Yearbook 2012 CZ-USA - Ceska zbrojovka

SPECIAL COLLECTOR’S EDITION 2012 

PRINTED IN U.S.A. 

usA/CANADA 

$8.99 

Display until 05/07/2012 

SCOTLAND’S MACNAB: GROUSE, RED STAG AND SALMON 

DAN WESSON ECO 

p. 10 

From the Publishers oF GuNs & Ammo 

SPECIAL COLLECTOR’S EDITION 2012 

2012’s 

CZ 75 P-07 DUTY OD 

p.2 

BEST 

NEW 

TESTED: 

CZ CUSTOM’S 75 LONGSLIDE 

SUPPRESSOR-READY P-07 DUTY 

DAN WESSON .45 SPECIALIST 

3AWESOME 

HUNTS 

AFRICA ARGENTINA SCOTLAND 

550 912 WINGSHOOTER 

ON THREE CONTINENTS 

EXCLUSIVE 

INTERVIEWS 

EXHIBITION SHOOTER 

TOM KNAPP 

NHL LEGEND 

BOBBY HOLIK

Load up with one of Hodgdon’s 

27 smokeless powders. Match your gun, your game, 

the weather – you’ve got it bagged. 

Phone 913-362-9455 • www.hodgdon.com

2 42 

Justified 

By J. GutHRie 

The CZ 75 P-07 Duty has successfully passed 

its performance review. 

6 46 

Quick sHot 

By JoeL J. HutcHcRoft 

Bringing everyone’s favorite rimfire calibers 

together in one fine package. 

10 52 

dan Wesson eco 

By PatRick sWeeney 

Meet the best 1911 ever built for lightweight 

carry. 

14 56 

macnaB Quest 

By mike scHoBy 

A CZ Ringneck and CZ 550 get put to the 

ultimate test in the highlands of Scotland. 

20 

tHe RetRo 

By James taRR 

THE CZ 83 redefines the classic approach to 

practical carry. 

26 

styLe, meet function 


A new CZ stack gets a double-size workout in 

Argentina. 

28 

nyati 

By kevin e. steeLe 

Africa’s ‘Black Death’ demands a rifle 

you can depend upon. 

36 

tHe sPeciaList 


In the home or on the street, this .45 is poised 

to protect and serve. 

www.cz-usa.com 

scan tHese taGs 

with your smart phone for 

more information on your 

favorite firearms from CZ and 

Dan Wesson! 

Get the free mobile app at 

http://gettag.mobi 

anti-veRmin 


This CZ 527 is a tackdriver and a stellar rodentreducer. 

medaL of vaLoR 

By BaRt skeLton 

Dan Wesson braves the crowded 1911 market 

with an excellent entry. 

Busted 

By eRic R. PooLe 

The easiest and most affordable way to start 

shooting trap. 

Refined 

By stan tRZoniec 

Dan Wesson perfects the concealed carry 

Officer’s Model. 

59 

a famiLy affaiR 

By Payton miLLeR 

A “one size fits all” solution to the family 

shotgun. 

60 

BRaWn 

By Wayne van ZWoLL 

The bank-vault bolt-action of the CZ 550 is 

the standard. 

64 

enduRance Run 


The CZ 912 autoloader is put to the ultimate 

field test: 2,000 rounds on Argentina doves. 

68 

afRican dReams 

By mike caRney 

A .30-’06 delivers another memorable quest to 

the dark continent. 

72 

LonGsLide 

By James taRR 

Boring reliability and excellent accuracy in any 

package from the CZ custom shop. 

PUBLISHER Chris Agnes 

Editorial 

EDITOR IN CHIEF Eric R. Poole 

MANAGING EDITOR Gloria Shytles 

COPY CHIEF Kimberly Jo Dolbee 

ART DIRECTOR Erik Siembab 

SENIOR DESIGNER Luu Mai 

DESIGNER Luke Bouris 

CATALOG DESIGNER John Podolanko 

GROUP ART DIRECTOR David Kleckner 

PRODUCTION MANAGER Terry Boyer 

PHOTOGRAPHERS Michael Anschuetz 

Sean Utley 

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Jeff Paro 

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Andy Goldstein 

SENIOR VP, GROUP PUBLISHER, 

HUNTING AND SHOOTING Mike Carney 

VP, GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Jim Bequette 

VP, GROUP PUBLISHER, FISHING Steve Hoffman 

VP, STRATEGIC SALES AND MARKETING 

Ted Gramkow 

VP, CONSUMER MARKETING Peter Watt 

VP, MANUFACTURING Deb Daniels 

VP, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER 

Howard Stevens 

FINANCE DIRECTOR Derek Sevcik 

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & SALES 

DEVELOPMENT John White 

SENIOR DIRECTOR, PRODUCTION 

Connie Mendoza 

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. 

CZ-USA 2012 is published by InterMedia Outdoors Inc., 

512 Seventh Avenue, 11th Floor, New York, New York: 

(212) 852-6649; FAX (212) 302-4472. Copyright 2012 

by InterMedia Outdoors Inc. All rights reserved under 

international and Pan American Copyright Conventions. 

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission 

of the publisher is strictly prohibited. CZ-USA 2012 

is published by InterMedia Outdoors Inc. under license 

from CZ-USA. 

41 

Cover Photography by Sean Utley 

Interviews with tom knapp 

and Bobby Holik 

51 

cz-usa.com 1

Justified 

ThE CZ 75 P-07 DUTY hAS SUCCESSFULLY PASSED ITS 

PERFoRMAnCE REvIEW. 

By J. GUTHRIE I Photos by SEAN UTLEY 

2 cz-usa.com 



CZ 75 P-07 DUTY 

When this new polymer-framed pistol hit the shelves in 2009 you could have 

tipped me over with a feather. Most shooters would never think twice about 

polymer since almost every new design incorporates substantial amounts 

of plastic, but this pistol was stamped “CZ-USA,” a company that over 

the years ferociously clung to its walnut-and-steel roots. There have been one or two 

polymer-frame models in the catalog over the years, but not many. I own a couple of 

CZ rifles, and they don’t have so much as a molecule of plastic anywhere, not even 

the magazine follower, and here is a CZ-branded pistol with a polymer frame. Was this 

blasphemy a good move on the part of this legendary company? 

The P-07 Duty was originally designed 

to compete for European police and 

military contracts. And it won. As soon 

as the specs were released by Ceska 

Zbrojovka (CZ) in the Czech Republic, 

the firm’s American subsidiary CZ-USA 

started clamoring for pistols. It was easy 

to see that the P-07 had a lot going for it 

and would appeal to the American public. 

Although the name implies a full-size 

handgun at home on a cop’s duty belt, 

you wouldn't be wrong for thinking of a 

compact carry gun instead. The hammerforged 

barrel is 3.8 inches long, and the 

pistol weighs just 1.7 pounds. 

The P-07 had a new glass-reinforced 

polymer frame but retained a lot of 

features that made its predecessor, 

the CZ 75, popular the world 

over. The CZ 75 has a fol- 

lowing in most other countries the way the 

1911 is loved in this country, and with good 

reason. It is extremely reliable, robust 

and arguably has the best ergonomics 

of any double-stack pistol on the planet. 

The guts of the P-07 were a close copy 

of the CZ 75, and it utilizes the good, old 

Browning tilt-barrel operating system, but 

the slide sits inside the frame, giving it a 

very low center of gravity. 

New for 2012 is the 

suppressor-ready 

P-07 Duty. The ½x28 

threaded muzzle 

accepts most supressors 

made for the U.S. 

market. The sights 

on this variation 

are higher than 

normal. They 

will clear oneinch 

diameter 

supressors. 

cz-usa.com 3

THE SYSTEm PRovIdES A SEcoNd-STRIkE cAPABILITY, 

SomETHING THAT moST STRIkER-fIREd PISToLS do NoT HAvE. 

The pistol ships with an ambidextrous decocker that can 

be swapped by the user for a manual, two-position safety 

in just five minutes. 

one of the major upgrades to the P-07 

was the double-action trigger pull, albeit 

one already found in the CZ 75B. Dubbed 

the omega trigger system, it is essentially 

a simplified version of the original trigger 

on the CZ 75 but has a slightly lighter and 

much smoother pull. My Duty averages 

11 pounds, five ounces on a double 

action draw. It is not as light as a strikerfired 

single action, but for a DA auto, it's a 

big improvement over the original. 

The system also provides secondstrike 

capability, something most 

striker-fired pistols do not have. once 

the pistol is fired, the slide cocks the 

hammer, providing a short, light, singleaction 

trigger pull of slightly more than 

four pounds thereafter. 

Should you want to stop mid-magazine 

and put the pistol on Safe to assess 

your target, there is an ambidextrous 

decocking lever or a manual, two-position 

safety, depending on how you choose to 

configure your Duty. That is the coolest 

feature of the P-07. The pistol ships with 

ambidextrous decocking levers, but the 

end user can swap those for a traditional 

two-position safety lever in about five minutes. 

The parts are included. The manual 

safety allows for cocked-and-locked 

carry, a great option if you are not a fan of 

the heavy, double-action trigger pulls. 

4 cz-usa.com 

After fieldstripping the pistol, simply 

cock the hammer, pivot the extractor 

down and use a flat edge to pry the leftside 

decocking lever out of the frame. It is 

attached to the right-side lever by way of 

CZ 75 p-07 DUTY 

TYPE: Double-action, exposedhammer 

autoloader 

CalibEr: 9mm (tested), .40 S&W 

CaPaCiTY: 16 (9mm) 

barrEl: 3.8 in.; rifling six grooves, 

1:9.7 twist 

OvErall lENgTh: 7.3 in. 

WEighT: 27.2 oz. (1.7 lb.), empty 

griPS: Molded stippling on grip 

panels, serrations on front- 

and backstrap 

FiNiSh: Matte black or oD green 

TriggEr: 11 lb., 5 oz. double-action pull, 

4 lb., 1 oz. single-action pull 

SighTS: Fixed; white-dot front and 

white-outline rear 

a transfer bar. A small coil spring is captured 

by the decocking lever’s transfer 

bar, and it is removed with the lever. The 

right-side decocking lever can now be 

rotated up and pulled off the frame. 

all P-07 Duty pistols feature an integral accessory rail under the dustcover, 

a trend that is all but expected on current service autos. 


The angled slide contour not only provides the P-07 Duty with 

a modern appearance, but guides the eye to the front sight. 

To install the new safety, slide the 

right-side lever into place after pressing 

down the trigger transfer bar. Leave 

it sticking straight up. Press down on 

the ejector and slide in the left-side 

safety lever so the transfer bar locks 

into the right-side safety lever. That’s 

it. Since it is a manual safety, you do 

not need the little spring that came 

out with the decocker. The magazine 

release can also be swapped from side 

to side in just a few seconds. CZ-USA 

is kind enough to provide a handy animation 

on its Web site that illustrates 

these procedures better than I could 

ever hope to write them. 

The molded frame is very up-to-date 

and wears the "must-have" tactical rail 

for lights and lasers. I tried a few different 

units, and they all attach. 

The triggerguard is plenty big 

enough for gloved fingers. The grip 

panels are reminiscent of grip tape, so 

there is no worry of losing the pistol, 

even in moist conditions or while wearing 

padded gloves. Two small pads of 

this texture are also molded into the 

frame just ahead of the trigger to give 

the shooter a tactile index point for the 

trigger finger when idly standing by. 

A lanyard loop sits on the grip frame 

and could be easily ground off should 


The standard low-profile sight is dovetailed and is located 

at the most rearward position for the greatest sight radius. 

you want to minimize the profile for well enough, but night sights are a 

concealed carry. 

must for a carry or duty pistol. CZhaving 

shot my fair share of CZ 75 USA does have night sights available 

pistols, I was very interested to see and is currently working on several 

how the P-07 handled. I figured the different heights. 

reduced weight might affect balance. The sights sit on the absolute ends 

The grip is very well designed and of the slide to provide the maximum 

shares similar angles and dimensions amount of sight radius, but the ham- 

that made the 75 so popular with merspur is covered to a degree by a 

shooters initially. Under recoil, the low rear sight that slants backward. Get- 

center of gravity makes it very controlting to the hammer for a single-action 

lable, not that a 9mm or .40 S&W are first shot is a little awkward, though it 

real recoil generators. My controlled isn't a huge issue since the first shot 

pairs were just that, controlled and on out of the holster will very likely be 

target. The pistol points naturally and double action. In terms of holsters, CZ 

handles great. 

offers a few options and most holsters 

I had no malfunctions due to the made for the XD will work as well. 

proven operating system and a huge Like so many other CZ-USA firearms, 

external extractor. Really, the only the P-07 is a simple, reliable and clean 

rubs against the P-07 were some pistol that is very affordable. It’s not all 

rough edges on the slide serrations 

(I slingshot the slide 

steel, but the P-07 Duty is all CZ. 

forward on reloads) 

and fire controls. The ACCUrACY resUlTs 

manual safety is a bit on 

Bullet Avg Group 

the thin side and tough Type (gr.) (in.) 

to operate quickly. The Black hills EXP JhP 115 3.12 

polymer sights are 

Remington +P Golden Saber 124 2.86 

dovetailed and have a hornady TAP CQ JhP 147 3.16 

white, U-shaped outline Remington Golden Saber 147 3.03 

at the rear notch. The 

front dot pattern works 

Winchester PDX1 JhP 147 3.86 

cz-usa.com 5

Quick Shot 

BRIngIng eveRyOne'S FAvORITe RIMFIRe CALIBeRS 

TOgeTHeR In One FIne pACkAge. 

By JOEL J. HUTCHCROFT I Photos by SEAN UTLEY 

6 

cz-uSa.com 



Not everybody wants a switch-barrel rimfire, but I 

happen to like the idea. It seems like I’ve always 

been intrigued with switch-barrel guns, and the 

CZ 455 holds a lot of appeal for me. 

Living in Illinois, I can’t hunt with 

high-powered centerfire rifles (well, 

except for coyotes). On the other 

hand, I do a lot of hunting with 

rimfires. A lot of guys I know own 

separate rifles for shooting .22 LR, 

.17 HMR and .22 WMR. I actually 

know a guy who owns 20 to 30 

different .22s. 

I’ve owned quite a few rimfires 

over the years including a really nice, 

accurate .22 Magnum. Unfortunately, 

I sold it years ago, regrettably. 

I do enjoy hunting with the .22 

Magnum, and while I have never 

owned a .17 HMR, I think it has 

an application in the small-game 

and varmint hunting fields as well. 

CZ 455 

Imagine my interest when I received a 

CZ 455 American in .22 LR along with 

an extra barrel in .17 HMR this year. 

