Request for help deciding between CGW SA, SP-01 and Shadow 2

[Tanners Owner]

Congrats- please report back your results

[NoCompromise]

Ok, range report incoming. I took my girlfriend to the range and we shot a 226, Glock 17, USP 9, XD, and my new (to me) SP-01 (in that order). I used to have a USP 9 and have shot the 226 and 17 many years ago. I was surprised at how different they were from my memory. The Sig wasn't as nice and the Glock wasn't as harsh as I remember. The USP had a comfortable, nostalgic feel for me. The XD just felt strange, and something was screwy since it had constant ejection issues. They all felt good in different ways, but nothing really stood out. Then we shot the SP-01 (with the Lok grips) and it was like the clouds parted and a ray of sunshine burst onto our lane.

It was seriously shocking how much nicer the SP-01 shot for both of us. Accuracy, comfort, perceived quality and recoil management were all significantly better with the CZ. My girlfriend consistently shot tight groups on only her second outing (we went shooting once about 4 years ago) and even successfully experimented with a little longer range and faster cadence. She definitively preferred the CZ and described the shooting experience as softer and more pleasant.

I was shocked at how little the muzzle moved on recoil and how quickly and accurately the sights re-aligned. I could observe the same thing watching my girlfriend shoot as the gun seemed to recoil back and slightly up with minimal muzzle flip. I don't know if there's serious debate about the effects of a lower bore axis, but the benefits seem obvious to me.

I'm ridiculously rusty as I haven't shot consistently for decades, so I'm not passing judgment on any of the other guns. Suffice to say that, for our preferences, I'm beyond thrilled with the SP-01! I'm looking forward to upgrading the trigger (down the road) and sights.

[newageroman]

Congrats on your SP-01. I had the same amazement when I shot my 01 for the first time. I just love the way that thing feels, even with the rubber grips. I thought about upgrading it to racegun status, but the mag capacity kind of killed that idea, and I bought a 9mm instead of 40.

Anyway I have another old beat 75B that has the Full Cajun stack and converted to SAO for limited. The SAO trigger is money! those 2 pistols go to the range with me every time and each time I shoot them back to back I want the feel of the 01 with the trigger of the 75SAO. I need a TSO basically... I got snuckered into putting money down on a used S2 for a good deal, but honestly I will be lusting over the TSO.

Either way that 01 will be awesome stuffed with hot parts from down south. If you have the safety model, it will be a bit easier. If your bored look up my thread on installing the stack its something about "noob's SAO conversion". Back then I was much more thrifty and did the work in three phases lots of pics. I can tell you this, the race hammer made the most noticeable difference. With the stock 01 I can stage the trigger even in SA, but with the SAO I can't.