The Original CZ Forum
CZ PISTOL CLUBS => CZ40B/40P => Topic started by: angus hobdell on June 01, 2007, 10:12:53 AM
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From Milan trkulia
You asking the right person as I was right on middle of it, when the Colt Z 40 happened.
Beside myself, another two persons you know very well, were instrumental in Colt Z or CZ .40 B project. It was Ira Kay and Kerby Smith. I will send you a copy of Ira Kay's e-mail from September 18th, 1997 describing chronology of the Colt/CZ relationship involving COLT Z/CZ.40 B projects.This is if I manage to find it.
Just remember, there was just one significant specification put forward by the Colt people - this pistol must bear exterior similarity with the the Colt 1911. It was just a verbal request, nothing was written down or signed on this design matter. We just shook the hands. That was it! All another work was left on the CZ engineers. Shape of the pistol was designed by the Industrial Architect Vojtech Anderle (also author of CZ 100 design), and all interior mechanism works on Colt Z .40 was done by Radek Hauerland, who also worked with me later on CZ 2075 RAMI project. Your statement is absolutely correct, the Colt Z 40/CZ.40B pistol mechanism was fully adopted from CZ 75 line of pistols. After CZ/Colt deal collapse, pistol was made by CZ for an another customers, but in limited numbers. When Radek Hauerland worked on trigger mechanism for COLT Z .40, he at the same time got ready SA/DA and Decocker versions of this pistols. Therefore it was easy to later produce all these trigger mechanism versions, and also the caliber conversion down from .40 to 9x19 was very easy to make. Beside the Colt Z.40 and CZ .40 B pistols, there was an another model based on COLT Z .40 design produced in 9 x 19 cal and called the CZ LE 9.
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Thanks for the history lesson! Fascinating stuff.
Bill
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Very nice Angus!
Thanks for taking the time to do that. That's a very detailed and in depth report. It would be nice if we could get that kind of response from some of the other gun makers about their products!
Thanks again and thanks to CZ too.
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Indeed. Thank you, Angus. I love knowing the history of the pistols I choose to use. NOw, what I'd LOVe to see is a book on the history of CZ, the CZ75, etc. An exhaustive historical reference would be quite nice.
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there is a book follow this link to CZ USA web site.
I have read the book very informative.
https://id305.securedata.net/cz-usa.com/merchantmanager/product_info.php?products_id=175&mmsid=24ad0408abe12f8b39caedbb8000243a (http://https://id305.securedata.net/cz-usa.com/merchantmanager/product_info.php?products_id=175&mmsid=24ad0408abe12f8b39caedbb8000243a)
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I was watching a program on the History Channel about "safe" guns. One segment had a spokesman from Colt demonstrating their "smart" gun. To fire this gun the shooter had to be wearing this special watch device that sent a signal to the weapon. I thought it looked familiar. It was a Colt Z-40. It looked just like the CZ 40-b. Is that the real story. Did Colt figure out the whole smart gun thing was crap, they just dump it back at CZ.
Looks like CZ made lemonade from them lemons.
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I caught the same program last night. I would venture to say that the 'smart gun' technology was retrofitted into the pistol. With Colt's history of management mis-directions and false starts, who can tell? It looks to my eye, that the 'smart gun' is a long way from making it to market. The closest we can expect to see is the Taurus action locking key/screw affair. I just picked up a CZ 40 B in an online auction last week. Waiting for it to arrive at my FFL now.
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There was another "smart" gun technology a few years back, but it worked best with revolvers.
With that one, a special piece in the gun was activated by a ring the shooter wore -- I don't remember how they "linked" up, but it wasn't hi-tech. If you held the gun and didn't have the ring on your hand, the trigger wouldn't work.
Colt was seriously looking at getting back into the LEO market, and I think they were using one of the Colt Z-40 prototypes for that experiment, as Police Departments would be one of the first large buyers.
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www.tarnhelm.com/magna-tr...agna1.html (http://www.tarnhelm.com/magna-trigger/gun/safety/magna1.html)
this is a link to what you were talking about i think walt. the ring is a magnet that moves a block out from the trigger or hammer and allows it to strike
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Are these Colt/CZs collectible? Is the quality of them good? Are they simply a 40B with Colt markings on the slide?
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They're collectible -- but primarily because some folks think they are collectible -- and because less than 1000 were made. I'd love to have one, but not at the price they command (approximately 2-3 times the price of a CZ-40B).
They were made on the same assembly line as the 40B, the primary differences being that all but a handful were made to function in DAO mode only. (At least a couple were made with safeties and do DA/SA.)
They're nice guns, but they're really just 40Bs with a different rollmark on the slide and a slightly different internal mechanism.
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However it worked out, I'm glad it did. My CZ40B is the most accurate easy to handle pistol that I have.
