ZEV OZ9 surprisingly good
After having shot both Walther PPQ Q5 Steel frame and the ZEV Oz9 competitively, I would have to say the Zev OZ9 is a better fit for me. The ZEV Fulcrum fully adjustable trigger is a must have if you get the OZ9, takes out all pre-travel in the already decent factory trigger which is comparable to the Q5SF factory trigger; but the Fulcrum adjustable trigger just takes it to another level altogether. I've tried the trigger on upgrade Glock, Q5SF, Sig P320 Legion, and the OZ9 factory and with the Fulcrum trigger, and the OZ9 with the Fulcrum is the best no contest.
The grip of the handle doesn't feel that good to be honest, it felt blocky, though the texture is very well done, so I didn't compete with it for the longest time. The one time I did shoot it competitively, it did very well despite having some light primer strikes initially. Don't go any lighter than a 2lb striker spring in this gun, and use Federal primers.
The guns points very naturally, much more so than both the Glock and the Walther FOR ME. With an optic installed the dot doesn't really disappear after a shot, or if it does, it's back in the same position so fast that I don't notice it. I thought the factory recoil spring was quite heavy, maybe too heavy, but it worked well keeping the gun cycling fast with an optic on and recoil isn't very notable at all, and there's no dipping of the gun on double taps that usually happens when the recoil spring is too heavy. Transition from target to target is faster than a full steel gun (Q5SF), but it has a steel frame and steel guide rod, so it has weight where weight is most needed. For me the low bore axis DOES help with keeping the gun flat.
As it was mentioned before, the optic sits so low in the slide that you can co-witness with factory iron sights.
Mag changes are easy, for people not competing, ie shooting with the magwell on, do note that the high cap magazines with a divot on the backside of the magazines will catch on the magwell and not drop the mag smoothly. Use either factory 10 rounders (no divots), or take the magwell off.
One thing I don't like about the OZ9 is that they cheaped out on the coating of the steel frame. Unlike the slide and barrel, which are done in a process similar to the original Glock slide, resulting in a hardwearing surface finish that is very durable. The steel frame uses a completely different finish that is super thin, and is VERY easily removed. For a $2000 guns this is pretty UNSAT.