CZ-USA 2012 Buyers Guide

8/3/2019 CZ-USA 2012 Buyers Guide

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SPECIAL COLLECTOR’S EDITION 2012

DAN WESSON ECOp.10

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-. 3www.cz-usa.com

2 -.www.cz-usa.com

handgun at home on a cop’s duty belt,

you wouldn't be wrong for thinking of a

compact carry gun instead. The hammer-

forged barrel is 3.8 inches long, and the

pistol weighs just 1.7 pounds.

The P-07 had a new glass-reinforced

polymer frame but retained a lot of

features that made its predecessor,

the CZ 75, popular the world

oer. The CZ 75 has a fol-

lowing in most other countries the way the

1911 is loed in this country, and with good

reason. It is extremely reliable, robust

and arguably has the best ergonomics

of any double-stack pistol on the planet.

The guts of the P-07 were a close copy

of the CZ 75, and it util izes the good, old

Browning tilt-barrel operating system, but

the slide sits inside the frame, giing it a

ery low center of graity.

CZ 75 P-07 DUTY

When this new polymer-framed pistol hit the shelves in 2009 you could havetipped me over with a feather. Most shooters would never think twice aboutpolymer since almost every new design incorporates substantial amountsof plastic, but this pistol was stamped “CZ-USA,” a company that over

the years ferociously clung to its walnut-and-steel roots. There have been one or two

polymer-frame models in the catalog over the years, but not many. I own a couple ofCZ ries, and they don’t have so much as a molecule of plastic anywhere, not eventhe magazine follower, and here is a CZ-branded pistol with a polymer frame. Was thisblasphemy a good move on the part of this legendary company?

The P-07 Duty was originally designed

to compete for European police and

military contracts. And it won. As soon

as the specs were released by Ceska

Zbrojoka (CZ) in the Czech Republic,

the rm’s American subsidiary CZ-USA

started clamoring for pistols. It was easy

to see that the P-07 had a lot going for it

and would appeal to the American public.

Although the name implies a full-size

TE CZ 75 P-07 DUTY AS SUCCESSFULLY PASSED ITSPERFRMACE REvIEW.

y J. GUTHRIE I Photos by SEAN UTLEY

Justifed

New fo 2012 s the

suppesso-eady

P-07 Duty. The½x28

theaded muzzle

accepts most supes-

sos made fo the U.S.

maket. The shts

on ths vaaton

ae hhe thannomal. They

wll clea one-

nch damete

supessos.





Not everybody wants a switch-barrel rimfre, but Ihappen to like the idea. It seems like I’ve alwaysbeen intrigued with switch-barrel guns, and theCZ 455 holds a lot o appeal or me.

Qik Sht

Living in Illinois, I can’t hunt withhigh-powered centerfre ries (well,

except or coyotes). On the other

hand, I do a lot o hunting with

rimfres. A lot o guys I know own

separate ries or shooting .22 LR,

.17 HMR and .22 WMR. I actually

know a guy who owns 20 to 30

dierent .22s.

I’ve owned quite a ew rimfres

over the years including a really nice,

accurate .22 Magnum. Unortunately,

I sold it years ago, regrettably.

I do enjoy hunting with the .22

Magnum, and while I have never

owned a .17 HMR, I think it has

an application in the small-game

and varmint hunting felds as well.

Imagine my interest when I received aCZ 455 American in .22 LR along with

an extra barrel in .17 HMR this year.

The 455 is nicely endowed. The

particulars are shown in the ac-

companying specifcations list, so I

won’t go into detail here. Sufce it

to say, the 455 eels like a “real” rie,

not like a budget rimfre. Fit and fnish

is excellent, as is the trigger pull.

The trigger on my sample measured

3.8 pounds according to an RCBS

trigger-pull gauge. While there was

a bit o takeup, it breaks crisply and

consistently. As you can see rom

the accompanying accuracy results,

this 20-inch-barreled bolt gun is no

slouch in the accuracy department.

T ot moutd sft o t CZ 455 ocs t momt of t

f d dscocts t s fom t st w d.

CZ 455

c-uS.co 7www.z-sa.mwww.z-sa.m

c-uS.co6

BRII RO'S FAORIT RIMFIR CALIBRSTOTHR I O FI ACA.

By JOEL J. HUTCHCROFT I Photos by SEAN UTLEY



c-uS.co 9www.z-sa.m

ndoubtedly, the nice trigger helps

contribute to its fne accuracy.

The advantages o a switch-barrel

mfre are essentially the same as

r a switch-barrel centerfre rie.

he biggest one, in my book, is

at you can shoot dierent car-

dges—in this case, three—in the

same action with the same trigger

system. Doing so allows you to

become extremely amiliar with that

one trigger, and that translates into

better shooting.

Switching barrels on the 455 is

very simple and straightorward.

All you have to do is remove the

magazine, the bolt and the two

stock screws, and pull o the

triggerguard, triggerguard plate and

HE BiggEST AdvANTAgE iS THAT YOU CAN SHOOT diFFERENT

CARTRidgES iN THE SAmE ACTiON wiTH THE SAmE TRiggER SYSTEm.

CZ 455 AmrCA

Type: Bolt-action Caliber: .17 HMR, .22 LR, .22 WMR

(interchangeable barrels) CapaCiTy: 5 barrel: 20.5 in., 1:16-in. twist

(.22 LR, .22 WMR), 1:9-in. twi st (.17 HMR)Overall lengTh: 38.2 in.

WeighT: 6.1 lb. STOCk: Checkered walnut with

sling swivel studs FiniSh: Blued steel, oil wood Trigger: Adjustable; 3.8-lb. pull (as tested) SighTS: one; dovetail base or scope mounts;

Lux .22 LR barrel includes an adjustable rear

and hooded ront sight

ACCurACy rsults

elocity Standard xtreme 50-ard Ammunition (ps) Deviation (ps) Spread (ps) Accuracy (in.)

.17 Hmr

Federal 17-gr. -Max 2,612 39 87 0.72

Hornady 17-gr. -Max 2,547 26 91 0.56

Winchester 17-gr. -Max 2,554 24 80 0.69

CCI 20-gr. FMJ 2,370 10 20 0.69

.22 long rife

CCI 32-gr. Stinger 1,635 14 27 0.64

CCI 40-gr. Select 1,212 9 18 0.95

Federal 40-gr. old Medal Target 1,230 6 14 0.55

Winchester 40-gr. ower-oint 1,282 23 54 0.88

.22 Wmr

Federal 30-gr. JH 2,108 32 63 1.00

Federal 30-gr. Sierra JH 1,906 34 74 0.91

CCI 40-gr. Maxi Mag 1,880 41 73 0.73

Winchester 40-gr. FMJ 1,812 15 29 2.00

Accuracy is the average o fve fve-shot groups fred rom a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average

o 15 rounds measured 12 eet r om the muzzle.

the stock. Then, loosen the maga-

zine housing screw at the rea r (one

or two turns is all that's needed)

and the two barrel-retaining screws.

Finally, pull the barrel o the ront

o the receiver. Insert the new

barrel, tighten the barrel screws,

tighten the magazine housing

screw, replace the triggerguard and

plate (minus the

spacer i you are

switching to either

o the magnum

chamberings),

place the barreled

action into the

stock, and tighten

down the stock

screws. That’s it.

It takes less than

10 minutes. (Don'tworry, detailed

instructions ship

with each rie.)

I frst received

the 455 set up

or .22 LR and .17

HMR. A ew days

later I received the

Lux .22 LR spare

barrel, which has

an adjustable rear

sight and a hooded

ront sight. In the

meantime, I contacted CZ-USA

and ordered a .22 WMR barrel to

complete my set. With the rie

and three extra barrels, I took it to

the range and proceeded to run it

through a rather lengthy shooting

session. I have to say that doing al l

that rimfre shooting (fve, fve-shot

groups with 12 dierent loads)

was very therapeutic. The act that

this little rie produces such tight

groups certainly helps to make the

project a un one. I you haven’t

fred your avorite rimfre in a while,

you really should get out and shoot

it. Better yet, pick up a CZ 455

American with an extra barrel or

two, and join the un.

GalleryofGuNs.comSee photos and specifcations o the gun men-

tioned in this article, and order rom an inven-

tory o 1,000s—all online through un Locator.

It’s easy and convenient. Shooting enthusiasts

can enjoy the Shooting Times Rese arch Center,

eaturing everything rom consumer promo-

tions, news and eatured articles to gun reviews,

shooter’s ed and the Shooter’s ateway.

MakeGalleryofGuns.com one o your avorites!

www.z-sa.m

gs ae cuetly avalable fom vaous aftemaket maufactues to gab the popetay CZ tegal dove-

l bases. The ubbe pad keeps the stock fom sldg the shoulde. The tgge s adjustable fo weght.

CnC lase checkeg offes a tactle gppg suface.

it's pefectly executed evey tme.

8 c-uS.co



-. 11

When the venerable Lightweight

Commander came along, I snatched

it up, and life was goo d. Well,

semi-good. In order for it to be good

enough, that 1911 required a certain

amount of overhauling. In fact, it

required a lot of it.

I still have that pistol, but not

because it’s my primary carry gun.

I have many more choices these days,

and the choices from Dan Wesson

don’t need any work to be ready.

The latest offering lls the niche

that my old Commander did. Differ-

ent though, the Dan Wesson ECO

needs no extras. Out of the box, it’s

ready for the job—fully loaded with

what would have been unobtainable

extras back in those days.The ECO is the size of an Of-

cer’s Model 1911. It has a slightly

shorter frame (Enough to take one

round away from t he 1911’s usual

magazine capacity). However,

this absence also makes the ECO

easier and more comfortable to

carry. The shorter frame is less

likely to hang up on clothing or

print against the drape of a shirt

or jacket worn over a holstered

handgun. And, as a credit to Dan

Wesson pistolsmiths, the ECO fea-

tures the problematic corner on its

1911 frame rounded and smooth.

When you carry a handgun in an

Inside the Waist Band (IWB) hols ter,

your belt acts as a pivot point. The

muzzle of your carry gun contacts

your hip, the hip contact pushes the

muzzle outboard, and the pivot on

your belt pushes the back end of the

slide into you.

In extreme cases, the contact

between the grip safety and your

body can feel as if the gun is being

surgically introduced to your kidney.

But, if you loosen your belt, the hand-

gun can op around. This is perhaps

the only instance where being bigger

around the middle is a good thing,

as the less wasp-waist you have, theless pivot your pistol has.

Rather than packing on pounds,

you can simply choose to carry a

handgun like the ECO that features

a shorter barrel and shorter overall

length. The Ofcer’s Model size

1911’s typically have a three or three-

and-a-half inch barrel, to preclude the

pivot. Hence, the Dan Wesson ECO is

a carry gun. (Or for those still packing

the full-size 1911, a backup gun.)

On top, the ECO wears a set of

tritium-driven night sights, one

Some 25 years ago, I found myself with some backpains. It took a while to gure out the exact source,but the basic reason was simple: I worked in a gunshop. Said gun shop was adjacent to a big, danger-

ous city. We all carried, and my chosen piece was a full-

size, all-steel 1911. As if that wasn’t a contributor, my dailyroutine involved wearing extra magazines, backup guns,and even the occasional knife. I needed to ease up on themission load I was packing.

MEET THE BEST 1911 EVER BUILT FOR LIGHT-WEIGHT CARRY.

DW ECOEDan

Wesson

www.cz-usa.com www.cz-usa.com-.0

By PATRICK SWEENEY I Pts by SEAN UTLEY



2 -.www.cz-usa.com

-. 13

sert in each of the front andar. Line them up as a gure eight,

nd your sights are easily aligned.

he sight design is inspired by the

einie Straight Eight dot concept,

ut the rear sight is shaped with a

dge, a front face that is square

the bore. Championed by many

spected tactical shooters, these

dge-style sights offer the user

n emergency cocking sur face.

se your belt, holster, doorframe,

hatever is handy, if you’re suddenly

stricted to one-handed use and

ave to manipulate the slide.

In-between the sights, in their

ovetails, is a serrated rib.

he rib is machined out

the top of the

slide, and the serrations on its top

are ultra-ne—fteen lines on top of

the slide that’s not much wider than

a quarter-inch. When you rst see

the MSRP of the DW ECO, consider

that such a rib and the sights would

set you back on the order of $500

and six month’s wait from a custom

gunsmith. (More money and longer

if the ‘smith is really good and has a

backlog to prove it.)

The slide perfectly matches

the three-inch barrel, with

the slide

lightening cuts done as abbreviated

ball-end cuts. The ball-end cuts

were a feature of the earliest 1911s, a

feature changed by Colt during World

War I to speed up production. It’s

just a cosmetic feature, but I like it.

Additionally, the slide and frame are

dehorned in such a way as to ensure

that neither cuts or rips.

The frame and mainspring hous-

ing have very clean, regular and

precise checkering. Twenty-ve lpi

is the Dan Wesson standard. The

frontstrap has been lifted, and com-

bined with the high-ride beavertail

grip safety and a slender thumb

safety that’s also serrated with a

shelf. The ECO is compact, an easy-

to-pack pistol. On the bottom of theframe there is no bolt-on or added

magazine well funnel. This is a

compact carry pistol, and that would

compromise too much in terms

of carrying concealed.

However, the magazine

well is gently tapered

to make reloads easier,

without adding bulk.

In the old days, for a

custom gunsmith to announce

that he had arrived, h e’d take a

standard 1911 and chop it down to

something of this

size. The problem

was not in the

chopping, but reli-

ability department

once it had been

reduced in size.

Many a would-be

“master” gunsmith

found that he had

taken a working

1911 and turned it

into a very expensive paperweight.

The typical result from a new

pistolsmith looking to move up wasmalfunctions galore. And the easiest

way to make those malfunctions

appear was to shoot the suspect

pistol weak-handed or limp-wristed.

So, I took the new ECO and I

abused it. No, I didn’t throw it in the

dirt, dunk it under water, or any-

thing of that nature. I simply shot it

weak-handed only. For all the ammo

I had with me, some three hundred

rounds straight.

Shooting with one’s off hand, or

support hand, is typically work.

Heavy triggers make it very easy to

work into a inch, or other problem.

On the other hand, the ECO had

a nice trigger—one that’s good

enough to perform as a competitiveBullseye gun.

The end result from this function

test was an hour of shooting, and

fteen minutes spent picking up

brass. Ten pound’s worth of lead and

copper downrange. The ECO refused

to co-operate with my plans of nd-

ing its weakness.

The recoil spring system, and the

lack of a barrel bushing, has a lot

to do with the reliability of such an

abbreviated 1911, but I think it has

as much to do with the fact that

the pistolsmiths at Dan Wesson

know how to make a pistol. Even a

compact pistol.

Not every pistol is perfect. My ECO

features a right-handed safety.

Were I to be packing this

(particularly as a backup)

I’d order an ambidextrous safety to

be installed.

The grips are nice and durable, butfor all that and the very useful grip-

ping ability, the slabs measure a bit

thick for my tastes. I’d have to shave

them down to thin them, but why

when the enormous 1911 aftermarket

caters to such things?

The sights are useful in two areas:

both for being night sights with

tritium inserts, and for the rear sight

being shaped such that you can use

it as a cocking lever. If you have the

triple-whammy of a locked slide,

only one hand available for work,

and an existing threat to deal with,

you can use the rear sight to quickly

rack the slide and get things going

your way again.

I like the ECO—a lot. For a guy

who has a safe fu ll of 1911s, many of

those expensive cu stom 1911s, I’m

really tempted by this one. As the

one I obtained for testing was only

the second production sample fromDan Wesson, they’re going to want

this one back. How unfortunate.

Given the amazingly reasonable

price this one lists for (I mean, for a

lightweight Ofcer’s Model, dripping

with custom features) it won’t take

long to save up for an other.

Get yours, or get in line behind me.

o, I TooK ThE NEW ECo ANd I ABUSEd IT. No, I dIdN’T ThRoW IT IN ThE dIRT,

UNK IT UNdER WATER, oR ANYThINg of ThAT NATURE.