The 455 is nicely endowed. The 

particulars are shown in the accompanying 

specifications list, so I 

won’t go into detail here. Suffice it 

to say, the 455 feels like a “real” rifle, 

not like a budget rimfire. Fit and finish 

is excellent, as is the trigger pull. 

The trigger on my sample measured 

3.8 pounds according to an RCBS 

trigger-pull gauge. While there was 

a bit of takeup, it breaks crisply and 

consistently. As you can see from 

the accompanying accuracy results, 

this 201/2-inch-barreled bolt gun is no 

slouch in the accuracy department. 

The bolt mounted safety on the CZ 455 blocks the movement of the 

firing pin and disconnects the sear from the striker when engaged. 

cz-uSa.com 7

THE BiggEST AdvANTAgE iS THAT YOU CAN SHOOT diFFERENT 

CARTRidgES iN THE SAmE ACTiON wiTH THE SAmE TRiggER SYSTEm. 

Undoubtedly, the nice trigger helps 

to contribute to its fine accuracy. 

The advantages of a switch-barrel 

rimfire are essentially the same as 

for a switch-barrel centerfire rifle. 

The biggest one, in my book, is 

that you can shoot different cartridges—in 

this case, three—in the 

same action with the same trigger 

system. Doing so allows you to 

become extremely familiar with that 

one trigger, and that translates into 

better shooting. 

Switching barrels on the 455 is 

very simple and straightforward. 

All you have to do is remove the 

magazine, the bolt and the two 

stock screws, and pull off the 

triggerguard, triggerguard plate and 

rings are currently available from various aftermarket manufacturers to grab the proprietary CZ integral dovetail 

bases. The rubber pad keeps the stock from sliding in the shoulder. The trigger is adjustable for weight. 

8 cz-uSa.com 



CnC laser checkering offers a tactile gripping surface. 

it's perfectly executed every time. 

CZ 455 AmeriCAn 

Type: Bolt-action 

Caliber: .17 HMR, .22 LR, .22 WMR 

(interchangeable barrels) 

CapaCiTy: 5 

barrel: 20.5 in., 1:16-in. twist 

(.22 LR, .22 WMR), 1:9-in. twist (.17 HMR) 

Overall lengTh: 38.2 in. 

WeighT: 6.1 lb. 

STOCk: Checkered walnut with 

sling swivel studs 

FiniSh: Blued steel, oil wood 

Trigger: Adjustable; 3.8-lb. pull (as tested) 

SighTS: none; dovetail base for scope mounts; 

Lux .22 LR barrel includes an adjustable rear 

and hooded front sight 

the stock. Then, loosen the magazine 

housing screw at the rear (one 

or two turns is all that's needed) 

and the two barrel-retaining screws. 

Finally, pull the barrel off the front 

of the receiver. Insert the new 

barrel, tighten the barrel screws, 

tighten the magazine housing 

screw, replace the triggerguard and 

plate (minus the 

spacer if you are 

switching to either 

of the magnum 

chamberings), 

place the barreled 

action into the 

stock, and tighten 

down the stock 

screws. That’s it. 

It takes less than 

10 minutes. (Don't 

worry, detailed 

instructions ship 

with each rifle.) 

I first received 

the 455 set up 

for .22 LR and .17 

HMR. A few days 

later I received the 

Lux .22 LR spare 

barrel, which has 

an adjustable rear 

sight and a hooded 

front sight. In the 

ACCurACy results 

meantime, I contacted CZ-USA 

and ordered a .22 WMR barrel to 

complete my set. With the rifle 

and three extra barrels, I took it to 

the range and proceeded to run it 

through a rather lengthy shooting 

session. I have to say that doing all 

that rimfire shooting (five, five-shot 

groups with 12 different loads) 

velocity Standard extreme 50-yard 

Ammunition (fps) Deviation (fps) Spread (fps) Accuracy (in.) 

.17 Hmr 

Federal 17-gr. v-Max 2,612 39 87 0.72 

Hornady 17-gr. v-Max 2,547 26 91 0.56 

Winchester 17-gr. v-Max 2,554 24 80 0.69 

CCI 20-gr. FMJ 2,370 10 20 0.69 

.22 long rifle 

CCI 32-gr. Stinger 1,635 14 27 0.64 

CCI 40-gr. Select 1,212 9 18 0.95 

Federal 40-gr. gold Medal Target 1,230 6 14 0.55 

Winchester 40-gr. power-point 1,282 23 54 0.88 

.22 Wmr 

GalleryofGuNs.com 

See photos and specifications of the gun mentioned 

in this article, and order from an inventory 

of 1,000s—all online through gun Locator. 

It’s easy and convenient. Shooting enthusiasts 

can enjoy the Shooting Times Research Center, 

featuring everything from consumer promotions, 

news and featured articles to gun reviews, 

shooter’s ed and the Shooter’s gateway. 

Make GalleryofGuns.com one of your favorites! 

was very therapeutic. The fact that 

this little rifle produces such tight 

groups certainly helps to make the 

project a fun one. If you haven’t 

fired your favorite rimfire in a while, 

you really should get out and shoot 

it. Better yet, pick up a CZ 455 

American with an extra barrel or 

two, and join the fun. 

Federal 30-gr. JHp 2,108 32 63 1.00 

Federal 30-gr. Sierra JHp 1,906 34 74 0.91 

CCI 40-gr. Maxi Mag 1,880 41 73 0.73 

Winchester 40-gr. FMJ 1,812 15 29 2.00 

Accuracy is the average of five five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average 

of 15 rounds measured 12 feet from the muzzle. 

cz-uSa.com 9

DanEco 

Wesson 

MEET THE BEST 1911 EVER BUILT FOR LIGHT- 

WEIGHT CARRY. 

By PATRICK SWEENEY I Photos by SEAN UTLEY 

10 

cz-usa.com 

www.cz-usa.com www.cz-usa.com 

Some 25 years ago, I found myself with some back 

pains. It took a while to figure out the exact source, 

but the basic reason was simple: I worked in a gun 

shop. Said gun shop was adjacent to a big, dangerous 

city. We all carried, and my chosen piece was a fullsize, 

all-steel 1911. As if that wasn’t a contributor, my daily 

routine involved wearing extra magazines, backup guns, 

and even the occasional knife. I needed to ease up on the 

mission load I was packing. 

When the venerable Lightweight 

Commander came along, I snatched 

it up, and life was good. Well, 

semi-good. In order for it to be good 

enough, that 1911 required a certain 

amount of overhauling. In fact, it 

required a lot of it. 

I still have that pistol, but not 

because it’s my primary carry gun. 

I have many more choices these days, 

and the choices from Dan Wesson 

don’t need any work to be ready. 

The latest offering fills the niche 

that my old Commander did. Different 

though, the Dan Wesson ECO 

needs no extras. Out of the box, it’s 

ready for the job—fully loaded with 

what would have been unobtainable 

extras back in those days. 

The ECO is the size of an Officer’s 

Model 1911. It has a slightly 

shorter frame (Enough to take one 

round away from the 1911’s usual 

magazine capacity). However, 

this absence also makes the ECO 

easier and more comfortable to 

carry. The shorter frame is less 

likely to hang up on clothing or 

print against the drape of a shirt 

or jacket worn over a holstered 

handgun. And, as a credit to Dan 

Wesson pistolsmiths, the ECO fea- 

DW ECO 

tures the problematic corner on its 

1911 frame rounded and smooth. 

When you carry a handgun in an 

Inside the Waist Band (IWB) holster, 

your belt acts as a pivot point. The 

muzzle of your carry gun contacts 

your hip, the hip contact pushes the 

muzzle outboard, and the pivot on 

your belt pushes the back end of the 

slide into you. 

In extreme cases, the contact 

between the grip safety and your 

body can feel as if the gun is being 

surgically introduced to your kidney. 

But, if you loosen your belt, the handgun 

can flop around. This is perhaps 

the only instance where being bigger 

around the middle is a good thing, 

as the less wasp-waist you have, the 

less pivot your pistol has. 

Rather than packing on pounds, 

you can simply choose to carry a 

handgun like the ECO that features 

a shorter barrel and shorter overall 

length. The Officer’s Model size 

1911’s typically have a three or threeand-a-half 

inch barrel, to preclude the 

pivot. Hence, the Dan Wesson ECO is 

a carry gun. (Or for those still packing 

the full-size 1911, a backup gun.) 

On top, the ECO wears a set of 

tritium-driven night sights, one 

cz-usa.com 11

So, I TooK ThE NEW ECo ANd I ABUSEd IT. No, I dIdN’T ThRoW IT IN ThE dIRT, 

dUNK IT UNdER WATER, oR ANYThINg of ThAT NATURE. 

insert in each of the front and 

rear. Line them up as a figure eight, 

and your sights are easily aligned. 

The sight design is inspired by the 

Heinie Straight Eight dot concept, 

but the rear sight is shaped with a 

ledge, a front face that is square 

to the bore. Championed by many 

respected tactical shooters, these 

ledge-style sights offer the user 

an emergency cocking surface. 

Use your belt, holster, doorframe, 

whatever is handy, if you’re suddenly 

restricted to one-handed use and 

have to manipulate the slide. 

In-between the sights, in their 

dovetails, is a serrated rib. 

The rib is machined out 

of the top of the 

The frontstrap of the ECO wears 25 lpi 

checkering—the Dan Wesson standard. 

12 cz-usa.com 

The no-glare, 25 lpi slide serrations 

lead up to the night sight near the 

muzzle. They’re perfectly 

blended with the shape 

of the slide. 

slide, and the serrations on its top 

are ultra-fine—fifteen lines on top of 

the slide that’s not much wider than 

a quarter-inch. When you first see 

the MSRP of the DW ECO, consider 

that such a rib and the sights would 

set you back on the order of $500 

and six month’s wait from a custom 

gunsmith. (More money and longer 

if the ‘smith is really good and has a 

backlog to prove it.) 

The slide perfectly matches 

the three-inch barrel, with 

the slide 

The ledge-style rear sight 

is a growing trend in the 

tactical community since 

it offers one-handed slide 

manipulation. 

lightening cuts done as abbreviated 

ball-end cuts. The ball-end cuts 

were a feature of the earliest 1911s, a 

feature changed by Colt during World 

War I to speed up production. It’s 

just a cosmetic feature, but I like it. 

Additionally, the slide and frame are 

dehorned in such a way as to ensure 

that neither cuts or rips. 

The frame and mainspring housing 

have very clean, regular and 

precise checkering. Twenty-five lpi 

is the Dan Wesson standard. The 

frontstrap has been lifted, and combined 

with the high-ride beavertail 

grip safety and a slender thumb 

safety that’s also serrated with a 

shelf. The ECO is compact, an easyto-pack 

pistol. On the bottom of the 

frame there is no bolt-on or added 

magazine well funnel. This is a 

compact carry pistol, and that would 

compromise too much in terms 

of carrying concealed. 

However, the magazine 

well is gently tapered 

to make reloads easier, 

without adding bulk. 

In the old days, for a 

custom gunsmith to announce 

that he had arrived, he’d take a 

standard 1911 and chop it down to 


something of this 

size. The problem 

was not in the 

chopping, but reliability 

department 

once it had been 

reduced in size. 

Many a would-be 

“master” gunsmith 

found that he had 

taken a working 

1911 and turned it 

into a very expensive paperweight. 

The typical result from a new 

pistolsmith looking to move up was 

malfunctions galore. And the easiest 

way to make those malfunctions 

appear was to shoot the suspect 

pistol weak-handed or limp-wristed. 

So, I took the new ECO and I 

abused it. No, I didn’t throw it in the 

dirt, dunk it under water, or anything 

of that nature. I simply shot it 

weak-handed only. For all the ammo 

I had with me, some three hundred 

rounds straight. 

Shooting with one’s off hand, or 

support hand, is typically work. 

Heavy triggers make it very easy to 

work into a flinch, or other problem. 


Dan wesson eCo 

TYPE: Single action, recoil 

operated semiauto 

CAlibEr: 9mm, .45 ACP (tested) 

CAPACiTY: 7+1 

bArrEl: 3.5 in. (tested) or 4.25 in., 

DW Match 

OvErAll lEngTh: 7.25 in. (tested) or 8 in. 

WEighT: 1.6 lbs. 

griPS: G10 

FiniSh: Duty black 

TriggEr: Aluminum, 4 lb. 

SighTS: 3-Dot, ledge-style, 

tritium-filled 

On the other hand, the ECO had 

a nice trigger—one that’s good 

enough to perform as a competitive 

Bullseye gun. 

The end result from this function 

test was an hour of shooting, and 

fifteen minutes spent picking up 

brass. Ten pound’s worth of lead and 

copper downrange. The ECO refused 

to co-operate with my plans of finding 

its weakness. 

The recoil spring system, and the 

lack of a barrel bushing, has a lot 

to do with the reliability of such an 

abbreviated 1911, but I think it has 

as much to do with the fact that 

the pistolsmiths at Dan Wesson 

know how to make a pistol. Even a 

compact pistol. 

Not every pistol is perfect. My ECO 

features a right-handed safety. 

Were I to be packing this 

(particularly as a backup) 

The trigger is flawlessly executed. 

I’d order an ambidextrous safety to 

be installed. 

The grips are nice and durable, but 

for all that and the very useful gripping 

ability, the slabs measure a bit 

thick for my tastes. I’d have to shave 

them down to thin them, but why 

when the enormous 1911 aftermarket 

caters to such things? 

The sights are useful in two areas: 

both for being night sights with 

tritium inserts, and for the rear sight 

being shaped such that you can use 

it as a cocking lever. If you have the 

triple-whammy of a locked slide, 

only one hand available for work, 

and an existing threat to deal with, 

you can use the rear sight to quickly 

rack the slide and get things going 

your way again. 

I like the ECO—a lot. For a guy 

who has a safe full of 1911s, many of 

those expensive custom 1911s, I’m 

really tempted by this one. As the 

one I obtained for testing was only 

the second production sample from 

Dan Wesson, they’re going to want 

this one back. How unfortunate. 

Given the amazingly reasonable 

price this one lists for (I mean, for a 

lightweight Officer’s Model, dripping 

with custom features) it won’t take 

long to save up for another. 

Get yours, or get in line behind me. 

Accuracy and reliability are finally acheived in an Officer’s Model 1911. 

The combination has been accomplished with a carefully fitted bushingless 

match barrel and slide fit along with a full length guide rod. 

cz-usa.com 13

Quest 

macnab 

A CZ RINgNeCk ANd CZ 550 geT PUT To THe UlTIMATe 

TeST IN THe HIgHlANdS oF SCoTlANd. 

