CZ 75B SA in 40S

Marginal pics in this post. I'm getting a new camera soon so hopefully we should see a marked upswing in the quality of photographs on this blog. In addition, my GF is actually going to teach me how to take a decent photo as well, so improvements will be had all around.

the joys of metal

The CZ 75B SA was not actually my first choice. Instead, I had wanted an EAA elite Match in 40sw. The EAA is based on the CZ design, but departs slightly in execution. However, I could not find a distributor that had stocking 10 round 40 caliber mags, which means that the gun effectively cannot be had in NYS. I could have went with a 45 caliber version, but if I couldn't ever secure the NYS legal mags, I could never go to the caliber I actually had wanted.

I had desired a full size 40 SW handgun to fill a gap in my collection. My previous 40 caliber handgun was a midsized G23. The gun had served me well, but the midsize frame in general does little for me. I sold it, along with my Colt Commander and Kel-Tec p11 for lack of use.  The Glock was a bit of a surprise sell. I had originally thought of selling one of my Ruger Security Sixes, but couldn't bring myself to do it. The glock on the other hand, moved on easily.

For me, the mid-size gun is too much of a compromise. Not as easy to carry as a compact, not as nice to shoot as a full-size gun. As such, they always existed in my collection in a form of purgatory. I neither was drawn to them nor repulsed- and as a result they received virtually no attention. After ruminating a bit on the whole problem of a good 40 caliber gun (without the EAA as a choice), I decided to go with the original platform the EAA was based on. I also decided to stay with the single action (SA) format, as I am quite used to thumb safeties and am willing to sacrifice a touch of speed for my first shot to have a better,  more consistent trigger pull on every shot.

Ambi-Safety

As soon as I held the gun I knew I had made a good decision. The gun feels solid in the hand, and the polycoat finish appears very durable.  As is the case with the entire CZ 75 lineup, the frame and slide work on an internal rail system - which I did not find difficult to manipulate even with my large hands. Some have difficulty with this format as it removes a significant amount of area you can grasp while working the slide, but such was not the case for me.

internal rails

The gun points naturally and has functional (though somewhat cheesy) three-dot sights. Instead of the standard white we see on so many guns today, CZ elected to go with a glow-in-the-dark (GID) paint that does absorb and push out a fair amount of light. My issue with the GID paint on sights is that once in the holster, the sights quickly lose their charge and do not glow. Maybe in a low light situation people give the sights a quick blast of light from a flashlight (which does work) but it does seem silly to me. In any event, my sights were well regulated for windage and fairly close for elevation upon firing.

I suspect that my preferred weight in the 40 (155-165 gr) is a bit lighter than what is used to test these guns (180gr I would think) which causes my POI to be just below my POA at 15 yards. As to ergonomics, the 75 feels phenomenal in the hand, and is approximately the same size & weight as a Government Sized 1911. My gun has fed, fired, and ejected everything with ease, despite me trying to induce a bit of jamming.

To test the gun, I took it straight to the range with an assortment of different ammo. I did zero prep to the gun. I did not clean it upon purchase, I did not add lubricant of any kind, nor did I fluff and buff any parts of the firearm. I simply started loading mags and getting ready to throw some lead.

Barrel uses a linkless system

I have only fired about 130 rounds so far, with the majority being my own 40 caliber Lead Truncated Cone (LTC) 155 gr design from a group buy I ran over at castboolits. I fired about 75 of these guys, and all fed, fired, and ejected smoothly (as is expected, if a gun struggles with an in spec TC, it will struggle with anything). Next up was some PMC Bronze 180gr FMJRNFP ammo I purchased along with the gun.

I generally avoid factory ammo, but on new guns I like to be certain of what the gun will digest, so I splurged for a couple boxes. The gun digested a full box with no issues, and no discernible differences in recoil or functionality. Finally I ran a single mag of 155gr Federal Hydra-shoks through the gun, as they are what I have the most of for JHP in the 40sw at my disposal. I'll probably be moving away from the Hydra-shok soon, as it is getting more and more difficult to find the 50 round boxes of this ammo by me locally, and I hate purchasing the smaller boxes because I always feel like you get screwed on the per unit cost. I'll probably switch to a fiocchi load, as I have had good luck with them in the past and they are pretty reasonable as far as price goes.

The shooting was as good as I can do with any gun, and the trigger pull was pretty good- not 1911 good mind you- but very shootable. I much prefer it to any striker-fired gun I have ever used. I may putter around with the trigger at some point and get one that is adjustable for both pre and post travel, as well as have the hammer and fire controls worked on by someone.

The gun carries well and has left me very impressed. I paid 570 OTD for mine, and it comes with a fairly decent case and 2 mags. For what it is, I would give this gun a definite buy. It has one of the better triggers for guns in its class I have ever used, and for those in non-ban states standard capacity mags hold 12, with 14 round mags being readily available from Mec-Gar.  I suspect I will be buying more CZ products in the future, as this one has left me extremely satisfied.