The CZ 75 is one of the best double action pistols ever made. It's history is unique and after over 30 years, it is still a very popular and reliable handgun. Using a unique, inverted slide design (see photo comparing a traditional 1911 Government model to the CZ) the pistol is very accurate, will feed virtually any bullet that will fit in the magazine and keeps working -- regardless of how dirty and un-maintained the pistol is. Over the course of several months, we fired over 3000 rounds of various 9mm loads through a new CZ-75BD pistol without cleaning or lubrication. The pistol never failed and fired every round that was fed through it. Unlike many double action pistols of it's time, the CZ had a very smooth trigger pull and also allowed the user to carry the pistol "cocked and locked" like the 1911 Government model. This led famous gun writer Jeff Cooper, a big fan of the 1911, to declare his admiration for the design.

During World War I, Austria decided to enhance it's firearms manufacturing abilities. A new arsenal was built in the city of Brno around 1916. After the Austrian empire fell in 1918, several countries were created from the pieces of the Austrian empire. The Czech-Slovak Republic was one of these. The Brno factory was within this new republic and began producing weapons for it's military. An additional factory was created a few years later in 1923 called Ceska Zbrojovka -- abbreviated as simply 'CZ'. During the 1930's, it became clear that the rise of the German state was a threat to the new found republic. The arms factories were put into overdrive to produce weapons to defend the country. However, the Germans eventually occupied the Czech-Slovak republic and, during World War II, the factories produced weapons to aid the German war effort. After the war, the communists took over and all the factories were nationalized.

In 1968, the powers that ran the factory decided that a new pistol was to be designed and the CZ 75 pistol was born. The pistol became a hit in the export market due to it's 9mm chambering. Many governments and police forces adopted the pistol because of it's high quality and reliability. However, because the US imposed high tariffs on the communist state imports, purchasing a CZ 75 in the USA was very expensive and required much paperwork to accomplish. The pistol became a legend in the USA with people paying a thousand dollars to get their hands on one.  Because the communist state did not patent the pistol, many companies made perfect copies of it and the design was manufactured around the world. However, the demand for the original CZ product has never subsided.

After the fall of the communist states in the late 80's, the pistol became importable without the massive tariffs. As a result, it's popularity soared. The company began producing variations of the pistol to meet the demands of shooters worldwide and for the US market. Although the original design featured the ability to carry the pistol cocked with the safety on, new models were introduced that had a de-cocker instead of a safety and thereby eliminated the "cocked and locked" carry mode. This, along with the inclusion of a firing pin block (models with a "B " designation), made the pistol very safe, even for the most inexperienced users, further increasing it's popularity.

Today, all the pistols contain the firing pin block safety and several models are available including single action and double action models, as well as compact and target versions. Our test pistol as described previously was a CZ-75BD compact design. When we purchased the pistol, we gave it a quick look over and swabbed out the bore to make sure there was no oil residue in it. Taking the gun to the range produced sub two-inch groups at 25 yards, with several types of off-the-shelf 9mm ammunition. We tried everything between 115 and 147 grains and it shot them all, accurately. Firing the gun on and off for the next several months, without cleaning, was our test of the legendary reliability of the pistol. After shooting 3000 rounds through it without cleaning, it would still group in the 2 inch range with several 9mm loads.

After the long term test, we took the gun back to the shop and gave it a complete break down and cleaning. Everything was oiled and the pistol put back together. The double action trigger pull averaged 12 pounds and the single action pull right around 5.5 pounds. Taking it back to the range we were rewarded with sub 2 inch groups again including a very impressive showing from the Winchester white box 115 JHP ammo we were testing. For budget level ammunition, it shot some of the best groups we saw that day.

Overall, the CZ 75 series pistols were designed as state-of-the-art firearms over 30 years ago and are still excellent weapons that you can bet your life on, today.