Went to a nearby outdoor range on Friday, to shoot the PCR for the first time with real bullets instead of a laser cartridge (which was also fun, "shooting" in the living room and seeing the results on an iPhone, to help get used to the trigger).
I had picked up a Ruger Mark IV Hunter a few days after the CZ, and installed a $17 red-dot reflex sight on a Ruger factory Picatinny rail on it, before ever shooting either of the guns, so it was almost a comparison sort of exercise as well as a familiarization trip. First of all, they are both excellent, if different, kinds of guns, and they both have nice, if different, triggers. The CZ feels a bit more comfortable in the hand, but is harder for me to get on target with the factory 3-dot sights by a lot. I am naturally far-sighted, and the view of the target in sharp focus with a glowing dot on it, also in sharp focus, is a much more deadly combination than sharp iron pistol sights seen through reading glasses with a blurry target in the background. The "red dot" sight, even a Chinese knock-off, is "da Bomb" compared to 3-dot iron sights that are not adjustable. Whoever invented these sights deserves a 12-pack of beer for good work. Now I need to find a compact one for my CZ that will hold up to the recoil (and hold zero) and figure out how to mount it without altering the slide, if possible. Since, unlike the Ruger, the CZ slide will jerk with every shot, I don't know if I would trust a $17 Chinese red-dot type sight to hold up, on what is a potential carry gun; small size is also a major consideration for concealment. Any suggestions based on your experiences?
As for the firing of the CZ, it was flawless, no failures of any kind, using 115 grain round-nose brass-case ammo from my LGS, about 100 rounds. Moderate recoil due to the light weight; no discomfort thanks to the palm-swell factory grips. Didn't try any SD ammo yet, but I will pick up a box of that on the next trip to LGS to confirm its satisfactory reliability in operation. Groups were pretty tight for the distance to target; I assume that most of the variance was due to "pilot error", not anything to do with the gun, at this stage of familiarity with the sights and trigger. The groups were definitely tighter with the Ruger using the red-dot sight, and time-to-fire between rounds was shorter due to faster target acquisition and virtually no recoil jump to gun or sights. I think both of these guns are "keepers", because I like the way both of them shoot and both of them look, though they look quite different from each other.
After a few rounds of .380ACP in the plastic Ruger LCP, to remind myself of how bad a trigger and recoil can actually be, I ended the day by knocking down some quarter sized groups with my scoped 45 year-old lever-action Winchester 9422 rifle, so I could take home at least one target to brag about. LOL
Lots of gun fun, on a nice sunny Florida spring day.
