I just purchased a new production CZ-83 in .380acp. I always wanted one of these but missed out the last time they were available before being "discontinued" in 2012. I paid more for it then I would've liked but this may be my last chance to get one of the nice, new civilian models with squared trigger guard of this classic pistol.
As some of you may already know, they have recently came out with a limited production run of brand new 2015 models and imported here in the USA. There are two models to choose from, one a glossy blue finish with a CA compliant 10 rd. mag and one in black with a 12 rd. mag. The glossy blue models appear to be the most common but I found a black model with 12 rd. mag and being that there are no mag capacity restrictions where I live I chose that one as I intend to carry it for personal protection.
I have an IWB holster for it by Turtlecreek and once I take possession it will be range tested and broken in with some target loads as well as my chosen JHP self defense loads to insure compatibility, but I'm not expecting any major issues with that due to the legendary reliability of this pistol. I will post some photos of it here once I get it. I'm still awaiting delivery to my FFL dealer.
I went on the CZ-USA page on Facebook asking what the story is with these new CZ-83's, whether they were brand new guns or left overs from previous runs and this is the response I got from one of the Administrators there:
"The 83 has always had its own niche following, and we kept them in our regular lineup until around 2012. About that time, the market was being flooded with inexpensive military surplus CZ 82s, which drove demand for the 83 down. Reassessment of costs of production at the factory showed that the cost to produce the 83 kept slowly climbing up as demand slowed, driving its price up a little. So a perfect little storm of factors meant we decided to discontinue the model.
This last year, we had a distributor approach us about doing a special run of 83s for them. They ordered in enough quantity that the factory ran a batch and they should be in distribution channels now. So while they're no longer in our regular lineup, demand from that niche market has allowed us to bring them back as a distributor exclusive."
