Hello. I own several older CZ-75 9mm pistols. All are Pre-B, but none are the short-framed version
with the slide having a longer relief cut that came out earlier.
I've been using them for nearly 20 years now and feel pretty secure in the following observations:
1. Slide-to-frame fit is NOT as tight as on current models.
2. Slide-to-bbl fit is tight as anything made and most bank vaults!
3. Ransom rest tests with these looser slide-to-frame-fit guns will give a distorted view of their
inherent accuracy, i.e., they will appear less capable of grouping than they are.
4. Hand-held and from a rest, these guns can and will outgroup many other more costly makes that
often cost considerably more.
5. These earlier pistols that came with the matte finish that appears to be some kind of baked on enamel
are not as well done as the current guns.
6. Sights are definitely harder to use at speed and for aging eyes than are the "B" models.
7. Reliability is extreme with not only ball, but most JHPs.
8. They are robust; I'm still using original parts in all of them and all of them have been shot quite
a bit.
9. Sights are well-regulated from the box in terms of windage, but most of mine needed just a very
slight amt of front sight filed down to bring up a low point-of-impact to point-of-aim.
10. These older spur-hammered guns can bite a bit, but bobbing the hammer about 1/8" solves that.
11. The old, original plastic stocks are not immune to much and will even warp under lights used for
photography. I've never had much problem with solvents, but I've never really gotten alot of it on them
without immediately removing it. I've replaced all of the original stocks.
12. Though subjective, the more rounded contour of the trigger seems more comfortable to me than
the current pistols' triggers.
13. Trigger pull, both DA and SA seems smoother, lighter, and in the case of the SA, cleaner, due to
there being no firing pin safety to gum up the works.
14. The Pre-B guns lend themselves to dryfiring without nearly so much worry as the B guns as the
former uses the traditional firing pin retaining plate to hold the firing pin/spring while the newer guns
have a roll pin mounted through the slide.
15. I've noted no difference in "smoothness" of function with the Pre-Bs, which have no full-length
guide rod compared to the B versions, which do.
16. Magazine release button springs seem almost too light on the older guns, unlike the B guns.
Each of my CZ-75s has had thousands of warmer handloads and none show any extreme wear at all, but
all do have bright spots on the rails where the finish has been removed. I've had all of mine refinished
in various ways from conventional blue, black parkerizing, to a combination of hard chromed frame with
blued slide.
Examination of the extractor claw leads me to believe that these can be quite suseptible to breakage
if one continually drops a round in the chamber and closes the slide rather than feeding from the magazine.
In short, I think the design is proven, reliable, and long-term. Based on what I've seen with my Pre-B
CZs, current CZs should last at least as long and possibly longer.
Best.