By Mike SchoBy 

14 cz-usa.com 


The tale of the Macnab stems from the 1925 novel 

John Macnab written by John Buchan. In summary, 

the book centers around three high rolling 

Scots who have become bored with their daily 

lives so they concoct a plan to add a little bit of zest to 

stave off the mundane. 

The three sporting gentlemen 

put pen to paper and send 

three estates a letter. In the 

letter they notified the estate’s 

owner of their intent to poach 

either a stag or a salmon from 

their property in the next 48 

hours and deliver the said 

salmon or stag to the door of 

the main house. 

If the estate owner accepted 

the challenge and if they get 

away undetected the estate 

owner needs to make a 50 

pound donation to charity. If 

they are caught, the offenders 

will have to make a 100 pound 

donation to charity. To protect 

their real identity they collectively 

signed the letter with the 

Nom de plume, John Macnab. 

From this original tale the 

Macnab challenge grew into an 

organized sporting adventure. 

Today, it is generally recognized 

as shooting a stag, a brace 

of grouse and catching an Atlantic 

salmon all in one day…I can only 

guess as to why they shortened time 

frame and increased the bag limit, 

but that’s just how it is. 

I read about the Macnab off and 

on in sporting titles over the years 

and then last season while sitting in 

an elk camp with Alice Poluchova 

CZ RINgNeCk 


of CZ-USA, I suggested we try for 

a Colorado Macnab—elk, grouse 

and trout. She rebutted, “Why don’t 

we just do the real thing?” Having 

a shortage of red deer, red grouse 

and Atlantic salmon in my neck of 

the woods, I decided to start looking 

for an outfitter who could accommodate. 

We found the ideal kilt-wearing 

candidate at the SCI show in Reno 

cz-usa.com 15

My firSt Shot waS not far Behind hiM, and after a quick lead 

recalculation, the Second charge Brought hiM down to earth. 

Nevada —Michael McCrave, (Michael 

McCrave Hunting limited, huntingvacationsscotland.com) 

“I can organize it,” he said, “but 

I’ll have to find the perfect setting, 

one with a good population of both 

grouse and stags and a quality river 

in close proximity. let me check into 

it and I’ll get back to you.”A couple of 

weeks passed before Michael called, 

16 cz-usa.com 

“I found it! The estate borders Balmoral 

castle (for those unfamiliar with 

Balmoral, it is the Queen of england’s 

summer residence in Scotland...not 

a bad zip code) and the fabled River 

dee flows through it.”It sounded 

ideal so we booked a week for later 

that fall. 

We quickly found out that booking 

a hunt in the United kingdom is the 

easy part, handling the details of 

actually hunting there is something 

entirely else. luckily, Michael made 

it possible (without his help, bringing 

a firearm into Scotland would be 

akin to climbing Mount everest in 

bare feet). After flying into london 

then onto edinburgh, Scotland, we 

were met at the airport and whisked 

away to the hunting estate near the 


town of Ballater. After briefly meeting 

with the gamekeeper Ab (gamekeepers, 

as the name implies, are 

the guide in charge of the hunt for 

a particular estate), we unpacked, 

sighted in and readied ourselves for 

the following morning. 

dawn broke clear and still, the sun 

barely poking above the mountain 

as we finished the last of our tradi- 

tional Scottish breakfast. Contrary 

to popular belief it was not whisky, 

but bangers and eggs. It had been 

decided that I would get all of day 

one to try for my Macnab and Alice 

would have all of the second day. 

Climbing into land Rover defender 

110s, we headed up the mountain 

and quickly exchanged the heavily 

forested bottomland for the open 

heather-covered moors. We had 

barely reached the top when we 

spotted a covey of red grouse 

working their way through a thick 

patch of heather. I jumped out and 

uncased a 28-gauge CZ Ringneck. 

Plunking two shells in the twin 

chambers, I headed after them. The 

covey ducked down to hide then as 

I neared, they burst from the thick 

cover as if shot from a cannon. 

even though I expected it, I was still 

startled and before I knew it 

the birds were quickly rocketing out 

of range. 

My first barrel caught a bird square 

and dropped him, the second just 

pulled feathers and the bird set his 

wings and sailed across a valley 

cz-usa.com 17

i puShed the trigger forward to Set it, and then Slowly Started 

applying light preSSure aS the croSShairS Settled on the Shoulder. 

with the rest of the covey. one for 

two, not excellent, but not a bad way 

to start off the morning. Putting the 

bird in the back of the Rover, I cased 

the gun and we headed off again 

in search of stag, but hadn’t gone 

100 yards before a single grouse 

scurried from the light heather 

to the heavy stuff and sat tight. 

Scarcely believing my good luck, I 

exited the vehicle and with a quick, 

high-legged step through the cover 

headed to where I last saw it. When I 

reached within 30 yards, the grouse 

exploded upward, instantly catching 

the wind. My first shot was not far 

behind him, and after a quick lead 

recalculation, the second charge 

brought him down to earth. It was 

barely 9:30 and I had one leg of my 

Macnab eliminated. 

We crested the top of a highland 

moor, shut off the truck and started 

glassing. As luck would have it, 

stags were everywhere. It was all 

fair chase—no high fences on this 

18 cz-usa.com 

property—so seeing this many stags 

is not always the norm. A group of 

300 animals fed quietly on the far 

mountain a mile away, while a group 

of 50 or so fed directly above us. 

What caught our attention was a 

bachelor group of six stags. In the 

group were two shooters and they 

were in a position for a relatively easy 

stalk. Checking the wind, we decided 

the best route would be to circle 

around the herd and work in from the 

downwind side. 

After walking for a mile or so we 

crept up over a small ridge that was 

keeping us out of sight from the 

group of stags. They were still there, 

now bedded 250 yards away. Crawling 

on hands and knees we closed 

the distance to 200 yards. I crawled 

up next to Ab and cycled the bolt 

to chamber a round. The stag was 

slightly quartering away as I laid 

the CZ 550 in .30-’06 over my pack 

placed on a small heather mound. 

I pushed the trigger forward to set 

it, and then slowly started applying 

light pressure as the crosshairs 

settled on the shoulder. At the shot, 

the stag dropped instantly. The 

Federal cartridge propelling the 

180-grain Trophy Bonded Tip bullet 

worked perfectly. 

It was barely past noon and I had 

two of the three species for the 

Macnab. We loaded up the land 

Rovers and headed off the hill in 

search of the elusive Atlantic salmon. 

Within a half an hour we were out 

of our hunting boots and into a pair 

of waders that I had exchanged Ab 

the game keeper for Ian the ghillie 

(yes, everyone has a title and role in 

the sporting life of Scotland). Ian is 

part guide, part biologist, and part 

management professional. He has 

a 14-mile stretch (or “beat” as it is 

called locally) of the dee and controls 

the number of people who fish it—for 

our little endurance test he reserved 

several of his best pools for our 

exclusive use. 


Walking down to the first pool I 

caught a glimpse of a large salmon 

break the surface. Then another, 

and another. This river was loaded 

with fish! 

Considering most people do not 

achieve the Macnab because of 

the difficulty in catching an Atlantic 

salmon, I felt lucky. I truly hit the 

right time and the right place. I 

unspooled some line off the reel and 

Spey cast across the river. As the fly 

drifted to a stop below, I took one 

step downstream and recast, swinging 

the fly across the pool again. 

I repeated this process until I had 

worked through the entire pool from 

top to bottom covering every possible 

lie a salmon might inhabit. No 

fish, but no worries. It was probably 

just a matter of trying a different fly. 

Reselecting a new pattern, I 

worked the pool again. Then I did 

it again with a different rod rigged 

with a sinking line. I was starting 

to get worried when the line came 

to a sudden stop. As instructed, I 

paused for a second before lifting 

the rod tip to set the hook. The fish 

was there, strong and heavy—fresh 

from the sea and ready to fight. I 

could feel his power as he shook his 

large hooked-nose head back and 


forth in the current. Then as quickly 

as he was on, he was off. Heartbroken, 

I fished for the next several 

hours, not taking a break to eat or 

drink. I only threw in the towel when 

it became too dark to see the water. 

The River dee only gives so many 

chances and that one was mine. 

So as the clock ticked down to 

midnight I resigned myself to the 

fact that the Macnab had eluded 

me, but in the end it was a worthwhile 

adventure that I’m glad I tried. 

Along the way, a unique slice of the 

sporting tradition Scotland offers 

was revealed. 

over the next couple of days 

Alice took a nice stag and a brace 

of grouse as well, but like me, no 

Atlantic salmon filled her net. We 

both plan to return, and I am confident 

we’ll get the job done. We’ll have 

a secret weapon next time. Alice let it 

slip that CZ-USA could possibly offer 

a limited edition, harpoon rifle— 

fittingly called the model dee. 

IF YOU GO 

Traveling to the Uk with firearms is 

no easy task. In fact, it is a monumental 

bureaucratic pain that any 

civilized country with a head on its 

shoulders should be embarrassed 

to subject hunters to. Be that as it 

may, if you want to bring a firearm, 

you can do it but you have to jump 

many ridiculous hoops. The first step 

involves using a reputable outfitter 

and getting all of your paperwork 

turned into that outfitter months 

ahead of your trip. After packing a 

rifle and shotgun through england 

and Scotland, I don’t care do it 

again and recommend borrowing 

one of Michael McCrave’s rifles and 

shotguns while you’re there. 

Mike McCrave Hunting Limited 

huntingvacationscotland.com 

Ian Murry, Dee Fishing Ghillie 

ianmurry.riverdee@btinternet.com 

cz-usa.com 19

Retro 

THE CZ 83 REDEFINES THE ClASSIC APPROACH TO 

PRACTICAl CARRy. 

By JAMES TARR I Photos by SEAN UTLEY 

20 

cz-usa.com 

The 


With a massive surge in the number of states 

allowing for concealed carry, the number of 

people who are getting firsthand knowledge 

of what it’s like to carry a firearm regularly has 

gone up dramatically. For years, many of those people 

could only “talk the talk.” Now that they can “walk the 

walk” they are discovering that carrying a full-size pistol 

isn’t always an option. 

Due in large part to America’s 

emerging CCW nation, the number of 

compact and subcompact pistols— 

most with polymer frames—has 

exploded. New owners, however, 

soon learn that ease of carry does 

not necessarily translate into an 

enjoyable experience at the range. 

Small, light pistols are easy to 

carry, but are hard to aim and shoot 

accurately at any speed. And try 

shooting a lot of rounds during 

practice. Nobody takes a pocket gun 

out to the range for a day of plinking. 

After bouncing from one end of the 

spectrum to the other, many of us 

who carry are choosing a midsize 

pistol to be more practical. It’s the 

middle ground between shootability 

and ease of carry. This is exactly 

where the CZ 83 is at home. 

The CZ 83 is an all-steel 12+1 

.380 automatic with a 3.8-inch 

barrel and a weight of 26 ½ ounces. 

It’s also available in a blued finish, 

or this satin nickel version seen 

here. Besides the growing trend to 

chamber carry guns in .380, this one 

can also be had in a .32 ACP variety. 

In .32, the CZ 83 comes with a 15round 

magazine. Although CZ refers 


to this as a compact gun, it’s not a 

pocket pistol. Rather, it’s a midsize 

steel gun built durable enough to 

withstand even the rigors of police 

or military duty. The CZ 83 is nearly 

identical to its predecessor, the 12shot 

9x18 Makarov-chambered CZ 

82. The CZ 82 could be found in the 

holsters of European law enforcement 

up until just a few years ago. 

Not surprisingly, the CZ 83 has a 

very European appearance (less the 

Euro magazine release behind the 

floorplate of the magazine). The slide 

is reminiscent of a PPK, but the similarity 

ends there. To be honest, the 

first time I saw a CZ 83 my expectations 

were low, but the more I shot it 

the more I liked it. One of the reasons 

for my growing favor toward it is 

that the slide has such an unusual 

profile and because it has a fixed 

barrel. Fixed barrels are good for two 

reasons: They make the gun more 

accurate, and they put the bore very 

low in the hand. This reduces felt 

recoil and muzzle rise. As opposed 

to most American-designed pistols 

where the serial number is marked 

on the frame, the CZ 83 wears its 

matching serial numbers on the 

cz-usa.com 21

WhiLE iT’S RoUghLY ThE SAME SizE AS MANY PoPULAR NiNES, 

ThE Cz 83 iS MUCh MoRE CoNCEALABLE. 

barrel hood and slide. As the barrel is 

attached to the frame, technically the 

barrel is the receiver. 

like its big brother—the CZ 75— 

the 83 is a DA/SA automatic that 

can be carried cocked-and-locked 

in Condition One. The ambidextrous 

safety is not a decocker. The 

safety cannot be engaged when the 

hammer is down, but the pistol does 

have an internal hammer rebound 

safety. After decades of shooting 

1911s, I use a thumb-high hold with 

everything, and the safety of the CZ 

83 lends itself well to this. It clicks on 

and off in a very positive manner. The 

thumb safety is ambidextrous, 

as is the magazine release. 

I wouldn’t want to carry the 

pistol Condition One until I had 

practiced getting the safety off 

during the drawstroke a number 

of times. The serrated safety 

isn’t small, but my spoiled 

thumb is used to the oversize 

combat ledges now found on 

1911 thumb safeties. 

For this evaluation I tested a 

satin nickel CZ 83. The frame 

and slide have a matte nickel 

finish, but all the controls and 

small parts are matte blued 

(including the triggerguard). I 

prefer the looks of an all-blued 

22 cz-usa.com 

The trigger guard wears checkering for those 

shooters who prefer to place the support hand’s 

index finger in front of the guard during firing. 

gun personally, but I’ve also rusted 

blued guns with sweat. That won’t 

happen with nickel. The doubleaction 

trigger pull on my CZ 83 is 

stiff and noticeably heavier than 

what I’ve experienced with used 82s 

and 83s. That’s very common, and 

the great thing about all-steel trigger 

systems is that the more times the 

trigger is pulled, the smoother and 

lighter that pull gets. CZs are built 

for a lifetime of hard use. 

The frame of the pistol is big 

enough for me to get my whole 

hand around it, which is a definite 

plus when it comes to managing 

Like the CZ 75 and DW 1911, the CZ 83 features a 

thumb safety that locks the hammer to the rear. 

recoil. The front of the triggerguard 

is checkered as well, since there are 

some that like to place the support 

hand’s index finger on it. 

The flattop slide is serrated, and 

the CZ is equipped with black plastic 

grips, the bulging palm sections 

of which are checkered. The grips 

feature a prominent ridge below 

a finger groove, which made for a 

comfortable grip but made it almost 

impossible to access the magazine 

release without turning the pistol in 

my hand. The magazine baseplates 

are removable for cleaning, and the 

magazines have three unmarked 

index holes at the rear to witness 

the fourth, eighth and 12th 

rounds levels in the magazine. 

