cz97b review

m1978

Regular
Rating - 90%
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purchased a new cz97b yesterday (04 mfg). thing has been sitting on the dealer's shelf for five years!

ten years ago, reviewing the cz97b, soldier of fortune magazine said: "this is the most accurate serially produced .45 we've ever tested." now i know why.

five shot group, 15 yards offhand slowfire : 1.475"

another group, minus one flyer which i jerked: 4 into 1.184"

again 15 yards slowfire.

those two groups i really concentrated on when firing. other groups, which i did not measure were around the 2-2.5" range easy, even with semi-rapid fire.

as for the grips, which many people have griped about in the past, i cannot say they are overly large. a woman i know also said she did not find the grips oversized.

as good as this pistol is, i'll probably put it up on the EE in a little while. prefer my .44 special revolver. as an aside, anyone else here prefer revoler to autopistol?
 
That's accurate shooting! I've been tempted by the 97B as a match for my Shadow by have been leery of the bigger grip. Do you know how it compares with a standard CZ75-size grip.
thing has been sitting on the dealer's shelf for five years!
Hopefully they gave you a good deal!
 
CZ97b; best bang for the buck in 45ACP.

That's absolutelu true

the fit and finish seems to be much better than on the CZ75

mine is in glossy blue, a real beauty...

BTW the grip is substantially larger than on the CZ75...
 
good deal? nope, lol. fraid not, larger store and i gathered they didn't really care if it sat there another five years. at any rate, it shoots great. would be interesting to see cz win a police bid, at least if bullets are flying everywhere you can't just blame it on the gun (glock):stirthepot2:

would have loved to found one with a blue finish, though the polycoat model looks like it could be in a sci fi movie.
 
Thats a steady hand at 15, very cool, now get faster, and keep em in there,lol;)
Made and fitted a full length guide rod of stainless, and added a recoil buffer.
Darn thing put 9 of 10 shots on a paper plate at 100 meters.;) elbows bedded.:D with lee 230 gr tumble lube bullet!
 
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Thats a steady hand at 15, very cool, now get faster, and keep em in there,lol;)
Made and fitted a full length guide rod of stainless, and added a recoil buffer.
Darn thing put 9 of 10 shots on a paper plate at 100 meters.;) elbows bedded.:D with lee 230 gr tumble lube bullet!

wasn't quite as stellar today, but quite acceptable nonetheless. im sure my rapid fire results will be rather less impressive.

what would be considered good for rapid fire? all shots in four inches?

thats some pretty good long range shooting, ever do any long range revolver work. legend has it that elmer keith could shoot several hundred yards with his 44's.

how does the recoil buffer work? sounds interesting. its a nice pistol, i think ill hang onto it a little while longer, though i'm craving a vz58l or cz858 (or russian sks....).
 
wasn't quite as stellar today, but quite acceptable nonetheless. im sure my rapid fire results will be rather less impressive.

what would be considered good for rapid fire? all shots in four inches?

thats some pretty good long range shooting, ever do any long range revolver work. legend has it that elmer keith could shoot several hundred yards with his 44's.

how does the recoil buffer work? sounds interesting. its a nice pistol, i think ill hang onto it a little while longer, though i'm craving a vz58l or cz858 (or russian sks....).

Its just a plastic spacer placed somewhere inside along the guide rod, man I gotta spend some time with that girl:D They are big frame wise I find, but their not fat. And the look is cool, I place it next to a 220 and it looks real big:D
Rubber finger groove Pach grips are very nice on this gun, a chore to get em on but very sweet.
 
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That's accurate shooting! I've been tempted by the 97B as a match for my Shadow by have been leery of the bigger grip. Do you know how it compares with a standard CZ75-size grip.

its a little bigger, but not terrible. i'm pretty sure you'd like it. if you find an n frame revolver too big for you, you probably won't like the 97
 
Its just a plastic spacer placed somewhere inside along the guide rod, man I gotta spend some time with that girl:D They are big frame wise I find, but their not fat. And the look is cool, I place it next to a 220 and it looks real big:D
Rubber finger groove Pach grips are very nice on this gun, a chore to get em on but very sweet.

i do like the grips on their now, they have that old school look to em. did you find the pach grips helped your shooting?
 
I bought my CZ97B about two years ago. Gunnar at Armco performed his magic on the trigger.

It shoots great & rivals my GoldCup in accuracy. I didn't like the stock wooden grips, replaced them with rubber finger groove grips.

BTW CZ75 rubber grips from Hogue will fit if heated in very hot water & stretched.
 
at first i was feeling a little guilty about buying this pistol, its grown on me now. i haven't shot a lot of different pistols, but this one is pretty good. just wish i could have found a nice glossy blue one!
 
took the gun out to the range again. this one is a keeper. anyone looking for a good .45 can do a lot worse than this pistol. another point, since becoming accustomed to the pistol i actually prefer the full size grip to my old norc 1911.
 
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