The no-glare, 25 lpi slide serrations

lead up to the night sight near the

muzzle. They’re perfectly

blended with the shape

of the slide.

Te ede-stye ea st

s a ow ted te

tactca commuty sce

t offes oe-aded sde

mapuato.

e fotstap of te ECO weas 25 p

ecke—te Da Wesso stadad. Accuracy and reliability are finally acheived in an Officer’s Model 1911.

The combination has been accomplished with a carefully fitted bushing-

less match barrel and slide fit along with a full length guide rod.

The trigger is f lawlessly executed.

www.cz-usa.com

Dan wesson eCo

TYPE: Single action, recoiloperated semiauto

CAlibEr: 9mm, .45 ACP (tested) CAPACiTY: 7+1 bArrEl: 3.5 in. (tested) or 4.25 in.,

DW Match OvErAll lEngTh: 7.25 in. (tested) or 8 in. WEighT: 1.6 lbs. griPS: G10 FiniSh: Duty black TriggEr: Aluminum, 4 lb. SighTS: 3-Dot, ledge-style,

tritium-lled



-. 15

The three sporting gentlemen

put pen to paper and send

three estates a letter. In the

letter they notied the estate’s

owner of their intent to poach

either a stag or a salmon from

their property in the next 48

hours and deliver the said

salmon or stag to the door of

the main house.

If the estate owner accepted

the challenge and if they get

away undetected the estate

owner needs to make a 50

pound donation to charity. If

they are caught, the offenders

will have to make a 100 pound

donation to charity. To protect

their real identity they collec-

tively signed the letter with the

Nom de plume, John Macnab.

From this original tale the

Macnab challenge grew into an

organized sporting adventure.

Today, it is generally recog-

nized as shooting a stag, a brace

of grouse and catching an Atlantic

salmon all in one day…I can only

guess as to why they shortened time

frame and increased the bag limit,

but that’s just how it is.

I read about the Macnab off and

on in sporting titles over the years

and then last season while sitting in

an elk camp with Alice Poluchova

of CZ-USA, I suggested we try for

a Colorado Macnab—elk, grouse

and trout. She rebutted, “Why don’t

we just do the real thing?” Having

a shortage of red deer, red gro use

and Atlantic salmon in my neck of

the woods, I decided to start looking

for an outtter who could accommo-

date. We found the ideal kilt-wearing

candidate at the SCI show in Reno

The tale of the Macnab stems from the 1925 novel John Macnab written by John Buchan. In sum-mary, the book centers around three high rollingScots who have become bored with their daily

lives so they concoct a plan to add a little bit of zest to

stave off the mundane.

www.cz-usa.com www.cz-usa.com

Questacnab

A CZ RINNC AN CZ 550 T PUT T TH UTIMATTST IN TH HIHANS F SCTAN.

B Mike SchoBy

CZ 550

CZ RINNC

4 -.



-. 17

evada—Michael McCrave, (Michael

cCrave Hunting imited, huntingva-

ationsscotland.com)

“I can organize it,” he said, “but

have to nd the perfect setting,

ne with a good population of both

ouse and stags and a quality river

close proximity. et me check into

and I’ll get back to you.”A couple of

eeks passed before Michael called,

“I found it! The estate borders Bal-

moral castle (for those unfamiliar with

Balmoral, it is the Queen of ngland’s

summer residence in Scotland...not

a bad zip code) and the fabled River

ee ows through it.”It sounded

ideal so we booked a week for later

that fall.

We quickly found out that booking

a hunt in the United ingdom is the

easy part, handling the details of

actually hunting there is something

entirely else. uckily, Michael made

it possible (without his help, bringing

a rearm into Scotland would be

akin to climbing Mount verest in

bare feet). After ying into ondon

then onto dinburgh, Scotland, we

were met at the airport and whisked

away to the hunting estate near the

town of Ballater. After briey meet-

ing with the gamekeeper Ab (game-

keepers, as the name implies, are

the guide in charge of the hunt for

a particular estate), we unpacked,

sighted in and readied ourselves for

the following morning.

awn broke clear and still, the sun

barely poking above the mountain

as we nished the last of our tradi-

tional Scottish breakfast. Contrary

to popular belief it was not whisky,

but bangers and eggs. It had been

decided that I would get all of day

one to try for my Macnab and Alice

would have all of the second day.

Climbing into and Rover efender

110s, we headed up the mountain

and quickly exchanged the heavily

forested bottomland for the open

heather-covered moors. We had

barely reached the top when wespotted a covey of red grouse

working their way through a thick

patch of heather. I jumped out and

uncased a 28-gauge CZ Ringneck.

Plunking two shells in the twin

chambers, I headed after them. The

covey ducked down to hide then as

I neared, they burst from the thick

cover as if shot from a cannon.

ven though I expected it, I was still

startled and before I knew it

the birds were quickly rocketing out

of range.

My rst barrel caught a bird square

and dropped him, the second just

pulled feathers and the bird set his

wings and sailed across a valley

My firSt Shot waS not far Behind hiM, and after a quick lead

recalculation, the Second charge Brought hiM down to earth.

www.cz-usa.com www.cz-usa.com6 -.





-. 21

Due in large part to America’s

emerging CCW nation, the number of

compact and subcompact pistols—

most with polymer frames—has

exploded. New owners, however,

soon learn that ease of carry does

not necessarily translate into an

enjoyable experience at the range.

Small, light pistols are easy to

carry, but are hard to aim and shoot

accurately at any speed. And try

shooting a lot of rounds during

practice. Nobody takes a pocket gun

out to the range for a day of plinking.

After bouncing from one end of the

spectrum to the other, many of us

who carry are choosing a midsize

pistol to be more practical. It’s themiddle ground between shootability

and ease of carry. This is exactly

where the CZ 83 is at home.

The CZ 83 is an all-steel 12+1

.380 automatic with a 3.8-inch

barrel and a weight of 26 ½ ounces.

It’s also available in a blued nish,

or this satin nickel version seen

here. Besides the growing trend to

chamber carry guns in .380, this one

can also be had in a .32 ACP variety.

In .32, the CZ 83 comes with a 15-

round magazine. Although CZ refers

to this as a compact gun, it’s not a

pocket pistol. Rather, it’s a midsize

steel gun built durable enough to

withstand even the rigors of police

or military duty. The CZ 83 is nearly

identical to its predecessor, the 12-

shot 9x18 Makarov-chambered CZ

82. The CZ 82 could be found in the

holsters of European law enforce-

ment up until just a few years ago.

Not surprisingly, the CZ 83 has a

very European appearance (less the

Euro magazine release behind the

oorplate of the magazine). The slide

is reminiscent of a PPK, but the simi-

larity ends there. To be honest, the

rst time I saw a CZ 83 my expecta-

tions were low, but the more I shot itthe more I liked it. One of the reasons

for my growing favor toward it is

that the slide has such an unusual

prole and because it has a xed

barrel. Fixed barrels are good for two

reasons: They make the gun more

accurate, and they put the bore very

low in the hand. This reduces felt

recoil and muzzle rise. As opposed

to most American-designed pistols

where the serial number is marked

on the frame, the CZ 83 wears its

matching serial numbers on the

W

ith a massive surge in the number of statesallowing for concealed carry, the number ofpeople who are getting rsthand knowledge

of what it’s like to carry a rearm regularly hasgone up dramatically. For years, many of those peoplecould only “talk the talk.” Now that they can “walk thewalk” they are discovering that carrying a full-size pistolisn’t always an option.

RetroBy JAMES TARR I Pts by SEAN UTLEY

THE CZ 83 REDEFINES THE CASSIC APPROACH TOPRACTICA CARR.

The

-.0www.cz-usa.com www.cz-usa.com

CZ 83



2 -.www.cz-usa.com

-. 23www.cz-usa.com

arrel hood and slide. As the barrel is

tached to the frame, technically the

arrel is the receiver.

ike its big brother—the CZ 75—

e 83 is a DA/SA automatic that

an be carried cocked-and-locked

Condition One. The ambidex-

ous safety is not a decocker. The

afety cannot be engaged when the

ammer is down, but the pistol does

ave an internal hammer rebound

afety. After decades of shooting

911s, I use a thumb-high hold with

verything, and the safety of the CZ

3 lends itself well to this. It clicks on

nd off in a very positive manner. The

umb safety is ambidextrous,

s is the magazine release.

wouldn’t want to carry the

stol Condition One until I had

acticed getting the safety offuring the drawstroke a number

times. The serrated safety

n’t small, but my spoiled

umb is used to the oversize

ombat ledges now found on

911 thumb safeties.

For this evaluation I tested a

atin nickel CZ 83. The frame

nd slide have a matte nickel

nish, but all the controls and

mall parts are matte blued

ncluding the triggerguard). I

efer the looks of an all-blued

gun personally, but I’ve also rusted

blued guns with sweat. That won’t

happen with nickel. The double-

action trigger pull on my CZ 83 is

stiff and noticeably heavier than

what I’ve experienced with used 82s

and 83s. That’s very common, and

the great thing about all-steel trigger

systems is that the more times the

trigger is pulled, the smoother and

lighter that pull gets. CZs are built

for a lifetime of hard use.

The frame of the pistol is big

enough for me to get my whole

hand around it, which is a denite

plus when it comes to managing

recoil. The front of the triggerguard

is checkered as well, since there are

some that like to place the support

hand’s index nger on it.

The attop slide is serrated, and

the CZ is equipped with black plastic

grips, the bulging palm sections

of which are checkered. The grips

feature a prominent ridge below

a nger groove, which made for a

comfortable grip but made it almost

impossible to access the magazine

release without turning the pistol in

my hand. The magazine baseplates

are removable for cleaning, and the

magazines have three unmarked

index holes at the rear to wit-

ness the fourth, eighth and 12th

rounds levels in the magazine.

The followers were constructed

of black polymer.The sights on the CZ 83 are

good for a gun this size. The

rear is a dovetailed notch, and

the front is a post slid in from

the front and secured with a roll

pin. On used CZ 82s and 83s,

I’ve seen plain black rear sights

combined with a vertical white-

line insert in the front sight that

works quite well. The sights on

this new gun wore three, bright

green dots. This turned out to

be luminous paint. When I hit

the sights briey with a ashlight,

they glowed as brightly as the nest

tritium insert sights available. After 10

minutes, they still glowed, but more

faintly. Whether or not they’ve been

exposed to light and glow, these dots

provide a very good sight picture.

The hammer is a spur type and

comes down far enough there might

be hammer-bite issues for people

with very large hands using a high

grip, but I didn’t experience such

issues. The safety body actually

forms a part of the beavertail on the

frame just under the hammer and

pivots on a pin. This design seems

robust, but results in an unexpected

gap between safety and frame at the

rear of the pistol when the safety is in

the Off position.

There are only a few ways todisassemble a pistol with a barrel

permanently attached to the frame.

To disassemble the CZ 83, rst

remove the magazine and make

certain that the pistol is unloaded.

ower the safety off. Pull down on

the trigger guard until it clicks and

stays open. Retract the slide all the

way back, then lift up on the rear of

the slide. It will pivot upward, and

once it is high enough to clear the

rear of the barrel, pull the slide as-

sembly off the front of the pistol.

Once apart,

the pistol reveals

a polished feed

ramp that per-

fectly blends with

the barrel. As the

barrel is xed to

the frame, that

feeding angle will

stay the same

no matter what.

This gets part

credit for the 100

percent reliabilityI’ve experienced

with the CZ 83.

The recoil spring ts around the

barrel and is a simple single-coil

design. After removing the grips by

way of the slot-head screws, you

can see that the mainspring ts

around the hammer strut. Further

disassembly for cleaning or mainte-

nance is not recommended.

If extensive ring has been done,

CZ recommends taking apart the

magazine and ring-pin mechanism.

Removing the ring-pin assembly

should not be difcult for anyone who

has ever done the same with a 1911—

as the procedure is identical. Push in

on the ring pin with a punch until it

clears the ring-pin stop, then slide

the stop downward while covering the

end of the slide with a nger so the

ring-pin assembly doesn’t y across

the room. CZ-USA has the instruction

manual posted on its Web site, as well

as a video showing how to eld strip

the pistol if you have any trouble.

In this age of defensive auto pistols

the size of cigarette lighters cham-bered for .380 and 9mm, the thought

of purchasing (much less carrying an

all-steel .380) might seem unneces-

sary to people. While there is no

arguing that 9mm, .40 S&W and

.45 ACP are all more powerful and

effective cartridges than the .380

ACP, the fact is that if private citizens

ever need to use their legally carried

rearms, the lion’s share of those

encounters will occur at conversa-

tional distances with no intervening

barriers apart from clothing. While

it’s roughly the same size as many

WhiLE iT’S RoUghLY ThE SAME SizE AS MANY PoPULAR NiNES,

hE Cz 83 iS MUCh MoRE CoNCEALABLE.

Like the CZ 75 and DW 1911, the CZ 83 features a

thumb safety that locks the hammer to the rear.

CZ 83

TYPE: DA/SA, semiauto

CaLibEr: .32 ACP, .380 ACP

(tested)

CaPaCiTY: 12 (.380), 15 (.32)

barrEL: 3.8 in.

OVEraLL LENGTH: 6.77 in.

WEiGHT: 26.5 oz

GriPS: Black plastic

FiNiSH: Satin nickel

TriGGEr: 12 lb. DA/5 lb. SA

SiGHTS: Three dot, green

luminescent, xed (front),

drift adj. notch (rear)

The trigger guard wears checkering for those

shooters who prefer to place the support hand’sindex finger in front of the guard during firing.

Finished in blue, the controls and grip contrast well on a satin nickel-finish

CZ 83. Controls are oriented in the same ergonomic locations as most classic

semiauto pistols.



popular polymer nines,

the CZ 83 is much more

concealable. That extra

weight is certainly an

advantage over the light-

weights when it comes time

to pull the trigger.

Ammunition manufactur-

ers didn’t sit idly by while

gun companies introduced

more variations of carry pis-

tols using .380, so premium

hollow points in this caliber

are easy to nd. Moderndefensive ammunition is

far superior to what you could nd on

the shelves just 20 years ago, and the

.380 ACP JHPs of today are designed

to expand even when red out of the

ultra-short barrels of subcompacts.

Taking the CZ 83 out to the range

was fun. Not only does the xed

barrel provide great accuracy, recoil

isn’t a four-letter word. Range vol-

unteers couldn’t outrun the gun, and

we could keep all shots inside the A-zone of an IPSC target at 10 yards

as fast as we could pull the trigger.

At 15 yards the front sight would

rise up to the top of the silhouette

target under recoil, then go straight

back down to nestle in the rear sight.

Because the CZ is so at-shooting,

I was able to track the front sight

during the entire recoil impulse.

I know someone who recently

bought a CZ 83 for a female new

to shooting, and the choice makesperfect sense to me. Remember,

the ideal self-defense pistol

is not only one you have

with you, but one that you

don’t mind practicing with

and that hits hard enough

to get the job done. The

older I get, the more I real-

ize that bullet placement

is more important than

caliber. If the pistol you’re

shooting has so much

muzzle blast and recoil

that you hate to practice

with it or can’t nd yoursights after the rst shot,

it’s not serving you well. Personally,

I’d carry a .380 before I’d carry a

.357 Magnum. Even with premium

JHPs, the CZ 83 is tame. And while

a 90-grain JHP at 1,000 fps is no

magnum thunder hammer, thousands

of violent threats have been fended

off by less powerful cartridges. The

CZ 83 has good ergonomics, is very

controllable at any speed, holds 12

+1 rounds, and has an MSRP of only$444. What’s not to like?

I know someone who recently bought a cZ 83 for a female new

to shootIng, and the choIce makes perfect sense to me.

accuracy results

Bullet Weight Avg. Velocity StandardMake (gr.) (fps) Deviation Group (in.)

