Just ordered a used CZ 85 from AIM Surplus

[M1A4ME]

http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=F1CZ85&name=Shooters+grade+CZECH+CZ+85+9mm+Handgun&search=cz+85

All these threads with folks buying/restoring/customizing these just worked me up to the point where I had to order one.

Still seem to have some left.

Pics when it gets here.

[doyletoo]

They went fast. The discount for finish wear is pretty substantial.  Good luck!

[M1A4ME]

Well, I planned to get it refinished anyway  (already looking at the various cerakote colors available).

It won't be an everyday carry gun (got the P07 for that) so I can take it apart, clean it, inspect it, work on the rough spots some before getting the frame/slide refinished and I won't be rushed - except by my desire to get it done and out to the range.

I like the ambidextrous controls the CZ 85 has.  It should be fairly smooth, through use, too.  Just order some springs and a barrel bushing and it might be good to go whether it gets refinished or not.  Oh, and some night sights, too.

[M1A4ME]

Just got back from the Richmond, VA gun show.  Saw 3 well used CZ 75's there with $399 price tags on them.  I'm even happier about getting the 85 for less than $300 now.

Right now the plan is:

Shoot it to see how it does.

Buy all new springs for it.

Buy a set of those soft rubber grips for it (I really like those on my new P01).

Buy a set of night sights for it (if they use the same sights as the CZ 75).

See if regular CZ 75 magazines work okay, if not, find that you tube video, or instructions I saw (was it here??) a few weeks back and modify the inside of the frame to all the use of the newer CZ 75 magazines.

Disassemble it, get the frame cerakoted a color that looks like satin nickel, get the slide, hammer, barrel, safeties and slide release and magazine release cerakoted a color that looks like dark blueing.  Those two tone CZs are really pretty nice looking guns.

Get one of the Cajun Gun Works barrel bushing for it.

Put it all back together and shoot it some more.

I'm still excited about it.

[painter]

Kinda hard to tell for sure, but the picture looks like the old style staked on front sight.

[M1A4ME]

Could be.  I'll know when I see it.  How much trouble/cost is it to get the slide machined for the newer style front sight?

And, then it makes me wonder if the barrel bushings CGW is making for the newer pistols will even fit that style slide.

Discovery, discovery, discovery.  I just keep learning new things - that cost money.  That's the way it goes.

[painter]

I don't know if there's enough material to machine for a dovetail.

We're jumping the gun. You'll figure out what you have when you lay eyes on it.

I checked that link less than an hour after you posted it and they were gone. I was considering buying one to make a dedicated Kadet.

[M1A4ME]

Now I have another question.  Are the CZ 85 (Pre B) and the CZ 75 (Pre B) sights the same?

I see what you mean, the sight (in the picture AIM showed) appears to be installed like a 1911 sight with the tenon that extends from the bottom of the sight into the slide and has to be "staked" in place.

I keep searching for CZ 85 sights and keep getting the newer sights.  If the Pre B 85's and 75's are the same then it might help me find some since the 75's were (and are in the newer models) more numerous/popular.

Thanks.

[painter]

I believe they are.

The pictures from AIM showed what I'd call a 'transitional' model. Squared trigger guard with early slide.

[Earl Keese]

You might try shooting a message to SP01shadow. Not sure if it applies to pre-b 85's but he probably has more experience with pre-b 75's than anybody on the forum. Seems likely he'd have run across an 85 to two along the way.

[M1A4ME]

For many moons the only interest I had in CZs was the new P07/P09 guns (bought 4 now).  I really didn't have the interest in learning much about the 75 or its other metal/polymer framed variants.

Then I bought the satin nickel CZ75 Compact for my wife and I liked it (sort of).  Then the P01.  Next thing you know, I've ordered an old CZ 85 to fiddle with.  Now, suddenly, I need to start leaning about the older CZ 75 variants.

That's the way it goes.  For gun nuts.

[steerclr]

For that price it's worth taking a chance on one.

[1SOW]

The newer 85s use the same sights as the 75B  models:

[M1A4ME]

Thanks for the pictures.  That should help me out when I finally get it.

AIM Surplus "said" they'd send me an e-mail when the shipped the gun.  So far, no e-mail.  However, this morning when I logged onto their website and checked my account I saw that the status was "shipped".  Don't know if I'll get an e-mail or not.

[Radom]

In terms of sights, 85s can be their own deal if you get an older one.  It's been a long time since I even considered the relevant issues, but they used to make an 85 Lux model that is radically different: staked front and very narrow rear dovetail.  If you can get one of those, it is probably worth the hassle, however.  Mec-Gar once made an adjustable rear sight specifically for this configuration.  The exact same rear sight was also made by another Italian company as recently as fifteen(?) years ago.  (This is how I discovered the difference.) 

Again, I haven't even thought about this for many years.  I do recall that it is more or less identical to another common rear sight used by S&W in older Model 15s.  My memory may be great, or it may be lousy. 

The bright side is that you can always work with a smaller dovetail.