special edition
The CZ 75 RAF special edition emulates the famed Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft, which was flown by many of the Czech fighter pilots serving with the British during the war. (All photos unless noted: CZ)
The CZ 75 RAF special edition
The CZ 75 RAF includes lightening cuts in the slide that recall the exhaust stacks of the Spitfire’s Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, as well as a finish that includes “riveted” body panels. 
The CZ 75 RAF special edition
The grips include a set of Czech aviator’s wings. 

 

The CZ 75 RAF special edition
The serial number sequencing starts with one of the Czech RAF squadrons, in this case, No. 310 Fighter Squadron. Note the British “bullseye” roundel. 
The CZ 75 RAF special edition
And it is repeated on the front of the slide. 
The CZ 75 RAF special edition
The magazine base has a stylized RAF. 
The CZ 75 RAF special edition
The RAF’s Latin motto, going back to 1918, “Per Ardua ad Astra,” which translates to “Through Adversity to the Stars,” is carried. 
The CZ 75 RAF special edition
Note the Czech roundel, which is still carried on the country’s military aircraft.
The CZ 75 RAF special edition
The CZ 75 RAF is a thing of beauty. 
The CZ 75 RAF special edition
Besides the pistol itself, its unique case recalls the avionics panel on the Spitfire, while its key is in the shape of the aircraft. Also included are an embroidered squadron badge patch and a hand-painted and signed Spitfire illustration by the well-known Czech painter and illustrator Jaroslav Velc.

 

Price? Availability? Just 56 CZ 75 RAF models will be created and will be offered…soon.

On a side note, as CZ now owns Colt, it would be neat to think that, at some point in the future, there may be a similar line of 1911s that salute famed American military units. Send those emails, folks!

Finally, the CZ Shadow 2 Carry

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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.

 

The First CZ 75: SN 00001

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I recently had the honor of visiting CZ’s historic flagship factory in Uhersky Brod, in Czechia, the Czech Republic, and got to take the first CZ 75 out of its resting place.

Designed starting in 1969 by the brothers Koucky (Josef and Frantisek) for CZ as a 9mm parabellum chambered pistol made for commercial export, the handgun known as the CZ 75 was finished by early 1975 (hence the designation) with five pre-production samples (serial numbers 00001 through 00005) carefully assembled for testing and evaluation. Some of these T&E samples chalked up over 11,000 rounds in testing with no breaks or serious issues, and the gun soon went into full-scale production with a few minor, mostly cosmetic revisions.

Of those five, CZ 75 expert David Pazdera notes in his book that number 00004 disappeared into history, while 00002, 00003, and 00005 were sold on the commercial market in the early 1980s, leaving just 00001 as the sole remaining sample gun left in CZ’s inventory. They keep it locked inside a display case deep inside a secure vault.

Even with a 50-year-old design, you can easily spot the hallmark geometrical “Golden ratio/Golden section” in length and height used in the CZ 75 to produce an aesthetically pleasing firearm offering a natural point of aim.

CZ 75 Serial Number 00001. Note the slab-sided milled slide, duraluminum grips, and large hammer spur. Also note the very deep scallop to the front of the slide, something that would carry on to the First Model CZ 75s. Other than that, it is easily recognizable to any fan of the 75. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Compare the above to this second-generation 1986-vintage CZ 75 “Pre-B” with all matching serial numbers and zero import marks. (Photo: Chris Eger)

More in my column at Guns.com.

Euro But Not Trash: The Cold War Vintage CZ 75 ‘Pre-B’ 9mm

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While guys who dig CZs these days often like to think of themselves as mysterious and edgy, back in the chilliest days of the Cold War, picking up a CZ 75 was tougher than you’d think. 

A product initially of Communist-controlled and Moscow-allied Czechoslovakia, as I’ve covered dozens of times in the past, the CZ 75 first hit the market in Europe in 1975, hence the name. While nothing in the design was new – every feature had already appeared in a production gun somewhere – the combination of its internal slide rail design (similar to the SIG P210) with a 15+1 shot detachable 9mm magazine (Smith & Wesson Model 59), double-action/single-action trigger system (Walther P-38), and a linkless cam locking system (Browning Hi-Power) yielded a very sweet shooting pistol with a decent capacity that could be seen as a legitimate target or “combat” handgun, especially for its day. 

A second-generation 1986-vintage CZ 75 “Pre-B” with all matching serial numbers and zero import marks. (Photo: Chris Eger)

CZ 75s were known in the U.S. – they even popped up in that 1984 classic “Red Dawn” in the hands of dastardly commie airborne forces in the opening action sequence. The thing is, as there was plenty of bad blood between the U.S. and Warsaw Pact countries in the 1970s and 80s, it was fairly hard to get a CZ 75 in the States. 