Black Hills FMJ 95 922 21 2.2

Cor-Bon Pow’R Ball 70 1,077 22 3.2

Hornady XTP JHP 90 981 13 1.8

Accuracy results are the averages o our fve-shot groups at 25 yards rom a sandbag rest. Velocities arethe averages o 10 shots measured with a Shooting Chrony F-1 Alpha chronograph 12 eet rom the muzzle.

While the all-steel CZ 83 is not

a pocket gun, it is a conceal-

able, light-recoiling pistol thatpoints naturally and can be had

in a choice of a blued finish or

satin nickel.

With its ejection port profile, slide serrations and exposed

extractor, the CZ 83 exhibits a relationship to the CZ75.

-.24www.cz-usa.com



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W

hether yourgame is sporting

clays, trap, skeetor the uplandelds, there is no shortagef sexy stack-barreled offer-gs, so why enter anothereauty into the pageant?“Filling a niche is what we were

ter,” says Dave Miller of CZ-USA.

There are lots and lots of good

ver/unders out there today, a fact

e ll well with our Redhead, Sport-

g and Upland models, but we saw

need to have something with some

ylish good looks, Old World class

ut at a price that still allowed guys

use it in the eld.”

Noting the amazing scrollwork

nd hand-engraved sideplates, I

oke open the gun and inserted

brace of lthy-burning Argentine

loads that substituted for real

cartridges into the chrome-lined

bores. I spied a lone dove screamingacross the milo eld, headed in our

direction. Nodding as if I were still

paying attention to Dave, I shoul-

dered the gun and pulled feathers

with the bottom barrel. The dove

went into a tailspin, rapidly uttering

to stay aloft when the top barrel

caught him and brought him down

for keeps. “Well, it shoots as good

as it looks,” I responded.

I snapped open the gun; the hulls

ejected over my shoulder, leaving

twin contrails and that oh-so-good

smell of freshly burnt powder that

not even Chanel No. 9 can compete

with. I grabbed two more cartouches

and closed the breech. The boxlock

action was smooth but tight and

promised to wear in very well.

The Wingshooter balanced remark-

ably light and easy between the

hands, and the 28-inch barrelsprovided enough muzzle weight to

aid follow-through. But those were

just the mechanical specications;

the real delight was in the ner

details. For a production-grade

gun, the Turkish walnut stocks and

Schnabel fore-end were remarkable,

and well-executed 18-lines-per-inch

checkering provided purchase as

well as a classic look. While not

needed for doves, the three-inch

chambers and interchangeable

chokes make it a gun for all seasons,

all game. Tipping the scales at just

over six pounds, the Wingshooter is

a full-size gun without being unduly

heavy or cumbersome. It straddles

the line between being light enough

to carry but not kicking like a mule.

The doves were starting to y now,

and I brought down bird after bird with

surprising regularity. As anyone who

has stood next to me on a sporting

clays course will attest, I am no ne

specimen with a scattergun. My brain

has been too-long intoned with sight

alignment, breath control and trigger

squeeze to be any more than just

passable with a shotgun, but on that

sunny day in Cordoba, Argentina, I

felt like Tom Knapp…at least until Tom

Knapp, CZ-USA pro shooter, strolled

down the eld edge to see what all the

noise was about. Handing his CZ 912

autoloader to a eld technician (they

used to be called bird boys in a less

PC era), Tom turned to me and said

in his characteristic booming voice,

“Mind if I give that a try?”

Even though I knew he was going

to make my feeble attempts at wing

shooting look like I was an amateur,

I begrudgingly handed over the

gun. The rst dove dropped without

a twitch; the second unlucky pairdropped out of the sky in unison.

After that, the puffs of feathers

blended into each other, with Tom

and Dave (who is Master-class and

a good trick shot in his own right)

taking turns with the Wingshooter,

making the sky rain feathers. When

because even if I can’t ever shoot

like a master, at least I can look

good missing.

straight shooting

wasn’t a challenge

anymore, the duo

turned to off the

shoulder, then one-

handed, then over

the head and nally

from the hip. Their

miss percentagedidn’t leave the single

digits. I made a reso-

lution then and there

to either get better

with a shotgun or start shooting with

worse shots. No matter what I do, I’ll

likely bring the Wingshooter along

Meet FntinBy MIKE SCHOBY

A NEW CZ STACK ETS A DOUBE-SIZE WORKOUTN ARENTINA.

CZ WINSHOOTER

he Wingshooter is a full-size gun

ithout being unduly heavy or

umbersome. It straddles the line

etween being light enough to carryut not kicking like a mule.

cz wingshooter

TYPE: Over/under

GAUGE: 12, 3 in. CAPACITY: 2 BArrEl: 28 in.

OvErAll lEnGTh: 45.5 in. WEIGhT: 7.3 lb.

STOCk: Turkish walnut

FInISh: Blued TrIGGEr: Selectable SIGhTS: Brass bead

6 cz-usa.coM

style,

Triple River Gunsmithing are custom gun makers and professional gunsmiths

for over 20 years located in the heart of Ozarks in Warsaw, MO

619 Commercial St. Warsaw, MO 65355 • phone: 660. 438. 2004 • website: www.tripleriver.net • email: [email protected]

Triple River have offered their services as custom gun makers and

professional gunsmiths for 30 years. Located in the heart of the

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Whether you are looking to repair your grandfather’s gun or if

you want to have a custom gun built from scratch, we are here to

satisfy your needs and desires. We take pride in every firearm that we

have the privilege to work on.

Triple River offers general gun repair, rebluing, restocking,refinishing as well as sales for firearms of all makes and models. We

specialize in rebarreling, restocking and customizing CZ and Brno

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firearms of all makes and models. Triple River is the only CZ-USA

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Triple River is a federally licensed firearms manufacturer and

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services, and when complete, can be shipped directly back to you with

no additional paperwork required. Our shop is open 6 days a week,

Monday - Friday from 8am - 4pm Saturday from 8am - noon.



-. 29

Nyati

Over the last 10 years I have

come to rely upon the CZ 550 Saari

Magnum rifes as my choice or

Cape bualo and other danger-

ous game. In that time I have

taken our bualo and a slew o

plains game with these rifes,

and my lie has oten de-

pended upon them. Rugged,

reliable and deadly accurate,

the CZ 550 Saari Magnum

is the choice o most Arican

proessional hunters, and I

have learned through hands-on

experience why this is the case.

WHAT MAKES A BUFFALO RIFLE?

First and oremost and without

exception, a bualo rife has to

re every time you pull the trigger.

Selecting a rife or dangerous gameis the same as selecting a handgun

or sel-deense. Reliability must be

your primary concern, and your nal

selection must be rendered dispas-

sionately and without compromise.

Second, a proper bualo rife must

eed, extract and eject without a hint

o sticking or jamming. Third, the rife

needs to be rugged enough to stand

up to the rough use it will receive.

Make no mistake—properly

hunting bualo is a very physical

activity. At rst light you’ll be riding

along the two-tracks, cutting the

blocks in search o resh sign. When

it is ound, the oot chase begins,

and you’ll be dragging your rife or

hours as you ollow the trackers

through dense thorn thickets and

jesse. You’ll belly-crawl across

sand-lled dongas, clamber up and

over termite mounds and in some

cases wade through waist-deep

estuaries and marshes. Count on

the act that your rife will take a

beating, to say nothing o yoursel.

Finally, which may surprise some,

the rife needs to be accurate, and

by that I mean capable o put-

ting one bullet atop the other at a

distance o 50 yards.

THE SAFARI MAGNUM

The CZ 550 Saari Magnum is otenreerred to as a Mauser 98 clone.

It’s true to some extent, but the real

story is that the CZ 550 action is an

improvement over the century-old

Mauser design.

Such new eatures include a

heavier ring pin with a unique

locking nut that retains the powerul

coil mainspring on the ring pin.

Also, the weight o the ring pin

combined with the coil spring deliv-

ers both ast lock time and reliable

ignition o even the hardest primers.

O all the animals I have hunted around the world, noneres my blood as does the Cape bualo. Were I able,I would ceaselessly hunt nyati until I grew sick othe pursuit. Then I would concern mysel with other

matters and interests, all the while realizing that eventually the

bualo madness would return and my lust or the chase wouldsend me back into the bush, ollowing their spoor.

B Kevin e. Steele

AFRICA’S ‘BAC DAT’ DMADS A RIFYO CA DD O.

CZ 550 SAFARI MAM

8 -.www.cz-usa.com www.cz-usa.com



0 -.www.cz-usa.com

-. 31www.cz-usa.com

Additionally, the CZ 550 has a more

bust bolt stop and xed ejector.

otable as well is the ejector groove,

hich is cut through the bottom o

e undercut bolt head rather than

rough the locking lug as on the

iginal Mauser. The 550 undercut

olt ace helps prevent double-

ading, as can happen with a ully re-

essed bolt ace on a Mauser. Finally,

e CZ uses a ore-end screw that

ates to a dovetail block inset into

e underside o the barrel. This cre-

es a third point o contact with the

ock in addition to the normal ore

nd at guard screws. All combine in

rife that‘s brutally tough.

I have ound as well that the CZ

ammer-orged barrels are consis-ntly accurate—whether it’s a rimre

a magnum. The single-set trigger

reliable and easily adjustable. In

e “un-set” mode, they break cleanly

around three to our pounds o

essure, which is perect or a

angerous-game rife. Setting the

gger at the range helps the shooter

etermine the utmost accuracy

otential that the rife is capable o.

o other manuacturer o produc-

on rifes oers such great range

calibers or dangerous game as

CZ. The Saari Magnums can be

had in .375 &, .404 Jeery, .416

Remington, .416 Rigby, .450 Rigby,

.458 Winchester, .458 ott, .500

Jeery and .505 ibbs.

HUNTING NYATI

aving settled the issue o which rife

to take on a bualo hunt, let’s take a

look at actually hunting Cape bualo.

First and oremost, remember

that the key to killing bualo is this:

ever shoot until you are absolutely

certain o where your bullet is going

to hit, and as Robert Ruark correctly

stated, use enough gun.

This may come as a shock, but

based on my personal experience

the .375 & cartridge does not

make an ideal bualo or elephant

rife. I have taken bualo with the

.375 and witnessed other hunters

take a hal dozen more in my pres-

ence. All the bualo died, but none

dropped to the rst shot. When I take

the shot, I want the bualo down and

unable to get back up. Finishers are

cheap insurance, but a ollow-up

on a wounded bull never gi ves you

better than 50/50 odds that things

may end in tragedy.

A much better choice or bu and

elephant begins with the .404 Jeery

and one o either the .416 Remington

or Rigby. My personal choice hasbecome the .458 ott, a round that

has proven itsel to amateur and

proessional hunters in the decade

ollowing its commercial introduc-

tion. In act, I was the rst to take a

bualo with the commercially loaded

ott in 2001, and it has not l et me

down since.

The rst step in putting down a

bu with one shot is to get close—

and then get closer. Fity yards is

ideal, and 25 is even better. Following

years o conversation with other

hunters and experienced s, it ap-

pears to me that most bualo horror

stories begin with the hunter either

botching his rst shot or not having a

thorough understanding o the Cape

bualo’s anatomy rom all angles.

Rest assured that a heart/lung shot

will indeed kill a bualo, but it takes

time to happen. Within that time, you

have given that bu the opportunity

to charge, should he desire to die in

that manner.

When the time comes to pull the

trigger on a bualo, I always adviseto orego the classic heart-lung shot

and aim or the high shoulder, the

result o which is broken shoulders or

a shattered spine, both o which will

anchor that bu to the ground.

With all that said and digested,

though, remember clearly

that despite all your experi-

ence, knowledge, skill and

best intentions, things can

still go righteningly wrong.

ot all dangerous encoun-

ters result rom a charge o

a wounded bualo. ere

are a ew tales rom the

dark side.

TALES TO BE TOLD

Our group had picked up

the trail o a good-size herd

that was moving quickly

toward an area o heavy

cover. They were lookingor an aternoon nap. Ater

awhile, our realized that

the bu would get to the

thick stu beore we were

able to catch up to them.

nowing that sorting a bull

out o the herd once they

reached sanctuary would be

impossible, he came up with

an alternative plan.

We halted in a spot with a

air degree o open grass-

land spotted about with

trees. The then sent a tracker

out to the fank and told him to run

upwind o the herd. It was his hope

that the scent o the tracker co ming

back to them on the breeze would

send the herd back our way in their

retreat. Ideally, we would be able

to watch them as they passed and

hopeully pick out a good bull on theedge o the herd.

Things don’t always go the way

you plan. The tracker did his job, and

as his scent wated to the bualo,

they abruptly turned and stampeded

back along their trail. The rumbling

hooves o the oncoming bualo lled

our ears and rose to a mighty cre-

scendo as they rapidly covered the

300 yards between us. A rising cloud

o dust appeared to our ront, and

we suddenly realized that instead o

passing to our fank, the herd was

headed in our direction.

Catching sight o the leading

element in the herd, our shouted

or my wie and the trackers to get

behind some trees to our rear, while

he and I aced down the stamped-

ing bualo.The then began shouting at the

oncoming bualo while he jumped

up and down, waving his hat above

his head. I immediately ollowed

his example, all the while doubting

his sanity, not to mention my own.

Incredibly, the leading bu-

alo stopped not 20 yards

in ront o us, as we jumped

around like lunatics. The

bualo to the rear o the

ront element rammed into

those ahead, nudging them

closer toward us.

As the bualo stopped

in a lurch, we snapped our

rifes to our shoulders and

covered those animals

closest to us, the muzzles o

our guns swaying back and

orth across the snorting

phalanx as we searched

their eyes, hoping see a clueas to their next i ntentions.

That’s what we watched—

their eyes.

The stando lasted only

seconds, but it seemed ar

longer. Abruptly, the herd

turned to our let and bolted

o, a mass o surging black

bodies amid swirling dust

as they gave us a berth o

mere yards. As the herd

thundered by, we never did

see a good bull.

Rugged, ReliaBle and deadly accuRate, the cZ 550 SafaRi MagnuMS

Re the choice of MoSt afRican pRofeSSional hunteRS.

nce fresh spoor is found, the hunters dismount, make

plan and begin the follow-up.

Trackers carry a hindquarter of buffalo after a successful

hunt, as the PH leads the queue and the hunters follow.

This bull fell to the author’s 550 Safari magnum in .458

Lott. The rifle is topped with an Aimpoint dot sight.



2 -.www.cz-usa.com

-. 33www.cz-usa.com

Another dangerous situation that

ne can encounter when in pursuit

bualo is to run into an animal that

as been previously wounded either

y a poacher’s bullet or snare. While

have not personally run aoul o an

jured bualo, I did once ace down

young elephant bull in a sandy

onga whose trunk had been almost

ompletely severed by a snare.

uckily, despite the act that he

ppeared within 40 yards o us and

ould dimly see us, the wind was

our avor, allowing us the chance

move quickly up a slope and out

his path. I am pretty certa in that

the wind had identied our party

s human to the elephant, he would

ave charged those he believed to

e responsible or his serious injury.nortunately, the same cannot be

aid or a couple o riends o mine on

eir rst bualo hunt with me. T hey

ere ollowing the track o a group o

agga boys when at last they caught

ght o the bulls. The raised his

nos or a better look and noticed

at the largest bull had a bloody,

uppurating wound on his shoulder.

e was unaware that a wounded bull

as in the area, and as the bull was

so a good trophy, he instructed one

my riends to take him.

The rst shot was not a good one,

and upon impact, rather than r etreat-

ing, the enraged bull immediately

charged the three hunters. All three

commenced ring at the bualo, and

thankully, six rounds later, it col-

lapsed at their eet.

Then there are the tales o the “bu-

alo that won’t die.” This happened to

my riend ermann, who was on his

second bualo saari with me. e and

his had been tracking a small herd

that contained a ne old bull. They

closed within 50 yards o the animal,

and ermann red his .416 Reming-

ton, placing the bullet squarely in the

heart and lung kill zone. As the area in

which they had ound the bualo was

airly open, ermann was able to put

two more rounds into the bull, the lastbreaking his shoulders and knocking

him down.