Dave (http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/laugh.gif)(http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/pimp.gif)
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http://www.cz-usa.com/media_releases.php?m=4&msgid=28
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I thought the thread should have some Z40 pics for comparison... :)
(http://www.myslivost.cz/Upload/Obrazky/Media_13823_16_49.jpg)
(http://www.armyrecognition.com/europe/Tchecoslovaquie/Armes/Pistolets/Ceska_Zbrojovka/Colt_Z-40_Right_Czech_IDEE2002_01.jpg)
(http://www.armyrecognition.com/europe/Tchecoslovaquie/Armes/Pistolets/Ceska_Zbrojovka/Colt_Z-40_Left_Czech_IDEE2002_01.jpg)
(http://www.armyrecognition.com/europe/Tchecoslovaquie/Armes/Pistolets/Ceska_Zbrojovka/Colt_Z-40_Back_Czech_IDEE2002_01.jpg)
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Thank you for the history background. That was something new that I learned about my pistol. The pictures in this thread are nice . . . has anyone placed wood grips on their 40? Or maybe I just haven't read enough threads yet. :-[
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(http://imageseek.com/hakan/03_02/cz40b_walnut.jpg)
http://imageseek.com/hakan/ (http://imageseek.com/hakan/)
hakan pek makes 'em in all different ways for any CZ. :)
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WOW! This is really nice. I have read your post and I have learned a lot. Cool post and Congrats.
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Does anybody know how many Colt Z40's were made?
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I've heard, but cannot confirm, that it was between 500 and 750. Honestly I think that number may be a bit high.
Otto
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I am new here, but I just thought I would add my 2 cents. I bought a pistol marked CZ40B on the slide in early 2003, NIB. It has an 02 date stamp on it, and s/n A19XX. When I looked at the factory paperwork that came with it, it listed the model as "Colt Z 40" but was marked out and had a hand written "CZ40B" beside that. That made me wonder if it was made when they were still planning on marketing them under the Colt name, but later marked and exported to the USA with the CZ name...?
Either way... I feel like I won on the deal. I picked it up in a trade for a bargain, and have loved it ever since. I am now looking to expand my CZ collection, but just have to decide on my next Baby.
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There was another "smart" gun technology a few years back, but it worked best with revolvers.
With that one, a special piece in the gun was activated by a ring the shooter wore -- I don't remember how they "linked" up, but it wasn't hi-tech. If you held the gun and didn't have the ring on your hand, the trigger wouldn't work.
Recall seeing a tech demo about 20 years ago. The ring was magnetic. Seemed like a good deal if you don't carry any electronic devices that can be damaged by a strong magnetic field.
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Is there still a .40 to 9mm conversion available for the cz40b?
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Howdy Newbie! AFAIK CZ has never made a 9mm to 40 S&W conversion for any of their pistols, including the CZ 40B. The only conversion is the Kadet Kit for converting the 75 series to .22 LR.
Otto
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Here is a pic of my Z40. I carried it on duty for a short time even took a few folks at gunpoint on felony arrests. The pistol was a gift from the wife. The gun mostly is a safe queen now. I have 8 factory 10 rounds mags for the pistol also. The serial number is in the 800 range.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/cwm1150/DCP_0486.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/cwm1150/media/DCP_0486.jpg.html)
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What a collector piece! Thanks for sharing!
Otto
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Looks like it is DAO. Was that a factory option or part of a department order? The only 75Bs DAO were department or contract guns.
NICE gun by the way.
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Mine is DAO, the hammer is shaved flat. Very nice smooth double action pull, very accurate.
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Resurrecting the thread with an update with a vid that's kind of old itself.
I just came across the Colt backstory (Colt Z-40 N. 1)on the Forgotten Weapons (AKA Gun Jesus) Youtube channel, also on Full30.
This vid is from 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcNfHudHlF8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcNfHudHlF8)
https://www.full30.com/video/63b8f7f1793dfe05f28b175e7d2a2c71 (https://www.full30.com/video/63b8f7f1793dfe05f28b175e7d2a2c71)
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My cousin had one. The Colt marked pistol that was DAO. Got it at a gun show.
He eventually screwed up and shot himself in the hand with it one night racking the slide (you have no idea how many times I'd told him not to hold a pistol with his right hand across his chest while racking the slide to the rear with his left hand over the muzzle.) That big old ugly .40 S&W hollow point went into the palm of his hand near the bottom and traveled up his arm to just short of the elbow before exiting and hitting the wall by the head board of his bead. He was very lucky as it must have just traveled between the skin and the muscle. He went to the emergency room and they treated him and sent him home. No other issues from it.
Then he married an evil woman who had credit card bills out the ying yang he didn't know about till after they were married. He ended up selling most of his guns trying to pay off her credit card bills and keep her from losing her house. When he finally got her back on solid financial ground she accused him of assaulting her and got him thrown in jail and then got a restraining order on him so he couldn't go back to the house he'd been paying for. During the trial it came out the gun he supposedly "pointed at her" was a rifle in the case he was carrying out the door to go to a shooting range. The court convicted him anyway but then, on the appeal they dropped the charges and over a year or so of fighting with them about it they wiped his records clean and everything is back to normal - but he never got his money or his guns back and lives in another state now.
Several nice/rare guns left his possession forever, as well as most of his bank accounts. I've got a feeling he'd get married again though. Some people never learn.
I shot it, once, when he brought it home with him. Had the nice blue box, the Colt owner's manual, the Colt name/logo on it. Seems like, on the bottom of the frame, it was marked CZ, but that's been a long time ago.
The story, we heard around here, was that Colt was going to shut down it's handgun manufacturing facilities in the US (combination of mismanagement and political pressures) and have "Colt" handguns made overseas for sale in the US. I know I'd just bought my Colt Series 80 Government Model in stainless steel a few months prior to that for $495 and right after than announcement the prices on the same pistol jumped up to over $900 in the local gun stores. I remember being at one of the bigger gun stores in the area and hearing people come in and ask about Colt guns only to be told they'd sold out and didn't know when they might get another shipment in.