2 nights ago I did a nice deep cleaning. This pistol previously had Frog Lube on it. There were no problems, I just wanted to standardize and I went with Moly Grease from CGW and Moly Oil. The cleaning was to get all the Frog Lube off and get all the metal dust removed from every little nook and cranny.
Last night I pulled out my lights to try and shoot some video explaining the CZ single action mechanisms. Since I have moved I wasn't able to get my lighting set up in a way to work well... I was pretty bummed out. So I just assembled this 75 Compact the rest of the way.
Once it was all together I did some dry fire time in order to get used to the new grip design. HOLY SMOKES!!!!!
The deep trigger guard undercut is a GAME CHANGER. At least for me. My hands fit medium sized gloves and with how I grip CZ's my strong hand middle finger just feels kinked downwards a little to get around the trigger guard. My SP-01 feels good. But with this classic 75 Compact, my SP-01 Compacts and my Pre B (before restoration) I could tell. Don't get me wrong, CZ's still are the holy grail for ergonomics, but some were better than others. The Pre B Restoration project was my first realization of the trigger guard undercut making a big difference for me. Now, with my 75 Compact that I have done I am getting the same incredible effect. It isn't a crazy change by actual measurements, but it is just enough to slightly adjust how my strong hand gets in there.
After re-reading this I thought I would throw in another detail. Starting with grabbing my pistols from the holster, I find that jamming my hand down into the back strap isn't as effective. The feel I go for is that once my hand is over the pistol and contacting the backstrap the area of my hand between my thumb doesn't tense up or get jammed in there. Rather I go for the feel of my three other fingers wrapping around the front strap pulling the pistol back into the back part of my hand. That same thing translates as I build my grip as I come up and onto target. I don't clench my whole strong hand, rather my three front fingers are squeezing the the front strap straight back. The my back part of my hand doesn't clench, it conforms. I feel pressure between my middle finger (and all three fingers, but my mind notices this most) and the area of my hand between my thumb and other fingers where the back strap/beavertail area contacts it. I am squeezing back with my three fingers in the same direction as the trigger needs to be pulled. This makes me more accurate, as all 4 of my fingers have an end goal of the same direction. It is also applying force exactly countering the rearward recoil of the pistol. Lastly, I get the highest strong hand grip of all gripping techniques I have tried. It seems to look the closest to the competitive shooters that are really good. Lastly, focusing on maintaining that pressure through my trigger pull, the trigger break, and reset is when I see my sights in recoil the best, and they rise straight upwards, and rise the least, and my shots are grouped the tightest. Yes, the weak hand is doing a bunch of work too, but that isn't the point of this explanation. That being said, having this undercut seems to let my middle finger get under the trigger guard in a better position to apply this pressure is a consistent and better way. Maybe it is because that area isn't as rounded now so I have a more consistent and defined little flat area that my finger can use (almost like the flat triggers letting my trigger finger have a better idea of straight back?) Again, I hope that makes sense. I have never tried typing that explanation of my grip... But it seemed like a major contributor to why I am really liking the trigger guard undercut.
I am going to slap on some grip tape tonight and hit the range tomorrow. I am also going to talk with a guy at the range I go to about Cerakote. I want to see if we can arrange a symbiotic relationship where I can help teach him some things and in return he can teach me to Cerakote and I can do my pistols for the cost of supplies. IF he agrees I am going to do this undercut on my SP-01 Compacts as well.
While it looks like the Shadow 2 has accomplished what I am trying to accomplish (and no matter what I do I can not totally recreate the Shadow 2 grip with my modifications) I am coming to realize just how much improvement is available through this frame modification work.
Summary: My Classic 75 Compact feels even better than the 75 Single Action that I got to handle for a bit. It does not even feel like the same pistol I started with, in the best way possible! I'll try some drills with my timer and see how things pan out and report back.