Despite the bull absorbing 1,200

grains o lead, resulting in broken

shoulders along with other internal

injuries, he attempted to stand. er-

mann had quickly reloaded, and as

the bull tried to rise, he rapidly red

three more rounds into the struggling

animal. The bu attempted yet again

to regain its eet, and two additional

rounds rom the ’s .416 Rigby

nally settled the issue.

Add it up. That bull had absorbed

a total o 3,200 grains o medicine,

nearly a hal pound, beore dying.

Still and all, the absolute thrill

o bualo hunting comes rom the

ever-present possibility that things

can go wrong. The closer you are to

the bualo, the greater the danger,

and therein lies the adrenaline rush

so much sought ater by purists in

the pursuit o nyati.

I know many men who have killed

their bu at what I consider to be

long range—more than 50 yards.

To my mind, these olks have totally

missed the point o bualo hunting,

which is to get as close as possible

so that you can hear their bellies

rumble and inhale the musky cattle

scent through your nostrils. The thrillis incredible.

I the wind is right and you are

very quiet and unmoving, you will be

astounded at how close you can get

to a bualo—or how close a bualo

might get to you. Case in point:

The Zambezi Valley had suered

a drought, and the country was dry

and brittle. We had been ollow-

ing bualo spoor since rst light,

and on toward noontime we ound

ourselves headed up the slope o a

small rise. The ground was parched

and gravelly, with sparse tuts o

brown grass shooting up here and

there amid shattered mopani trees

whose tops had been lopped o by

eeding elephant. ot and thirsty,

my mind had begun to wander, and

I ound mysel dreamily gazing up

at the stunningly blue sky and its

merciless sun. I was suddenly torn

rom my reverie by my , who had

dropped to his knees and was pull-

ing me down toward him.

“Quiet! Don’t move!” he hissed.

ess than 25 yards in ront o us, asmall herd o bualo were shufing

down the slope, themselves seem-

ingly burdened by the oppressive

heat o the late-morning sun. They

were spread over a 50-yard ront,

but I realized with a start that a cow

and her cal were walking

directly toward us.

She continued straight

on. I could easily make out

the snot running rom her

broad nose and her wide

horns, the tips o which were

as sharp as the talons o an

eagle. I shuddered involun-

tarily as I realized that one

swipe o her headgear could

fay me rom belly to brisket.

With nothing to conceal us

but the thin veil o branches

extending rom the thorn

bush behind which we hid,

my hands tightened aroundmy CZ 550 as we could only

hold our breath and pray she

didn’t register our presence.

I can still vividly recall her

head swaying rom side to

side as she ambled past

not 12 eet rom our hiding

place, ollowed placidly by

her cal.

We waited or them to

move on a good distance

beore we stood. I readily

admit I was shaking a bit,

like you do when closely avoiding

a wreck. I suppose that’s a good

analogy because i she had seen or

heard us, or caught our scent, we

would have been in a wreck or sure.

That said, however, I would never

trade that experience or anything,

and it’s a perect example o why Iwould rather hunt bualo than any

other game.

I suppose that one reason bu-

alo hunting remains so intoxicating

or me is that when hunting these

animals, you never have an idea o

what to expect. The unknown is a

compelling reason to continue the

chase. Anything can happen when

hunting; simple mistakes, poor

marksmanship, a shit in the wind or

just bad luck will put you in harm’s

way. Indeed, it is the danger that

makes bualo hunting so addictive.

My best trophy to date resulted in

the hunt o a large foodplain along

the banks o the Zambezi. apyrus

reeds towered tall, their fuy tops

gently swaying in the early-morning

breeze. Between them lay grassyplots struggling to survive in the

deep, sandy soil. Jungle-like growths

o trees resided along still, stagnant

ponds and inlets o water, the a ter-

math o a heavy rainy season.

We spotted a good-size herd o

bualo oraging amid the

reeds and took up their

track. Testing the wind with

his ash bag, my got us

positioned atop an anthill so

we could watch the herd as

it ed just beyond us. nable

to pick out a good bull, we

descended and very slowly

and careully moved closer

to the herd.

Bualo bellows, grunts

and the bleating o calves

lled our ears as we crept

into position or a better

view. My blood was up as

we were doing what I love—getting right into the herd,

as close as possible. The

bualo were milling about

in ront o us, crossing rom

let to right and back again

in a never-ending stream.

The earthy odor o cattle

dung and the strong am-

monia smell o urine lled

our nostrils.

Doubled over, we crept

even closer. Suddenly, a

group o cows and young

My Blood waS up aS we weRe doing what i love —

getting Right into the heRd, aS cloSe aS poSSiBle.

ore than a dozen buffalo hunts have taught the author

at express sights or an optical dot are preferable to

variable scope when hunting nyati in the thick stuff.

Loading a bull buffalo into the Cruiser is no small task;

loading two is a Herculean effort!

The author’s biggest bull to date measured nearly

44-inches. A single 500-grain solid from the Lott put

him down for the count.



4 -.www.cz-usa.com

-. 35www.cz-usa.com

ulls picked up their heads and

oked straight into our eyes. We

ere busted.

The bualo retreated and we

llowed. They crossed through a

ooded area with Daryl and me

n their heels. The earth ended at

bank below, which stretched a

oad and deep estuary lled with

apyrus. As we reached the edge,

e watched in amazement as the

ntire herd swam away rom us and

to the reeds, their bodies plowing

rough the black water like bovine

ggernauts. One o the last animals

reach a dry hummock amid the

eds was an old bull. e stopped

nd turned to look at us over hishoulder. is action seemed a dare.

Catch us i you can.”

Truth be told, we could not, as

ere was no manner o convey-

nce to see us across the water and

to the reeds. Wading or swimming

as out o the question, as monsto-

us crocodiles called this morass

ome. unch struck us as a better

ternative.

As we rested beneath the thatched

o o the outdoor dining room at

asau Camp, we received a radio

t’S a ShaMe, But adding the Big five to youR tRophy RooM

oday will coSt alMoSt aS Much aS the houSe itSelf.

call rom Buzz Charlton, who

was chaperoning a group o Spanish

hunters. e reported seeing a group

o three dagga boys not ar rom

camp. Two o the three appeared to

be quite good. My sent two o his

trackers out to the location to “put

them to bed,” and we intended to

pick them up later in the aternoon.

As I rested in my bed I could

hear the water o the Zambezi as

it gently lapped the shore outside

my chalet. The tranquil sound lulled

me to sleep, but not or long—there

was a knock at my door. I looked at

my watch and saw it was 3 o’clock.

athering up my gear, I walked the

short distance to where the andCruiser was parked, and climbing up

into the high seat, we took o.

The sun was still high as the truck

ground its way along the sandy

tracks to an area o tall grass and

stunted trees. We met the trackers

who had been sent out earlier to

locate the bualo, and they reported

that the animals were about a hal

mile away bedded beneath some

trees. My and I chambered

rounds into our rifes and quickly

ollowed the trackers’ lead.

ot long ater leaving the road,

we came across an old lion kill.

Four hooves detached rom their

legs were the last vestiges o what

was once a bualo cal. Continuing

on, we reached our destination

about a hundred yards rom the

bedded bualo. The called a

short conerence.

“evin, you come with me, and

we’ll get as close as we can without

spooking them. We’ll try to sort out

the best bull, and when they get up

rom their nap, you can take him,”

he said.

“Roger that,” I replied, as we

began our stalk toward the sleeping

beasts.We advanced one oot at a time. I

careully made certain to step exactly

where the had ooted, avoiding

the cloying thorns and careully side-

stepping dry twigs and branches.

The wind was perect, blowing in our

aces away rom the slumbering bu-

alo, and we nally stopped behind

a small bush no more than 25 yards

rom where the bualo lay.

eering intently through our binocu-

lars, we could only conrm that there

were three bualo under the tree, but

try as we might, we could not make

out any o their headgear. early an

hour ticked by as we waited or the

bualo to rise. At last, they did.

I was on the sticks, but I still could

not make out the horns beneath the

shadowed tangle o tree branches

obscuring my view. The wind shited,

bringing our scent to their nostrils,

and in a rush, they made o.

The sun got lower and lower in the

sky, and the shadows lengthened

as we ollowed behind the bualo.

Making our way rom cover to cover,we tracked them to a place where

several big trees gave them cover.

They knew we were on their back-

trail, and we hoped that as the light

waned the bualo would

grow less careul, as they

are known to do, and wished

or an opportunity or a shot

beore last light.

Moving closer to the trees

behind which the bualo had

taken sanctuary, we were

rewarded when one bull

stepped clear o the protec-

tion o the oliage and turned

to look right at us just 50

yards away.

The bull’s horns were long

and sweeping, then turn-

ing up to pointed tips. is

boss was ull and craggy. I

slapped the ore-end o my

CZ .458 ott into the orko the shooting sticks I had

been carrying and squinted

through the express sights,

settling the big ivory bead on

the bull’s shoulder.

I was just about to drop

the hammer when rom

the let came another o

the three bulls. This one

seemed to dwar the rst.

I shited my sights to this

bull, and holding just below

his sweep o horn I pressed

the trigger just as I heard the say,

“Take the one on the let.”

When the bullet reached the bull,

he dropped dead in his tracks.

“I was a bit ahead o you there,” I

said to the as I cranked another

round into the chamber. The other

two bulls quickly moved o, and asthey did the said, “Yeah, that rst

one was good, but when the other

one came out rom behind the tree, I

thought, Wow, he’s even better.”

“Well, looks like everything worked

out just ne,” I said.

“That was a great shot. e never

moved,” the replied.

ight was alling rapidly as it is

wont to do in Arica as we moved

orward to inspect my bualo. This

bull had it all: long, deeply curved

horns and a heavy boss. The tape

later put him at 43 ½ inches, making

him my biggest bull to date. The

shot had hit at point o aim, cleanly

breaking his neck. The CZ 550

Saari Magnum in .458 ott hadchalked up another one-shot stop.

I’ve come to believe that any bua-

lo, o either sex, hunted at close range

and taken airly, is an experience you

will never orget. Trophy qual-

ity is indeed secondary to the

experience or the dedicated

bualo hunter. I have ound

that my hunts or the smallest

and biggest were equally

thrilling and rewarding, as

is accompanying another

hunter on his stalks and kills.

With bualo, the hunt itsel

is where you will nd your

greatest satisaction. The kill

means your magical time in

the bush is over.

Many o us lucky enough

to go on Arican saari will be

unable to aord taking the

classic Big Five o elephant,

bualo, rhino, lion and leop-ard. It’s a shame, but adding

the Big Five to a trophy room

today will cost as much as

the house itsel. But bu-

alo are plentiul enough and

economical enough or the

great majority o hunters to

pursue, and they will remain

so or quite some time. It is

or this reason, that the Cape

bualo is the most hunted

and coveted dangerous

game in Arica.

he mighty Zambezi flows toward the Indian Ocean

ust east of the Mopata Gorge.

A small herd of buffalo, including a very good bull,

retreats across a lily-covered estuary of the Zambezi.

This old cow, taken for camp meat with a .375 H&H CZ -

550, sported horns with a forty-inch spread.



The Speilist

The Specialist is your basic full-sized

1911 with a Picatinny rail for a dustcover—

except little is basic about it. First, the

slide, frame and barrel have a level of

tting that’s only seen pistols hand tted

by wise ‘smiths long in their years. Dan

Wesson gunsmiths are more than skilled

craftsmen, they’re obviously shooters.

During my inspection, I can see the hours

spent ling little-by-little before lapping

and checking t. These 1911s pass the

most critical scrutiny. Having spent many

years working as a gunsmith (and a lot of

that time spent on 1911s), when someone

hands me a pistol, the second thing I do

(after checking to make sure that it isn’t

loaded) is to check the t. Yes, the feel

of the slide on the frame, and the t of

the barrel as it locks up, sure. But there’s

more to it than just that. What does theslide sound like, moving on the frame?

Can you hear the toolmarks chattering

over each other? Or is it a smooth, almost

sinuous hiss as polished steel slides over

polished steel?

When the slide collects the barrel, links

up and closes, does it sound like a collec-

tion of parts brought together? Or is there

a click-click-click like purpose to each

movement? Solidly- tted parts ring when

they are closed with more than a gentle

nudge. Many snick, some even sing.

While the near-musical note of the clos-

ing differs from gun to gun, the similarity

between well-tted 1911s is this: they

almost all ring like a bell when you l et them

close. Not so close to full slide-lock, that’s

just abuse. But to let the slide close from

halfway, you can tell a lot about a tting by

the sound of the “snick” as it shuts.

The Dan Wesson Specialist I’ve just

evaluated has such a positive, assertive

closing sound that I actually stood there

The Dan Wesson line of 1911s, built under the ownership ofCZ-USA, have always been exceptional. As a ready-to-go,out of the box 1911, they have always surprised the marketas a great value delivering custom features, the highest

accuracy, and the best reliability. You could buy something with

a longer spec sheet or higher price, however, you couldn’t pos-sibly get as much in return. The Dan Wesson lineup has now beenchanged, and the results are impressive.

B Parick Sweeney I Pts b Sean ULey

N THE HOME OR ON THE STREET, THIS .45 IS POISED

TO PROTECT AND SERvE.

DW SPECIAIST

6 c-Sa.cwww.z-us.om www.z-us.om

Betwee te set of tctc ede t

sts us Ck-stye seted b

coss te top of te sde desed to

emte e.

37c-Sa.c

Dan Wesson specialist

TYPE: Single action, recoil operatedsemiauto

CaliBEr: .45 ACPCaPaCiTY: 8+1

BarrEl: 5 in.OvErall lEngTh: 8.5 in.

WEighT: 2.31 in.griPS: G10

FiniSh: Matte black DutyTriggEr: Aluminum, 4 lb.

SighTS: 3-Dot, ledge-style,tritium-lled



8 c-Sa.cwww.z-us.om

r a few seconds and just opened

nd closed it to soak in the sound. It

as that interesting—and promising.

Once I was over that, I scanned

e features. The top of the slide has

ghts in transverse dovetails, with

e rear sight utilizing a tactical ledge

allow “belt-” or “boot-racking.”

his is a technique developed (as

est I can determine) by the os An-

eles Police Department. If you need

one-handed rack your slide, hook

e sight on your belt, holster, or sole

the boot and shove it out and awayom yourself. The usual ramped

ar sight does not allow this. Dan

esson took a large combat sight

nd carved the face to produce this

op-ridge. A belt or holster will catch

e rear sight, and you can rack the

de that way. Plus, the sights have

ght-sight tritium inserts, one dot

ver the other, in Heinie’s Straight

Eight pattern. ine the dots up, gure

“8”, and your sights are aligned in the

dark. It’s very intuitive.

The top of the slide is also ser-

rated, with lateral grooves down

the rib. I took one look at that, and

estimated it would take a stful of

hundred-dollar bills to duplicate it in

the hands of a custom 1911 pistol-

smith. Consider the savings a gift

from Dan Wesson.

On the frame, there is an integral

accessory rail machined into the

dustcover. The slide stop pin isrecessed, and its hole in the frame

beveled. Some take the beveling of

that hole too far, cutting an edge that

is too angled and deep. The Specialist

has the bevel cut at a shallow angle,

and just deep enough to make it so

that it’s easy to disassemble, but not

so much it removes a large part of

the barrel lug and frame integrity. The

ush-trimmed slide stop pin is now

out of the way of your trigger nger

when your nger is outside of the

trigger guard. You do not risk pushing

the slide stop out of the frame, and yet

it can still be disassembled.

The safety is ambidextrous. It clicks

up and down with the correct amount

of authority, and stays where set it.