The followers were constructed 

of black polymer. 

The sights on the CZ 83 are 

good for a gun this size. The 

rear is a dovetailed notch, and 

the front is a post slid in from 

the front and secured with a roll 

pin. On used CZ 82s and 83s, 

I’ve seen plain black rear sights 

combined with a vertical whiteline 

insert in the front sight that 

works quite well. The sights on 

this new gun wore three, bright 

green dots. This turned out to 

be luminous paint. When I hit 


the sights briefly with a flashlight, 

they glowed as brightly as the finest 

tritium insert sights available. After 10 

minutes, they still glowed, but more 

faintly. Whether or not they’ve been 

exposed to light and glow, these dots 

provide a very good sight picture. 

The hammer is a spur type and 

comes down far enough there might 

be hammer-bite issues for people 

with very large hands using a high 

grip, but I didn’t experience such 

issues. The safety body actually 

forms a part of the beavertail on the 

frame just under the hammer and 

pivots on a pin. This design seems 

robust, but results in an unexpected 

gap between safety and frame at the 

rear of the pistol when the safety is in 

the Off position. 

There are only a few ways to 

disassemble a pistol with a barrel 

permanently attached to the frame. 

To disassemble the CZ 83, first 

remove the magazine and make 

certain that the pistol is unloaded. 

lower the safety off. Pull down on 

the trigger guard until it clicks and 

stays open. Retract the slide all the 

way back, then lift up on the rear of 

the slide. It will pivot upward, and 

once it is high enough to clear the 

rear of the barrel, pull the slide assembly 

off the front of the pistol. 



TYPE: DA/SA, semiauto 

CaLibEr: .32 ACP, .380 ACP 

(tested) 

CaPaCiTY: 12 (.380), 15 (.32) 

barrEL: 3.8 in. 

OVEraLL LENGTH: 6.77 in. 

WEiGHT: 26.5 oz 

GriPS: Black plastic 

FiNiSH: Satin nickel 

TriGGEr: 12 lb. DA/5 lb. SA 

SiGHTS: Three dot, green 

luminescent, fixed (front), 

drift adj. notch (rear) 

Once apart, 

the pistol reveals 

a polished feed 

ramp that perfectly 

blends with 

the barrel. As the 

barrel is fixed to 

the frame, that 

feeding angle will 

stay the same 

no matter what. 

This gets part 

credit for the 100 

percent reliability 

I’ve experienced 

with the CZ 83. 

The recoil spring fits around the 

barrel and is a simple single-coil 

design. After removing the grips by 

way of the slot-head screws, you 

can see that the mainspring fits 

around the hammer strut. Further 

disassembly for cleaning or maintenance 

is not recommended. 

If extensive firing has been done, 

CZ recommends taking apart the 

magazine and firing-pin mechanism. 

Removing the firing-pin assembly 

should not be difficult for anyone who 

has ever done the same with a 1911— 

as the procedure is identical. Push in 

on the firing pin with a punch until it 

clears the firing-pin stop, then slide 

the stop downward while covering the 

end of the slide with a finger so the 

firing-pin assembly doesn’t fly across 

the room. CZ-USA has the instruction 

manual posted on its Web site, as well 

as a video showing how to field strip 

the pistol if you have any trouble. 

In this age of defensive auto pistols 

the size of cigarette lighters chambered 

for .380 and 9mm, the thought 

of purchasing (much less carrying an 

all-steel .380) might seem unnecessary 

to people. While there is no 

arguing that 9mm, .40 S&W and 

.45 ACP are all more powerful and 

effective cartridges than the .380 

ACP, the fact is that if private citizens 

ever need to use their legally carried 

firearms, the lion’s share of those 

encounters will occur at conversational 

distances with no intervening 

barriers apart from clothing. While 

it’s roughly the same size as many 

Finished in blue, the controls and grip contrast well on a satin nickel-finish 

CZ 83. Controls are oriented in the same ergonomic locations as most classic 

semiauto pistols. 

cz-usa.com 23

I know someone who recently bought a cZ 83 for a female new 

to shootIng, and the choIce makes perfect sense to me. 

popular polymer nines, 

the CZ 83 is much more 

concealable. That extra 

weight is certainly an 

advantage over the lightweights 

when it comes time 

to pull the trigger. 

Ammunition manufacturers 

didn’t sit idly by while 

gun companies introduced 

more variations of carry pistols 

using .380, so premium 

hollow points in this caliber 

are easy to find. Modern 

defensive ammunition is 

far superior to what you could find on 

the shelves just 20 years ago, and the 

.380 ACP JHPs of today are designed 

to expand even when fired out of the 

ultra-short barrels of subcompacts. 

Taking the CZ 83 out to the range 

was fun. Not only does the fixed 

barrel provide great accuracy, recoil 

isn’t a four-letter word. Range volunteers 

couldn’t outrun the gun, and 

we could keep all shots inside the 

A-zone of an IPSC target at 10 yards 

24 

cz-usa.com 

With its ejection port profile, slide serrations and exposed 

extractor, the CZ 83 exhibits a relationship to the CZ75. 

as fast as we could pull the trigger. 

At 15 yards the front sight would 

rise up to the top of the silhouette 

target under recoil, then go straight 

back down to nestle in the rear sight. 

Because the CZ is so flat-shooting, 

I was able to track the front sight 

during the entire recoil impulse. 

I know someone who recently 

bought a CZ 83 for a female new 

to shooting, and the choice makes 

perfect sense to me. Remember, 

accuracy results 

the ideal self-defense pistol 

is not only one you have 

with you, but one that you 

don’t mind practicing with 

and that hits hard enough 

to get the job done. The 

older I get, the more I realize 

that bullet placement 

is more important than 

caliber. If the pistol you’re 

shooting has so much 

muzzle blast and recoil 

that you hate to practice 

with it or can’t find your 

sights after the first shot, 

it’s not serving you well. Personally, 

I’d carry a .380 before I’d carry a 

.357 Magnum. Even with premium 

JHPs, the CZ 83 is tame. And while 

a 90-grain JHP at 1,000 fps is no 

magnum thunder hammer, thousands 

of violent threats have been fended 

off by less powerful cartridges. The 

CZ 83 has good ergonomics, is very 

controllable at any speed, holds 12 

+1 rounds, and has an MSRP of only 

$444. What’s not to like? 

While the all-steel CZ 83 is not 

a pocket gun, it is a concealable, 

light-recoiling pistol that 

points naturally and can be had 

in a choice of a blued finish or 

satin nickel. 

Bullet Weight Avg. Velocity Standard 

Make (gr.) (fps) Deviation Group (in.) 

Black Hills FMJ 95 922 21 2.2 

Cor-Bon Pow’R Ball 70 1,077 22 3.2 

Hornady XTP JHP 90 981 13 1.8 

Accuracy results are the averages of four five-shot groups at 25 yards from a sandbag rest. Velocities are 

the averages of 10 shots measured with a Shooting Chrony F-1 Alpha chronograph 12 feet from the muzzle. 

www.cz-usa.com

„If future 

generations ask us 

what we are 

fighting for 

[in World War Two], 

we shall tell them 

the story of Lidice.“ 

William Franklin Knox, 

United States Secretary 

of the Navy (1940 – 1944) 

T h e L I d I c e M ov I e c o M e S To M ov I e T h e aT r e S a L S o I N T h e U Sa ! 

ThIS IS The STory oF The czech vILLage oF LIdIce, The STory oF ordINary peopLe, Who ThroUgh aN abSUrd coINcIdeNce 

caMe INTo The Way oF hISTory. The ScreeNpLay by zdeNeK MahLer, oFFerS a vIeW oN The TragIc FaTe oF LIdIce IN The 2Nd 

WorLd War FroM aN UNUSUaL perSpecTIve. IT coMeS cLoSer To The MISForTUNe oF peopLe IN LIdIce ThroUgh INTerperSoNaL 

reLaTIoNS, eSpecIaLLy Love, WhIch STaNdS aT The begINNINg oF The WhoLe STory. ThIS IS The epIc FILM FULL oF eMoTIoNS, WhIch 

poINTS oUT hoW SeeMINgLy a SMaLL ThINg aS a Love LeTTer caN chaNge The coUrSe oF hISTory aNd caUSe a Tragedy. 

ČESKÁ ZBROJOVKA 

S I N C E 1 9 3 6 

SpoNSor oF The LIdIce MovIe 

NoMINee IN The eUropeaN cINeMa prIzeS coNTeST 

More INFo aT 

WWW.czUb.cz

style, 

Meet Function 

A NEW CZ STACK gETS A DOUBlE-SIZE WORKOUT 

IN ARgENTINA. 

By MIKE SCHOBY 

Whether your 

game is sporting 

clays, trap, skeet 

or the upland 

fields, there is no shortage 

of sexy stack-barreled offerings, 

so why enter another 

beauty into the pageant? 

“Filling a niche is what we were 

after,” says Dave Miller of CZ-USA. 

“There are lots and lots of good 

over/unders out there today, a fact 

we fill well with our Redhead, Sporting 

and Upland models, but we saw 

a need to have something with some 

stylish good looks, Old World class 

but at a price that still allowed guys 

to use it in the field.” 

Noting the amazing scrollwork 

and hand-engraved sideplates, I 

broke open the gun and inserted 

a brace of filthy-burning Argentine 

The Wingshooter is a full-size gun 

without being unduly heavy or 

cumbersome. It straddles the line 

between being light enough to carry 

but not kicking like a mule. 

26 cz-usa.coM 

loads that substituted for real 

cartridges into the chrome-lined 

bores. I spied a lone dove screaming 

across the milo field, headed in our 

direction. Nodding as if I were still 

paying attention to Dave, I shouldered 

the gun and pulled feathers 

with the bottom barrel. The dove 

went into a tailspin, rapidly fluttering 

to stay aloft when the top barrel 

caught him and brought him down 

for keeps. “Well, it shoots as good 

as it looks,” I responded. 

I snapped open the gun; the hulls 

ejected over my shoulder, leaving 

twin contrails and that oh-so-good 

smell of freshly burnt powder that 

not even Chanel No. 9 can compete 

with. I grabbed two more cartouches 

and closed the breech. The boxlock 

action was smooth but tight and 

promised to wear in very well. 

The Wingshooter balanced remarkably 

light and easy between the 

hands, and the 28-inch barrels 

provided enough muzzle weight to 

aid follow-through. But those were 

just the mechanical specifications; 

the real delight was in the finer 

details. For a production-grade 

gun, the Turkish walnut stocks and 

Schnabel fore-end were remarkable, 

and well-executed 18-lines-per-inch 

checkering provided purchase as 

well as a classic look. While not 

needed for doves, the three-inch 

chambers and interchangeable 

chokes make it a gun for all seasons, 

all game. Tipping the scales at just 

over six pounds, the Wingshooter is 

a full-size gun without being unduly 

heavy or cumbersome. It straddles 

the line between being light enough 

to carry but not kicking like a mule. 

The doves were starting to fly now, 

and I brought down bird after bird with 

surprising regularity. As anyone who 

has stood next to me on a sporting 

clays course will attest, I am no fine 

specimen with a scattergun. My brain 

has been too-long intoned with sight 

alignment, breath control and trigger 

squeeze to be any more than just 

passable with a shotgun, but on that 

sunny day in Cordoba, Argentina, I 

felt like Tom Knapp…at least until Tom 

Knapp, CZ-USA pro shooter, strolled 

down the field edge to see what all the 

noise was about. Handing his CZ 912 

autoloader to a field technician (they 

used to be called bird boys in a less 


PC era), Tom turned to me and said 

in his characteristic booming voice, 

“Mind if I give that a try?” 

Even though I knew he was going 

to make my feeble attempts at wing 

shooting look like I was an amateur, 

I begrudgingly handed over the 

gun. The first dove dropped without 

a twitch; the second unlucky pair 

dropped out of the sky in unison. 

After that, the puffs of feathers 

blended into each other, with Tom 

and Dave (who is Master-class and 

a good trick shot in his own right) 

taking turns with the Wingshooter, 

making the sky rain feathers. When 

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Nyati 

AFRICA’S ‘BlACk DeATh’ DeMAnDS A RIFle 

YOu CAn DepenD upOn. 

By Kevin e. Steele 

28 cz-usa.com 


CZ 550 SAFARI MAgnuM 

Of all the animals I have hunted around the world, none 

fires my blood as does the Cape buffalo. Were I able, 

I would ceaselessly hunt nyati until I grew sick of 

the pursuit. Then I would concern myself with other 

matters and interests, all the while realizing that eventually the 

buffalo madness would return and my lust for the chase would 

send me back into the bush, following their spoor. 

Over the last 10 years I have 

come to rely upon the CZ 550 Safari 

Magnum rifles as my choice for 

Cape buffalo and other dangerous 

game. In that time I have 

taken four buffalo and a slew of 

plains game with these rifles, 

and my life has often depended 

upon them. Rugged, 

reliable and deadly accurate, 

the CZ 550 Safari Magnum 

is the choice of most African 

professional hunters, and I 

have learned through hands-on 

experience why this is the case. 

WHAT MAKES A BUFFALO RIFLE? 

First and foremost and without 

exception, a buffalo rifle has to 

fire every time you pull the trigger. 

Selecting a rifle for dangerous game 

is the same as selecting a handgun 

for self-defense. Reliability must be 

your primary concern, and your final 

selection must be rendered dispassionately 

and without compromise. 

Second, a proper buffalo rifle must 

feed, extract and eject without a hint 

of sticking or jamming. Third, the rifle 

needs to be rugged enough to stand 

up to the rough use it will receive. 

Make no mistake—properly 

hunting buffalo is a very physical 

activity. At first light you’ll be riding 

along the two-tracks, cutting the 

blocks in search of fresh sign. When 

it is found, the foot chase begins, 

and you’ll be dragging your rifle for 

hours as you follow the trackers 

through dense thorn thickets and 

jesse. You’ll belly-crawl across 

sand-filled dongas, clamber up and 

over termite mounds and in some 

cases wade through waist-deep 

estuaries and marshes. Count on 

the fact that your rifle will take a 

beating, to say nothing of yourself. 

Finally, which may surprise some, 

the rifle needs to be accurate, and 

by that I mean capable of putting 

one bullet atop the other at a 

distance of 50 yards. 

THE SAFARI MAGNUM 

The CZ 550 Safari Magnum is often 

referred to as a Mauser 98 clone. 

It’s true to some extent, but the real 

story is that the CZ 550 action is an 

improvement over the century-old 

Mauser design. 

