Author Topic: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?  (Read 19697 times)

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Offline darink300zx

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Re: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #15 on: June 21, 2018, 09:13:29 AM »
I have several of the Tristars as well as other "CZ clones" such as the SAR B6P, witnesses, and Jericho 941.  I have one CZ at the moment, a CZ85.  For me, the quality/performance doesn't justify the extra cost of actual CZs.  Back when the Iron Curtain fell and the CZ75 became easily available in America, they were highly sought after and commanded higher prices, this died down a little and for a brief period of time they were the premier pistol bargain, imo. 

With the renewed popularity of the CZ75 in the past 5 years or so and with so many good quality "clones" available, with many much cheaper than the base model CZ75s, it's hard for me to justify the cost.  The CZs will surely hold their value more than the others, but I try to keep every gun I buy now so that doesn't factor in much with me. 

Like has already been pointed out, the aftermarket support for the CZs is much better, and I have not had ZERO issues with all of my Tristars (I have an early T100 that the cerakote wasn't applied well or something, check my youtube channel in my signature where I talk about it).

With all that said, I shot a CZ75 Shadow 2 the other day at the range and I'll have to say it felt and shot great!!  That's an 1100 dollar pistol though, did I think it shot 700 dollars better than any of my Tristars?  Nope. 

Of course, all my opinion, buy and shoot what makes you happy, see if you can find some place where you can rent guns and try out a CZ75 vs some tristars.  Take my opinion with a grain of salt, I'm a cheap bastard and always looking for the diamond in the rough, lol. 

Offline recoilguy

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Re: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #16 on: June 21, 2018, 09:34:26 AM »
I have re read this thread....no where does anyone allude to loose triggers on the Canik/Tristar guns. I personally own more then one of each CZ's and the clones. The clones are awesome guns, they are less expensive and that allows shooters to own awesome guns they probably wouldn't if they had to put out the extra 200 bucks. they would just own Ruger SR9's or some such gun and be that guns fan base. The rattle I experience in my clones is the slide to frame fit which is minimal but is very real and a difference anyone could notice. What Schmeky says is also what I find to be true.....Clones are awesome, good triggers but the owners will almost always choose not to have any work done to make a very good gun great.


I think its great when someone gets a gun they like so much and if they would rather have that gun then a Lim Pro, thats a giant endorsement as far as I can tell. Like I said before...you should try one I cant believe you will be dissapointed.

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What's hard is to be free in a communist country

Offline Underwhere

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Re: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #17 on: June 21, 2018, 09:41:51 AM »
I have re read this thread....no where does anyone allude to loose triggers on the Canik/Tristar guns. I personally own more then one of each CZ's and the clones. The clones are awesome guns, they are less expensive and that allows shooters to own awesome guns they probably wouldn't if they had to put out the extra 200 bucks. they would just own Ruger SR9's or some such gun and be that guns fan base. The rattle I experience in my clones is the slide to frame fit which is minimal but is very real and a difference anyone could notice. What Schmeky says is also what I find to be true.....Clones are awesome, good triggers but the owners will almost always choose not to have any work done to make a very good gun great.


I think its great when someone gets a gun they like so much and if they would rather have that gun then a Lim Pro, thats a giant endorsement as far as I can tell. Like I said before...you should try one I cant believe you will be dissapointed.

RCG
Sorry I misread your post.

Offline Underwhere

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Re: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #18 on: June 21, 2018, 09:44:17 AM »
Here is my experience as detailed as possible with the Tristar P120

One interesting thing I found was that the barrel bushing almost recessed into the slide vs the CZ's where the bushing sits against the slide.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eczfirearms%2Eus%2Findex%2Ephp%3Ftopic%3D95075%2E0&share_tid=95075&share_fid=23595&share_type=t

Offline Boriqua

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Re: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #19 on: June 21, 2018, 01:27:10 PM »
I will chime in but it will be kind of apples to oranges.
I have the Steel CZ compact but an aluminum frame Tristar T100

In comparing those two guns ... again probably apples to oranges

The CZ trigger was certainly more gritty out of the box than my Tristar. It was rough.

The Tristar DA was a bit heavier but very smooth. Spring kit took care of the poundage

Both were tight as a drum with no play

Both are super accurate if you do your part but both suffer from wee bitty sights. Updated to a fiber

The tristar comes with steel guide rod, my preference, I had to buy one for the CZ

Machining on the tristar was much cleaner but .. that aluminum vs steel thing may be at play there and I have never handled an aluminum CZ to compare.

The tristar safety has a much more pronounced CLICK. I like the safety detent considerably more on my tristar

The tristar comes with an extended slide release. Not a huge deal for me but nice.