The grip safety appears to be from

Ed Brown, and probably is. It’s easier

to simply purchase forged grip safe-

ties from Ed Brown than to try and

machine them oneself. In any case,

it’s the highest grip safety you can

get on a 1911, and it puts your hand

as high behind the gun as is possible.

Inside the frame is a scalloped com-

mander hammer, and combined withthe tted, match aluminum trigger,

the drawstroke of the trigger is clean,

crisp and purposeful.

The frame features a at main-

spring housing. ong ago, I gave up

trying to gure out which type shoots

better for me—at or arched. I sup-

pose were I vying with the top dogs

for the Single Stack Championship of

the universe, it would matter, but I’m

not. I can pass any qual course, and

beat most anyone I compete against.

So, at it is.

The mainspring housing is check-

ered, and at 25 lines to the inch,

matches the checkering on the front-

strap. The checkering is straight and

even, and the individual diamonds

are square and sharp.

The (very) tactile grips are G10, a

synthetic selected for its impervios-

ity—to everything. It’s immune to

things that would discourage or even

kill you; solvents, lubricants, radiation

and high-voltage electrical current.

These grips will never chip, fade,

discolor or break. The surface ismachined with an interesting pattern.

Rather than a traditional checkered

pattern, the surface of the grips are

machined (that’s the only way you

can form G10, without incurring

hideous expense).

The front of each grip panel

is machined with overlapping

circular depressions to lock

your ngertips in place until you

relieve pressure. The rear half

is machined with grooves that

slant down, front to back, and

resist the torquing forces of rota-

tion in recoil. Short of slathering

glue onto your hand or pistol, I’m

not sure there’s a way to ensure

a more secure hold.

Finally, there’s the magazine well. It

has a funnel around it, which bolts tothe mainspring housing by means of

an industrial-type Allen-head screw,

and recessed into the funnel at the

rear. The funnel is shaped to match

the contour of the grip panels, and

the funnel’s magwell bevels line up

with the frame as if they were cut

from the same piece of barstock. I

have always been leery of the bolt-onfunnels, and those of my 1911s that

have them, the bolt is locked in place

with a generous amount of octite.

Details are fun, and a well-tted

pistol is always appreciated. How-

ever, shooting is what matters.

om te te to te mme, eey coto wes setos. a scop cut

mde to te eft g10 p pe podes ese ccess to te mze eese.

DUring my inSPecion, i can See he hoUrS SPen fiLing LiLe-

By-LiLe Before LaPPing anD checking fi.

Te Specst fetues D Wessomtc be cmbeed .45 aCP.

Just ke ote D Wesso 1911s, ts

oe s cose-toece ft wt ts

be bus.

a twet Commde mme s

potected by te beet p sfety.

Te Specst so comes wt mb-

dextous tumb sfety.

c-Sa.c 39www.z-us.om


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cz-usa-2012-buyers-guide 24/4540 -.

www.cz-usa.com

I didn’t get to spend as much time

evaluating the Specialist as much

as I would have liked. Short time?

Absolutely, you see, the Specialist Ihad is the rst, and until a few days

after I had to return it, it was the

only nished specimen of the Dan

Wesson model extant.

The trigger is clean and crisp, and

encourages accurate shooting. The

grip safety puts the frame deep in

my hand, and recoil was eaten up

by the added weight in the dust-

cover rail. That small, extra weight

below the boreline and forward

of the hands aids recoil control,

while the aggressive grips keep the

Specialist locked into my hands.

The precisely-tted barrel delivers

the goods accurately downrange.

It has been a long time since

anyone realistically tested a brand-

new 1911, looking to discover just

how reliable or unreliable it might

be. A modern 1911 is reliable.

Customers expect it and Dan

Wesson delivers. I did not an-ticipate, nor did I experience,

any malfunctions while shooting the

Specialist. It fed everything, and

shot slightly to the right of point-of-

aim. If I were permitted to performa long term test, I’d have to slightly

adjust the sights to hit point of aim

for me. Groups? We’re talking about

a one-hole gun. It groups very well.

As a daily carry gun, you are in

for work with the

Specialist. There

is a reason Dan

Wesson also

offers Command-

er and Ofcer’s-

sized models.

They are still more

popular for carry.

As a duty gun for a law enforcement

ofcer allowed to carry a personal

purchase, all you need is to couple

the Specialist with a compact light,put it inside one of the many duty

holsters available for this type of 1911,

and you’re set for anything you’d ever

expect to cover during your shift—

and a few things you wouldn’t.

We’re talking about a one-hole gun.

it groups very Well.

The rough texture G10 slabs, 25 lpi

frontstrap and flat checkered main-

spring housing blend together for a

sure grip. The serrated Ledge sights

carry a vile of tritium in forming the

Straight 8, low-light sighting system.

The Specialist features a

deep funnel for the magazine

well, helping make reloads

quick and intuitive. The

Specialist frame offers an

integral Picatinny rail with

three notches to accept mostcurrent pistol accessories.



Recently, I caught upwith Tom Knapp,CZ-USA exhibition

shooter, along the edge of agrain eld outside of Cor-

doba, Argentina. We werethere to work…if you cancall testing the new CZ 912autoloader and Wingshooterover/under shotguns “work.”Between urries of birds,bandaging ngers, chug-ging water and reloadingshotguns, I interviewedKnapp about shooting,guns, professional life andwhat he does for fun when

not shooting. Mike Schoby: What got you inter-

ested in shooting?

Tom Knapp: Like so many other

kids, I was brought into it through

my family, both in the form of hunting

and recreational shooting.

MS: What are your favorite rearms?

TK: That is a tough one to answer. I

mean, regardless if it is a rie, pistol

or shotgun, if it goes bang, I like it.

I am enjoying shooting the CZ 712

and 912 autoloaders, but since I

grew up shooting Winchester

Model 12s I still have a soft

spot for them today.

MS: How much do you

shoot in a given year?

TK: I shoot around

40,000 12-gauge

shotshells a year

and countless

rimre car-

tridges.

MS: How can someone get started

as an exhibition shooter?

TK: Making difcult shots is a small

part of exhibition shooting. If anyone

is going to succeed, he must have

public relations and communicationsskills rst and foremost. Knowing

how to market and promote goes

a long way, and there is always

the need for some showmanship. I

caution young shooters to be careful

what they wish for. If they succeed

to go the full gamut, they will need to

forfeit their personal desire for family

and friends. Most family lifestyles

will not support the exhibition style

of life.

MS: How much practice does it taketo become good?

TK: The amount of practice involved

with exhibition shooting is based

on muscle memory. If you can’t do

everything within your show script

in your sleep, you have not had

enough practice. If your live-show

schedule contains 100 live shows

for that year, that would be enough

practice in its own. My practice

contains more gun handling and

loading techniques, keeping

emphasis on safety and muzzle

direction than shooting.

MS: What is your favorite trick shot?

TK: My favorite shot is based on

consistency and the difculty level.

This would be my balloon routine,where I have four balloons on the

ground and launch two clays in the

air. I shoot one of the clays, then

come down and shoot each balloon

with an individual shot, then nd the

falling clay and shoot that before it

hits the ground.

MS: Lots of shooters and hunters

idolize you. Do you have any shoot-

ing idols?

TK: I saw Herb Parsons on a TV

show in 1959. I was nine years old.This special display of marksman-

ship stuck in my mind from then

on. I never got the chance to meet

or watch Herb live, but the idea

of making a living with a gun (the

correct way) stayed in the back of

my mind until it became reality. That

same lm has been preserved on

DVD, which you

can purchase at

showmanshooter.

com.

MS: Final question:

When you eat, sleep and

breathe shooting, what do

you do for fun?

TK: Fish. I’m from Minnesota.

Besides shooting and hunt-

ing, the next most important

thing to a Minnesotan is

spending time with family and

friends out on a lake, winter

or summer.

T Kpp

Tom Knapp

Interviewwith

B Mike SchoBy

BHID TH TICKS F A WLDCLASS HIBITI SHT.

-. 41www.cz-usa.com



CZ-USA has been importing the 527for some time now. It’s a scaled-down

Mauser action that’s fed by a magazine

of ve rounds. In the case of the 527

Varmint, those rounds should be of a suit-

able varmint load in ei ther .17 Remington,

.22 Hornet, .222 Remington, .221 Fireball,

.204 Ruger or .223 Remington. (Not

interchangeably, of course.)

Once you’ve selected the chamber-

ing, you have a rie that’s a lightweight.

Depending on options, it will check in

between six and seven and a half pounds.

It’s an ultra-reliable varmint rie, and one

you can easily mount a scope on.

Until now, you had to pick from a

few attractive—but not exactly varmint

shooting—functional stock designs. The

originals are the European-style stocks,

such as are on the Lux and FS. European

hunting is usually either driven game,

offhand at moving critters, or from stands.

The idea of lying down on the ground,

and consuming a carton of ammunitionin a day’s time while shooting rats would

puzzle the average European hunter.

And so, the stocks are meant for offhand

shooting. No more.

At a recent industry gathering, Jason

Morton of CZ-USA revealed a new 527

Varmint set in a varmint stock. My rst

thought was that it was a pro ne stock—

not a stock intended for varmint shooting.

ENTER THE 527

The 527 Varmint features a stock with

a pistol grip turned sharply downward.

This gets the right hand in the properposition for shooting prone. The comb is

higher, straighter and the front end of it

comes much more forward than one on

an offhand stock. The high comb gets

your head correctly located behind the

scope, and its extended prole allows

the shooter to establish optimal eye

relief. I crawl up on a stock like no-one

else, so a long shelf at the front of the

comb is extremely important.

The forearm has two raised panels;

one on each side with a at bottom.

The raised portions provide a secure

hold if you are the type of shooter who

prefers a hand-held support position.

For those who shoot off a front rest,

resting the weight of the rie on the at

fore-end helps to keep the rie upright

and stable. If you prefer to shoot from a

bipod, the 527 Varmint has a pair of sling

swivel studs up front, one for a carr y

sling, and another that can be used with

a bipod adapter to give the rie a set oflegs to lean into.

The magazine is an all-steel, single-feed

box magazine.

The scope ring and mount system is

proprietary to CZ. Generally, I’m not given

to clamp-on ring-and-base systems.

Most are fragile, and fabricated just to

meet a price point. They just don’t provide

the assuredness that I usually get with a

robustly-engineered set. Not so with rings

from CZ-USA. The rings are machined

from steel, and the clamping surface is

engineered directly in the receiver rings of

To hose a ‘dog town, you need the right gear. The chieftool remains an accurate, reliable rie, one that willkeep working no matter how many rounds you sendthrough the barrel.

Anti-VerminBy PATRICK SWEENEY I Pts by SEAN UTLEY

THIS CZ 527 IS A TACDRIVER AND A STELLARRODENT-REDUCER.

CZ 527 VARMINT

-A.m 43www.cz-usa.cowww.cz-usa.co

-A.m2



4 -A.mwww.cz-usa.co

e rie. Not bolted-on aluminum, but

achined steel. The scope will expire

ng before the rings give way.

Underneath, the 527 Varmint uses

e CZ single set trigger, an adjust-

ble mechanism. With a normal pull of

e trigger, it operates with a standard

mount of pressure. However, if you

ush the trigger forward rst (until you

el it click) it will set, requiring less

essure and a crisp, light trigger pull

re the rie—giving the shooter

e feel of a match rie’s trigger. Both

ulling or setting the trigger is an

djustable experience, and CZ-USA

cludes complete instructions on

ow to adjust these settings. For the

andard pull, weight, creep and over-

avel can be adjusted. For

e set trigger operation, only

eight can be adjusted.The safety on the 527 is

arge lever positioned to

e right side of the cocking

ece. When you press it up,

“Safe” it blocks the ring

n and locks the bolt in

ace. Bring it down to re.

The barrel measures 24

ches long, and has a heavy

ole. Inside, the chamber

a .223 (not a 5.56 NATO)

mension. Since 5.56 NATO

mmunition is not designed

for varmint vaporizing, it isn’t such

a big deal. The 1:9-inch twist rate

allows the option of using heavy bul-

lets. During testing I learned that the

1:9 twist is right on the edge for the

heavyweight 75 and 77 grain bullets.

Some ries shoot these weights just

ne, while others do not.

With bullet weights of 40 grains

up to the mid-60s, you should have

a plethora of choices in terms of

accuracy. For varminting, pick a

fragile, accurate bullet and push it

fast for less drop at longer range.

MY EVAL

In testing the 527 Varmint, I used

a Bushnell Elite 6500. It certainly

proved up to the task. Black Hills

Ammunition was chosen to send

60-grain Hornady V-Max bullets

downrange. I started out check-

ing zero and getting a feel for

the trigger. It didn’t take long to

determine that someone close to

me in shooting style had zeroed

the rie, for it was pretty close. It

only took a few groups to get on

at 100 yards where I then settled

down to shoot small groups.

Somehow I managed to shoot four

sequential groups of bragging

quality, and my heart pounded so

hard that I could see the reticle

move against the target.

This little rie not only wants to

shoot, it demands to shoot.

As a varmint-shooting

machine, it ranks high. Atan MSRP of $885, there

isn’t a better deal in a bolt

action rie chambered in

.223. It would be difcult to

just lay hands on a heavy-

barreled .223 at that price,

let alone one with a proper

prone-shooting stock. Then

add the extra sling swivel,

adjustable trigger, and

the demonstrated level of

accuracy, and it becomes a

hard deal to pass up.

The eef cut n the com ow fo esy

emov of the ot. The ot eese eve

s octed on the eft sde of the eceve.

The mgzne eese s postoned to the

sde just fowd of the tgge gud. The

ot thow s 90 degees, whch s equed

fo the two opposng ot ugs to engge

the mtng sufces n the eceve. The

gp of the tget stye stock s shpy

tuned down nd comfoty povdes

estng pce fo the fng hnd. The

sfety eve s octed just ehnd the ot

hnde nd s two-poston type.

CZ 527 VARMINT

TYPE: Bolt action

CalibEr: .17 Rem., .204 Ruger,.221 Fireball,

.22 Hornet, .222 Rem.,

.223 Rem.

CaPaCiTY: 5

barrEl: 24 in., 1:9-in. twist

OVErall lENGTH: 40.4 in.

WEiGHT: 6 lb., 4 oz.

STOCK: evlar

FiNiSH: Matte black

TriGGEr: Single or set

SiGHTS: None

Magazines will work in any 527 model with theame chamber.

The “mini” Mauser forged bolt features a long-claw extractorand controlled round feed.

www.cz-usa.co-A.m 45

hIS LITTLE RIfLE NoT oNLY WANTS To ShooT, IT dEmANdS To ShooT.

S A VARmINT-ShooTING mAChINE, IT RANKS hIGh.



-. 47www.cz-usa.com

Variations of the 1911 automatic pistol are as nu-merous as the stars in the heavens, so it seems. After 100 years of experimenting and improvingupon John Browning’s famous creation, the law

of averages might dictate that there’s just no way to

improve on it any more. The Dan Wesson Valor is evi-dence that’s not the case.

By BART SKELTON

DA W BAV T WDD 1911 AkTWT A T TY.

DW VAlor

-.6www.cz-usa.com

edal of Valor

The uth pefes the Heiie Ledge Stight Eight setup, hich pesets

stcked-dt sight pictue, t the cmm thee-dt gemet.

As a fan of the 1911, ’m always

interested in shooting good ones, and

’ve recently had the chance to handle

a dandy. Dan Wesson began making

.45s a few years back, and it seemed

a little odd to me. ver the years,

always thought of Dan Wesson as

strictly a revolver company.

When was a kid, my dad had sev-

eral Dan Wesson revolvers around.

They were cased and had quick-

change barrels in various lengths.

The concept was a popular one, and

the revolvers were of ne quality.

Daniel B. Wesson, the great-

grandson of D.B. Wesson, who

co-founded mith & Wesson, started

Wesson Firearms ompany in 1968.

t was Wesson’s intention to manu-

facture the world’s nest revolver,

and he accomplished that to some

extent in the ones he produced.

