Opinions on CZ 75 BD

[ronl]

Just wondering what handgun owners think of the CZ75BD.

[chris in va]

I've had one for about 8 years.

Despite a few teething problems, it has been a phenomenal handgun that I really can't see getting rid of. Many pistols have come and gone but this one still gets used every range trip and occasionally carried.

[roman3]

Just a Cz 75 with a decocker, I had one for a while, like all CZ's (generally) it is a quality gun from a quality maker. The decocker works (it seems to be flimsy compared to others in its class - but I have had no problems with either the BD or the PCR that had the system) and the gun went bang all the time.

If you don't like the "locked and cocked" style of safety of the regular CZ 75 series then the BD is a good choice.

[DocHoliday]

So far I have a 75B in 40 and 9mm. A 75bd in 9mm. A 75c in 9mm. Also my only safe queens are the CZ 35th and a matching set of CZ 75B stainless from the custom shop. They handle well shoot and fantastically. However this is in my hands but I have had fewer problems with all of them then any other firearms. If it feels good in your hands and you do your part you won't be disappointed.

[radom]

Pretty much all I can say as a down is the sights are a tad small for a combat type service auto but thats easy to cure. Probably not a issue if you have eyes under 50 years old.

[Neal_G.]

If you are going to carry it I would opt for the more compact, lighter CZ75 PCR variant. It also has a decocker, but with an alloy frame and slightly smaller dimensions.

If it's just a range gun then I would just get the CZ75B, cocked & locked shouldn't be a big deal for a fun gun if your a decocker fan.

If its for SD, and your not comfortable with having it cocked & locked and want a full size, max capacity steel service pistol, then the BD would be excellent.

It's CZ so you win any way you go.

[GaryM&P]

I had one for a few years. When fed Federal American Eagle 124gr ammo it was an amazing gun.

[stevieboy]

I've gone in the opposite direction, I have a 75B SA. It's all single action with an ambi safety. I'd call it the poor man's Hi-Power except that I've handled Hi-Powers and I like this gun better. The trigger is very good without modification, the ergonomics are fantastic, it is 100% reliable all the time, it is a cinch to field strip and reassemble, and it is very, very accurate.

[shrewd]

i own a 75bd police, my first firearm.

personally, i love it

the decocker seems to be a personal preference, for most people i've noticed it seems to come down to how you prefer carrying.

i have yet to obtain a license to carry so it doesnt matter to me, but i enjoy the heavier pull once decocked. there is no true safety on the weapon, if that's an issue also

[That'll Do]

I had a CZ75 BD, and in a moment of temporary insanity, I sold the gun.

I had the intention of upgrading to a Browning Hi-Power, but it never happened. I'm going to buy another CZ, without a doubt. Probably a CZ75 SA from the CZ Custom Shop (I like having adjustable rear sights, and some other tweaking).

So anyhow, the CZ75 is a *GREAT* gun!

[Walt Sherrill]

I you just have to have a decocker model, you might find the compact PCR a better choice. It's essentially the same gun with slightly shorter grip and slide, and a noticeably light gun to boot (with an alloy rather than steel frame.)

If you like the full-size CZ-75B and want a decocker, the 75-BD is your gun.

[stevieboy]

You'll love that 75B SA. It can do everything that a Hi-Power can do, except that it has a better trigger, holds six additional rounds, and costs $300 less. I never cease to be amazed at how accurate mine is. It does a good job with 115gr. ammo, an outstanding job, with 124, and it simply LOVES Winchester Nato 124, which is, essentially, 9mm+P.

[AdmiralFarragut]

Just purchased the CZ75BD. Bought it used and this gun is SOLID. Very nice feel in my hand and shoots just fine. I've put about 300 9mm rounds through it in the last couple of days and not one time was there a problem. After purchasing this gun, I found out that CZ-USA sells a .22 caliber kit that enables you to convert the gun over to .22 for more cost effective target practice shooting. A neat little kit I must say. Just remove the 9mm slide, pin/spring & barrel and re-assemble it with the .22 barrel, pin/spring & slide. The kit comes with a couple of .22 clips. Really easy to switch over. I'm totally stoked with this weapon! Highly recommend. Next up, Ruger GP-100 revolver!

[donkee]

Mine had been 100% reliable and an all around great shooter. Can't go wrong with a CZ75BD.

[Amin Parker]

I have 3 Belgian High Powers. 2 cz 75s, one cz 75 compact, one cz 70.

The cz in my opinion is a phenomenal handgun. It is so good that i go on record calling it the very best modern 9mm pistol in all the world.

I have seen a cz 75 with more than 87000 147gr heavy Bowling pin loads through it, break the national record in that event.

It was as accurate as when new but the trigger became better the more it was shot.

As FreakgasolineFight says " the cz 75 is made from win and longcats". I do not know exactly how to interpret that but if you shoot your gun enough you will understand.

Congratulations on owning a fine pistol.

[group17]

Have a CZ75 compact P-01. Having a 7 inch length you don't need a larger version IMO. Great weapon!

