Overcoming long reluctance to abandon the sassy/sexy/flashy/techy thin aluminum "cheese grater" grips that currently come stock on
CZ 97 pistols, I've chosen to revert to the earlier design rubber grips.
https://cajungunworks.com/product/19119-full-size-oem-rubber-grips-97bbd/A key motivator was the insight, described in
Ontological Certitude,
https://czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=99762.msg769614#msg769614 that the grip cross section of the global standard
Colt 1911 pistol was optimized without respect to the "packaging constraints" imposed by double stack magazine width: it uses near-elliptical camber (side bulge) of the grips to help fill the metacarpal joint trough inherent to the gripping of a pistol.
The realization also came slowly, through the process of handling numerous pistols in gun shops, that the
CZ 2075 RAMI with extended 14 round magazine and
Colt 1911 heritage (via the
CZ.40B whose "exterior similarity" was agreed to comport with the
1911) had many "close but no cigar" competitors in terms of the nebulous but all-important attribute I'll call "feel" in the hand. Going back to the extended-mag
RAMI was always like "Ahhh..." -just right, Goldilocks-style, and the side camber of these near-perfect grips is a key part.
I love the feel of the
97BD in the hand, but the flatness of the stock "thin aluminum" grips gives it a kind of single-stack "feel," a step down from the global benchmark
CZ 75 family as typified by my new
SP-01 Tactical suppressor-ready.
I recognize that the showy "cheese grater" texture of the "thin aluminum" grips represents a credible effort in terms of grip texture, but again, "close but no cigar" in comparison with the similarly diamond patterned but optimally tacky (yet wear resistant) rubber material of the
75 series and subsequently the earlier
97.
It is, however the combination of material, texture,
and contour that makes
CZ 75 pistols
the ergonomic global standard. Stippled plastic pistols, roller skate tape, what-have-you, just don't get there. And the dazzling "thin aluminum" grips, however pretty, also don't, I now realize, measure up. I want the best for
Homeboy, and for myself in the deal. I'm willing to sacrifice pretty for best function, with ergonomic "feel" and lateral grippability key elements of said best function. I've taken the plunge.