The company manufactured several

models in various calibers through

2000, when it was bought out.

The year 2000 was also when

Wesson started developing a 1911-

style automatic pistol. n developing its

1911, it was the company’s intention

to stay with the same idea it had in

making revolvers: make the best, most

accurate out-of-the-box pistol it could.



8 -.www.cz-usa.com

-. 49www.cz-usa.com

n 2005, Dan Wesson Firearms

as sold again—this time to Z. Z

one of the world’s largest pro-

ucers of rearms. With the solid

acing of Z-UA, Dan Wesson is

ow climbing its way to the top in

e custom 1911 pistol maret.

rst red a Dan Wesson 1911

everal years bac at a media

vent, and was quite impressed

th the several models of pistols

shot. recently received a new

ainless steel Valor .45 automatic

om Dan Wesson, and my posi-

ve impressions are continuing to

scalate. The Valor is one of those

stols that feels almost perfect

mmediately upon handling it. t’s

full-size, all-stainless

efensive pistol withclean loo and great

andling attributes.

That clean loo

ention comes from the

ainless steel nish,

c of forward cocing

errations on the slide,

hecered stocs that are

ce and thin (just the way

e them), ne checer-

g up front and at the

ac, and overall many

steful appointments.

The pistol is tted with a high-

quality aluminum trigger made

by Greider Precision. The trigger

is solid and provides a smooth,

drag-free draw. Upon dry-ring

the Valor, was pleased right away

with the crisp, and relatively light

trigger pull. measured the trigger

pull with an B pull scale at 3½

pounds. Along with the nice trigger,

the Valor features a match-grade

hammer and sear.

The checering on the grips is

aggressive enough, and, combined

with the excellent 25-lpi checer-

ing on the front- and bacstrap,

the Valor is easy to get a good

hand-hold.

The pistol features an d

Brown ustom beavertail

grip safety and thumb

safety. ach are tted

perfectly into the

pistol’s frame and

wor smoothly—par-

ticularly the thumb

safety, which has a

nice, crisp feel when

activated to either n

or ff positions. oming

from d Brown, you nowthey’re high quality, too.

ne of the rst things that gener-

ally catches my eye when looing

over a new pistol are the sights. The

Valor is set up with einie edge

traight ight night sights, one

of the most effective pistol sight

systems currently available.

’ve never been a real fan of the

three-dot sight system, which

involves two dots on the rear and

one on the front. The traight ight

system features a large dot on the

front sight and one small dot on the

rear directly underneath the notch.

This conguration is one of the best

and allows the shooter quicer ac-

quisition in low-light situations than

the conventional three-dot setup.

Dan Wesson fashions the Valor’s

frame and slide from forged stain-

less steel, and the barrel

and bushing are DanWesson-manufactured

match-grade parts. The

slide’s ejection port is

ared, and the frame’s

magazine well is bev-

eled for quic magazine

insertion.

hec-ate provides

the magazines for Dan

Wesson, and the Valor

comes with a pair of

eight-rounders. lie the

hec-ates quite well,

as they’re durable, well-made and

have proven themselves to wor

lie a charm. hec-ate maga-

zines have a patented follower that

eliminates forward movement.

Upon examining the Valor

thoroughly, was pleased with the

overall t and nish. The pistol is

very tight, and it’s clear that Dan

Wesson’s craftsmen have done a

good deal of hand-tting and -ling,

which wasn’t expecting to this

degree. The slide-to-frame t is

outstanding, and there’s no side-to-

side play or rattle whatsoever.

The lines are very clean, and the

entire gun is well polished with no

sign of machine or tool mars. The

“Valor” logo is tastefully placed on

the left side of the slide just over the

slide stop, leaving the rest of the

side slab of the slide clean.

onsidering how nicely the Valor

feels right out of the box, was

anxious to get it out to a range.

carried it and several brands of am-

munition out to my desert hideaway

and burned some powder. started

out with Blac ills 230-grain hol-

lowpoints, loading a few magazines

and plining at various targets

between 10 and 20 yards.

The Valor handled very well and

felt great in my hands. The aggres-

sive checering ensured positive

control, which provided a roc-solidsight picture shot after shot. The

weight and balance of the ve-inch

gun made for quic recovery and

target acquisition, and the recoil

was pleasant.

After getting the feel of the

Valor, set up a 30-yard sand-

bag rest and started shooting

groups. esults are shown in

the accompanying table. ver-

all, the Valor performed very

well, providing good accuracy.

’d be interested in conducting

UpON ExAmiNiNg ThE VALOR ThOROUghLy, i wAS REALLy

LEASEd wiTh ThE OVERALL fiT ANd fiNiSh.

he Vl fetues hite utlie titium-iset ft sight mde by Ti-

c, hich mkes fidig the dt i l light much esie.

The 25-lpi checkeig the ft- d

bckstp mkes fim, secue gip

esy t get.

The Vl icptes high-ed pts such s Ed B’s

bevetil sfety d thumb sfety—ll fitted pefectly.

The tigge is f the highest qulity d fit. It’s mufc-

tued by Geide Pecisi d mesued 3 ½ puds.

Dan Wesson Valor

TYPE: ingle action, recoil-operated semiauto

CaLIBEr: .45 APCaPaCITY: 8+1

BarrEL: 5 in., DW atch oVEraLL LEnGTH: 8.8 in.

wEIGHT: 2.4 lb.GrIPS: VZ lim ine G10

FInISH: atte, stainless steel TrIGGEr: Greider solid aluminum; 3.5 lb. pull SIGHTS: eine edge traight ight


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cz-usa-2012-buyers-guide 30/4550 -.

www.cz-usa.com

further experiments with the pistolusing handloads, as those average

groups can likely be improved.

In all fairness, New Mexico winds

took a toll on my accuracy testing

and certainly played a role in the

reported groups from that day.

Regardless, any out-of-the-box

handgun that prints a two-inchgroup from my rest is outstanding

in my book, particularly at the 30-

yard mark.

Out of several hundred rounds

I red through the Valor, I experi-

enced only one malfunction, and

that was the very last shot using

Cor-Bon Powerball ammunition.

The case failed to eject, which I

attributed at the time to the posi-

tion I was holding the pistol on

the sandbag. I experienced no

other malfunctions with the pistol

whatsoever.

Dan Wesson advertises that the

Valor offers everything you need

in a 1911 pistol and nothing you

don’t. I agree with that statement

entirely. The Valor is a straight-

forward, nely built, accurate andreliable pistol that anyone would

be proud to own.

While the price tag might seem

high to some shooters, you’re really

getting your money’s worth in this

gun. In the case of the Dan Wesson

Valor, it truly lives up to its name.

The Valor handled Very well and felT greaT in my hands,

Thanks To The Thin VZ grips.

AccurAcy results

Bullet Muzzle Standard Avg.

.45 ACP Weight (gr.) Velocity (fps) Deviation Group (in.)

Black Hills JHP 230 852 13.4 2.00

Hornady TAP FPD 230 776 9.0 2.25

Cor-Bon +P JHP 165 1,156 3.7 2.75

Cor-Bon Power Ball 165 1,138 8.2 3.75

Accuracy results are averages of two ve-shot groups at 30 yards off a sandbag rest.

Velocities are averages of ve shots measured on a PACT chronograph set 10 feet from

the muzzle. Abbreviations: JHP, jacketed hollowpoint.

With its sharp checkering, excellent

sights and tight fit, the Valor is anexcellent choice. Best of all, it’s 100

percent American made.



e is the reasonstereotypes exist.”I told mysel as my

fngers were crushed romour individual digits into an

unrecognizable pulpy mash.When the beast in ront ome released my hand romhis handshake, I noticed,in a detached way commonto car crash victims, that myhand now sort o resembleda oot.

Ah, stereotypes. Everyone hates them.

People claim that they don’t have ‘em and are

super sensitive about them in our all too PC

world. But when I was told I would be spend-

ing a weekend busting clays with Czech-born

NHL legend Bobby Holik to raise money or

Colorado Youth Outdoors, I couldn’t help

mysel. I instantly ormed a mental picture—a

stereotype i you will.

While stereotypes are oten inaccurate, in

this case my mental image was spot on. And

it is not just me. I doubt anyone is surprised

to learn ater meeting Bobby that he played

in 1,314 games in the NHL, scored 747 points

and won two Stanley Cups. He just looks like

a seasoned hockey player—large in stature

and well-muscled. The ultra large hands,

with fngers that seem to have too many

knuckles, or knuckles in the wrong places

are crisscrossed with scars. Yes, he looks

like a stereotypical hockey player, but where

stereotypes ail is they are oten only one

dimensional and based on looks alone.

What I didn’t expect, was to learn

that Bobby, as a person, was

anything but stereotypical. Ater I

spent some time with him, what

I discovered was a thoughtul,well-spoken and kind person.

A supportive ather and dedicated husband.

Not to mention a hell o a shot. Ater getting

trounced by him on the clays course or a

couple o days, I sat down to pick his brain on

shooting, hockey and lie.

Mike Schoby: Did you grow up with frearms and shooting?

Bobby Holik: No, I grew up in the Czech

Republic, behind the Iron Curtain. It wasn’t

exactly easy owning frearms. However, I

did get to shoot while in the military, and my

grandather was a hunter.

MS: What made you want to shoot?

BH: Probably that we couldn’t do it.

It was a orbidden ruit. That, and I loved

all things American rom an early age.

Next to cheeseburgers, ew things are more

American than frearms. That combined with

the early memories o my grandather and

the act that I really respect and admire the

Second Amendment.

MS: So how did you get to the USA?

BH: Well, I was playing hockey or the

Czech national team and I planned to

deect here and claim political asylum,

which was common or athletes to do

back then, but then, as luck would have

it, the [Berlin] Wall came down, Commu-

nism evaporated and I was ree to legally

emigrate to the United States.

MS: So what guns do you enjoy shooting

the most?

BH: I have always enjoyed handguns and

shoot a CZ 75 and VZ 58 regularly, but this

sporting clays game is something entirely

new or me and I can see the beauty in it. It is

really challenging. I like walking around the

course and seeing that every shot is dierent.

Yeah, I think a CZ sporting shotgun will be in

my sae soon.

MS: What do you enjoy most about shooting?

BH: The skill it takes, or sure. I mean, it is a

total hand/eye coordination thing and there is

a mental component as well. Then, o course,there is the competitive side. Obviously, I

am a very competitive person and through

shooting I can compete against riends or just

mysel. I can always improve upon what I did

the time beore.

MS: How did you get involved with CZ-USA?

BH: It was pure coincidence mixed with

heritage. I was in a gun store in the States

and I picked up a CZ handgun. O course,

I was amiliar with CZ rom my time in the

Czech Republic, but I didn’t know they were

imported here. Being proud o my heritage, I

contacted the USA division o CZ and asked

i I could help them with its marketing eorts.

Alice [Poluchova] agreed, and now I oc-

casionally get to attend charity shoots such

as this Colorado Youth Outdoors event.

MS: So where do you shoot?

BH: Well, believe it or not, even though I

played or East coast teams, I love the West.

So the wie and I bought a ranch in Wyoming.

Out there, I can pretty much shoot whenever

I want. In the winter, we have another ranch

in Florida so my daughter can ride her horses

year around—so I get in some shooting down

there as well.

MS: Ok, I have to ask…how many bones did

you break playing 18 years in the NHL?

BH: Mine or other peoples?

MS: That’s a wrap.

Interviewwith

B Mike SchoBy

ON SHOOTINg, HOCkEY ANdLIFE.

BOBBY HOLIK

Bobby Holik

-.O 51www.cz-usa.com



-. 53

I had just broke ve for ve on a trap range right off the start

with my new CZ 712 Target model shotgun. After a quick testre,

we red the stations on Range 6 at the Peoria Skeet and TrapClub in Illinois. This was Payton’s range, one he visits for a few

rounds each Thursday, so beating him wasn’t in my agenda—

and shooting a new and unfamiliar shotgun, I certainly didn’t

expect much in terms of score.

THE SHOTGUN

The new 712 Target is an entry-level shotgun manufactured by

Huglu in Turkey and designed for trap. It offers good quality and

reliability without requiring a big investment.

Unlike the eld models, the stock on this 712 Target features a

pronounced, target-style down-turned grip. The grip is cut into the

slab of your average walnut. Though plain by wealthy standards,

the deep color and grain are actually quite nice and understated.

The nished product is a feature that CZ-USA feels saves the

consumer some extra money while offering real function.

The 712 Target is a specially congured design for trap shoot-

ing, and when handling it on a range, it immediately becomes ap-

parent that isn’t your typical shotgun you’d bring to the eld. The

30-inch barrel and long stock balances very well with each other.

Part credit goes to the gas and action return spring assembly’s

location within the forend. It’s a unique feature to the CZ 712 that

helps set it apart from all other semiauto shotguns. Most semiau-

tos place the action return spring assembly inside the buttstock,which shifts mo re of the shotgun’s weight to the rear.

Besides the Trap-length 30-inch barrel, the 712 provides fea-

tures that are unique to Trap shooting. This 712 utilizes a 14¾-inch

length of pull—¼-inch longer than a standard model. “Target guns

are typically a lit tle longer,” says Dave Miller, project manager at

CZ-USA, “so we made the 712 Target with a stock that’s a ¼-inch

longer than a eld gun.”

Additionally, the 712 Target uses a barrel that’s chrome

lined and polished. “Trap guns have either a 30,

32, or 34-inch barrels,” Miller adds. “We didn’t

want to design the 712 Target with a 32- or

34-inch barrel because the 712 receiver already

measures 8¾ inches. You’d need to nd a gun

BustedBy ERIC R. POOLE I Potos by SEAN UTLEY

TH ASIST AD MST ARDAB WAY TSTART SHTI TRAP.

-.www.cz-usa.com www.cz-usa.com

2

“There you go,” said Payton Miller, Guns & Ammo executive editor. “You’re on a roll now.”

CZ 712 TART





6 -.www.cz-usa.com

-. 57www.cz-usa.com

When I’m carrying concealed, my rst choice is an Ofcer’s Model. Naturally,I became interested when I learned that Dan Wesson unveiled the DanWesson Concealed Carry Ofcer, or CCO. The CCO is a 1911 with a Com-mander-length barrel on an Ofcer’s Model frame. For those who like the

alance, control and sight radius of a long barrel but prefer the concealability of a smallame, then this is the piece for you.

While it may seem odd to tradi-

tionalists to have a 1911 with a long

barrel and short frame, handling

reveals its osition in the scheme ofthings rather quickly. The shooter

benets from a longer sight radius

and less overall weight. To a lesser

degree of imortance, noise and

muzzle blast occurs farther

away. Thanks to the weight

and shorter gri, the

CCO is an easier gun

to carry concealed.

I articularly like this

conguration because

when I’m carrying, the

shorter gri and the beveled

mainsring housing doesn’t rub

so abrasively against my body or

hinder my movement.

To reduce weight, both the frame

and mainsring housing are made

from anodized aluminum. To aid the

shooter with gri control while under

recoil, both the front and rear of the

gri frame feature a new chain link

attern. Additionally, the frame is

undercut beneath the trigger guard,

which hels to comensate for what

a shorter gri does in terms of reduc-

ing real estate to gri.

Dan Wesson uses the rorietary

black ceramic Duty coat from its

arent comany, CZ-USA. This

coating has the benets of a matte

atina without the debris-catching

bead-blast nish so common today

on custom 1911s.

The CCO is evenly olished, ese-

cially around the trigger guard and

the to of the slide. Slide serrations

were cut sharly without any burrs,

and all the sides on the gun were

ancake at without any dishing from

the nal nishing station.

The front sight blade features

a white target ring surrounding a

tritium vial, and the rear sight has

two white tritium dots for fast target

acquisition in low light. The rear sight

is low role, melted somewhat into

the slide and is drift-adjustable for

windage. The rear notch is well-

dened and when lined u with the

front sight, allows just enough light

RefnedDW CCO

The CCO uses a medium length

trigger that’s hand-fitted to the alloy

frame. An undercut behind the t rig-

ger guard offers more grip.