[rjksx1]

sold mine;
after 600 rounds, i had to replace the trigger spring; after 1000 i threw the towel in on the horrible trigger(camming SA and gritty DA)- have these issues improved?

[Amin Parker]

I have never heard of a trigger spring breaking on a cz 75. Are you sure it was a cz? I know Glocks are notorious for breaking trigger return springs during shooting but never heard of a cz doing it

[Walt Sherrill]

6-7 years ago -- when I was one of the moderators on the old CZ Forum, there was a large batch of new guns from CZ that were delivered with crappy (defective) trigger springs. A bunch broke. CZ-USA identified the problem and fixed it quickly, but it did happen, and it happened to more than a few CZ Forum members; I don't know how many others had the problem.

CZ also had some problems with extractor springs -- probably a design issue -- and solved the problem by installing higher-power extractor springs, and that problem went away. We'd buy them from Wolff until CZ started getting them into the production guns.

Then there was also a problem with the firing pin retention roll pin which could break with heavy dry-firing. (CZ said "don't dry fire" in their manuals, back then, and supplied a cheap snap cap.) They subsequently doubled the roll pin (putting a smaller one inside the existing one), and that problem went away, too.

I've been following these guns for 10-12 years, and except for a couple of misaligned (out-of-spec) holes on the frames for a handful of CZs, which led to broken slide stops, those are about the only problems I can think of.

[JohnGalt88]

I do know that according to the people at CZ Custom, the BD (decocker) trigger can not be made quite as good as the normal safety trigger, I only know that the mechanism is different and requires more work to become as good as a slicked up normal CZ trigger. The ones i have picked up in shops seem just like there normal safety counterparts though. It probably only starts to matter in race guns and people with extremely refined trigger fingers.

I personally don't like decockers and have no problem lowering the hammer manually and like to be able to carry condition one so i own a regular CZ 75 however i would have no problem with buying and using one with a decocker.

[doofus47]

I fingered one in a LGS, but the grips felt a little large for me.

boilerplate:
I have small hands, ymmv.

[Walt Sherrill]

The CZ guide rod has been plastic for many years. And for the alloy-framed guns (PCR, P01, etc.) it's really important that you KEEP the guide rod plastic. (Delrin, actually.) The shorter barrel makes the guide rod travel in a greater vertical arc as the slide cycles, and with a metal guide rod and alloy frame, you eventually will get some receiver stop wear (that's where the guide rod rests). By bending, the plastic guide rod (which is a full-length guide-rod in the compact models) is simply flexing rather than staying straight. It's not guiding the recoil spring at that point, as the spring is compressed when it's free to bend. (I think the guide rod is mostly used to install that darned spring, as once it's in the gun, the slide encloses it and keeps it in a relatively small channel.)

I've never heard of a functional problem with the plastic guide rods, except one CZ-97 that came from the factory with a screwed up plastic guide rod -- they couldn't rack the slide straight out of the box.

I've shot tens of thousands of rounds through compact, full-size CZs, 97s, etc., and never had a problem. At the range and in competition. I've had pre-Bs with metal guide rods, and never could tell a functional difference; the same for the CZ that could use full-length guide rods -- full-length or truncated didn't seem to make a difference.

SIG has a similar problem with folks getting upset about plastic guide rods in their guns about 10 years ago. They finally changed back, as a public relations sop to customers, but not because the steel guide rod made the gun work better. Glock, on the other hand, has used plastic guide rods for years, and they seem to work even if they break.

You can consider the use of the plastic guide rod as a cheapening of the design, but its really a more functional change. And since the part is a non-stressed piece, whether it's plastic or metal is essentially irrelevant (unless you have an alloy-framed gun.) With an alloy framed gun, a metal guide rod would actually damage the gun, over time.

Roll pin rust? I've NEVER heard of a single CZ roll pin rusting through, and I've been following these guns for a lot of years. (Never really heard about it in other guns, for that matter.) Perhaps if you carried and stored the gun in a highly salty or otherwise corrosive or moist environment it could be a problem. But you can get the replacement parts from CZ for almost nothing, and have spares if you really think it's a potential problem.

As for solid pins: I wouldn't be surprised if those solid steel pins worked their way out over time, unless you've staked them. But staking them makes them difficult to get out. That was a problem with the earlier (pre-B) models. (I had a number of those models, too.)

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[greghalliday]

Get one. You'll love it. Mine has never had any problems at all. I think it's malfunctioned, like, once, and that was probably my fault.

[Walt Sherrill]

Actually on the CZ gun the op-rod does not touch the frame. The rear end nestles in mortise under the barrel and the front end projects out the front of the slide which is steel not aluminum. Even on the stamped sheet metal slides of the European made Sig-Sauer p226 and P220 are not damaged by the metal op-rods nor are their aluminum frames.