Such new features include a 

heavier firing pin with a unique 

locking nut that retains the powerful 

coil mainspring on the firing pin. 

Also, the weight of the firing pin 

combined with the coil spring delivers 

both fast lock time and reliable 

ignition of even the hardest primers. 

cz-usa.com 29

Rugged, ReliaBle and deadly accuRate, the cZ 550 SafaRi MagnuMS 

aRe the choice of MoSt afRican pRofeSSional hunteRS. 

Once fresh spoor is found, the hunters dismount, make 

a plan and begin the follow-up. 

Additionally, the CZ 550 has a more 

robust bolt stop and fixed ejector. 

notable as well is the ejector groove, 

which is cut through the bottom of 

the undercut bolt head rather than 

through the locking lug as on the 

original Mauser. The 550 undercut 

bolt face helps prevent doubleloading, 

as can happen with a fully recessed 

bolt face on a Mauser. Finally, 

the CZ uses a fore-end screw that 

mates to a dovetail block inset into 

the underside of the barrel. This creates 

a third point of contact with the 

stock in addition to the normal fore 

and aft guard screws. All combine in 

a rifle that‘s brutally tough. 

I have found as well that the CZ 

hammer-forged barrels are consistently 

accurate—whether it’s a rimfire 

or a magnum. The single-set trigger 

is reliable and easily adjustable. In 

the “un-set” mode, they break cleanly 

at around three to four pounds of 

pressure, which is perfect for a 

dangerous-game rifle. Setting the 

trigger at the range helps the shooter 

determine the utmost accuracy 

potential that the rifle is capable of. 

no other manufacturer of production 

rifles offers such great range 

of calibers for dangerous game as 

30 cz-usa.com 

CZ. The Safari Magnums can be 

had in .375 h&h, .404 Jeffery, .416 

Remington, .416 Rigby, .450 Rigby, 

.458 Winchester, .458 lott, .500 

Jeffery and .505 gibbs. 

HUNTING NYATI 

having settled the issue of which rifle 

to take on a buffalo hunt, let’s take a 

look at actually hunting Cape buffalo. 

First and foremost, remember 

that the key to killing buffalo is this: 

never shoot until you are absolutely 

certain of where your bullet is going 

to hit, and as Robert Ruark correctly 

stated, use enough gun. 

Trackers carry a hindquarter of buffalo after a successful 

hunt, as the PH leads the queue and the hunters follow. 

This may come as a shock, but 

based on my personal experience 

the .375 h&h cartridge does not 

make an ideal buffalo or elephant 

rifle. I have taken buffalo with the 

.375 and witnessed other hunters 

take a half dozen more in my presence. 

All the buffalo died, but none 

dropped to the first shot. When I take 

the shot, I want the buffalo down and 

unable to get back up. Finishers are 

cheap insurance, but a follow-up 

on a wounded bull never gives you 

better than 50/50 odds that things 

may end in tragedy. 

A much better choice for buff and 

elephant begins with the .404 Jeffery 

and one of either the .416 Remington 

or Rigby. My personal choice has 

become the .458 lott, a round that 

has proven itself to amateur and 

professional hunters in the decade 

following its commercial introduction. 

In fact, I was the first to take a 

buffalo with the commercially loaded 

lott in 2001, and it has not let me 

down since. 

The first step in putting down a 

buff with one shot is to get close— 

and then get closer. Fifty yards is 

ideal, and 25 is even better. Following 

years of conversation with other 


hunters and experienced phs, it appears 

to me that most buffalo horror 

stories begin with the hunter either 

botching his first shot or not having a 

thorough understanding of the Cape 

buffalo’s anatomy from all angles. 

Rest assured that a heart/lung shot 

will indeed kill a buffalo, but it takes 

time to happen. Within that time, you 

have given that buff the opportunity 

to charge, should he desire to die in 

that manner. 

When the time comes to pull the 

trigger on a buffalo, I always advise 

to forego the classic heart-lung shot 

and aim for the high shoulder, the 

result of which is broken shoulders or 

a shattered spine, both of which will 

anchor that buff to the ground. 

With all that said and digested, 

though, remember clearly 

that despite all your experience, 

knowledge, skill and 

best intentions, things can 

still go frighteningly wrong. 

not all dangerous encounters 

result from a charge of 

a wounded buffalo. here 

are a few tales from the 

dark side. 

TALES TO BE TOLD 

Our group had picked up 

the trail of a good-size herd 

that was moving quickly 

toward an area of heavy 

cover. They were looking 

for an afternoon nap. After 

awhile, our ph realized that 

the buff would get to the 

thick stuff before we were 

able to catch up to them. 

knowing that sorting a bull 

out of the herd once they 

reached sanctuary would be 

impossible, he came up with 

an alternative plan. 

We halted in a spot with a 

fair degree of open grassland 

spotted about with 


trees. The ph then sent a tracker 

out to the flank and told him to run 

upwind of the herd. It was his hope 

that the scent of the tracker coming 

back to them on the breeze would 

send the herd back our way in their 

retreat. Ideally, we would be able 

to watch them as they passed and 

hopefully pick out a good bull on the 

edge of the herd. 

Things don’t always go the way 

you plan. The tracker did his job, and 

as his scent wafted to the buffalo, 

they abruptly turned and stampeded 

back along their trail. The rumbling 

This bull fell to the author’s 550 Safari magnum in .458 

Lott. The rifle is topped with an Aimpoint dot sight. 

hooves of the oncoming buffalo filled 

our ears and rose to a mighty crescendo 

as they rapidly covered the 

300 yards between us. A rising cloud 

of dust appeared to our front, and 

we suddenly realized that instead of 

passing to our flank, the herd was 

headed in our direction. 

Catching sight of the leading 

element in the herd, our ph shouted 

for my wife and the trackers to get 

behind some trees to our rear, while 

he and I faced down the stampeding 

buffalo. 

The ph then began shouting at the 

oncoming buffalo while he jumped 

up and down, waving his hat above 

his head. I immediately followed 

his example, all the while doubting 

his sanity, not to mention my own. 

Incredibly, the leading buffalo 

stopped not 20 yards 

in front of us, as we jumped 

around like lunatics. The 

buffalo to the rear of the 

front element rammed into 

those ahead, nudging them 

closer toward us. 

As the buffalo stopped 

in a lurch, we snapped our 

rifles to our shoulders and 

covered those animals 

closest to us, the muzzles of 

our guns swaying back and 

forth across the snorting 

phalanx as we searched 

their eyes, hoping see a clue 

as to their next intentions. 

That’s what we watched— 

their eyes. 

The standoff lasted only 

seconds, but it seemed far 

longer. Abruptly, the herd 

turned to our left and bolted 

off, a mass of surging black 

bodies amid swirling dust 

as they gave us a berth of 

mere yards. As the herd 

thundered by, we never did 

see a good bull. 

cz-usa.com 31

My Blood waS up aS we weRe doing what i love — 

getting Right into the heRd, aS cloSe aS poSSiBle. 

More than a dozen buffalo hunts have taught the author 

that express sights or an optical dot are preferable to 

a variable scope when hunting nyati in the thick stuff. 

Another dangerous situation that 

one can encounter when in pursuit 

of buffalo is to run into an animal that 

has been previously wounded either 

by a poacher’s bullet or snare. While 

I have not personally run afoul of an 

injured buffalo, I did once face down 

a young elephant bull in a sandy 

donga whose trunk had been almost 

completely severed by a snare. 

luckily, despite the fact that he 

appeared within 40 yards of us and 

could dimly see us, the wind was 

in our favor, allowing us the chance 

to move quickly up a slope and out 

of his path. I am pretty certain that 

if the wind had identified our party 

as human to the elephant, he would 

have charged those he believed to 

be responsible for his serious injury. 

unfortunately, the same cannot be 

said for a couple of friends of mine on 

their first buffalo hunt with me. They 

were following the track of a group of 

dagga boys when at last they caught 

sight of the bulls. The ph raised his 

binos for a better look and noticed 

that the largest bull had a bloody, 

suppurating wound on his shoulder. 

he was unaware that a wounded bull 

was in the area, and as the bull was 

also a good trophy, he instructed one 

of my friends to take him. 

32 cz-usa.com 

The first shot was not a good one, 

and upon impact, rather than retreating, 

the enraged bull immediately 

charged the three hunters. All three 

commenced firing at the buffalo, and 

thankfully, six rounds later, it collapsed 

at their feet. 

Then there are the tales of the “buffalo 

that won’t die.” This happened to 

my friend hermann, who was on his 

second buffalo safari with me. he and 

his ph had been tracking a small herd 

that contained a fine old bull. They 

closed within 50 yards of the animal, 

and hermann fired his .416 Remington, 

placing the bullet squarely in the 

heart and lung kill zone. As the area in 

which they had found the buffalo was 

fairly open, hermann was able to put 

two more rounds into the bull, the last 

breaking his shoulders and knocking 

him down. 

Despite the bull absorbing 1,200 

grains of lead, resulting in broken 

shoulders along with other internal 

injuries, he attempted to stand. hermann 

had quickly reloaded, and as 

the bull tried to rise, he rapidly fired 

three more rounds into the struggling 

animal. The buff attempted yet again 

to regain its feet, and two additional 

rounds from the ph’s .416 Rigby 

finally settled the issue. 

Loading a bull buffalo into the Cruiser is no small task; 

loading two is a Herculean effort! 

Add it up. That bull had absorbed 

a total of 3,200 grains of medicine, 

nearly a half pound, before dying. 

Still and all, the absolute thrill 

of buffalo hunting comes from the 

ever-present possibility that things 

can go wrong. The closer you are to 

the buffalo, the greater the danger, 

and therein lies the adrenaline rush 

so much sought after by purists in 

the pursuit of nyati. 

I know many men who have killed 

their buff at what I consider to be 

long range—more than 50 yards. 

To my mind, these folks have totally 

missed the point of buffalo hunting, 

which is to get as close as possible 

so that you can hear their bellies 

rumble and inhale the musky cattle 

scent through your nostrils. The thrill 

is incredible. 

If the wind is right and you are 

very quiet and unmoving, you will be 

astounded at how close you can get 

to a buffalo—or how close a buffalo 

might get to you. Case in point: 

The Zambezi Valley had suffered 

a drought, and the country was dry 

and brittle. We had been following 

buffalo spoor since first light, 

and on toward noontime we found 

ourselves headed up the slope of a 

small rise. The ground was parched 


and gravelly, with sparse tufts of 

brown grass shooting up here and 

there amid shattered mopani trees 

whose tops had been lopped off by 

feeding elephant. hot and thirsty, 

my mind had begun to wander, and 

I found myself dreamily gazing up 

at the stunningly blue sky and its 

merciless sun. I was suddenly torn 

from my reverie by my ph, who had 

dropped to his knees and was pulling 

me down toward him. 

“Quiet! Don’t move!” he hissed. 

less than 25 yards in front of us, a 

small herd of buffalo were shuffling 

down the slope, themselves seemingly 

burdened by the oppressive 

heat of the late-morning sun. They 

were spread over a 50-yard front, 

but I realized with a start that a cow 

and her calf were walking 

directly toward us. 

She continued straight 

on. I could easily make out 

the snot running from her 

broad nose and her wide 

horns, the tips of which were 

as sharp as the talons of an 

eagle. I shuddered involuntarily 

as I realized that one 

swipe of her headgear could 

flay me from belly to brisket. 

With nothing to conceal us 

but the thin veil of branches 

extending from the thorn 

bush behind which we hid, 

my hands tightened around 

my CZ 550 as we could only 

hold our breath and pray she 

didn’t register our presence. 

I can still vividly recall her 

head swaying from side to 

side as she ambled past 

not 12 feet from our hiding 

place, followed placidly by 

her calf. 

We waited for them to 

move on a good distance 

before we stood. I readily 

admit I was shaking a bit, 


like you do when closely avoiding 

a wreck. I suppose that’s a good 

analogy because if she had seen or 

heard us, or caught our scent, we 

would have been in a wreck for sure. 

That said, however, I would never 

trade that experience for anything, 

and it’s a perfect example of why I 

would rather hunt buffalo than any 

other game. 

I suppose that one reason buffalo 

hunting remains so intoxicating 

for me is that when hunting these 

animals, you never have an idea of 

The author’s biggest bull to date measured nearly 

44-inches. A single 500-grain solid from the Lott put 

him down for the count. 

what to expect. The unknown is a 

compelling reason to continue the 

chase. Anything can happen when 

hunting; simple mistakes, poor 

marksmanship, a shift in the wind or 

just bad luck will put you in harm’s 

way. Indeed, it is the danger that 

makes buffalo hunting so addictive. 

My best trophy to date resulted in 

the hunt of a large floodplain along 

the banks of the Zambezi. papyrus 

reeds towered tall, their fluffy tops 

gently swaying in the early-morning 

breeze. Between them lay grassy 

plots struggling to survive in the 

deep, sandy soil. Jungle-like growths 

of trees resided along still, stagnant 

ponds and inlets of water, the aftermath 

of a heavy rainy season. 

We spotted a good-size herd of 

buffalo foraging amid the 

reeds and took up their 

track. Testing the wind with 

his ash bag, my ph got us 

positioned atop an anthill so 

we could watch the herd as 

it fed just beyond us. unable 

to pick out a good bull, we 

descended and very slowly 

and carefully moved closer 

to the herd. 

Buffalo bellows, grunts 

and the bleating of calves 

filled our ears as we crept 

into position for a better 

view. My blood was up as 

we were doing what I love— 

getting right into the herd, 

as close as possible. The 

buffalo were milling about 

in front of us, crossing from 

left to right and back again 

in a never-ending stream. 

The earthy odor of cattle 

dung and the strong ammonia 

smell of urine filled 

our nostrils. 

Doubled over, we crept 

even closer. Suddenly, a 

group of cows and young 

cz-usa.com 33

it’S a ShaMe, But adding the Big five to youR tRophy RooM 

today will coSt alMoSt aS Much aS the houSe itSelf. 

The mighty Zambezi flows toward the Indian Ocean 

just east of the Mopata Gorge. 

bulls picked up their heads and 

looked straight into our eyes. We 

were busted. 

The buffalo retreated and we 

followed. They crossed through a 

wooded area with Daryl and me 

on their heels. The earth ended at 

a bank below, which stretched a 

broad and deep estuary filled with 

papyrus. As we reached the edge, 

we watched in amazement as the 

entire herd swam away from us and 

into the reeds, their bodies plowing 

through the black water like bovine 

juggernauts. One of the last animals 

to reach a dry hummock amid the 

reeds was an old bull. he stopped 

and turned to look at us over his 

shoulder. his action seemed a dare. 