This meant that most in that period came in via two narrow and now historically ironic sources: from Canada through a company called Pragotrade, and via American servicemembers/businessmen who bought them in Western Europe back when gun laws over there were a lot less draconian.

The latter is where I think this gun came from, as it doesn’t have any import marks but does have what seem to be factory-installed adjustable LPA target sights, which would make it a ringer for CZ 75s sold commercially in Britain in the mid-1980s. 

For instance: Czech out this ad from Edgar Brothers, a big UK-based gun distributor that is still in business – although not in the handgun market for the past 25 years. 

Now, that gun looks familiar…

More in my column at Guns.com.

Czech out this interesting ‘real-steel multi-cal blaster pistol

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With a “Blade Runner”/”RoboCop” futuristic aesthetic, the FK Brno PSD pistol can move seamlessly across four calibers, including the very compelling 7.5 FK.

The PSD has a slender polymer grip frame and keeps the same layout as the Field Pistol. While its price tag – MSRP of $1,650 – isn’t cheap, it is still only a fraction of the cost of the Field Pistol and even comes in a good bit less than a new Deagle. It is not that much more expensive than some polymer-framed practical/tactical guns like the $1,500 FN 509 LS Edge (which wasn’t really that nice of a gun in my opinion.)

Roughly the same size as an M1911, it has better ergonomics with a slim grip that feels more like a compact 9mm, and, due to a 5-ounce frontend compensator counterweight and a slide that is beefier at its end than its nose, is supremely balanced and light recoiling.

Plus, there is the fact that it shoots 7.5FK, 10mm Auto, .40 S&W, and 9mm, all with the same gun, promising 100-yard accuracy.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

The best known invention of the brothers Koucký

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Designed by brothers Josef and František Koucký at the CZ factory in then-Czechoslovakia after more than six years of development, the all-steel 9mm parabellum double-stack CZ75 was a broadside response in the 1970s to the S&W 59, Browning Hi-Power and Beretta Model 92, the West’s contemporary 1st gen “wonder nines.” It soon became a hit and was a best seller around the globe that has remained in production ever since.

Known originally in the West as “the Brunner pistol” after its West German exporter, Walter Pomeranski began importing the CZ75 to the U.S. in 1979. In January 1980, no less a shootist than Col. Jeff Cooper wrote in American Handgunner, “I think the Brunner is the best of the conventional nines as it stands, and the best conventional pistol if it is modified to a major caliber.” Notably, Cooper would use it as the basis of his own Bren Ten concept.

Besides clones produced by a myriad of Italian, Eastern European and Turkish firms, CZ themselves have made more than 1 million of these iconic combat pistols in the past 45 years.

Speaking of which, there is a limited edition 45th anniversary CZ 75 for 2020.

More in my column at Guns.com.

So a 1911 and a CZ75 swiped right…

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Billed as a dream match using DNA from two of the most iconic handguns of the old and new world, the new Dan Wesson DWX has been announced.

Teased this week, the new gun has a release date only of “2020” and is promised in both full-size and compact variants.

“It started as an experiment — a grand melding of Dan Wesson and CZ pistols,” says the company. “Borrowing the crisp single-action fire control group of a DW 1911 and combining it with the ergonomics and capacity of a CZ, the resulting pistol emerged as something great.”

The Dan Wesson DWX. Concept art firearm vaporware? We shall see…

Using a locked-breech barrel system and a CZ-style takedown, the 9mm DWX incorporates a 5-inch match-grade barrel without the 1911’s link system or barrel bushing. However, it contains many 1911 parts while coming to the party with a 19+1 magazine capacity based on the CZ P-09/P-10 and aluminum CZ 75 grips.

More in my column at Guns.com 

For the CZ fan that has everything

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I give you the exquisite CZ 75 Republika model:

Produced by CZUB to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia in 1918, just 100 of the guns were produced. They are serial numbered 1918-2018.

Each is engraved with traditional Czech symbols such as the national motto “Pravda vítězí,” which means “truth prevails,” as well as a Czech lion coat of arms.

The guns come standard with a wooden presentation case with a portrait of the first Czechoslovak president, Tomáš Masaryk.

They normally cost about $8K but Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš just made one a gift of the United States, should President Trump decide not to buy it, of course.

More in my column at Guns.com.

The Joy that is the CZ75

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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

cz diagram