The tristar coating chipped with first use .. bad

The tristar had some issues with locking back on the last round instead of on empty mag but I think it was a break in issue as it has gone away.

The tristar is made in Turkey and while it is a Nato ally I always worry about potential break downs in relationships and availability of replacement parts into the future. Turkey says and does some strange stuff sometimes.

The tristar is a couple hundred bucks cheaper but I hate having guns without good US support.

I dont know that anyone has had a tristar long enough to run a thousands of rounds so I wonder about longevity but its a very well made gun

Soooooo .... I personally think CZ is awesome but the Tristar is one absolutely outstanding deal. I have had a couple dozen handguns over the years and were you not to tell me the price and just hand one to me it compares favorably to some of my more expensive guns and better than many. I like it and find it more reliable out of the box and far more shootable than the Sigs I have owned which had cost me 3-4 times as much.

 I recently got to rent an SP01 and thought I died and went to heaven but it is probably outside my purchase price since it would be a range toy and I am looking hard at the tristar clone after my experience with the t100.

If resale, factory replacement parts and  custom parts availability is at the top of the list .. spend a little extra on the CZ which you can make any gun you like.

If you just want an excellent shooter, dont need to roll it over later and dont plan to tinker its really hard to beat the tristars at current pricing. My little old lady wife can rip a 3 inch ragged hole at 7 yds with the T100.

Of course
YMMV

Offline Mercs

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CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #20 on: June 21, 2018, 03:02:56 PM »
I'll try and give a better example of my experience. Again this is just my own experience which has left a lasting impression on me.

Out of all the CZ's and clones that I own or have worked on, the P120 had the highest quality internal parts.
I'll compare the trigger bar. The P120's edges were sharp, well defined and needed very little polishing to slick up the action properly.

Contrast that with a Tanfoglio Limited Pro which was literally 3X more expensive. The trigger bar was rounded in all the wrong places and needed a ton of work to make it look halfway decent...and I would have needed to add metal in order for it to be anywhere near as nice as the P120. (which I opted not to do)

The 3rd best trigger bar I've seen was from a metal framed compact 99021. Many features of that gun were much more well defined than other CZ's that I've seen. I read a hypothesis that CZ was using new tooling and that was why these particular guns were so sharp.

The rest of the CZ trigger bars I've seen were nothing to write home about. Nothing horrible but certainly nothing great. There was definitely some variation between them.

I have not in my experience with 2 Tristars (pretty intimately) found any "loose triggers" nor have I noticed any sort of rattle. I don't even know what on the gun could possible rattle. Everything in the gun is under tension so it seems unlikely to rattle. (trigger, FPB, firing pin, sear, hammer, trigger bar, mag release etc). The only thing not under tension is the slide. So perhaps someone is talking about the slide to frame fitment. I have not found any abnormal fitment in my experience.

Again this is just my experience. I'm sure there are Monday guns and Friday guns out there and I certainly have not seen anywhere close to the number that Schmecky has.
I think you nailed it man. I am chuckling when folks proclaim CZ is superior quality. WTH?  the last CZ hammer strut I ordered looked just like a random piece of molten slag that cooled as it was dripping down. The sear cages are often a sloppy fit.  I don?t think they replace the tooling often enough perhaps. I do love them for what they are, and my SP01 Shadow is my favorite pistol, period.

Interesting though on your 99021... My CZ 99041 had awful trigger and internals were not looking to be very superior, and most others I?ve asked about the 99041 say the same. Maybe that?s why the 99021 still commands such a high premium among aficionados.


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« Last Edit: June 21, 2018, 03:14:18 PM by Mercs »

Offline leightoncash

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Re: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #21 on: June 22, 2018, 12:00:45 PM »
I have a Tristar p120 and  cz tactical sport.  I compete with both in USPSA. They are very different guns but I see no difference in quality between the 2. Both are totally reliable, smooth, accurate and awesome.  My only gripe with the p120 is the shape if the safety.  It's not an issue for me since I don't use it at all in uspsa production division, but I'd have a real hard time flicking it off if I needed to use it. The beaver tail on the p120 may not be as nice as the spo1, but it's a 9 sillymeter with almost no recoil so the super high grip is not such a concern. The P 120 fit securely in a Blade Tech holster for an spo1. Cajun is the only source for parts, but their parts are fantastic so why would you need more options? Personal preference things like grips and sights can be had from various places since the cz parts fit.  It would be nice if cajun offered a big Ole safety like the CZC safety. 
If the P 120 was the same price as the spo1, I would have bought the spo1. Just so that all my competition guns were the same brand. That said, now that my p120 is fully souped up, I would not trade it for a new SP01. 