“Catch us if you can.” 

Truth be told, we could not, as 

there was no manner of conveyance 

to see us across the water and 

into the reeds. Wading or swimming 

was out of the question, as monstorous 

crocodiles called this morass 

home. lunch struck us as a better 

alternative. 

As we rested beneath the thatched 

roof of the outdoor dining room at 

Masau Camp, we received a radio 

34 cz-usa.com 

call from ph Buzz Charlton, who 

was chaperoning a group of Spanish 

hunters. he reported seeing a group 

of three dagga boys not far from 

camp. Two of the three appeared to 

be quite good. My ph sent two of his 

trackers out to the location to “put 

them to bed,” and we intended to 

pick them up later in the afternoon. 

As I rested in my bed I could 

hear the water of the Zambezi as 

it gently lapped the shore outside 

my chalet. The tranquil sound lulled 

me to sleep, but not for long—there 

was a knock at my door. I looked at 

my watch and saw it was 3 o’clock. 

gathering up my gear, I walked the 

short distance to where the land 

Cruiser was parked, and climbing up 

into the high seat, we took off. 

The sun was still high as the truck 

ground its way along the sandy 

tracks to an area of tall grass and 

stunted trees. We met the trackers 

who had been sent out earlier to 

locate the buffalo, and they reported 

that the animals were about a half 

mile away bedded beneath some 

trees. My ph and I chambered 

rounds into our rifles and quickly 

followed the trackers’ lead. 

A small herd of buffalo, including a very good bull, 

retreats across a lily-covered estuary of the Zambezi. 

not long after leaving the road, 

we came across an old lion kill. 

Four hooves detached from their 

legs were the last vestiges of what 

was once a buffalo calf. Continuing 

on, we reached our destination 

about a hundred yards from the 

bedded buffalo. The ph called a 

short conference. 

“kevin, you come with me, and 

we’ll get as close as we can without 

spooking them. We’ll try to sort out 

the best bull, and when they get up 

from their nap, you can take him,” 

he said. 

“Roger that,” I replied, as we 

began our stalk toward the sleeping 

beasts. 

We advanced one foot at a time. I 

carefully made certain to step exactly 

where the ph had footed, avoiding 

the cloying thorns and carefully sidestepping 

dry twigs and branches. 

The wind was perfect, blowing in our 

faces away from the slumbering buffalo, 

and we finally stopped behind 

a small bush no more than 25 yards 

from where the buffalo lay. 

peering intently through our binoculars, 

we could only confirm that there 

were three buffalo under the tree, but 


try as we might, we could not make 

out any of their headgear. nearly an 

hour ticked by as we waited for the 

buffalo to rise. At last, they did. 

I was on the sticks, but I still could 

not make out the horns beneath the 

shadowed tangle of tree branches 

obscuring my view. The wind shifted, 

bringing our scent to their nostrils, 

and in a rush, they made off. 

The sun got lower and lower in the 

sky, and the shadows lengthened 

as we followed behind the buffalo. 

Making our way from cover to cover, 

we tracked them to a place where 

several big trees gave them cover. 

They knew we were on their backtrail, 

and we hoped that as the light 

waned the buffalo would 

grow less careful, as they 

are known to do, and wished 

for an opportunity for a shot 

before last light. 

Moving closer to the trees 

behind which the buffalo had 

taken sanctuary, we were 

rewarded when one bull 

stepped clear of the protection 

of the foliage and turned 

to look right at us just 50 

yards away. 

The bull’s horns were long 

and sweeping, then turning 

up to pointed tips. his 

boss was full and craggy. I 

slapped the fore-end of my 

CZ .458 lott into the fork 

of the shooting sticks I had 

been carrying and squinted 

through the express sights, 

settling the big ivory bead on 

the bull’s shoulder. 

I was just about to drop 

the hammer when from 

the left came another of 

the three bulls. This one 

seemed to dwarf the first. 

I shifted my sights to this 

bull, and holding just below 

his sweep of horn I pressed 


the trigger just as I heard the ph say, 

“Take the one on the left.” 

When the bullet reached the bull, 

he dropped dead in his tracks. 

“I was a bit ahead of you there,” I 

said to the ph as I cranked another 

round into the chamber. The other 

two bulls quickly moved off, and as 

they did the ph said, “Yeah, that first 

one was good, but when the other 

one came out from behind the tree, I 

thought, Wow, he’s even better.” 

This old cow, taken for camp meat with a .375 H&H CZ- 

550, sported horns with a forty-inch spread. 

“Well, looks like everything worked 

out just fine,” I said. 

“That was a great shot. he never 

moved,” the ph replied. 

night was falling rapidly as it is 

wont to do in Africa as we moved 

forward to inspect my buffalo. This 

bull had it all: long, deeply curved 

horns and a heavy boss. The tape 

later put him at 43 ½ inches, making 

him my biggest bull to date. The 

shot had hit at point of aim, cleanly 

breaking his neck. The CZ 550 

Safari Magnum in .458 lott had 

chalked up another one-shot stop. 

I’ve come to believe that any buffalo, 

of either sex, hunted at close range 

and taken fairly, is an experience you 

will never forget. Trophy quality 

is indeed secondary to the 

experience for the dedicated 

buffalo hunter. I have found 

that my hunts for the smallest 

and biggest were equally 

thrilling and rewarding, as 

is accompanying another 

hunter on his stalks and kills. 

With buffalo, the hunt itself 

is where you will find your 

greatest satisfaction. The kill 

means your magical time in 

the bush is over. 

Many of us lucky enough 

to go on African safari will be 

unable to afford taking the 

classic Big Five of elephant, 

buffalo, rhino, lion and leopard. 

It’s a shame, but adding 

the Big Five to a trophy room 

today will cost as much as 

the house itself. But buffalo 

are plentiful enough and 

economical enough for the 

great majority of hunters to 

pursue, and they will remain 

so for quite some time. It is 

for this reason, that the Cape 

buffalo is the most hunted 

and coveted dangerous 

game in Africa. 

cz-usa.com 35

The Specialist 

IN THE HOME OR ON THE STREET, THIS .45 IS POISED 

TO PROTECT AND SERvE. 

By Patrick Sweeney I Photos by Sean UtLey 

36 cz-uSa.com 

Dan Wesson specialist 

TYPE: Single action, recoil operated 

semiauto 

CaliBEr: .45 ACP 

CaPaCiTY: 8+1 

BarrEl: 5 in. 

OvErall lEngTh: 8.5 in. 

WEighT: 2.31 in. 

griPS: G10 

FiniSh: Matte black Duty 

TriggEr: Aluminum, 4 lb. 

SighTS: 3-Dot, ledge-style, 

tritium-filled 


The Dan Wesson line of 1911s, built under the ownership of 

CZ-USA, have always been exceptional. As a ready-to-go, 

out of the box 1911, they have always surprised the market 

as a great value delivering custom features, the highest 

accuracy, and the best reliability. You could buy something with 

a longer spec sheet or higher price, however, you couldn’t possibly 

get as much in return. The Dan Wesson lineup has now been 

changed, and the results are impressive. 

The Specialist is your basic full-sized 

1911 with a Picatinny rail for a dustcover— 

except little is basic about it. First, the 

slide, frame and barrel have a level of 

fitting that’s only seen pistols hand fitted 

by wise ‘smiths long in their years. Dan 

Wesson gunsmiths are more than skilled 

craftsmen, they’re obviously shooters. 

During my inspection, I can see the hours 

spent filing little-by-little before lapping 

and checking fit. These 1911s pass the 

most critical scrutiny. Having spent many 

years working as a gunsmith (and a lot of 

that time spent on 1911s), when someone 

hands me a pistol, the second thing I do 

(after checking to make sure that it isn’t 

loaded) is to check the fit. Yes, the feel 

of the slide on the frame, and the fit of 

the barrel as it locks up, sure. But there’s 

more to it than just that. What does the 

slide sound like, moving on the frame? 

Can you hear the toolmarks chattering 

over each other? Or is it a smooth, almost 

sinuous hiss as polished steel slides over 

polished steel? 

When the slide collects the barrel, links 

up and closes, does it sound like a collection 

of parts brought together? Or is there 

a click-click-click like purpose to each 

Between the set of tactical ledge night 

sights runs a Clark-style serrated rib 

across the top of the slide designed to 

eliminate glare. 

DW SPECIAlIST 

movement? Solidly- fitted parts ring when 

they are closed with more than a gentle 

nudge. Many snick, some even sing. 

While the near-musical note of the closing 

differs from gun to gun, the similarity 

between well-fitted 1911s is this: they 

almost all ring like a bell when you let them 

close. Not so close to full slide-lock, that’s 

just abuse. But to let the slide close from 

halfway, you can tell a lot about a fitting by 

the sound of the “snick” as it shuts. 

The Dan Wesson Specialist I’ve just 

evaluated has such a positive, assertive 

closing sound that I actually stood there 

cz-uSa.com 

37

DUring my inSPection, i can See the hoUrS SPent fiLing LittLe- 

By-LittLe Before LaPPing anD checking fit. 

for a few seconds and just opened 

and closed it to soak in the sound. It 

was that interesting—and promising. 

Once I was over that, I scanned 

the features. The top of the slide has 

sights in transverse dovetails, with 

the rear sight utilizing a tactical ledge 

to allow “belt-” or “boot-racking.” 

This is a technique developed (as 

best I can determine) by the los Angeles 

Police Department. If you need 

to one-handed rack your slide, hook 

the sight on your belt, holster, or sole 

of the boot and shove it out and away 

from yourself. The usual ramped 

rear sight does not allow this. Dan 

Wesson took a large combat sight 

and carved the face to produce this 

stop-ridge. A belt or holster will catch 

the rear sight, and you can rack the 

slide that way. Plus, the sights have 

night-sight tritium inserts, one dot 

over the other, in Heinie’s Straight 

38 cz-uSa.com 

Eight pattern. line the dots up, figure 

“8”, and your sights are aligned in the 

dark. It’s very intuitive. 

The top of the slide is also serrated, 

with lateral grooves down 

the rib. I took one look at that, and 

estimated it would take a fistful of 

hundred-dollar bills to duplicate it in 

the hands of a custom 1911 pistolsmith. 

Consider the savings a gift 

from Dan Wesson. 

On the frame, there is an integral 

accessory rail machined into the 

dustcover. The slide stop pin is 

recessed, and its hole in the frame 

beveled. Some take the beveling of 

that hole too far, cutting an edge that 

is too angled and deep. The Specialist 

has the bevel cut at a shallow angle, 

and just deep enough to make it so 

that it’s easy to disassemble, but not 

so much it removes a large part of 

the barrel lug and frame integrity. The 

From the trigger to the hammer, every control wears serrations. a scallop cut 

made to the left g10 grip panel provides easier access to the magazine release. 

The Specialist features a Dan Wesson 

match barrel chambered in .45 aCP. 

Just like other Dan Wesson 1911s, this 

one has a close-tolerance fit with its 

barrel bushing. 

flush-trimmed slide stop pin is now 

out of the way of your trigger finger 

when your finger is outside of the 

trigger guard. You do not risk pushing 

the slide stop out of the frame, and yet 

it can still be disassembled. 

The safety is ambidextrous. It clicks 

up and down with the correct amount 

of authority, and stays where set it. 

The grip safety appears to be from 

Ed Brown, and probably is. It’s easier 

to simply purchase forged grip safeties 

from Ed Brown than to try and 

machine them oneself. In any case, 

it’s the highest grip safety you can 

get on a 1911, and it puts your hand 

as high behind the gun as is possible. 

Inside the frame is a scalloped commander 

hammer, and combined with 

the fitted, match aluminum trigger, 

the drawstroke of the trigger is clean, 

crisp and purposeful. 

The frame features a flat mainspring 

housing. long ago, I gave up 

trying to figure out which type shoots 

better for me—flat or arched. I suppose 

were I vying with the top dogs 

for the Single Stack Championship of 

the universe, it would matter, but I’m 

not. I can pass any qual course, and 

beat most anyone I compete against. 

So, flat it is. 


The mainspring housing is checkered, 

and at 25 lines to the inch, 

matches the checkering on the frontstrap. 

The checkering is straight and 

even, and the individual diamonds 

are square and sharp. 

The (very) tactile grips are G10, a 

synthetic selected for its imperviosity—to 

everything. It’s immune to 

things that would discourage or even 

kill you; solvents, lubricants, radiation 

and high-voltage electrical current. 

These grips will never chip, fade, 

discolor or break. The surface is 

machined with an interesting pattern. 

Rather than a traditional checkered 

pattern, the surface of the grips are 

machined (that’s the only way you 

can form G10, without incurring 

hideous expense). 


a lightweight Commander hammer is 

protected by the beavertail grip safety. 

The Specialist also comes with an ambidextrous 

thumb safety. 

The front of each grip panel 

is machined with overlapping 

circular depressions to lock 

your fingertips in place until you 

relieve pressure. The rear half 

is machined with grooves that 

slant down, front to back, and 

resist the torquing forces of rotation 

in recoil. Short of slathering 

glue onto your hand or pistol, I’m 

not sure there’s a way to ensure 

a more secure hold. 

Finally, there’s the magazine well. It 

has a funnel around it, which bolts to 

the mainspring housing by means of 

an industrial-type Allen-head screw, 

and recessed into the funnel at the 

rear. The funnel is shaped to match 

the contour of the grip panels, and 

the funnel’s magwell bevels line up 

with the frame as if they were cut 

from the same piece of barstock. I 

have always been leery of the bolt-on 

funnels, and those of my 1911s that 

have them, the bolt is locked in place 

with a generous amount of loctite. 

Details are fun, and a well-fitted 

pistol is always appreciated. However, 

shooting is what matters. 

cz-uSa.com 39

We’re talking about a one-hole gun. 

it groups very Well. 

I didn’t get to spend as much time 

evaluating the Specialist as much 

as I would have liked. Short time? 

Absolutely, you see, the Specialist I 

had is the first, and until a few days 

after I had to return it, it was the 

only finished specimen of the Dan 

Wesson model extant. 

The trigger is clean and crisp, and 

encourages accurate shooting. The 

grip safety puts the frame deep in 

my hand, and recoil was eaten up 

by the added weight in the dustcover 

rail. That small, extra weight 

below the boreline and forward 

of the hands aids recoil control, 

while the aggressive grips keep the 

Specialist locked into my hands. 

The precisely-fitted barrel delivers 

the goods accurately downrange. 

It has been a long time since 

anyone realistically tested a brandnew 

1911, looking to discover just 

how reliable or unreliable it might 

be. A modern 1911 is reliable. 

