Hammer fired SA/DA semi's on a budget (AKA: The CZ 75 Thread)

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I'm in the market for another hammer fired semi auto. I'm up in the air right now between the following and was hoping the braintrust would lead me in the usual good direction.

CZ (any of the hammer fired ones)
Beretta 92 series (preferably of the M9 flavor)
Sig is cool too.

It's a short list, I know, so I am open to suggestions. Use will be range/league play. Hi cap not an issue (NH). Adjusting rear sights are a must, optics ready a bonus. Full sized. 9mm and an $800 top end limit. All metal is preferred unless a good argument can be made for polymer.

I already have a 1911 and a Glock.

Thanks as usual.

Ron
 
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CZ75. I hate slide mounted decockers. I had a SIG P226 and P239. Neither worked for me. I the P239 felt top heavy. The P226 felt like a brick in my hand.
 
CZ75 SP01, either BD or the standard offering. They make another one now that's convertible but I don't know much about it. Berettas are out of the question because
not that many people work on the damned things. At least with a CZ you can send it to cajun and get it sauced up if you want/need.

Nothing in that class is optics ready, unless Sig is making a Legion or something like that which is already milled out. but then you're not talking $800
anymore. If the optics thing is a must have, stick with striker fired guns, way more stuff in that class that already are milled for mounts etc.

If you have a sport in mind if we know what it is might be able to make better suggestions though... because they all have different divisions/classes/rules, and other BS.

-Mike
 
CZ75 SP01, either BD or the standard offering. They make another one now that's convertible but I don't know much about it. Berettas are out of the question because
not that many people work on the damned things. At least with a CZ you can send it to cajun and get it sauced up if you want/need.

Nothing in that class is optics ready, unless Sig is making a Legion or something like that which is already milled out. but then you're not talking $800
anymore. If the optics thing is a must have, stick with striker fired guns, way more stuff in that class that already are milled for mounts etc.

If you have a sport in mind if we know what it is might be able to make better suggestions though... because they all have different divisions/classes/rules, and other BS.

-Mike
Our centerfire league is pretty loose honestly. Much like the rimfire pistol, 50' range, slow fire 10 rounds, 30 second timed fire 10 rounds, 20 second rapid fire 10 rounds. I'm using my 1911 right now.
 
Also, I hate the high bore axis on the SIG P series. Their procedure for takedown, however, is superior.

These days I wouldn't touch a P series anyways unless its a legion, and that puts the $ out of his striking distance for his desired budget. The QC on their mainstream guns is debatable, at best.... unless he's going used. I think a CZ is a better deal all the way around. Up until 5-8 yrs ago they were probably a "poorly kept secret" if you put it that way. Nobody ever ran out and went full fanboi syndrome but everyone that had them liked them. Then I started buying a few and discovered "why". Mags are cheap (and mecgar makes cheap mags that work superbly for these guns) platform well developed by people like the CZ custom shop and Cajun, etc.
I can't think of another DA/SA "pattern" that's really even sniffing a CZ, honestly. The only guns that probably come close are the Tanfos etc but those are basically CZ clones anyways.

-Mike
 
I think I'm going to manhandle a CZ75B Omega Friday. It checks the boxes.
Tbh the omegas are kind of disliked by the cz community. The boards frequently see posts by guys who say they wish they'd picked a safety or a decocker model. The consensus seems to be omegas can't be tuned as well as the others.
 
CZ SP-01 (my current idpa pistol) and thank me later

Add Cajun parts and thank me again.

And.... I’m NOT a fan of DA/SA guns.

Do not get a decocker variant.
 
CZ.
Still looking for someone that has a CZ75 PCR in stock locally.
My Shadow 2 is my favorite pistol of all time.
 
How about a used 3rd gen S&W? They are sort of an aluminum frame clone of the Beretta 92s: SA/DA, slide mounted decocking safety. They made a bunch of different flavors with blue or stainless, single or double stack and different barrel lengths. My first pistol was a 6906: 9mm, 12 rounds, stainless slide and barrel, alloy frame (I hate rust).
 
How about a used 3rd gen S&W? They are sort of an aluminum frame clone of the Beretta 92s: SA/DA, slide mounted decocking safety. They made a bunch of different flavors with blue or stainless, single or double stack and different barrel lengths. My first pistol was a 6906: 9mm, 12 rounds, stainless slide and barrel, alloy frame (I hate rust).

I despise slide mounted decocker / safeties. Same problem as the 92F and it’s derivatives.
 
I despise slide mounted decocker / safeties. Same problem as the 92F and it’s derivatives.
For a carry gun, me too, though despise might be a little strong. But for my first pistol it fit the bill nicely. It also had a mag disconnect, and at that point in my journey I liked that it had every safety feature anyone ever thought of. Now, not so much.
 
I have 4 CZ’s.

Shadow 2
Tactical Sports Orange
SP-01
Shadow Line Compact

Out of all, my shadow 2 is my favorite

Trying to give the TSO some love (uspsa and steel)

Sold my p226 legion DA/SA for a legion SAO and no regrets. Still have it.

Bunch of 1911’s.

Took the CZ shadow 2 to make me rethink things.

I have plenty of IDPA worthy striker pistols. But CZ won me over.
 
Why not. They're excellent once tuned.

Harder to tune. A bit more finicky.

Even a non decocker sear cage is a pain to take down/reassemble.

I do all my own tuning.

Plus it’s nice to have the option of cocked and locked for speed steel/uspsa

Granted I’ve gave a few SO’s (I’m a idpa SO) a bit of fright dropping my hammer manually.

Personally just don’t see the need for it. But that’s my opinion.
 
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I also have a Shadow 2. Out of the OP’s budget, but it sure is a peach of a gun.

That’s why I think the SP-01 is a good choice.

Add some CZ custom or Cajun parts over time and you’ll have a great overall platform.

Think I paid ~$600 in MA for my SP-01. New.

Sadly the Shadow is too heavy for idpa.
 
I have a very similar model - FAB92 - that I picked up for a little less a while back. If Littleton was closer I’d grab it.

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Tbh the omegas are kind of disliked by the cz community. The boards frequently see posts by guys who say they wish they'd picked a safety or a decocker model. The consensus seems to be omegas can't be tuned as well as the others.

This is good to know, I'd seen them a few times but never really knew what those guns were about other than the fact that you could "convert" them.

-Mike
 
I also have a Shadow 2. Out of the OP’s budget, but it sure is a peach of a gun.

It's too bad it wasn't like 5 years or so ago, there used to be what I called a "Cheap Shadow" which would be
perfect for him, those guns sold for about 700-800 bucks or so and basically provided a platform you could easily
upgrade later. They had rubber grips and fixed sights, but still were Shadows. The problem is those went the way of the dodo bird when the Shadow 1 really took off, and CZ stopped selling the cheap one when they figured out that everyone just bought one of the custom jobs anyways.... my gut instinct was the custom shop just took the
cheapos and converted them into full blown shadow customs, because it was easy for them to sell every one
produced.

-Mike
 
It's just about perfect for USPSA Production. Leave the dark side behind.

With a couple spring changes, my trigger weights are about 6 lb DA and 2 lb SA.

All my DA/SA CZs are in that range after some work.

I’m now exclusively shooting my Tactical Sport Orange in USPSA limited.

I shoot the Shadow 2 more accurately at the range (go figure?) than the TSO.

lol. I’m still shooting all versions, dark side, fudd pistol with a jacket etc.
 
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