The Eagles have Landed!!!

[AbyssDncr]

And I've got mine!!!  Had to drive for 6 hours, mind you, but I have it... 



My first thoughts:

Ergonomics - nailed it with this one.  Same familiar high beavertail feel, albeit a little thinner than my rubber gripped models.  The stippling is about the perfect compromise, sticks to your hand like grit paper, but smooth enough for clothing to slide over it and not stick in weird positions while carrying.

Trigger - I'm totally pleased with this out of the box.  Single action is about half a creepy as a regular 75, but smooth throughout.  DA fairly smooth throughout (can still feel little bumps that could be stoned out) stacking a little at the end to around 10-12 lbs. according to my calibrated finger.   

Mags not only drop free, but do so with a bit of authority!  Yeah!!!

Sights are Glock-esque with the white outline rear and white line front.  I'm sure it'll work.  Downside is that they're both Glock-esque again in that they are plastic.  The rear sight has the familiar "set screw" hole, but instead of the set screw, a little portion of it was melted ("swaged"...whatever) into a notch in the slide to keep it from drifting.  Have no idea what keeps the front sight in place - can only imagine it's glued.  Both have the same dovetail cuts - confirmed this with Matt at CZ today - so aftermarket (metal) sights shouldn't be a problem.  I'll try to mic them on the gun and compare heights to my takeoff 75 sights in the parts bin...

Decocker comes installed, works as expected and isn't in the way of those who practice a high hold on the gun.

Recoil spring is just as stiff as you'd expect CZ's recoil spring to be - flat spring again and plastic guide rod again.  It "appears" at first glance to be a more brittle plastic and hollow to boot.

Barrel lock up is CZ97 / Sig style, and profile is SP01 size in diameter. 

Extractor spring is weak.  Who know's if this will be an issue at this point, but the spring is quite soft...

Finish - it's parked - no polycoat!  It could be a smidge darker, but not complaining here at all.

Hand cycling, it feels like there's a lot more friction in the slide movement than my steel framed CZs, not that this surprises me at all with the poly frame.  I suspect it will eventually smooth with use.

Slide release reach distance is about the same as the SP01 / P01, but harder to actually get to due to the thicker decocker/safety lever.

Overall weight & balance feels pretty good, not too top heavy, not too light.

Trigger return spring feels weak, and like it or not, Matt said today that this is the only internal part the P07 shares with the standard 75 series of pistols.

If I had one true disappointment with it, it's that the mainspring plug is flat and not a lanyard loop like the promotional photos show...   :'(

Everyone at CZ says the magazine is "proprietary", but in examining it, I'm crossing my fingers that it's same basic design as the Tactical Sports pistols and the 20 rd mags will fit & function.

Overall, knowing then what I know now, I'd still drive the 6 hours again to be playing with it now.   

Won't say I 100% LOVE it, due to a few parts that they obviously cheaped out on, but face value it seems worth the money, which will be even better once the blood lust subsides and they can be picked up used.

I will say that for ME, personally, I'd rather have this than an out of the box P01.  Trigger is notably better, the decocker fits my grip style much better, capacity is a delighter bonus, and the stippling is effective on a couple different levels.

Tomorrow night I'll hit the range with some WWB, Blazer Brass, and 130 PF 125 gr. Berry's RNDS reloads to see if she's as sweet on paper as she feels in my hand.  I'll also peruse the local supply of Fobus holsters to see what we can use until the Bladetechs hit the streets.



Pics are what they are this late night...but should show a little more that what we've seen so far.


























Over & out for now...
 

[Gary1911A1]

Not trying to be negative, but the grip looks more Sig like than CZ like. Let us know how it shoots.

[ClarkstonCZ]

How many extra mags did you order??

[AbyssDncr]

How many extra mags did you order??

Gun came with two, got two extras.  Thanks for the heads up on 'em!   

[Stuart]

great review..
any chance a tighter photo(s) showing the sear/decocker area??
also how easy to switch out the decocker to the safety??
thanks

[AbyssDncr]

Just finished swapping out the decocker parts with the safety & back.  It is indeed a "tool free" swap as advertised...if you have really tough tiny fingers.