Customers expect it and Dan 

Wesson delivers. I did not anticipate, 

nor did I experience, 

40 cz-usa.com 

The rough texture G10 slabs, 25 lpi 

frontstrap and flat checkered mainspring 

housing blend together for a 

sure grip. The serrated Ledge sights 

carry a vile of tritium in forming the 

Straight 8, low-light sighting system. 

any malfunctions while shooting the 

Specialist. It fed everything, and 

shot slightly to the right of point-ofaim. 

If I were permitted to perform 

a long term test, I’d have to slightly 

adjust the sights to hit point of aim 

for me. Groups? We’re talking about 

a one-hole gun. It groups very well. 

As a daily carry gun, you are in 

for work with the 

Specialist. There 

is a reason Dan 

Wesson also 

offers Commander 

and Officer’ssized 

models. 

They are still more 

popular for carry. 

As a duty gun for a law enforcement 

officer allowed to carry a personal 

purchase, all you need is to couple 

the Specialist with a compact light, 

put it inside one of the many duty 

holsters available for this type of 1911, 

and you’re set for anything you’d ever 

expect to cover during your shift— 

and a few things you wouldn’t. 

The Specialist features a 

deep funnel for the magazine 

well, helping make reloads 

quick and intuitive. The 

Specialist frame offers an 

integral Picatinny rail with 

three notches to accept most 

current pistol accessories. 

www.cz-usa.com

Interview with 

Tom Knapp 

BeHInD THe TrICKS oF A WorLD 

CLASS exHIBITIon SHooTer. 


Recently, I caught up 

with Tom Knapp, 

CZ-USA exhibition 

shooter, along the edge of a 

grain field outside of Cordoba, 

Argentina. We were 

there to work…if you can 

call testing the new CZ 912 

autoloader and Wingshooter 

over/under shotguns “work.” 

Between flurries of birds, 

bandaging fingers, chugging 

water and reloading 

shotguns, I interviewed 

Knapp about shooting, 

guns, professional life and 

what he does for fun when 

not shooting. 

Mike Schoby: What got you interested 

in shooting? 

Tom Knapp: Like so many other 

kids, I was brought into it through 

my family, both in the form of hunting 

and recreational shooting. 

MS: What are your favorite firearms? 

TK: That is a tough one to answer. I 

mean, regardless if it is a rifle, pistol 

or shotgun, if it goes bang, I like it. 

I am enjoying shooting the CZ 712 

and 912 autoloaders, but since I 

grew up shooting Winchester 

Model 12s I still have a soft 

spot for them today. 

MS: How much do you 

shoot in a given year? 

TK: I shoot around 

40,000 12-gauge 

shotshells a year 

and countless 

rimfire cartridges. 


MS: How can someone get started 

as an exhibition shooter? 

TK: Making difficult shots is a small 

part of exhibition shooting. If anyone 

is going to succeed, he must have 

public relations and communications 

skills first and foremost. Knowing 

how to market and promote goes 

a long way, and there is always 

the need for some showmanship. I 

caution young shooters to be careful 

what they wish for. If they succeed 

to go the full gamut, they will need to 

forfeit their personal desire for family 

and friends. Most family lifestyles 

will not support the exhibition style 

of life. 

MS: How much practice does it take 

to become good? 

Tom Knapp 

TK: The amount of practice involved 

with exhibition shooting is based 

on muscle memory. If you can’t do 

everything within your show script 

in your sleep, you have not had 

enough practice. If your live-show 

schedule contains 100 live shows 

for that year, that would be enough 

practice in its own. My practice 

contains more gun handling and 

loading techniques, keeping 

emphasis on safety and muzzle 

direction than shooting. 

MS: What is your favorite trick shot? 

TK: My favorite shot is based on 

consistency and the difficulty level. 

This would be my balloon routine, 

where I have four balloons on the 

ground and launch two clays in the 

air. I shoot one of the clays, then 

come down and shoot each balloon 

with an individual shot, then find the 

falling clay and shoot that before it 

hits the ground. 

MS: Lots of shooters and hunters 

idolize you. Do you have any shooting 

idols? 

TK: I saw Herb Parsons on a TV 

show in 1959. I was nine years old. 

This special display of marksmanship 

stuck in my mind from then 

on. I never got the chance to meet 

or watch Herb live, but the idea 

of making a living with a gun (the 

correct way) stayed in the back of 

my mind until it became reality. That 

same film has been preserved on 

DVD, which you 

can purchase at 

showmanshooter. 

com. 

MS: Final question: 

When you eat, sleep and 

breathe shooting, what do 

you do for fun? 

TK: Fish. I’m from Minnesota. 

Besides shooting and hunting, 

the next most important 

thing to a Minnesotan is 

spending time with family and 

friends out on a lake, winter 

or summer. 

cz-usa.com 41

Anti-Vermin 

THIS CZ 527 IS A TACkDRIVER AND A STELLAR 

RODENT-REDUCER. 

By PATRICK SWEENEY I Photos by SEAN UTLEY 

42 

cz-usA.com 



To hose a ‘dog town, you need the right gear. The chief 

tool remains an accurate, reliable rifle, one that will 

keep working no matter how many rounds you send 

through the barrel. 

CZ-USA has been importing the 527 

for some time now. It’s a scaled-down 

Mauser action that’s fed by a magazine 

of five rounds. In the case of the 527 

Varmint, those rounds should be of a suitable 

varmint load in either .17 Remington, 

.22 Hornet, .222 Remington, .221 Fireball, 

.204 Ruger or .223 Remington. (Not 

interchangeably, of course.) 

Once you’ve selected the chambering, 

you have a rifle that’s a lightweight. 

Depending on options, it will check in 

between six and seven and a half pounds. 

It’s an ultra-reliable varmint rifle, and one 

you can easily mount a scope on. 

Until now, you had to pick from a 

few attractive—but not exactly varmint 

shooting—functional stock designs. The 

originals are the European-style stocks, 

such as are on the Lux and FS. European 

hunting is usually either driven game, 

offhand at moving critters, or from stands. 

The idea of lying down on the ground, 

and consuming a carton of ammunition 

in a day’s time while shooting rats would 

puzzle the average European hunter. 

And so, the stocks are meant for offhand 

shooting. No more. 

At a recent industry gathering, Jason 

Morton of CZ-USA revealed a new 527 

Varmint set in a varmint stock. My first 

thought was that it was a prone stock— 

not a stock intended for varmint shooting. 

ENTER THE 527 

The 527 Varmint features a stock with 

a pistol grip turned sharply downward. 

CZ 527 VARMINT 

This gets the right hand in the proper 

position for shooting prone. The comb is 

higher, straighter and the front end of it 

comes much more forward than one on 

an offhand stock. The high comb gets 

your head correctly located behind the 

scope, and its extended profile allows 

the shooter to establish optimal eye 

relief. I crawl up on a stock like no-one 

else, so a long shelf at the front of the 

comb is extremely important. 

The forearm has two raised panels; 

one on each side with a flat bottom. 

The raised portions provide a secure 

hold if you are the type of shooter who 

prefers a hand-held support position. 

For those who shoot off a front rest, 

resting the weight of the rifle on the flat 

fore-end helps to keep the rifle upright 

and stable. If you prefer to shoot from a 

bipod, the 527 Varmint has a pair of sling 

swivel studs up front, one for a carry 

sling, and another that can be used with 

a bipod adapter to give the rifle a set of 

legs to lean into. 

The magazine is an all-steel, single-feed 

box magazine. 

The scope ring and mount system is 

proprietary to CZ. Generally, I’m not given 

to clamp-on ring-and-base systems. 

Most are fragile, and fabricated just to 

meet a price point. They just don’t provide 

the assuredness that I usually get with a 

robustly-engineered set. Not so with rings 

from CZ-USA. The rings are machined 

from steel, and the clamping surface is 

engineered directly in the receiver rings of 

cz-usA.com 43

ThIS LITTLE RIfLE NoT oNLY WANTS To ShooT, IT dEmANdS To ShooT. 

AS A VARmINT-ShooTING mAChINE, IT RANKS hIGh. 

Magazines will work in any 527 model with the 

same chamber. 

the rifle. Not bolted-on aluminum, but 

machined steel. The scope will expire 

long before the rings give way. 

Underneath, the 527 Varmint uses 

the CZ single set trigger, an adjustable 

mechanism. With a normal pull of 

the trigger, it operates with a standard 

amount of pressure. However, if you 

push the trigger forward first (until you 

feel it click) it will set, requiring less 

pressure and a crisp, light trigger pull 

to fire the rifle—giving the shooter 

the feel of a match rifle’s trigger. Both 

pulling or setting the trigger is an 

adjustable experience, and CZ-USA 

includes complete instructions on 

how to adjust these settings. For the 

standard pull, weight, creep and overtravel 

can be adjusted. For 

the set trigger operation, only 

weight can be adjusted. 

The safety on the 527 is 

a large lever positioned to 

the right side of the cocking 

piece. When you press it up, 

to “Safe” it blocks the firing 

pin and locks the bolt in 

place. Bring it down to fire. 

The barrel measures 24 

inches long, and has a heavy 

profile. Inside, the chamber 

is a .223 (not a 5.56 NATO) 

dimension. Since 5.56 NATO 

ammunition is not designed 

44 cz-usA.com 

The “mini” Mauser forged bolt features a long-claw extractor 

and controlled round feed. 

for varmint vaporizing, it isn’t such 

a big deal. The 1:9-inch twist rate 

allows the option of using heavy bullets. 

During testing I learned that the 

1:9 twist is right on the edge for the 

heavyweight 75 and 77 grain bullets. 

Some rifles shoot these weights just 

fine, while others do not. 

With bullet weights of 40 grains 

up to the mid-60s, you should have 

a plethora of choices in terms of 

accuracy. For varminting, pick a 

fragile, accurate bullet and push it 

fast for less drop at longer range. 

MY EVAL 

In testing the 527 Varmint, I used 

a Bushnell Elite 6500. It certainly 

CZ 527 VARMINT 

TYPE: Bolt action 

CalibEr: .17 Rem., .204 Ruger, 

.221 Fireball, 

.22 Hornet, .222 Rem., 

.223 Rem. 

CaPaCiTY: 5 

barrEl: 24 in., 1:9-in. twist 

OVErall lENGTH: 40.4 in. 

WEiGHT: 6 lb., 4 oz. 

STOCK: kevlar 

FiNiSH: Matte black 

TriGGEr: Single or set 

SiGHTS: None 

proved up to the task. Black Hills 

Ammunition was chosen to send 

60-grain Hornady V-Max bullets 

downrange. I started out checking 

zero and getting a feel for 

the trigger. It didn’t take long to 

determine that someone close to 

me in shooting style had zeroed 

the rifle, for it was pretty close. It 

only took a few groups to get on 

at 100 yards where I then settled 

down to shoot small groups. 

Somehow I managed to shoot four 

sequential groups of bragging 

quality, and my heart pounded so 

hard that I could see the reticle 

move against the target. 

This little rifle not only wants to 

shoot, it demands to shoot. 

As a varmint-shooting 

machine, it ranks high. At 

an MSRP of $885, there 

isn’t a better deal in a bolt 

action rifle chambered in 

.223. It would be difficult to 

just lay hands on a heavybarreled 

.223 at that price, 

let alone one with a proper 

prone-shooting stock. Then 

add the extra sling swivel, 

adjustable trigger, and 

the demonstrated level of 

accuracy, and it becomes a 

hard deal to pass up. 



The relief cut in the comb allow for easy 

removal of the bolt. The bolt release lever 

is located on the left side of the receiver. 

The magazine release is positioned to the 

side just forward of the trigger guard. The 

bolt throw is 90 degrees, which is required 

for the two opposing bolt lugs to engage 

the mating surfaces in the receiver. The 

grip of the target style stock is sharply 

turned down and comfortably provides 

a resting place for the firing hand. The 

safety lever is located just behind the bolt 

handle and is a two-position type. 

cz-usA.com 45

medal of Valor 

DAn Wesson BrAVes The croWDeD 1911 mArkeT 

WiTh An excellenT enTrY. 

By BART SKELTON 

46 

cz-usa.com 



DW VAlor 

Variations of the 1911 automatic pistol are as numerous 

as the stars in the heavens, so it seems. 

After 100 years of experimenting and improving 

upon John Browning’s famous creation, the law 

of averages might dictate that there’s just no way to 

improve on it any more. The Dan Wesson Valor is evidence 

that’s not the case. 

As a fan of the 1911, i’m always 

interested in shooting good ones, and 

i’ve recently had the chance to handle 

a dandy. Dan Wesson began making 

.45s a few years back, and it seemed 

a little odd to me. over the years, i 

always thought of Dan Wesson as 

strictly a revolver company. 

When i was a kid, my dad had several 

Dan Wesson revolvers around. 

They were cased and had quickchange 

barrels in various lengths. 

The concept was a popular one, and 

the revolvers were of fine quality. 

Daniel B. Wesson, the greatgrandson 

of D.B. Wesson, who 

co-founded smith & Wesson, started 

Wesson Firearms company in 1968. 

it was Wesson’s intention to manufacture 

the world’s finest revolver, 

and he accomplished that to some 

extent in the ones he produced. 

The company manufactured several 

models in various calibers through 

2000, when it was bought out. 

The year 2000 was also when 

Wesson started developing a 1911style 

automatic pistol. in developing its 

1911, it was the company’s intention 

to stay with the same idea it had in 

making revolvers: make the best, most 

accurate out-of-the-box pistol it could. 

The author prefers the Heinie Ledge Straight Eight setup, which presents a 

stacked-dot sight picture, to the common three-dot arrangement. 

cz-usa.com 47

UpON ExAmiNiNg ThE VALOR ThOROUghLy, i wAS REALLy 

pLEASEd wiTh ThE OVERALL fiT ANd fiNiSh. 

The Valor features a white outline tritium-insert front sight made by Trijicon, 

which makes finding the dot in low light much easier. 

in 2005, Dan Wesson Firearms 

was sold again —this time to cZ. cZ 

is one of the world’s largest producers 

of firearms. With the solid 

backing of cZ-UsA, Dan Wesson is 

now climbing its way to the top in 

the custom 1911 pistol market. 

i first fired a Dan Wesson 1911 

several years back at a media 

event, and i was quite impressed 

with the several models of pistols 

i shot. i recently received a new 

stainless steel Valor .45 automatic 

from Dan Wesson, and my positive 

impressions are continuing to 

escalate. The Valor is one of those 

pistols that feels almost perfect 

immediately upon handling it. it’s 

a full-size, all-stainless 

defensive pistol with 

a clean look and great 

handling attributes. 

