The P07: the only pistol I like as much as a 1911

[jamesp81]

I got this little gem last week, and it has something of a story to it.

I was wanting a hi capacity 9x19.  I really wanted something that would share magazines with a good 9mm pistol cal carbine at some point down the road.  The P07 doesn't fit that, but I was sorely tempted to buy anyway because of how AWESOME it felt in the hand.

However, I initially committed a grave sin and bought a Glock 17.  Nothing wrong with the Glock in terms of functionality, by the way, it's a reliable, fairly bomb-proof pistol.  But the ergos, oh my God    The God awful "Glock hump" irritated a nerve in the bottom of my hand such that even holding the Glock tightly induced a sensation similar to an electric shock in my hand.  And this was doing dry fire drills with snap caps.  I never actually fired the gun.  That Glock now holds the distinction of being the shortest period of time I ever owned a gun.  I had divested myself of that torture device within 48 hours of purchase.

When I did trade my barely used and severely devalued Glock, I knew what I was going to trade for: the P07, what I should've bought in the first place.  I traded out the Glock and got the P07, and it's a winner!  My first range trip it exhibited great accuracy.  The ammo I was using was my own handloads with 115gr bullets and a light start charge....these didn't have *quite* enough umph to cycle the gun reliably and it was short stroking on occasion.  That's hardly the gun's fault, however, and I'm going to try some more energetic loads later this week.  I do not expect problems.  When I gripped the gun hard to get the most recoil energy I could into the slide, it functioned flawlessly.  This pistol is so well made it will actually feed an empty, fired case from the magazine    I have NEVER seen a gun that could do that.  If there were such a thing as full profile wadcutters for 9mm, I could shoot them in this gun 

Oh, and did I mention it was really accurate?  It looks to me like with the right ammo, it will hold its own with my 1911 or Ruger GP100, which are both very accurate pistols indeed.

With this gun on the market, I have no idea why anyone looking for a polymer framed sidearm would even consider the ergonomically nightmarish Glock or the very expensive HK.  And with all of CZs excellent steel framed guns, I'm not sure why anyone would consider the rather pricey and rather high bore axis Sigs.

There is only one criticism of it I can think of.  The slide release lever is a bit too long of a reach for my thumb.  No big deal, I can just slingshot the P07 with my left hand during reloads.

CZ claims that the CZ75 and its derivatives may be the "perfect pistol".  That's a big claim to make.....but I think they're right.  The Czechs can make a pistol.

[Road Dawg]

I know what you mean.

I've been a 1911 devotee for years and routinely carried one for about the last twenty.  However, I recently started to think I needed to shift my thinking a bit.  My 1911s are rather expensive and if I have to perforate some bad guys meat sack I'd rather not have one languishing in evidence somewhere.  Especially with our kids now living halfway across the country.  I decided I needed something to serve as an out-of-state carry piece that was of good quality but wouldn't make me cry if I had to hand it over.

Caliber wasn't really an issue as all of the major service rounds are now very close in their effectiveness, regardless of which criteria you use to judge such things, so it didn't have to be a .45 this time.  I'd always heard about the CZ75, and even saw a few back in the cold war days when they were discussed in hushed tones.  It had always intrigued me so I gave it a try, buying a new 75b.  Well, two thousand rounds of various and assorted ammo later I couldn't get the thing to malfunction, and accuracy was impressive.  I was impressed enough that it became my primary CCW, not just a travel gun like I originally intended.  The 75b was traded off to a friend for an '84 vintage 75, and that one has proven to be the equal of the first one.  I even used it on a whim in a local bullseye match and managed to scor a 499 out of a possible 500 (and that was my fault).  Not bad at all for a service grade pistol.

CZs can hold their own against any of the offerings from Sig, HK, Berretta, Glock, etc. and at a fraction of the cost.  They're more ergonomic than many of those and you just can't beat the cost v. quality ratio.  I thnik they're some of the finest handguns of their type.

[ming]

I can't say (yet) that I like my P-07 as much as my 1911s, but i do enjoy shooting it almost as much as them.  I've never felt a better trigger than that on a 1911 and my P-07 doesn't match it.  Maybe something can be done about it but I haven't seen the need to check into it.  If anyone has info on trigger jobs I'd like to see a post.  I did buy my P-07 because I wanted a polymer 9mm and after looking at many different 9s I chose it because the feel and ergonomics were so similar to the 1911.  I've got about 1000 rounds through mine and I am very happy with my purchase especially since it cost about 1/3 the price of my cheapest 1911.

[taphius]

I've only fired a range officers nighthawk so not to much experience with 1911's, i will say out of the 20 or so ruger/glocks/springfields/s&w's/taurus/bersa/kel-tecs etc ive shot nothing comes close to this trigger -_- especially since i have it a fluff and buff with my dremel. It's omg smooth in sa and da , i cant stand shooting any of the rentals at my range because im so spoiled like it.

For the price and once CZ really works out the 'kinks' i think its going to be hard to find a better handgun for as close as you can get to a 'all around' handgun

[jamesp81]

I've only fired a range officers nighthawk so not to much experience with 1911's, i will say out of the 20 or so ruger/glocks/springfields/s&w's/taurus/bersa/kel-tecs etc ive shot nothing comes close to this trigger -_- especially since i have it a fluff and buff with my dremel. It's omg smooth in sa and da , i cant stand shooting any of the rentals at my range because im so spoiled like it.

For the price and once CZ really works out the 'kinks' i think its going to be hard to find a better handgun for as close as you can get to a 'all around' handgun

I'm not even sure I'd call them kinks.  I *think* mine has famouse bulge, but I don't see it causing a functioning issue.  My mags don't drop free either, but I'm just not concerned enough about that as in issue to send the gun back to Kansas City.  Every gun has a quirk or two, and the ones I'm seeing in the P07 just don't concern me all that much.

My trigger isn't smooth and consisten at this point, but I've been given to understand that it tends to smooth itself out once you launch enough lead downrange with it.