CZ Custom Shop - SP-01 Shadow Target SAO

If I felt this way about another woman, my wife would have a reason to leave me.

I've always been more of a rifle guy than a pistol guy.  I'd looked at pistol as a tools.  They were on the same level as the hammer you used to frame up the new wall.  It was nice having a few 'good ones', but they were nothing to get worked up over..  I'll admit now..  I was wrong...  Very... Very.. Wrong.

It started out last year with an impulse buy of a CZ SP-01 Tactical.  (Yes - I had to swallow bile at buying something some marketing jerkoff thought sounded cool.)   That pistol rapidly became one of my favorites.  It was going to the range more than anything else, and just everyone who shot it, loved the damn thing.  For those who aren't aware, this is the pistol in question.  (http://cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-75-sp-01-tactical/)

Reconnecting with an old friend, I had an opportunity to shoot his CZ Custom Shop SP-01 Shadow Target.  To say that I was smitten would be an understatement.  I shot it Saturday, and put my own on order the following Monday.  I followed his lead and had them set it up as a single action only.  (http://czcustom.com/shadowtarget.aspx)


Let's jump right into the gun porn.

(SP-01 Tactical and SP-01 Shadow Target)

The CZ Custom Shop also provides you with a test target validating their work.  In case you're wondering, this one doesn't suck.

(Custom Shop Test Target)

Here's the rig I shot my first match with.  So far it's working well enough for a novice, maybe in another few years I'll be qualified to comment overall. 

(Blade-Tech Goodness)

Finding gear for the SP-01 can be a bit of a challenge.  Lots of folks make kit, but you're unlikely to find it a holster on the shelf.  The good news is that Blade-Tech offered an SP-01 holster on their 7-9 day rush order, and it worked well.  (As a bit of a side note, I ordered the dropped and offset model, but received just the standard SRB loop model.  They fixed my order, but in the end, I ended up taking off the offset and just going with the straight loop.  I found it more secure on the draw.)


The good news is that the Blade-Tech Glock 9/40 mag pouches work just fine.  Both the singles and doubles have an tension adjustment that lets you dial in what works.

So..the real question..  How does it shoot?

Beautifully.

Aside from the rather vexing fact that my buddy shoots it better than I do, it's a gem.  My group size is significantly small than with my SP-01 tactical.  It's incredibly smooth and really quick on the follow up shots.   

The trigger has to be felt to be believed.  It breaks about 3 1/2 pounds with no take up and a very fast reset.   The folks at CZ Custom do very nice trigger work.  It's nice enough that my SP-01 Tactical will likely be going in for the same treatment after the holidays.

As to reliability?  I'm probably close to 1000 rounds now through it an it's run without a hiccup.  No jams, issues or problems.  It's been fed a mix of Blazer brass cased, Magtech 115g and Federal 115g.   I'm planning on using 124g CMJs from Montana Gold for my comp load over V320.  We'll see how that works out over the next few months. 

About the only complaint I have, is that I'm still not comfortable with the aluminum grip.  I really like the hand feel of the rubber grips on the SP-01 Tactical, so I do believe shortly I'll be adding a set on the Target Shadow.

Time for some more practice..  Shooting matches around some of the Grand Masters we have around here is humbling..  

Part 2: http://guntinker.blogspot.com/2012/12/cz-custom-shop-sp-01-shadow-target-sao_28.html