DK Firearms

CZ P09 Review

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Gulf Coast States

Member Benefits:

  • Fewer Ads!
  • Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership
  • Discuss anti-gun legislation
  • Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section
  • Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses
  • Discover free outdoor shooting areas
  • View up to date on firearm-related events
  • Share photos & video with other members
  • ...and so much more!
  • Red

    Master
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Joined
    May 22, 2016
    Messages
    2,270
    Points
    0
    Location
    Crestview
    Hi all, what follows is a once over the world review of a recently purchased CZ P09 in 9mm. These are my thoughts and experience on the pistol given my sample of 1. Your mileage may vary. This pistol can be purchased new for around $450 and considerably less than that if you use their LE/MIL/First Responder program. I currently have about 700 rounds thru this pistol so far, although total round count is unknown as I purchased this firearm used. I have to note that the condition I received it in appeared LNIB with the only visible wear being on the top of the barrel where it would make contact with the slide during cycling, common to appear within the first couple of mags of most guns. I have taken this pistol down to the very last piece and spring to thoroughly clean it and see how its engineered.

    Fit and finish: Slide to frame fit is tight considering it is a polymer frame gun. No discernible lateral or horizontal play. After at least 700 rounds everything still locks up tight with no wiggle anywhere to be found. Finish appears to be some sort of nitrite type, heavily and evenly applied along the slide. So far there has been no noticeable wear on any of the high surfaces common to wearing early. Seems like it will last a good long while. Machining of the slide is excellent both on the outside and inside. Identifying marks on the slide are deep and even. Slide, barrel and frame are serial numbered to each other. Of note is a slight gap on the left and right side of the barrel when in full battery. I guess it serves as a visual loaded chamber indicator and possibly to vent gas away from the shooter in the event of a ruptured case maybe? Better gas flying out the sides then all sealed up and you catch a firing pin thru the eye lol. Roll pins are used throughout the slide keeping it together however instead of the usual ugly protrusions or frame "knicks" that sometimes happen during assembly, these roll pins are recessed and whoever put this one together took great care not to miss with the punch. Slide has front and rear cocking serrations however those used to most any other type of pistol that does not have the slide recessed into the frame will immediately notice the lack of real estate to manually cycle the slide. After a bit of practice I found I got used to it fairly quick. I find best to load the pistol from the slide lock position and use the slide stop/release to chamber a round, followed by my press check on the front serrations then de cocking the gun. I found if the decock first the amount of force it takes to press check usually results in that round flying out by the time force overcomes the hammer spring.

    Components: Barrel, as stated above matched to the pistol and well machined. Absent from the locking lug is a recess or ledge for the recoil assembly to rest on. Kinda weird to have it slide every which way it wants to but it works. Lock up in battery is tight with no movement pushing down on the barrel shroud. Extractor is very large and again well machined. Does not appear to be an MIM part. Its one of the larger extractors I have seen in a pistol and the pivot point makes for very positive extraction. Recoil spring assembly is your typical one piece flat spring with polymer rod affair, nothing special of note. Sights are your standard 3 dot post with the rear being windage adjustable. My example does not have night sites however do illuminate when charged with a light source. The charge does not last long at all. Probably around 10-15 minutes. Firing pin is pretty beefy as well with a nice spring omni directional spring. Magazines are 19 rounds of 9mm. When loaded to 19 there is no more room to mess about. Here is the 1st snag I ran into with the gun. 19+1 in my example at least is unreliable, both with brass and steel case ammo. The fully loaded mag sitting against the slide is so tight I would have a failure to extract about 50% of the time I tried shooting 19+1. The magazines themselves are metal and very well built with heavy springs and a nice satin finish. They fly in and out of the magwell with ease. Having a look at the mag follower, there appears to be enough room to cut off a bit and be able to free up some pressure making 19+1 play totally reliable. Unlikely that it can be modified to accommodate another round but enough to be able to at least relieve the pressure on a fully loaded mag against the slide. Frame appears very well made with 3 interchangeable backstraps. It has integrated grip texture on the sides of course, back straps, front strap and front trigger. Also has some nice grip panel on the frame just above the trigger well on each side which serve well to hold your thumb in place if you ride one along the frame. Trigger well is large and would accommodate a gloved finger without issue. Only a couple of recessed rollpins on the frame, the rest are push pins holding the innards together and require minimal force to take down. No hammering necessary on the push pins. The trigger is made of steel and does not appear to be a cast part either. The Omega system allows users to change out between DA/SA with decocker only or SA with safety and manual decock. I chose to install the former as I like using the long DA pull as a safety while carrying one in the pipe. DA pull is smooth when squeezed with authority, if you baby it and look for it you will find a bit of creep along the way. SA has the usual take up but a nice clean break with no creep that I could tell. I will say that I noticed the trigger has gotten smoother the more rounds I have put thru it. Decockers are made of plastic and are ambi with spring return. Slide stop is made of metal and I believe it is an MIM part. There is not lateral play in either the trigger or the hammer at any point. Back to the frame, full 1913 rail will fit even the largest taclights with ease. and most likely fit flush. Fairly sure the mag release can be changed for lefties but is mounted on the left side standard. It is large and has a positive engagement.
    Shooting the pistol. For all the hoopla of recessed slides and supposed lower bore axis, a Glock still has it beat by a good margin as far as bore axis is concerned. Felt recoil is gentle at best and follow up shots are just as fast as a Glocks with less tendency to arch or change arm positions since the grip angle is not as extreme as a Glocks. This gun is very easy to shoot fast and accurate with a little bit of practice and would absolutely fly if the sights were better, maybe truglo or some sort of other fiber optic type. Accuracy is good to excellent. if taking your time. I have had it out to 50m and was still grouping within a dinner plate. The gun will certainly do better than that I just did not have the proper targets to accurately measure a good group but center mass hits on a man size tgt at 50 will be no trouble at all.
    Reliability has been 100% besides the aforementioned loading of 19+1. I am going to modify one of the magazines to give it a little breathing room and am confident that this will not be an issue anymore and I will be able to carry in that configuration confidently. After sufficient testing of course.

    Well guys and gals, this is just one mans 2 pesos on what I consider to be a fantastic, extremely well engineered and thought out design of a HD or even CCW gun if you can. I find I can appendix carry it with no printing using a cheapy uncle mikes nylon IWB holster. Walking around with 19 rounds of 9mm SD rounds in an accurate and reliable gun gives me a sense of peace knowing I can address and egress from almost anything I would run into and maintain until the good guys show up.

    Stock photos shown as mine looks exactly the same as it. The phrase bang for your buck is thrown around pretty loosely these days but I truly believe that this gun can be priced at least $200 than what they are going for and I would still happily pay it. Easily a $650 gun. God bless my fellow gun nuts and safe shooting.
     

    Attachments

    • 15z_CZP09_R_91620.jpg
      15z_CZP09_R_91620.jpg
      87.5 KB · Views: 243
    • 15z_CZP09_L_91620.jpg
      15z_CZP09_L_91620.jpg
      89 KB · Views: 245
    Top Bottom