Pulling out the decocker parts is a piece of cake.  Push down on the ejector, and slide the left side lever out like you would a normal safety.  No springs to disengage, just push down and pull it out.  There's a little coiled spring that pulls out of a tube in the frame.  This is the spring that keeps the decocker lever in the up position.  For the right side lever, push the trigger bar down, rotate the lever up, and pull it out.  Takes about 30 seconds.

Installing the safety is pretty straight forward too.  Start with the right side lever by pushing the trigger bar down and insert the lever angled up a bit.  Once in, rotate it to the normal safety position and release the trigger bar.  The left side lever goes in about as easy.  Push down on the ejector and wiggle the arm in close to the right side lever, hold the trigger bar down so the rod can slip into the hole of the right side lever.  Pinch them together sideways until the parts "click" into place and you're done.

Pulling out the safety is just like pulling out the decocker.  For both assemblies, the left side lever / arm has a square peg on its tip which fits into the square hole on the right side lever.  Hammer down position works the best for all operations.

Reinstalling the decocker parts is a bit of a pain because of that little spring that resets the lever.  You pretty much need a little screwdriver and a bit of patience to get the little leg behind the keeper on the decocker rod.  Do this before sliding the left side into the right lever.  Pinch the two sides together until it clicks and you're back in business.

I'll be leaving the decocker parts in.  The safety is notchy and clicks loudly when engaging and disengaging and is just irritating.  Not smooth at all like a regular 75 because of how they have it working.  No biggee though as the decocker works great and has a smooth & gentle operation.  I'll get some pics of this up later tonight.

[Stuart]

great description
now I am really curious how they set up the sear and hammer to work with both..

this is great..thanks again for all the time

[manofsteele69]

im glad he's giving the descriptions and pictures my no sleep trashy pictures didnt help at all.

[AbyssDncr]

great description
now I am really curious how they set up the sear and hammer to work with both..

this is great..thanks again for all the time

OK, got it figured out. 

Torn apart again & pics taken of the step-by-step disassembly.  Still need to spend some time with the pics labeling pertinent parts, but gotta run the kids to do their thing...and finally shoot it!   

I'll get the labeled pics and explanations up in a few hours.

[Stuart]

sweet...just sittin' here with nothing to do

[armoredman]

Awesome! Can't wait until I get one to test out!

[Stuart]

the internals look very similar to the 75B Omega..

[armoredman]

Hmm, could be...

[AbyssDncr]

Ok, here we go with a decocker removal pictorial...
 

First, we have the the internals with the slide removed:
Green arrow is the sear
Blue arrow is the ejector
Red arrow is the decocker return spring





So disassembly starts by pressing down on the ejector.  Note that the left side popped out a little.  The safety lever doesn't do this when the ejector is pressed down, but you can stick your finger in there and push it outward.





Now as the decocker comes out of the frame, pay attention to the blue circled area.  There is a little nub sticking out to the right side (left as pictured) that retains the leg of the decocker return spring.





And the spring leg pops off the nub and is no longer under tension.  Remember this picture when we talk about the two decocker cams further down and come back to look at this again...





Pull the left side lever and spring out.  On the right side, press down on the trigger bar to free the right side lever.
(The green arrow points to the firing pin block lifter which has absolutely nothing to do with the disassembly, but it was a good shot of the part...)





Now the right side lever can be rotated up and pulled out of the frame.





So here are the three parts we just removed:





Now, with the decocker removed, we can see the sear and disconnector features better.
Blue arrow is the upper sear tang that the safety blocks in a fashion similar to a standard 75.
Green arrow is the lower sear tang that the decocker bar cams against as the lever is depressed (this tang corresponds to the decocker cam surface noted by the green arrow in the next picture)
Red arrow points to a notch in the nose of the disconnector that big finger/cam on the decocker bar catches to prevent the hammer from coming forward.  This finger is the one with the nub that captures the decocker return spring.  So as the decocker is depressed, the little cam lifts the sear to free the hammer to release.  As it releases, the big finger catches the nose of the disconnector.  Release the decocker lever and the hammer returns to the half cock position.

