Life with the CZ-75 P-01 - A Great Carry Gun

I will preface this by saying that I have become a big fan of the CZ 75 P-01. I'm not sure that I can say I'm a full blown CZ fan boy yet but I do really like this firearm and other CZ weapons. It's not the best carry gun but it's been good so far. I'm having a hard time finding holsters in general and have ordered a custom Kydex OWB holster for it but it's going to be a while before I get it in. Once I have a proper holster I think this will become one of my favorite carry guns and will carry it much more than I have been.

Getting holsters for the P-01 is somewhat of a pain. There are just not many people out there making them for the P-01. I prefer the paddle style OWB holster in general. I especially like the Safariland 5198 model (I have 3 of them) but they do not make one for the P-01. They do for the SP-01 but not the P-01. I was able to pick up two Alien Gear holsters for this weapon, 1x Cloak Tuck 3.0 and 1x Cloak Slide OWB. The OWB has become the main holster for use as carrying the P-01 IWB is a pain. I did try the Galco M5X Matrix; never again. It's essentially trash. It has effectively zero retention. I'd rather have a leather holster than a plastic one with no retention. That said, I have ordered a custom made holster from Contact! Concealment but they have a 4 to 6 week delivery time and I'm around 4 weeks into waiting. I hate waiting for things I paid for. Blame my millennial-ness if you want.

The biggest down side to the P-01 is it's width; 1.38 inches according to the CZ USA website. It's .18 inch wider than the M&P 9c (w/o thumb safety) and .20 inch wider than the Glock 26. It does, however, have more rounds in the standard magazines but it is also a physically larger gun. The P-01 is more of a compact sized handgun where the other two are sub-compacts (even though the M&P9c is labeled as a compact I'd still categorize it as a sub-compact). The P-01 compares more with the Glock 19.That said, I prefer the P-01 for it's ergonomics over the Glock 26 any day, all day. Both are reliable and eat just about whatever you put through it.

An upside to the P-01 is magazine availability. While it doesn't take Glock mags, the P-01 can use standard 14 round CZ compact mags for a flush fit but the P-01 has a specific version that has a rubber base pad which acts as a finger extension. These are a little harder to find.

The trigger pull feels a little heavy but it is a double action/single action firearm with a decocker. To make the double action pull a little less tough the P-01 has a half-cock position that the decocker drops the hammer down to.

Ergonomics! Seriously, this piece feels great. It comes with these rubber grips that don't look that good but make the sidearm very controllable. Access to all the controls is easy. It also aids in accuracy. The P-01 is both accurate and precise and it's a blast to shoot. The trigger feels clean and breaks well when in single action mode. In double action mode is has some oddity that feels like you have to overcome a hump before you even reach the staging point.

One thing I really like about the P-01 I got is that I have the older NSN version. The initial version of the P-01 is what I call the NSN version which is the pistol CZ put through NATO trials. At some point, CZ changed the slide release spring which prevents the pistol from having the NSN on the frame designation. However, mine has the NSN on the frame and that makes me happy.

All in all, I really like the P-01 and would like to have the SP-01 to go with it. CZ-USA has a version of the P-01 they call the Urban Grey edition. It features a custom grey finish, with a threaded barrel for a suppressor, raised night sights and even has their Omega Convertible safety system. I'd rather have the NSN version any day.

Note: This review is short and oddly written. Right now I just want to post something because I'm pissed off about the latest executive order regarding gunsmiths and the DDTC. Thanks Obama.

CZ-75 P-01 - The Perfect Pistol? Probably not but I still really like it!

FINALLY! I've picked up one of, what I think is, the most interesting and beautiful versions of the CZ-75 based handguns made by CZ; the P-01. And it is good.

Seriously. I thought the Walther PPQ in 9mm was a contender for the all-around perfect pistol (and it still is) but the P-01 in 9mm might just be the King (other than the 1911) in my safe.

The CZ-75 P-01 is a modernized compact version of the classic CZ-75 developed by Česká Zbrojovka Uherský Brod (I hope that's correct). My initial shooting of the lovely P-01 indicates that the pistol is accurate even with it's 3.8 inch barrel. The standard 14 round magazine is a little small but there are a plethora of magazines available for the CZ-75 that should work. Actually it's a little overwhelming trying to figure out what will work but it seems reasonably simple. Like you have with the standard Glock 9mm's, you have a sub-compact, compact and "full-size" where you can use a magazine as long as the grip's length will comply except that there are special versions of the CZ-75 such as the SP-01, the P-07, the P-09 and the Czechmate that introduce a variety of capacities. With capacities of 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 26 round counts from the factory you should be able to find one that meets your needs. The reason for all the options? Well, mostly because CZ has developed various pistols for a variety of uses based around the CZ-75. The CZ-75 has long been a favorite for our brothers on the other side of the pond for competitive shooting. They are also popular over here for the same reason, amongst others.

The gun comes with x2 14 round magazines similar to the magazines from compact versions of the CZ-75 but what separates these magazines is that they have a form-fitted rubber pad on the bottom to increase grip length. Technically, I can get my whole hand on the gun but the rubber pad gives a little more room. This type of magazine is specific to the P-01. Otherwise, the standard 14 round compact magazine should fit which is good as they are usually pretty cheap. I picked up a third magazine with the rubber pad per my norm.

The P-01 appears to be a PCR with a full length dust cover and integrated accessory rail but that is just speculation. There is an Omega Convertible version of the P-01 that includes the Omega trigger system, different sights and ambidextrous safety/decocker. The Convertible part is a system that allows the user to change out the internals from a manual safety to a decocker system based on the users preference. Speaking of user preference, the gun comes with rubber grips but I'm not sure how long those will stay. One of the reasons I went with the P-01 is that I really liked the wood grips that some people have been using. They really bring out the beauty of the firearm. The rubber grips provide a good grip but they just don't have the look. This is a bit of a dilemma as I feel the short barrel and overall length don't help with the recoil making the rubber grips pretty useful. I will be looking into picking up an SP-01 or P-09 for target and competitive shooting.

I'd like to go back to talking about the trigger. The pistol has a double-action/single-action trigger with a decocker. I noticed that when you decock the gun, the hammer drops to a halfway point. At this point the double-action pull is smooth and clean but if the hammer is resting at the lowest point, the pull gets heavy. At the beginning of the pull, there feels like point that you have to overcome that is heavier than the rest of the pull. I may not be describing well enough what I am feeling but I have other double-action pistols that don't seem to demonstrate this. I will try other CZ-75 pistols to see if this is normal.

It should be noted that there are two specifications of the P-01 excluding the Omega version. Originally, the P-01 was submitted for NATO trials which earned it a National Stock Number or NATO Stock Number (NSN 1005-16-000-8619) but a change in the slide stop spring meant that the NSN could no longer apply as the specification changed. Many of the guns that came to the US have the NSN (mine does which makes me very happy) but new guns should not have an NSN since they will have the new spring. You can only have the NSN on the gun if the gun comes in the configuration originally tested.

I have not been able to carry the gun yet but I have ordered holsters for it. I normally go for a Safariland 5198 paddle holster but they don't seem to make one for the P-01. They do have a variety but not the one I want. For the time being I will be trying a Alien Gear OWB and IWB 3.0 once they ship in. Fobus appears to have a paddle holster as well.

I'm very happy that my first CZ firearm and CZ-75 based handgun was a P-01. I can't wait to carry it.