Overview
The CZ 75 Shadow T-SA is intended for use in USPSA Limited, USPSA Limited 10, Bullseye (NRA/CMP Conventional Pistol), NRA Action Pistol – Metallic Sight Firearm, and IDPA ESP competition. The basic CZ pistol originates in the Czech Republic, however, fitting competition parts, finesse assembly and tuning of every Shadow is accomplished at World Champion Angus Hobdell’s CZ Custom Shop in Mesa, Arizona. Some of the Shadow T-SA’s more salient features are:
– Single action only operation
– Swept hi-rise beavertail frame– Designed without a firing pin block
– Extended magazine release
– Drop free magazine break
– Reduced spring rates
– Ambidextrous extended manual thumb safety
– 18 round capacity magazine, two supplied
– Champion rear target sight and fiber optic front sight
– CZ Custom aluminum grips
– Flat aluminum trigger with adjustable overtravel stop
Again, only this time in Joe speak…
Personally, I can’t write about the CZ 75 Shadow T-SA within the context of handgun competition as I am not a participant in any form of competitive shooting. This may come as a shocker to many, but I’m not a very social person and the presence of others at the range, with the exception of family and close friends, plays out as an annoying distraction. However, I can write about the CZ 75 Shadow T-SA in contrast to a good number of other pistols I have shot, disassembled, modified and, most of the time, was able to reassemble and then shoot them some more.
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Many 9mm autoloaders are designed to appeal to novice gunners and to achieve the lowest production cost in support of institutional sales. Functionally, they are often compromised to a fault as a law enforcement agency and/or New York and California’s political accommodation. Fortunately, none of that nonsense pertains to the CZ 75 Shadow T-SA.
The CZ 75 Shadow T-SA is elegantly simple. No grip safety, no decocker, no double action, no firing pin blocker, no preset action, no magazine disconnector. There is no full length dust cover or under-barrel rail for mounting extraneous accessories. There are no red eyes peering out from its grips. It is all steel, no poly, and nothing about the Shadow is presumptuous, pretentions or even a little bit condescending.
The Shadow T-SA’s heavily stippled aluminum grips are hand filling but not hand forming. They don’t force a shooter’s hand into an unfamiliar hold and a shooter’s trigger finger isn’t subjected to a long, unevenly pressured roller coaster ride. The web of the shooter’s hand fits deeply into the frame and under the beavertail, the pad of the index finger falls naturally on the gun’s trigger. The extended magazine release and ambidextrous safety are all within thumb swipe and the slide release isn’t much farther away.
The CZ 75 Shadow T-SA is not an off balance featherweight, it has… heft. While not designed as a defensive firearm, you can grab it and point it and hold it on target and feel that, if you ran out of ammo, it would make one hell of a club… and I mean that in only the most complimentary way. The CZ 75 Shadow T-SA is matte black mechanical art with a uniform finish applied over clean breaking lines and compound curves.
The Shadow has fore and aft deep, non-slip slide serrations. The hammer is a lightweight competition type, the aluminum trigger is straight with an overtravel stop. The rear sight is micro adjustable for windage and elevation and the front sight is fiber optic.
More of the same inside…
The CZ 75 Shadow T-SA utilizes a short recoil, locked breech, tipping barrel system. In fact, with the exception of the slide stop being trapped in the closed loop cam beneath its barrel, the CZ 75’s operation is very similar to a 1911 type autoloader, right down to its barrel top radial locking lugs and corresponding radial cuts on the inside of its slide. Pictured also is a steel, full length recoil spring guide that is supplied with the Shadow version of the CZ 75.
A notable difference between the CZ and a 1911 type, in addition to the external extractor, is that the slide rides inside the frame, rather than outside. The result is: greater slide bearing surface for increased stability and consistent return to battery, a lower profile slide and bore placement closer to the gun’s grip.
Right, a slightly tighter shot of the CZ’s stainless steel barrel’s radial locking lugs, closed loop slide stop camming surface and the barrel’s feed ramp.
The CZ 75 Shadow T-SA has a ramped barrel. Subsequently, there is a very small portion of cartridge casehead that is not fully supported… same as Glock, S&W, SIG and any ramped 1911. Even with hot handloads I’ve not been able to put a pressure bulge in a casing and the ramp does make the CZ highly reliable in terms of feeding various types of ammunition.
With the custom aluminum grips removed, another difference between a 1911 type and the CZ is uncovered, the use of a coil mainspring. Coil springs last longer and hold a more consistent pressure than the multi finger flat spring used in 1911 types. I believe most folks who tweak 1911 springs as part of a trigger job would agree.
On the way to handloading…
So far, the CZ Shadow T-SA is impressive. Nicely finished, right priced and well engineered… as a basic pistol and as the product that came out of CZ’s custom shop. I have had the opportunity to shoot the Shadow with factory ammunition, a few different types, and it feels good. It is a very intuitive firearm. Right now, I’m going to assemble some ammo with a range of bullet weights and charges to see which works the best and what level of accuracy I can squeak out of the gun. I’ll be back.
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