Also notice the top of a roll pin just under the red arrow head.  The is where the long leg of the disconnector return spring goes.





So here are the color coded corresponding cams on the decocker bar (safety bar is also picture on top). 
Green arrow points to a smaller cam surface on the bar that pushes the lower sear tang to lift the rear of the sear and release the hammer.
Center of the red circle is the big finger that catches the nose of the disconnector and keeps the hammer back until the lever is manually released.





This pictures shows the differences in the cutouts of the decocker and safety bar (decocker is on top in this picture).  Note the notch/cutout in the safety is smaller.  The extra metal on the safety blocks the upper sear tang when it is rotated up.





This shot shows how the safety "works".  There is a recess in the left side of the frame that the little gray plastic piece fits into.  This little gray piece is pushed into the round stop by a little spring that is recessed inside bar.  The shim fits into the frame and as the safety is moved up and down, the stop flips back and forth between the upper and lower notches in the gray piece.  The little spring is stiff and this explains the notchiness and loud clicking as the safety is manipulated.





Hope this makes sense from the pictures.  You might need to go back and forth between the first couple pics and the individual parts before it all sinks in, but that's how it works...

 

[AbyssDncr]

Ok, made it to the range with a pile of ammo.  Put 250 rounds through it in about an hour. 

50 rounds each of the following (all FMJ) ammo in this order:

Winchester White box 115 gr
Winchester (WCC headstamped) 124 gr NATO ball
CCI Blazer Brass 115 gr
Remington 115 gr
My reloads consisting of mixed brass, 125 gr. Berry's double struck copper plated over 5.6 gr. AA5, seated to 1.160, factory crimp.

Over all feel is just as I expected, about half way between my SP01 and Rami Polymer.  The NATO ball was certainly the hottest of the loads and the Remington was the softest with my reloads still pretty soft at just over 1000 fps in the SP01.  This one makes you notice your wrist tension far more than the SP01.  Firm wrists and the front sight just pops right back where you started; loosen up and you get a lot more climb during recoil.  Never had to be this particular about form with the SP01... 

I think it shot pretty good, all things considered, but you can look at the target and see for yourself.  I fired 15 rounds slowfire with each batch first (left line of bulls on the target) and the remaining 35 rounds I fired in quick pairs, {exept for the last 20 of my reloads) (right line of bulls on the target).  You can see I started getting a little fatigued as the shooting continued and the pace increased, but whatever...     This was all from the 7 yard line.





With the last 20 rounds of my reloads, I fired 10 shots from 15 yards (6 o'clock hold on the black bull) on the left side and 10 round from 7 yards, double action each shot.  (The upper orange dots were quick pairs with eerw's old SP01 40 Tactical upper - pay no attention to those...)




I think this gun is about as good as a compromise as one can get in the CZ line for a great carry gun.  Far better trigger and overall behaviour than the Rami at about half the weight of the SP01, full size capacity, and certainly adequate accuracy.

Complaints are still with the sights.  They're fairly well regulated from the factory (still not convinced the the tendency toward the right is the guns fault...    ), but I've got to have Tritium for my carry guns.  Took a closer look at the front sight today and the front corners of dovetail are staked at the top to hold the front sight on - that sucks...  The rear sight was staked / swaged / something onto the slide at the back, so drifting it seems to be questionable.  Didn't get to measure sight height tonight like I wanted to see how well the Meps will work for it before the wife drug me to bed, but I still plan on it.

Also holster options are grim at best.  The large triggerguard is killing a couple of otherwise decent potentials.  Best thing I found to suffice until real purpose built options are available was the Galco Matrix for the HK USP / 250 Compact.  If you loosen the tension screws, it will hold the gun fine and isn't too tight...but I still didn't like the fit and it's still at the store.  Maybe a Yaqui or something...?  Worst case is that a cheapie nylon will have to do until CZ or Bladetech makes something available.  On the brighter side, the Blackhawk Glock 17/19 SOB holster I picked up for the Rami over the weekend will actually work for the P07.  It is tight with the triggerguard mind you, but it will work...

Think that bout wraps it up for the shooting experience and my homework for the day.  Hope it helps the fence sitters...

End of the day = me smiling with no regrets.