Notice anything odd about those pictures? On the left, the CZ-P09, on the right, the Glock. Although to be fair, it's hard to see the Glock as it's at the factory in Georgia, hopefully getting fixed in a way that doesn't cause me to take a piece of brass to the face on 4 out of 5 trigger pulls. More on that later.
A bit of a disclaimer, I'm a self aware enough to admit that I'm a Glock and CZ fanboy of the first order. I'm predisposed to like both pistols and have previously owned a G17 Gen 3 before getting it into the hands of my brother. Take this review for what it is, a hobbyist shooter who loves pretty much everything CZ and Glock have made in the last decade.
The CZ P-09 (CZ USA P09)
I first read about this over on the Brian Enos Forums and later came across a review by John McPhee. You can find it here. Most of the comments had been pretty positive and I was due for a new pistol to play with. So.. a few days later I found myself at the CZ Custom Shop filling out a 4473.
What struck me the most as I unboxed it was the number of improvements they had put into this pistol that still carried a lot of the CZ 75 and SP-01's DNA, all for the better.
On the 75, you have just a small patch of fine serrations toward the rear of the slide. It's one of the most common complaints of shooters I have try my 75. They don't feel like they get a good grip on the slide. With it being just half height and such fine serrations, it's like grabbing a cheese grater. The SP-01 was a step up, they had fine serrations at the front and rear, but the same fine pattern. The CZ-P09 though has big, thick heavy serrations front and rear. They are easy to grab and you get a firm grip, even with the rather narrow slide height. I'm don't normally press check from the front of the slide, but I tried it a few times and it's infinitely easier than with the 75 or SP-01.
The slide release as well has big aggressive serrations. It's very easy to manipulate. (I can't speak to the safety, as I'm still running the decocker. It does ship with the safety in the box and it's intended to be user swapable.
The magazine release is big and easy to hit. It's in the right place for my hand and it worked naturally without having to stretch.
The grip is the other big improvement. The P-09 comes with three interchangeable back straps. I've continued to run the 'small' even though I have pretty good sized hands.
What I noticed most about the grip was that it's narrow and feels more like a 1911 than a CZ. The angle is natural and comfortable to shoot from. (This surprised me, as it's sporting a 19 round magazine, I expected it was going to be more akin to a double stack 2011...)
Speaking of the magazine, one quick item. It's metal and fairly expensive, almost 20 bucks more than a good deal on the G17 mags. I'm still not sure how a full sized Glock 17 mag holds 17 rounds and the 22 in 40 S&W holds 15, while the 19 round CZ mag in 9mm only makes 15 rounds in 40 S&W. I'm positive there should be an extra round in there.
Let's look at the price tags. The Gen 3 17 in OD ran me $499. The CZ P-09 was $544. Given that the P-09 ships with pretty decent night sights, the price edge to me goes with the CZ. (I'm not a fan of the stock Glock sights and the end up getting replaced at a fair cost every time I buy one.)
What can I say about the P-09 trigger? In SA mode it is by far the best production pistol trigger I've ever used. Out of the box my Lyman trigger gauge, using a 5 shot average, put weigh at 4 lbs 2 oz. I compared that to a factory CZ 75B trigger in SA mode averaging 6 lbs 12oz. My factory glock trigger, before any changes, was an even 7 lbs.
I picked it up and in SA mode it shot almost as well as my CZ Custom Shop SP-01 Shadow SAO. It's that good. The bottom circle below was a 35 round group at 7 yards. This is about as well as I shoot. (Hey, if you wanted a professional review, you'd be reading McPhee's article.)
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I'm going to hold off on judgement of trigger in DA mode. My shooting of DA isn't pretty and I'm pretty sure I'm not capable of doing this pistol any justice. I will say that it has a long, sort of gritty DA trigger pull. I need a lot more practice and maybe it gets a trip through the CZ Custom shop to smooth it out. It's very much on par with the CZ 75B stock DA trigger pulls.
It's still early in the life of the P-09 and the book wont' be closed until it proves it's reliability. 200 Rounds in, firing a combination of 115, 124 and 147 grain FMJ ammunition and it's run perfectly without a failure.
It's a great shooting pistol. Hopefully the Glock gets back from being serviced and I can finish the second half of this post.... #glockperfection
Not to be snarky, but the CZ ejected every round with a good robust ejection at a perfect 90 degrees to my right.. So for those keeping score at home:
CZ-P09 - 0 of 200 pieces of brass ejected into my face.
Glock 17 - 160 of 200 pieces ejected into my face.
Anyone want to guess as to the number of trips back to Georgia my 17 is going to take to get this resolved?
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