You describe the position of the guide rod when the gun is in battery. But the minute the slide starts to move back, the barrel slides rearward and disconnects from the guide rod, and the lower half of guide rod end rests in the receiver stop area on the frame. (You'll notice that the bottom half of the guide rod base is exposed when first mounted on the barrel, during barrel reinstallation. There's a reason for that.)

The guide rod needs a solid base or it won't have a place for the spring to compress against. That is the potential point of wear with an alloy-framed CZ. (Think about it: if the guide rod and spring stayed connected to the rest on the barrel, the recoil spring couldn't work!)

CZ has discussed the problem with metal guide rods in their alloy-framed compacts, after seeing significant wear on guns sent in for service. It now warns that the warranty will not honor wear-related damage if steel guide rods are used in alloy-framed guns and there is wear-related damage in that area. I learned of the details from Mike Eagleshield, who was (and may still be) head gunsmith at CZ-USA several years back. This topic can be found in the FAQ of the CZ-Forum.

Slide wear has not been an issue, and I didn't mention it. Slides on CZs are metal; frames are alloy (softer) on some models, particularly some compact models. The problem is limited to alloy-framed compact model frames.

There's no problem with steel guide rods in steel-framed CZs, and you can actually use a brass door hinge pin (Stanley) with trivial cutting for proper length in some models. That brass is arguably better than steel for this application. Most of the 9mm full-size model CZs can't use a full-length guide rod -- no opening in the front of the slide. (The SA models and the .40s do have the opening.)

With some "pinned" guns, the opening in the frame is tapered. That is the case with the CZ firing pin retention pin. Try to drive it out the wrong way and you've created a mess. My first CZs (pre-Bs) had staked pins. I prefer the roll pins. Tanfoglio now uses them in most of their CZ Clones.

I have a BHP, too. With that gun, the recoil spring is held in position by the slide stop -- but when you install it, it's just like the CZ -- resting on the barrel stop. (I made the mistake of installing the BHP recoil spring guide rod upside down once, when I first got it... what a pain. It doesn't like to come apart, when you do that. I learned a lesson, there...)

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[Walt Sherrill]

Have you noticed the kidney-shaped slot in the barrel lug on the 75 series guns? That's shape shows how far the barrel moves to the rear and how far it drops as the slide moves to the rear. The lugs on the barrel move the slide to the rear with the barrel, until the barrel drops away; momentum then causes the slide to continue its rearward movement, compressing the recoil spring. The barrel will move almost 1/2" to the rear, tilting as it goes.

But, while the barrel moves to the rear, the front end of the guide rod does not. It tilts, but its reward movement is minimal. If it stayed pressed against the barrel rest as you claim, that would have to mean that it's stretching and compressing with each shot, and somehow I don't think that's happening.

That's because the bottom half of the guide rod is resting on the frame -- in the area called the receiver stop. If you had a cutaway model of the CZ, you could see this in action.

With the BHP, the slide stop pin holds the rear of the slide stop in place, while the barrel moves to the rear, pushing the slide with it. Are you going to tell us the BHP slide stop base remains in contact with the barrel rest throughout the firing cycle, too? If so, something magical is happening with that slide stop pin.

Both guns use same basic Browning locked-breech design, with minor differences. The Pin in the BHP serves the same function as the receiver stop in the CZ.

The the CZ firing pin safety is not notorious for breaking. It was the firing pin retention roll pin that broke, sometimes.

I dry fired several 75Bs extensively and never had a problem, but busted the roll pin in a new 40B with just a few hundred strokes. That's when I first realized the roll-pin problem was real. I replaced that first one with a replacement roll pin from a nearby hardware store -- cost me $.75, and I had to cut it with a dremel to the proper length. CZ fixed the problem with the doubled roll pins I mentioned in an earlier message. A couple of clever hobby gunsmiths also came up with a modification to the firing pin that kept it from going out the back of the slide (as intended), but kept it from breaking the retention pin. They enlarged the slot/cutaway area on the firing pin. I had that one of my CZs.

If you send a gun off to CZ for trigger work, and it has a solid pin, the gun will come back with the trigger pin staked. Been there, done that. The CZ gunsmith, at one time, recommended staking solid trigger pins. Note: the frames are not fragile. Some are cast and some of the newer alloy designs are forged. It depends on the model.

You're right on one point -- I miswrote when I said the firing pin retention roll pin was tapered. (I didn't mean the pins were tapered, but that the openings in which they are placed were tapered. And when I wrote firing pin retention roll pin, I was thinking EXTRACTOR pin opening in the slide. (I sometimes also do that with more important stuff!! And to think that I was once a technical writer!!) My error.

You can only drive the extractor pin out from the top (downward) through the bottom of the slide. The trigger pin opening is not tapered -- that's why staking was sometimes required. (We used to have discussions on the CZ forum about the best way to stake a solid pin -- as some who replaced the roll pins didn't stake them and they continued to work their way out.)

Why not check with CZ-USA and see whether what I'm saying here is correct? And confirm some of your other assertions that you are presenting as facts.

And those plastic snap caps aren't worth warm spit. Just get a good one, if you think snap caps are needed.

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