The cocobolo Shadow grips have a distinctive laser-etched pattern and the

frontstrap features a chain-link pattern for enhanced control.

By STAN TRZONIEC I Photos by SEAN UTLEY

DAN WSSON pFCTS T CONCAD CAOFFIC’S MOD.







He nodded, leveled the .505, andpulled the trigger (this would have

made good flm). In concert with the

concussive blast, the muzzle went

vertical. The man staggered and

lost his ooting, landing hard. Like

a baton, the 11-pound rie soared

through the air, end-over-end.

I retrieved the rie while the ellow

picked himsel up. “Golly,” he grinned

sheepishly. No harm to anything but

his pride, I decided. Certainly none to

the CZ 550.

IN THE FIELD

My frst hunt with a 550 dates years

ago. The rie, a 9.3x62, downed

a mountain goat and a moose in

British Columbia with Norma ammo

loaded with 250-grain Swit A-

Frames. Equipped with a 4X Ca-

bela’s Alaskan Guide scope, it shot

the Swits atter than traditional

286-grain sotpoints. The goat wasscrambling away at 220 yards when

the frst bullet struck. The second

landed as the billy halted at 250.

The moose appeared, as moose

oten do, between the chalk arcs

o its antlers ar away. We sneaked

through a maze o alder, willow and

spruce. The bull rose when we got

inside 40 steps, then dropped dead

to my shot through its shoulders.

Still with me, this CZ 550 has one

crossbolt behind the magazine, a

ore-end with reverse-angle tip that

on current ries has been upgradedto round. For hunting in a remote

place, where durability and reliability

matter, it remains a go-to rie.

Later I carried a 550 in .30-’06

with Federal ammo to hunt deer

on the prairie. It endeared itsel to

me, a solid rie with the checkered

walnut and long extractor I covet

and the het to make slinged-up

prone as steady as sandbags on a

concrete bench.

THE ACTION

The CZ 550 is essentially a modifed

Mauser, so its action has a muscular

double-square-bridge profle. It

looks, and is, as rugged as an ar-

mored personnel carri er. You asten

a scope with mounts that clamp on

to integral 19mm dovetails ront and

rear. The big, at ootprint o the

receiver makes or plenty o bedding

area and epoxy bedding ensuresull contact at recoil lug aces on the

most powerul 550s. Magnums have

a second, barrel-mounted lug that

bears against a steel stock insert to

distribute thrust. The ore-end screw

and double crossbolts on these ries

are absent on CZ 550s chambered to

less potent rounds.

The traditional two-lug bolt on the

550 eatures a ull-length Mauser

extractor and controlled-round

eed. A fxed ejector emerges rom

a slot below the let locking lug

He loaded up as i the rie were a .30-’06, thumbing thecigar-size .505 Gibbs rounds onto the follower as if he’ddone it every day. In act, he had never fred a rie thispowerul. I suggested he stand, rather than bench it.

CZ 550Brwn

By WAYNE VAN ZWOLL

THE BANK-VAULT BOLT-ACTION OF THE CZ 550 ISTHE STANDARD.

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s the bolt reaches the end o its

row. A Winchester Model 70-style

olt stop arrests the let lug. The

wo-position thumb saety locks

riker and bolt. The adjustable

trigger is CZ’s own, a single-set

mechanism you can ignore or

push orward to set the trigger

or a lighter pull. All-steel bottom

metal includes a one-piece guard

bow and magazine housing, and

a hinged oorplate secured by a

button in ront o the guard.

Most CZ 550s are stocked in

plain American walnut, either in

the Czech Republic with importedwood or stateside ater the bar-

reled action arrives at the Kansas

City headquarters o CZ-USA.

Laminated wood is an option; so is

Kevlar-reinorced fberglass (with

aluminum bedding block).

SAFARI-STYLE

The brawny profle and construction

o the 550 complement accurate

barrels. Even the bigbores, I’ve

ound, print small groups. The Saari

Classic is as ancy as the 550 gets

and is chambered or traditional

Arica-inspired rounds—the .404

Jeery, .450 Rigby, .500 Jeery

and .505 Gibbs—as well as or the

.300 H&H and .338 Winchester, .338

Lapua, .375 H&H and .416 Reming-

ton. A mercury recoil reducer in the

buttstock is standard on ries in

.500 Jeery, .505 Gibbs and .338

Lapua. Saari Classics, which startat around $3,000, eature trued

and lapped actions glass-bedded

into fgured walnut. Iron sights and

barrelband ront are standard. You

can add options including a muz-

zlebrake, rust blue, ebony ore-end

tip and special chamberings.

The CZ Saari Magnums cham-

bered in .375 H&H, .458 Win-

chester, .458 Lott and .416 Rigby

list or hal as much as the Saari

Classics. Besides a more limited

choice o chamberings, Saari Mag-

nums eature ore-end-mounted

swivel studs and plain walnut.

(Laminated and Kevlar-fberglass

stocks are available, too.) You can

buy a .375 Field Grade or just

$1,180. I’ve used Federal’s Trophy

Bonded .375s on animals as big as

bualo. A proessional hunter who

culled elephants with a .375 told me

he preerred it to a .458 because

“hurling 500-grain solids makes

my head hurt. Also, I get as much

penetration with the .375—some-

times more.” A CZ 550 in .375 holds

a capacity advantage over mosto its competitors: The magazine

takes fve belted magnums. I also

like the 25-inch barrel. It enhances

the cosmetics and balance, and

puts muzzle blast a comortable

distance rom your ace. Barrel

contours on bigbore CZ ries are

just right, though the stocks are

a tad generous. These ries point

quickly, but hang well on target.

They’re stout, but not ponderous.

On most CZ Saari ries, a bar-

relband ront sight complements a

trio o rear leaves, two olding. Their

shallow V notches eature white

center lines or ast aim. And the

company oers 15 heights and sizes

o ront sights, so you can tailor the

irons or any load you want.

At 9½ pounds, the CZ 550 in .375

is no mountain rie. But that het

makes it more civil at the bench and

helps with ohand aim when you’re

out o breath shadowing a Zambian

tracker who’d qualiy or the BostonMarathon running backward.

Weight also contributes to ac-

curacy. My handloads—300-grain

Herter sotpoints launched at 2,420

ps by 81 grains o H4831—printed

inside 1¼ inches. My riends Sam

Shaw and Rich McClure got similar

results. In act, the CZ shot the

smallest groups o our .375s on

the line that aternoon. Thank

the hammer-orged barrel and,

o course, that single-set trigger,

which broke at 2¾ pounds as-is

and one pound when set. I’ve

cradled and shot just about every

CZ rie, rom the 452 rimfre to the

UHR (Ultimate Hunting Rie). The

UHR is an eight-pound 550 with a

24-inch barrel in .300 Winchester

Magnum. Designed or accuracy

at extreme range, it comes with a

one-MOA guarantee at 600 yards. I

hung a bullseye at 500, hiked backto the line and snugged up the

sling. Despite a cold wind, my fve-

shot volley centered in the black

with a respectable group.

The .375 Saari Magnum had

years earlier instilled dreams o long

grass and crinkled ootprints the

size o manhole covers. Still, I had

yet to get cozy with a bigbore Saari

Classic. Jason Morton o CZ-USA

took care o that with a beautiully

stocked rie in .404 Jeery.

But that’s another story…

hE BrAWNY prOfiLE ANd cONsTrucTiON Of ThE 550 cOmpLEmENT

AccurATE BArrELs. EVEN ThE BigBOrEs, i’VE fOuNd, priNT smALL grOups.

The 527 M1 American handled

bullets as heavy as the Remington

62-grain match—and put them into

a ⁄ -inch group.

For riflemen who practice their

skill on coyotes, the 527 M1 excels.

It’s nimble and deadly accurate.

CZ’s 550 American Safari Magnum

(top) costs considerably less than the

Safari Magnum Express (above).

Even with ancient handloads, this CZ

.375 prints one-MOA groups. Thank

the hammer-forged barrel.

CZ’s Ultimate Hunting Rifle, a 550 in

.300 Win. Mag., drilled this group at

500 yards.

While best known for

its big iron, CZ-USA

offers a lovely light-

weight bolt action for small

cartridges. The 527 I pur-

chased a few years back is

chambered in .221 Fireball,

one of my favorite car-

tridges. The newest of 527s,

the M1 American, features

the straight-combed stock

shooters in the U.S. pre-

fer, a 22-inch barrel and a

detachable three-shot

box magazine. Choose

a walnut stock, black

synthetic or, on the Ul-

tralight Predator, camo-

nished synthetic.Weight is just under

six pounds.

I snared a 527 M1

for testing a few

weeks ago. It wears

attractive straight-

grained walnut,

nicely checkered.

The comb height

is just right for

a Weaver K6

mounted low.

Alas, CZ-sup-

Push the trigger forward to set it

for a 14-ounce pull. The safety

is off when thumbed back.

SVELTE SMALLBORE

plied rings hike my 4.5-14X Weaver

Grand Slam well above the barrel and

pull my cheek from the stock.

You can also get rings for CZ

ries from Talley, where Gary Turner

offers quick-detachable versions

so that you can easily remove a

scope for travel or iron-sight use.

And you can replace it with no loss

of zero. I snugged the screws and

scrounged ammo.

A February storm left the range

frozen under drifted snow, so after

checking trigger pull (2¾ pounds,

crisp, with a set weight of 12 ounc-

es), I impatientlywaited for a thaw.

Prepared to run

a few magazines

through this rie

and write with

manufactured

enthusiasm about

another .223 in

a world awash

in .223s, I was

instead truly smit-

ten. The 527 M1

American handled

as if I’d been born cradling it. The

trigger broke with such crisp consis-

tency that I didn’t bother to set it.

The perfect match of action size

to cartridge dimensions impressed

me. No extra steel here, but nei-

ther did the rie seem awkwardly

spare. It had the appeal of those

early .22 rimres no one born after

Dwight Eisenhower’s presidency can

quite remember. It was, in a word,

enchanting.

And that was before I red it.

Two of my rst groups measured3 ⁄ 8 inch. And the 1:12 twist de-

livered half-MOA accuracy with

bullets as heavy as Remington’s

62-grain match.

CZ 527 M1 AMERICAN

TYPE: Bolt action CAlIbER: .223 Remington CAPACITY: 3+1 (detachable box) bARREl: 22 in. OvERAll lEngTH: 40.5 in. WEIgHT: 5 lb., 14 oz. STOCk: Walnut FInISH: Blued TRIggER: Single set, adjustable SIgHTS: None (drilled and tapped or

scope mounts)



By MIKE SCHOBY I Photos by SEAN UTLEY

THE CZ 912 uTolodEr is puT To THE ulTiTEfiEld TEsT: 2,000 rounds on rgEnTin dovEs.

Endrne RnCZ 912

T

he mak a ht cme

may m: t, ee, tye, ace, weht,a baace ae jt a ew the memtat e. Bt whe t cme t

emat ht, eabty tm them a.T t t athe way, matte hw a t, baace k, t a t ba, y e ba ce bee jamm , t ’twth mch. Wth a extee eabty e tet m, i heae w t Cba, etat tet t the ewet ata e mCZ-us—the 912.

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6 c-ua.cwww.z-s.om

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t rst glace, the 912 ts all

my requremets r style ad

ct. The hgh glss walut

rture s shed cely ad

as a better-tha-average gure.

he recever s crated rm ally,

hch reduces verall weght as

ell as shtg the pt balace

ghtly rward t mprve swg

d llw thrugh. t 7.4 puds,

e gu s eatherweght, but

bese bruser ether. i act, t’s

early deal r a day hutg r

prtg clays.

o the rst mrg, the dves

ew well. it had bee a cuple

ears sce my last trp t rge-

a, s i was t ly trgger happy,

but rusty—a pr cmbat

r the tral a gu. But ver the

curse several hurs, i maaged

t ru 750 shells thru gh the 912

dg my best t lk lke i kew

hw t brg dw wldwl. i w’t

bre yu (r embarrass mysel) wth

the ht percetage, but let’s just say

the gu ucted e—msses

( whch there were may) shuld

be blamed the shter (me) ad

t the gu. i the three cases

shells, i ly had a hadul al-

ures t eed, e whch culd

be attrbuted t the gu. i all cases

the alure culd easly be blamed

the hrrble shells acqured

rgeta. Bulged plastc hulls,

the rst, except i sht better. i was

gettg accustmed t ths shtgu

ad the agles cmg targets.

Whe we brke r luch i had put

ather 750 ruds thrugh the

912, makg r a cmplete eld

test 2,000 shells.

The gu passed wth yg

clrs. it sht well ad cycled

e. o curse, durg the last

200 shells i bserved the pera-

t beg t slw ts retur t

battery. The gas system was

begg t succumb t reletless

ulg rm the lthy ammut

ad lack l. i these last ew

bxes, there was a ccasal

alure t eed, but much ths has

t be blamed the shells. Eve

the es that were’t physcally

damaged were drty, leavg mre

guk per shell the gu tha a

etre bx athul federals rWchesters. Tw-thusad shells

red a day ad a hal. y gu

laded wth ths amm s gg t

chke, s i was mpressed.

ll--all, the CZ 912 s a hell

a autlader. it has stylsh mder

lks ad s jed wth hgh-tech

eatures such as a eectve recl-

absrbg pad. Best all, the 912

meets a real wrld prce less

tha $500 ad has the e eature

i chersh the mst: it ges “bag”

every tme.

WHEN WE BrOKE fOr LUNCH I HAd PUT ANOTHEr 750 rOUNdS THrOUgH

HE 912, MAKINg fOr A COMPLETE fIELd TEST Of 2,000 SHELLS.

More doves were shot at

than actually hit, but the

CZ 912 assuredly fired

every shell true.

CZ 912

TYPE: ga eate, emat

GAUGE: 12, 3 .

CAPACiTY: 4+1

BArrEl: 28 ., e cew- chke

OvErAll lEnGTh: 50 .

WEiGhT: 7.3 b.

FUrniTUrE: Tkh wat

Finish: atte back, ha chme

TriGGEr: se, 8 b. (tete)

siGhTs: gee be tc (t)

ad severed brass cases shuld

t be cluded the alure t eed

categry as they wuld’t have

ed a break pe sgle sht, let

ale a autlader.

That ater, i gt my eye

ad gt used t the swg (made

a tad heavy, but smth wth a

“rgeta-style” exteded maga-

ze) ad red ather 500 ruds,

r a ttal 1,250 shells expeded.

nrmally, i clea gus every ght

as a matter prevetve ma-

teace, but r ths evaluat,

i decded t rg the ert

cleag t see hw the 912 wuld

perrm uder such cdts.

The llwg mrg was just lke



FREE OF WORK

This was my rst trip to Africa, but

the fourth ticket I had bought in as

many years. Work obligations had

snatched the dream from me for

three consecutive summers. This

year, I was not to be denied.

When my feet hit ground of the

Dark Continent, I was on the soil of

South Africa, ready to head eight

hours northwest to the Kalahari, as

the guests of Harry Claassens’ Mata

Mata hunting lodge. Mata Mata

literally translates “If you give, you

will receive.”

Four years of planning and three

disappointing cancellations later, it

was surreal to actually be in-country.

Just four weeks earlier, I hadchosen the CZ 550 chambered in

.30-’06 for this trip of a lifetime.

Kevin Steele, publisher of Petersen’s

Hunting, assured me with his

personal experience that it was

the perfect rie for my plains game

adventure. I liked the idea of using a

rie ruggedly proven on every con-

ceivable animal roaming the land.

The 550 was adorned with a classic

4X Weaver steel tube. I don’t consi der

myself a rieman—not by any s tretch

of the imagination. I’m much more

comfortable with a recurve bow and

sharp sticks. And while I had brought

my pet Hoyt and Dalaa recurve bows

along for the trip, I didn’t want to be

cooped up in blind for a week over-

looking a waterhole on my rst trip to

Africa. I wanted my boots in the sand

of the Kalahari. I wanted to see, hear,

and smell as much of this experience

as I could take in.

