Glass
25th September 2012, 08:47 PM
New thread about an old topic. I'm sure my posts about my 9mm were on this version of the forum. Perhaps I only posted about it on dedicated firearms forums.
I have a CZ 75 Phantom 9mm semi auto. It's production class by Australian regs. 10 round mags only, 120mm (~4") barrel.
It's a poly gun. DA/SA with decocker. No safety. Standard factory dot sights, not illuminated.
While it is a production class gun according to Australias IPSC rules it is a non competitive firearm because it does not have the power factor required to make competitive scores in IPSC. You need to go .357 sig or I think they are using some kind of .38 now.
I've had this for close to 3 years since new. CZ's are considered to be great firearms, reliable, durable and very accurate OOTB. They are also known for having very average triggers ex-factory.
This gun frustrated the crap out of me. I seriously looked at selling this gun and going for something else. Down here you can't just go and drop some cash on a new pistol if the one you have is not up to par. To do this process you can run the risk of losing you club license because of the time and process involved. The reason is you need a minumum of match shoots to maintain you club support and without that you are going to get a firearm surrender order from the police.
The alternative is to hire a club gun to use for your club obligations while you are swapping guns. I can tell you that can get pricey. More than $1000.00 to do a years worth of club competition and competency shoots.
I wanted to get some trigger work done on this pistol but the wait time is 6 months and you have to submit your firearm to be in the queue. So no gun for 6 months meaning you need to get 12 months competition shooting done in 6 months or less.
Now that is a bit of a whinge. It's a hassle but do-able. You can have a second gun, but you need to do the comp shoots with the actual gun you are sponsored with.
Ok if you stuck with me so far, I'm pleased to say that this pistol is now coming into it's own. I have put maybe 3000 rounds through it since new. Probably a bit more. The grittiness is a lot less now. The trigger has felt like it's sliding over a surface with sand on it. It's that kind of feeling. Then the trigger catches on something and it's almost impossible to guage when it's going to break free of that. So you are constantly anticipating the gun discharging.
Now, I'm getting this feeling in the tigger where it's breaking at just about the same point each time. It's smoother, not perfect but there is less searching for the break. I can see that this has a huge impact on the accuracy of your shots. When you can be confident the trigger is going to break at that particular point there is none of this kind of searching and jerking I have found myself doing.
My last few range visits have been hugely enjoyable and satisfactory. I have been doing the minimum for club compliance this last year. I had also virtually given up on it. Not bothering to clean it and so on after a visit. I'm suspicious this has played a small part as well in smoothing things out a bit.
Anyway I think this gun has arrived and my enthusiasm is returning as a result. If it keeps this up, I might actually have a go at some IPSC. I've been doing basic target stuff until now.
On an aside, the experience with gunsmiths here and how few there are doing this commercially suggests there is an opportunity there. Maybe I need to apprentice to one of these guys.
Is any one else comp shooting pistols or spending a bit of time at the range with their sidearms? What have you got? Calibre? What have you got/had that you liked the most and why?
I have a CZ 75 Phantom 9mm semi auto. It's production class by Australian regs. 10 round mags only, 120mm (~4") barrel.
It's a poly gun. DA/SA with decocker. No safety. Standard factory dot sights, not illuminated.
While it is a production class gun according to Australias IPSC rules it is a non competitive firearm because it does not have the power factor required to make competitive scores in IPSC. You need to go .357 sig or I think they are using some kind of .38 now.
I've had this for close to 3 years since new. CZ's are considered to be great firearms, reliable, durable and very accurate OOTB. They are also known for having very average triggers ex-factory.
This gun frustrated the crap out of me. I seriously looked at selling this gun and going for something else. Down here you can't just go and drop some cash on a new pistol if the one you have is not up to par. To do this process you can run the risk of losing you club license because of the time and process involved. The reason is you need a minumum of match shoots to maintain you club support and without that you are going to get a firearm surrender order from the police.
The alternative is to hire a club gun to use for your club obligations while you are swapping guns. I can tell you that can get pricey. More than $1000.00 to do a years worth of club competition and competency shoots.
I wanted to get some trigger work done on this pistol but the wait time is 6 months and you have to submit your firearm to be in the queue. So no gun for 6 months meaning you need to get 12 months competition shooting done in 6 months or less.
Now that is a bit of a whinge. It's a hassle but do-able. You can have a second gun, but you need to do the comp shoots with the actual gun you are sponsored with.
Ok if you stuck with me so far, I'm pleased to say that this pistol is now coming into it's own. I have put maybe 3000 rounds through it since new. Probably a bit more. The grittiness is a lot less now. The trigger has felt like it's sliding over a surface with sand on it. It's that kind of feeling. Then the trigger catches on something and it's almost impossible to guage when it's going to break free of that. So you are constantly anticipating the gun discharging.
Now, I'm getting this feeling in the tigger where it's breaking at just about the same point each time. It's smoother, not perfect but there is less searching for the break. I can see that this has a huge impact on the accuracy of your shots. When you can be confident the trigger is going to break at that particular point there is none of this kind of searching and jerking I have found myself doing.
My last few range visits have been hugely enjoyable and satisfactory. I have been doing the minimum for club compliance this last year. I had also virtually given up on it. Not bothering to clean it and so on after a visit. I'm suspicious this has played a small part as well in smoothing things out a bit.
Anyway I think this gun has arrived and my enthusiasm is returning as a result. If it keeps this up, I might actually have a go at some IPSC. I've been doing basic target stuff until now.
On an aside, the experience with gunsmiths here and how few there are doing this commercially suggests there is an opportunity there. Maybe I need to apprentice to one of these guys.
Is any one else comp shooting pistols or spending a bit of time at the range with their sidearms? What have you got? Calibre? What have you got/had that you liked the most and why?