I would like to thank Manfred, Roth, HateMe for their support during translation. Special thanks go to Yazard for his patience and marking most of the text with red… ;)
Xie
Introduction
CZ is a very popular pistol made by Ceska Zbrojovka. Since 1975 over 1 000 000 pieces of this gun were made in few different versions. CZ Compact model is 2 cm shorter than the standard one. Within its 1 cm shorter grip we will find a magazine with 14 rounds (which is 2 less than in CZ75).
Until now I had the chance to use CZ75 replicas made by KSC and KWA. They had blowback, but they were a bit elusive. Moreover, the range and the accuracy were not as good as I wanted. Right now I’ve received CZ75 made for ActionSportGames – the company that has the licence of CZ and produced this new replica on Taiwan.
As soon as we open the box we will find the pistol, 100 pieces of GoldFire pellets, key for HU regulation and CO2 cartridges tightening, and the user’s manual.
The look
You may think that thanks to CZ licence, the replica will reflect the original one.
Let’s take a look at the real gun then… The first difference is lack of R.I.S in the real one. Secondly – different sights – the front sight seems to be lower and the rear sight has a different shape. Finally, different decocker. Replica does not have it. We’ll find a standard safety switch instead.
Which pistol was the base for making the replica? The safety switch and sights were taken from CZ75 Compact
…but the R.I.S rail comes from CZ75 P-01
As we can see the airsoft CZ75 was based on two real guns: CZ75 Compact and CZ75 P-01 so it does not represent one exact model. As for the markings … we will find CZ logo and inscription ‘CZ 75 COMPACT’ on the slide (‘CAL. 9 LUGER’ is missing). We can see ASG A/S logo on the frame. There is a sticker ‘MAX 2 JOULE’ as well, but this one can be removed easily.
Unfortunately we cannot remove what we will find on the other side of replica. This is…
CAL. 6mm BB and
WARNING: NOT A TOY.MISUSE MAY CAUSE FATAL INJURY
BEFORE USING, READ OWNER`S MANUAL, AVAILABLE
FROM ACTIONSPORTGAMES, DENMARK.
MANUFACTURED UNDER LICENSE BY CZ-CZECH REPUBLIC.
MADE IN TAIWAN
The producer claims to assign a unique number to every piece of CZ. In our tests we have used a replica with number 08B07065 engraved on the frame, AZ215 on the slide and A093389 on the barrel (which can be seen in the shell ejector window next to the text ‘9 x 19’).
As for the real CZ, it’s made of steel and aluminium. In our replica the frame, the slide and the barrel are made of plastic. Still there are some metal parts: the trigger, the hammer, the safety switch and magazine release button. The grip covers in the real gun - as well as in the replica – were made of rubber. I have to tell that the frame was made in a rather clumsy way and we can see the line, marking the edges of the moulds.
Our replica’s weight is 150 grams less than the real gun. Most of its weight comes from magazine, so replica’s overall balance differs as well.
Using the gun
Replica has no blowback, so we cannot expect a full impression of shooting the real gun. When safety switch is activated, it blocks the trigger, hammer and slide. We cannot activate the safety when hammer is cocked. However in real CZ75 safety can be activated only when hammer is cocked. Due to it, you can carry safe weapon with cocked hammer, ready to shot.
The slide is not blown back when shooting, however it is mobile - we can reload the gun manually and cock the hammer on our own. After pulling the slide, we can reach hop up regulation (which requires a hex key), through shell ejector window. Slide release lever doesn’t work - it was casted together with the frame. So when we manipulate the hop-up, the other hand has to keep the slide in retracted position.
The absence of the blowback also means, that in every single shot, when we pull the trigger, we are also cocking the hammer - just as in the Double Action (DA) revolver or in Double Action Only (DAO) gun. It makes the trigger a little bit harder and the gun a little less accurate.
The pistol is powered with CO2 pounded in 12 gram cartridges. It is very easy to insert the capsule into the gun. We make it quite fast, using the attached tool (or an ordinary screwdriver). One cartridge lasts for about 150 BBs, i.e. for 10 magazines.
Inner construction
In order to take off the slide, you should unscrew 2 small screws placed at the back of the slide - the whole rear part will be disassembled and you will be able to remove the slide to the front of the gun. Note that replica has metal reverse spring guide, which in case of gun without blowback doesn’t result in more reliability, but improves weight disposition.
After removing 3 pins we can pull out the barrel together with hop-up. The HU chamber is made out of metal, so it should better endure high pressure. The inner barrel is probably made out of aluminum (it’s not brass). It’s only 9 cm long, so we cannot expect great shot concentration.
The HU rubber is not a standard one - it has 2 guides on both sides, which keeps it in appropriate position in the chamber. The HU hex screw is used to press the HU rubber (via a distancing rod). This construction is not a state-of-the-art one… I’ve learned it during maximum range test.
Shooting (impression)
The manufacturer says that CZ replica shoots 0,2 BBs up to 413 fps. It seems to be true at special conditions – while using a new CO2 cartridge the chrono showed even 420 fps. However after few shoots the speed went down to 400 fps or less. Almost every single shoot affected the speed, and after 150 shoots I saw 270 fps only. The mean velocity results were about 360 fps. But as my professor of statistics said: ‘If I am drinking everyday, and you are not drinking at all, that gives us the average result of drinking every second day’.
In practical use, the above result means that if we set up the HU, after shooting one magazine the BBs will not be rotated in a proper way, due to lower muzzle velocity (than gained while setting up th HU). All good replicas magazines are constructed in a way to keep a stable pressure, so also the fps results are stable almost until the last pellet. I suppose the manufacturer lacks the experience to build a proper CO2 magazine. Suppose that the green gas version is better in this area.
Another problem of CZ is hop up. How can we explain the fact that the pellet is rotated upwards in one shot but goes straight ahead in another one? Usually this is the result of flooding the hop up with the silicon oil. However after taking the gun apart and cleaning the HU chamber as well as the barrel, the problem was still persistent. Moreover, double–shoots were quite frequent, and sometimes a pellet was just rolling out of the barrel (without firing a gun). As for me, the problem lays in the construction of the pistol. In Glocks made by KSC nozzle loads the pellet into the HU chamber and presses it in the moment of shooting. In non-blowback KWA Beretta whole barrel goes back during the shoot – that presses the pellet into the HU. Back to CZ75 made by ASG… there is no element, which would take the BB from the magazine and place it into HU chamber. The pellets are actually shoot by the magazine and on their way, they are going through the HU.
All the issues mentioned above result in a funny combination: the pistol of muzzle velocity of 400 fps has problems with reaching the target placed just 20 meters in front of us. As I placed an A4 sheet of paper in this distance, only 4 of 15 pellets have hit it. In 10 meters distance the result was better: 11 of 15 pellets. In my opinion a big power and bad accuracy is the worst combination which we can get in handguns, so CZ is good only for ‘garden shooting’ - to shoot cans. It is not suitable for a regular airsoft play. Once there was a similar case of KJW Rugger, which was said to be ‘powerful and cheap’, so very often used by rookie players. CZ75 powered by CO2 is less accurate but still more powerful, what gives a deadly mix.
The pistol was tested thanks to ActionSportGames from Denmark