RANGE CHECK

Sighting in and using Hornady

180-grain SST, my rst group off the

bench was astonishing. I have the

privilege of working with some of

the nest rie shots in our industry:

Scott Rupp, editor of Rie Shootermagazine; Joseph VonBenedikt,

editor of Shooting Times; Mike

Schoby and Craig Boddington

of Petersen’s Hunting; Eric Poole

editor of InterMedia Special Inter-

est Publications; David Fortier of

Shotgun News, and many others.

All accomplished rieman in every

sense of the description and all

eager to lend advice, instruction and

encouragement as I prepared for the

trip. Peering through the spotting

scope at the target some 100 yards

Afrian DreaA .30-’06 DEIVERS ANTHER MEMRABE qESTT THE DARK CNTINENT.

By MIKE CARNEY I Photo by JOHN HAFNER

s the mass of gemsbok thundered out into the openthrough a cloud of dust, afras, my PH, barkedsharp instructions: “Mike! Third in from the right.Shoot!”

I asked, “Third in from the right? “Which group?”“The far right,” he hissed. “Shoot now!”

I was more than a little hesitant. All I could see of the animalthird from the right was hind. To be more specic, only partof the hind, in what looked like a sea of gemsbok—and theyall looked like shooters.

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CZ 550



stant, their unselsh investment in

y shooting instruction was starting

appear. My rst group measured

st over an honest inch, something

eretofore I was incapable of

oducing with any rie.

Was it an aberration? Groups two,

ree, four and ve demonstrated

herwise, consistently hovering an

ch. The 550 was denitely proving

self to be a shooter. Furthermore,

delivered these results without the

se of this model’s set trigger. The

Z single set trigger is designed

reduce trigger pull to ounces.nd the break is as crisp as glass

eaking. Continuing with a variety of

ornady and Federal .30-’06 loads

165- and 180-grain weights, I was

oducing groups at the bench that

ould make my instructors proud. It

as hard to come up with a load that

e 550 favored over others, but at

e end I selected the heavier 180-

ain Hornady SST to take on my hit

t: kudu, gemsbok and eland.

REAKING THE SHOT

s I felt afras’ growing frustra-

on with my unwillingness to let

ad y back on the savannah, I

membered what Steele had told

e weeks earlier: “Be prepared to

hoot at only parts of an animal.

pportunities at specic trophies

the bush are fast and eeting,

nd you will have an accomplished

acker on hand if you need allow up shot.” Still, for a boy from

e Midwest who grew up on the

ouble-lung mantra, ass shooting

n animal just doesn’t come natural.

hen in Rome…

Even through the sound of

e moving herd, I knew I hit the

emsbok exactly where I aimed.

afras and the tracker were gleeful,

Nice shot Mike, get in the truck.” It

as as if they were waiting all day

show off their collective recovery

kills. Ten minutes later, laughing to

myself as they methodically shufed

through a veritable ocean of tracks

in the sand with no discernable

clues, the tracker pointed West.

“There he is Mike. Shoot him

again,” afras instructed.

Standing broadside, the gems-

bok was alone 100 yards from my

position. I couldn’t see the right ham

where I previously aimed the 550

and placed a Hornady SST. “Are

you sure that’s him?” I questioned.

Evidently, that’s not the thing to say

to a PH and his tracker who just

solved the Rubix Cube of tracks toearn you a follow up shot.

I don’t speak Afrikaans, but I was

pretty certain that their response

was an enthusiastic “yes” peppered

with colorful adjectives and col-

loquialisms reserved for just such

client occasions.

The next shoulder shot laid the

gemsbok prone, and afras and

his tracker approached the animal

very seriously. They applied a well

rehearsed foot maneuver to trap his

long, pointy horns to the ground.

Apparently the gemsbok has a

deserved reputation for exacting nal

vengeance on his foes. The “Desert

Warrior” is not one to be tried with

during recovery.

afras offered me hearty

congratulations while his tracker

wagged his nger to simulate pull-

ing a trigger while whistling some

not-so-sweet nothings. My rst

African trophy. I thought I wouldwake from a dream and discover I

was not actually here.

In camp that evening, Harry and

his wife Jolane, a former stewardess

for South African Airlines, greeted us

with smiles and stories as we looked

at all the day’s trophies already hang-

ing by the cleaning station. It was agreat end to the rst day on safari.

OTHER TROPHIES

During our ve-day trip, Brian

isankie from Aimpoint took a beauti-

ful zebra, blesbok, impala and gems-

bok; Michael Kinn of Federal took

the same quartet; Jason Hornady

bagged a magnicent gemsbok;

Tom “ne-Shot” Taylor of Mossberg

checked in a gorgeous red harte-

beest, a gemsbok, blue wildebeest

and a kudu; And Rick Bednar took

a magnicent eland, warthog and

a kudu at 35 yards wi th a 10-Point

crossbow. ater in the safari, my 550

downed a massive kudu, an impala

and nally I grassed a fat warthog

with my recurve bow.

Jason Morton, CZ-SA marketing

director, was on point during safari

with Kevin Steele lming an episode

of “Petersen’s Hunting AdventuresTV.” The pair managed to collect

a great show featuring eland, red

hartebeest and kudu trophies.

The accommodations and profes-

sionalism of the Mata Mata staff,

from the skilled PH’s and trackers to

the game butchers and cleaners, is

rst class. I look forward to the next

African safari as well as the day I can

bring my wife and daughter. Without

question, it’ll be at Claassens’ Mata

Mata and when that time comes, we’ll

be joined by my faithful CZ 550.

THERE HE Is MIKE. sHOOT HIM AgAIN,” LAFRAs INsTRuCTEd. sTANdINg

BROAdsIdE, THE gEMsBOK wAs ALONE 100 YARds FROM MY POsITION.

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-. 73

Longslide

Angus Hobdell has been shooting

IPSC and USPSA for decades. He’s

won more U.S. and international

titles than anyone can easily recall.

In addition to the fact that he’s still

actively competing as a sponsored

CZ shooter, he operates CZ Custom

(czcustom.com) in Phoenix, Arizona.

CZ Custom does all of the custom

pistolwork for CZ-USA and any CZ

owner who wants specic work

done. In addition to custom gun-

smithing, Angus and his crew work

very closely with CZ-UB of the Czech

Republic and CZ-USA in Kansas

City, Missouri. Each year the custom

shop produces a number of one-off

or limited-run guns, and sometimes

those models make it into the

CZ-USA catalog of new offerings.

This year, one of the new models

from the custom shop is the CZ 75Longslide (LS). The LS was created

by combining the CZ 75 frame wear-

ing a short dustcover to the long CZ

Tactical Sports (CTS) slide. There are

two models: the “B,” which is single-

action only, and the CZ 75 LS-P,

which is a DA/SA pistol. While they

are being produced in-house at CZ

Custom, they will be available soon

through any CZ dealer. I acquired an

LS-P for testing and was reminded

again why this all-steel gun is still so

successful in competition.

By JAMES TARR I Pts by SEAN UTLEY

BORING RELIABILITY AND EXCELLENT ACCURACY INANY PACKAGE FROM THE CZ CUSTOM SHOP.

www.cz-usa.com2 -.

The CZ 75 LS-P is chambered

in 9mm and starts with a standard

steel CZ 75 frame. If you’ve never

picked up a CZ 75, you don’t know

what you’re missing. The late Guns

& Ammo contributor Col. Jeff

Cooper loved the 75. With its dis-

tinctive humpback grip, he liked the

feel of this CZ in his hand so much

so that he styled the legendary

Bren Ten 10mm auto after it. This

frame is slightly undercut under the

triggerguard and utilizes a high-rise

beavertail, but there’s no 1911-style

grip safety.

The CZ 75 has been in existence

since 1975—long enough that there

are numerous aftermarket grips

available to t every style and hand

size. The preproduction LS-P I

received wears traditional check-

ered and contoured black plasticgrips, but Angus informed me that

the standard grips would be black

rubber. The custom shop also offers

a number of aluminum grips of vary-

ing thickness that also look and feel

great in the hand.

The front of the triggerguard is

serrated, but the front and back of

the frame are smooth. In a small or

stiff-recoiling gun, a smooth frame

might be an issue, but the weight of

the LS-P matched with its low bore

dimensions provides a soft shooting

There are not many custom shops, large or small,that can say they’re run by an active world-classpistol competitor. That is the case, however, with

Angus Hobdell and CZ Custom. The result is aseemingly endless supply of interesting variations on

legendary CZ products.

CZ 75 CTS LS-P

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4 -.www.cz-usa.com

-.www.cz-usa.com

ombination. It didn’t feel like the gun

ould ever work loose in my hand.

his is not a small gun, and it has a

ng reach for the rst double action

hot, so if you do have small hands

d recommend trying one rst.

Designed for competition and

rget shooting, the LS-P has an

xtended magazine release and ex-

nded, ambidextrous thumb safety.

he thumb safety is not too

rge, but it does protrude.

sticks out far enough that

opping the pistol on its sideon’t pop out the magazine,

s it’s larger than the maga-

ne release button. I’ve seen

is happen more times than

can count in competition,

specially when the pistol in

uestion has a light maga-

ne-release spring. On the

ongslide, the mag-release

pring is full power.

It wouldn’t be a CZ Custom

hop product if the pistol

dn’t have a trigger job.

The LS-P I received had a smooth

7.7-pound double-action and a 3.8-

pound single-action pull. Advertised

trigger pulls are seven to 7.5 pounds

for DA and 3.1 to 3.4 pounds for SA.

This great trigger can be partially

credited to the fact that all internals

have been polished smooth.

The LS-P can be carried like a

1911—Condition One, cocked and

locked. Personally, I don’t nd the

thumb safety to be as user-friendly

for that purpose as the ones found

on modern 1911s so you should prac-

tice with this pistol before making

a complete transition. CZ Custom

has replaced the standard recoil and

hammer springs with reduced-power

springs, which greatly soften the trig-

ger pull and cut down on muzzle dip

during rapid re, but combine

with the extended ring pin

installed in the pistol, it does

not affect reliability. Thepistol sports an attractive

skeletonized hammer that

is a bit small for easy cock-

ing by hand. As there is no

decocker, the only way the

hammer can be lowered on a

live round for a DA rst shot

is by hand, and this small

hammer spur makes that a

delicate proposition.

The trigger is smooth

and wide. There was a lot

of takeup in my gun on the

single-action pull, but the reset was

short and audible. There was almost

no overtravel. I could see that both

the hammer and the underside

of the slide had been ground and

polished to provide a smooth

working gun. Several CZ 75 models

have ring-pin safeties, but those

extra parts always affect the weight

and quality of the trigger pull. As the

LS-P is designed for competition, it

does not feature an internal ring-

pin safety, but the hammer does

have a half-cock notch.The standard CZ 75 has a 4.7-inch

barrel, while the longslide sports a

5.4-inch barrel.

As a result, the long slides come

into the U.S. oversize and have to

be precision machined and then

hand-t to the frame. The CZ 75,

with its inside-the-frame slide

design, is designed to be completely

interchangeable, but the CTS was

designed for a different gun, so these

are the only CZ pistols that you’ll nd

with a hand-tted slide. While not as

tight as a custom-built Dan Wesson

1911, the slide-to-frame t on the LS

is excellent. There’s almost zero play.

The preproduction example I

received had a stainless steel recoil-

spring guide rod, but production

models will have a polymer guide rod

“to reduce cost on a gun that’s al-

ready expensive due to hand-tting,”

Hobdell explained.

The undercut post front sight has

a red ber optic insert, and the rear

sight is the CZ version of the justi-

ably renowned Bo-Mar adjustableChampion. I would have preferred a

larger notch, as there was not a lot of

daylight around the front sight, but

that’s just my personal preference.

Longslide guns are all the rage in

modern action-pistol competition,

as the increased sight radius helps

competitors hit those difcult targets

more quickly. The top of the slide

has been attened and serrated.

This is ostensibly done to reduce

glare, but if you’ve got a proper sight

picture, you can’t see the top of the

slide. Some competitors go for any

advantage they can get, perceived

or real.

Not too long ago, I had an op-

portunity to spend a couple of days

visiting the CZ Custom Shop in

Phoenix. Angus Hobdell is a trans-

planted Brit who relocated after his

native government outlawed all the

“dangerous” guns he made a living

shooting and working on. He loved

the Phoenix area and set up shop.

Hobdell employs ve people, includ-

ing a machinist from South Africa. Heand Hobdell began good-naturedly

insulting each other in Afrikaans

while I was standing by. Everyone

who works in the shop shoots,

including Rob, who’s a USPSA

GrandMaster. Between the Afri-

kaans, Hobdell’s attempt to teach me

Cockney rhyming slang and Rob’s

Jersey accent, I felt like I needed a

Universal Translator.

“The problem is I’m speaking

in English, but you’re listening in

American,” Hobdell explains.

T woULdN’T BE A CZ CUSToM ShoP PRodUCT If ThE PISToL

dIdN’T hAvE A TRIggER JoB.

CZ 75 CTS LS-P

TYPE: DA/SA semiauto CalibEr: 9mm Luger

CaPaCiTY: 19

barrEl: 5.4 in.

OvEralllEngTh: 8.7 in.

WEighT: 41 oz.

griPs: Rubber

Finish: Blued

TriggEr: Double action: 7 lb., 12

oz.; single action: 3 lb.,

13 oz. (tested)

sighTs: Red fiber optic (front),

Kensight adjustable

(rear)

75

otoeeyowpofedeeedtoeduce.

efetypotudemoettemzeeee.

Tepopoductomodeemodeduewt

tctececke.

likea1911,theCZ75CTsls-Pcanbecarried

“cockedandocked”andoperatedwitheitherhand.

Tep-poweedextctofoowtecotouoftefm

ejectopoteefcutotCZ75.



As opposed to

most of the automat-

ics Americans are

familiar with, the

frame of the CZ 75

rides inside the frame

rails as opposed

to the outside like

other semiautos.

This makes for a

very narrow slide.

Combined with the

low bore, this design

reduces the amount

of slide available togrip, so I was pleased

to see that the slide

on the CTS LS-P

was serrated both front and back for

positive manipulation.

The LS-P arrives with two extended

19-round magazines—a denite plus.

Standard CZ 75 magazines hold 17

rounds of 9mm and t ush with the

frame. Like other CZ 75 magazines,

these drop free from the gun and have

black plastic followers to consistently

guide the stored rounds. The pistols

are function-red at the CZ Custom

Shop and are supplied with a test

target. My sample came with a target

illustrating a ve-shot, 1.2-inch group

red at 25 yards.

At the range there were no sur-

prises—boring reliability and excellent

accuracy. It was interesting to note

how many shooters

asked me, “Hey,

what’s that?”

The ber optic

front sight works well

indoors and glows as

brightly as a battery-

powered red dot sight

in direct sunlight.

As CZ Custom is

a true custom shop,

the shop can build

you a model cham-

bered in .40 S&W or

one that’s tricked outfor fastest practical

shooting event. They

can add aluminum

grips, a magwell—almost anything

you can desire.

Hobdell’s plans are to get the CZ

75 CTS LS-P approved for use in the

IPSC Production Division, which is

ironically dominated by the CZ 75

SP-01. Whether you compete or not,

this is a longslide that looks great and

shoots even better.

My saMple caMe with a target illustrating a five-shot,

1.2-inch group fired at 25 yards.

accuracy results

Bullet Weight Avg. Velocity StandardMake (gr ) (fps) Deviation Group (in )

CZ-USA is making efforts to get

the CZ 75 CTS LS-P approved

for use in the IPSC Production

Division.

The CZ 75 CTS LS-P features a light-gathering fiber optic front sight.

The top of the slide is serrated to reduce glare.

Documents

CZ-USA 2012 Buyers Guide