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Offline fileophile

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Re: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #22 on: June 30, 2018, 10:13:31 PM »
I really like the Tristars also, except for the finish. Pretty thin on the one I have, and when I tried to touch it up with some Aluma-Black the chemical wouldn't take. I think the aluminum must be some weird alloy.  Nice and light, tho. 

Offline Texf6

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Re: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #23 on: July 01, 2018, 07:55:59 AM »
Currently own the T120, T100, P100, and two C100's.  Also a TP9V2.  But as to the CZ clones, they are excellent.  Sold / traded my CZ75B in .40 and my CZ 75B Compact because I could extract the value out of those which were much higher than my TriStars.  So there is resale value in owning CZ that is higher than TriStars.  Your answer may lie in this equation.

Offline roadrunner1

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Re: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #24 on: July 08, 2018, 12:13:14 AM »
One advantage to the Tristars in my opinion is a real safety.  I prefer decockers but if
its going to have a safety then you should be able to use it when the hammer is down
as well as when you want to use it in condition 1.    You can get the double safe feeling
of a manual safety and then a double action pull.    The double action pull is negligible
when the adrenaline is flowing.

Offline rhart

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Re: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #25 on: July 08, 2018, 06:40:54 AM »
I bought a Canik Stingray C because I couldn't find a steel frame CZ compact with a rail. Good shooting gun except for the sights causing the gun to shoot way high. At the time, I couldn't determine which sights would fit so I filed down the rear sight. Only problem I had with it was the front sight roll pin fell out - it was a super cheap, thin roll pin which made me not feel too confident in other pins that might be in the gun. However, a sturdy CZ front sight roll pin fit nice and tight and solved that problem. Then I found a 99021 and the now Canik sits in the safe.

My main concern is finding replacement parts (like slide stops/safeties) should I need them in the future.

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Offline briang2ad

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Re: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #26 on: July 08, 2018, 04:23:45 PM »
Tristar quality seems excellent.  Machining is superb and very few problems with malfunctions. The finish on the slides of these guns is better now that they are using Cerakote then the CZ line because the poly coat is an old and outdated finish.   There may be a few more MIM parts on the Tri-Star but they don?t seem to break.   Their are triggers seem heavier but smoother out of the box .  However, for parts interchangeability etc. this easy obviously has an advantage  because of the availability of parts going into the future, and the fact that CZ 75 have been used worldwide for many years by military and police.

One oddity to my C 100 is that the rifling does not go the length of the barrel up to the chamber and I don?t know if that?s a feature or a mistake.  It seems to make no difference in terms of accuracy. 

I know this is a quality thread, and YES, I own a Canik.  But Turkey is a problem for NATO and the US.  The regime is Islamofacist to a large degree, and is emphatically different than it was 25 years ago, when Turkey had served alongside us in two unpopular wars.  Military contractors have a stake in this and they are also arms makers.  Just keep this in mind where your money ends up. 
« Last Edit: July 10, 2018, 02:29:16 PM by briang2ad »

Offline Underwhere

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Re: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #27 on: July 12, 2018, 11:42:26 AM »
One oddity to my C 100 is that the rifling does not go the length of the barrel up to the chamber and I don?t know if that?s a feature or a mistake.  It seems to make no difference in terms of accuracy. 

That's better in this case. CZ's are known for making short throats and consequently longer cartridges with certain ogives may not cause out-of-battery situations. Many people have had to send their barrels out for reaming to rectify this.

Having a gap between chamber and rifles is sometimes a good thing.

Offline Linejudgemick

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Re: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #28 on: July 12, 2018, 12:58:23 PM »
I have a P-01 Omega and P-07. Both of these are left-hand friendly and that's a significant reason why I own them. If the Tristars were too (and if they are - easier to find), I'd have seriously considered them. Of course I already have the CZs, so I'm not actively looking at the clones. I do like my CZs though.
CZ 75 P-01 Omega & P-07

Offline Texf6

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Re: CZ vs Tristar........? Big difference?
« Reply #29 on: July 13, 2018, 08:04:30 AM »
So now added the chrome P120 Tristar to the stable this past weekend.  Acquired through Technet Armory and Jeff on a name your price email promo.  I shouldn't share the price as it was such a great value that I don't want Jeff feeling bad for striking the deal.  Two +2 mags also.   Time for some CGW springs and replace the grips with some VZ grenade pattern that I removed from the CZ75B in 40 that I traded.  If you don't want to drop large for a quality CZ design, these are it.

Texf6

 

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