That clean look i 

mention comes from the 

stainless steel finish, 

lack of forward cocking 

serrations on the slide, 

checkered stocks that are 

nice and thin (just the way 

i like them), fine checkering 

up front and at the 

back, and overall many 

tasteful appointments. 

48 cz-usa.com 

The pistol is fitted with a highquality 

aluminum trigger made 

by Greider Precision. The trigger 

is solid and provides a smooth, 

drag-free draw. Upon dry-firing 

the Valor, i was pleased right away 

with the crisp, and relatively light 

trigger pull. i measured the trigger 

pull with an rcBs pull scale at 3½ 

pounds. Along with the nice trigger, 

the Valor features a match-grade 

hammer and sear. 

The checkering on the grips is 

aggressive enough, and, combined 

with the excellent 25-lpi checkering 

on the front- and backstrap, 

the Valor is easy to get a good 

hand-hold. 

Dan Wesson Valor 

TYPE: single action, recoiloperated 

semiauto 

CaLIBEr: .45 AcP 

CaPaCITY: 8+1 

BarrEL: 5 in., DW match 

oVEraLL LEnGTH: 8.8 in. 

wEIGHT: 2.4 lb. 

GrIPS: VZ slim line G10 

FInISH: matte, stainless steel 

TrIGGEr: Greider solid aluminum; 

3.5 lb. pull 

SIGHTS: heine ledge straight eight 

The pistol features an ed 

Brown custom beavertail 

grip safety and thumb 

safety. each are fitted 

perfectly into the 

pistol’s frame and 

work smoothly—particularly 

the thumb 

safety, which has a 

nice, crisp feel when 

activated to either on 

or off positions. coming 

from ed Brown, you know 

they’re high quality, too. 

one of the first things that generally 

catches my eye when looking 

over a new pistol are the sights. The 

Valor is set up with heinie ledge 

straight eight night sights, one 

of the most effective pistol sight 

systems currently available. 

i’ve never been a real fan of the 

three-dot sight system, which 

involves two dots on the rear and 

one on the front. The straight eight 

system features a large dot on the 

front sight and one small dot on the 

rear directly underneath the notch. 

This configuration is one of the best 

and allows the shooter quicker acquisition 

in low-light situations than 

the conventional three-dot setup. 

Dan Wesson fashions the Valor’s 

frame and slide from forged stainless 

steel, and the barrel 

and bushing are Dan 

Wesson-manufactured 

match-grade parts. The 

slide’s ejection port is 

flared, and the frame’s 

magazine well is beveled 

for quick magazine 

insertion. 

check-mate provides 

the magazines for Dan 

Wesson, and the Valor 

comes with a pair of 

eight-rounders. i like the 

check-mates quite well, 


The Valor incorporates high-end parts such as Ed Brown’s 

beavertail safety and thumb safety—all fitted perfectly. 

as they’re durable, well-made and 

have proven themselves to work 

like a charm. check-mate magazines 

have a patented follower that 

eliminates forward movement. 

Upon examining the Valor 

thoroughly, i was pleased with the 

overall fit and finish. The pistol is 

very tight, and it’s clear that Dan 

Wesson’s craftsmen have done a 


good deal of hand-fitting and -filing, 

which i wasn’t expecting to this 

degree. The slide-to-frame fit is 

outstanding, and there’s no side-toside 

play or rattle whatsoever. 

The lines are very clean, and the 

entire gun is well polished with no 

sign of machine or tool marks. The 

“Valor” logo is tastefully placed on 

the left side of the slide just over the 

The 25-lpi checkering on the front- and 

backstrap makes a firm, secure grip 

easy to get. 

The trigger is of the highest quality and fit. It’s manufactured 

by Greider Precision and measured 3 ½ pounds. 

slide stop, leaving the rest of the 

side slab of the slide clean. 

considering how nicely the Valor 

feels right out of the box, i was 

anxious to get it out to a range. i 

carried it and several brands of ammunition 

out to my desert hideaway 

and burned some powder. i started 

out with Black hills 230-grain hollowpoints, 

loading a few magazines 

and plinking at various targets 

between 10 and 20 yards. 

The Valor handled very well and 

felt great in my hands. The aggressive 

checkering ensured positive 

control, which provided a rock-solid 

sight picture shot after shot. The 

weight and balance of the five-inch 

gun made for quick recovery and 

target acquisition, and the recoil 

was pleasant. 

After getting the feel of the 

Valor, i set up a 30-yard sandbag 

rest and started shooting 

groups. results are shown in 

the accompanying table. overall, 

the Valor performed very 

well, providing good accuracy. 

i’d be interested in conducting 

cz-usa.com 49

The Valor handled Very well and felT greaT in my hands, 

Thanks To The Thin VZ grips. 

AccurAcy results 

Bullet Muzzle Standard Avg. 

.45 ACP Weight (gr.) Velocity (fps) Deviation Group (in.) 

Black Hills JHP 230 852 13.4 2.00 

Hornady TAP FPD 230 776 9.0 2.25 

Cor-Bon +P JHP 165 1,156 3.7 2.75 

Cor-Bon Power Ball 165 1,138 8.2 3.75 

Accuracy results are averages of two five-shot groups at 30 yards off a sandbag rest. 

Velocities are averages of five shots measured on a PACT chronograph set 10 feet from 

the muzzle. Abbreviations: JHP, jacketed hollowpoint. 

further experiments with the pistol 

using handloads, as those average 

groups can likely be improved. 

In all fairness, New Mexico winds 

took a toll on my accuracy testing 

and certainly played a role in the 

reported groups from that day. 

Regardless, any out-of-the-box 

50 cz-usa.com 

handgun that prints a two-inch 

group from my rest is outstanding 

in my book, particularly at the 30yard 

mark. 

Out of several hundred rounds 

I fired through the Valor, I experienced 

only one malfunction, and 

that was the very last shot using 

Cor-Bon Powerball ammunition. 

The case failed to eject, which I 

attributed at the time to the position 

I was holding the pistol on 

the sandbag. I experienced no 

other malfunctions with the pistol 

whatsoever. 

Dan Wesson advertises that the 

Valor offers everything you need 

in a 1911 pistol and nothing you 

don’t. I agree with that statement 

entirely. The Valor is a straightforward, 

finely built, accurate and 

reliable pistol that anyone would 

be proud to own. 

While the price tag might seem 

high to some shooters, you’re really 

getting your money’s worth in this 

gun. In the case of the Dan Wesson 

Valor, it truly lives up to its name. 

With its sharp checkering, excellent 

sights and tight fit, the Valor is an 

excellent choice. Best of all, it’s 100 

percent American made. 

www.cz-usa.com

Interview with 

BOBBY HOLIK 

ON SHOOTINg, HOCkEY ANd 

LIFE. 


e is the reason 

stereotypes exist.” 

I told myself as my 

fingers were crushed from 

four individual digits into an 

unrecognizable pulpy mash. 

When the beast in front of 

me released my hand from 

his handshake, I noticed, 

in a detached way common 

to car crash victims, that my 

hand now sort of resembled 

a foot. 

Ah, stereotypes. Everyone hates them. 

People claim that they don’t have ‘em and are 

super sensitive about them in our all too PC 

world. But when I was told I would be spending 

a weekend busting clays with Czech-born 

NHL legend Bobby Holik to raise money for 

Colorado Youth Outdoors, I couldn’t help 

myself. I instantly formed a mental picture—a 

stereotype if you will. 

While stereotypes are often inaccurate, in 

this case my mental image was spot on. And 

it is not just me. I doubt anyone is surprised 

to learn after meeting Bobby that he played 

in 1,314 games in the NHL, scored 747 points 

and won two Stanley Cups. He just looks like 

a seasoned hockey player—large in stature 

and well-muscled. The ultra large hands, 

with fingers that seem to have too many 

knuckles, or knuckles in the wrong places 

are crisscrossed with scars. Yes, he looks 

like a stereotypical hockey player, but where 

stereotypes fail is they are often only one 

dimensional and based on looks alone. 

What I didn’t expect, was to learn 

that Bobby, as a person, was 

anything but stereotypical. After I 

spent some time with him, what 

I discovered was a thoughtful, 

well-spoken and kind person. 


A supportive father and dedicated husband. 

Not to mention a hell of a shot. After getting 

trounced by him on the clays course for a 

couple of days, I sat down to pick his brain on 

shooting, hockey and life. 

Mike Schoby: Did you grow up with firearms 

and shooting? 

Bobby Holik: No, I grew up in the Czech 

Republic, behind the Iron Curtain. It wasn’t 

exactly easy owning firearms. However, I 

did get to shoot while in the military, and my 

grandfather was a hunter. 

MS: What made you want to shoot? 

BH: Probably that we couldn’t do it. 

It was a forbidden fruit. That, and I loved 

all things American from an early age. 

Next to cheeseburgers, few things are more 

American than firearms. That combined with 

the early memories of my grandfather and 

the fact that I really respect and admire the 

Second Amendment. 

MS: So how did you get to the USA? 

BH: Well, I was playing hockey for the 

Czech national team and I planned to 

defect here and claim political asylum, 

Bobby Holik 

which was common for athletes to do 

back then, but then, as luck would have 

it, the [Berlin] Wall came down, Communism 

evaporated and I was free to legally 

emigrate to the United States. 

MS: So what guns do you enjoy shooting 

the most? 

BH: I have always enjoyed handguns and 

shoot a CZ 75 and VZ 58 regularly, but this 

sporting clays game is something entirely 

new for me and I can see the beauty in it. It is 

really challenging. I like walking around the 

course and seeing that every shot is different. 

Yeah, I think a CZ sporting shotgun will be in 

my safe soon. 

MS: What do you enjoy most about shooting? 

BH: The skill it takes, for sure. I mean, it is a 

total hand/eye coordination thing and there is 

a mental component as well. Then, of course, 

there is the competitive side. Obviously, I 

am a very competitive person and through 

shooting I can compete against friends or just 

myself. I can always improve upon what I did 

the time before. 

MS: How did you get involved with CZ-USA? 

BH: It was pure coincidence mixed with 

heritage. I was in a gun store in the States 

and I picked up a CZ handgun. Of course, 

I was familiar with CZ from my time in the 

Czech Republic, but I didn’t know they were 

imported here. Being proud of my heritage, I 

contacted the USA division of CZ and asked 

if I could help them with its marketing efforts. 

Alice [Poluchova] agreed, and now I occasionally 

get to attend charity shoots such 

as this Colorado Youth Outdoors event. 

MS: So where do you shoot? 

BH: Well, believe it or not, even though I 

played for East coast teams, I love the West. 

So the wife and I bought a ranch in Wyoming. 

Out there, I can pretty much shoot whenever 

I want. In the winter, we have another ranch 

in Florida so my daughter can ride her horses 

year around—so I get in some shooting down 

there as well. 

MS: Ok, I have to ask…how many bones did 

you break playing 18 years in the NHL? 

BH: Mine or other peoples? 

MS: That’s a wrap. 

cz-usa.cOm 51

Busted 

THe eASIeST AnD MoST AffoRDABle WAY To 

START SHooTIng TRAP. 

By ERIC R. POOLE I Photos by SEAN UTLEY 

52 

cz-usa.com 


CZ 712 TARgeT 

here you go,” said Payton Miller, Guns & Ammo 

“Texecutive editor. “You’re on a roll now.” 

I had just broke five for five on a trap range right off the start 

with my new CZ 712 Target model shotgun. After a quick testfire, 

we fired the stations on Range 6 at the Peoria Skeet and Trap 

Club in Illinois. This was Payton’s range, one he visits for a few 

rounds each Thursday, so beating him wasn’t in my agenda— 

and shooting a new and unfamiliar shotgun, I certainly didn’t 

expect much in terms of score. 

THE SHOTGUN 

The new 712 Target is an entry-level shotgun manufactured by 

Huglu in Turkey and designed for trap. It offers good quality and 

reliability without requiring a big investment. 

Unlike the field models, the stock on this 712 Target features a 

pronounced, target-style down-turned grip. The grip is cut into the 

slab of your average walnut. Though plain by wealthy standards, 

the deep color and grain are actually quite nice and understated. 

The finished product is a feature that CZ-USA feels saves the 

consumer some extra money while offering real function. 

The 712 Target is a specially configured design for trap shooting, 

and when handling it on a range, it immediately becomes apparent 

that isn’t your typical shotgun you’d bring to the field. The 

30-inch barrel and long stock balances very well with each other. 

Part credit goes to the gas and action return spring assembly’s 

location within the forend. It’s a unique feature to the CZ 712 that 

helps set it apart from all other semiauto shotguns. Most semiautos 

place the action return spring assembly inside the buttstock, 

which shifts more of the shotgun’s weight to the rear. 

Besides the Trap-length 30-inch barrel, the 712 provides features 

that are unique to Trap shooting. This 712 utilizes a 14¾-inch 

length of pull—¼-inch longer than a standard model. “Target guns 

are typically a little longer,” says Dave Miller, project manager at 

CZ-USA, “so we made the 712 Target with a stock that’s a ¼-inch 

longer than a field gun.” 

Additionally, the 712 Target uses a barrel that’s chrome 

lined and polished. “Trap guns have either a 30, 

32, or 34-inch barrels,” Miller adds. “We didn’t 

want to design the 712 Target with a 32- or 

34-inch barrel because the 712 receiver already 

measures 8¾ inches. You’d need to find a gun 

cz-usa.com 53

…YOU CAN BEgIN TO SEE whY TRAP IS A SPORT ThAT’S EASY TO gET INTO, 

ANd AffORdABLE TO gET gOOd AT. 

Furniture is made from simple walnut, though checkering 

is still done by hand. 

case longer than the standard 52 

inches to carry it to and from the 

range.” The engineers at CZ-USA 

considered everything. 

The 712 Target comes with five 

caps on each type of choke—full, Improved 

modified, modified, Improved 

cylinder, and cylinder. You won’t find 

back-boring tricks in the 712 Target 

barrel because back boring changes 

the patterning when shooting with 

aftermarket choke tubes that were 

not matched to the bore. 

Touch the bottom of the target 

with the bead and watch the bird 

shatter. I found that the 712 Target 

shoots with an 80/20 bias, something 

Dave Miller indicates that a 

modern Trap gun with stepped rib 

should carry. This fraction indicates 

54 cz-usa.com 

that 80 percent of the pellets will 

strike above the centerline of an 

aiming point. “If you were to take 

the gun, lay it on a benchrest and 

look down the rib, you’ll see a flat 

line,” says Miller. “If you put the 

bead on the center point and fire 

a shell against a patterning board, 

the angle should deliver 80 percent 

of the shot high of center on the 

target’s aiming point. field guns 

and sporting guns are designed to 

shoot 50/50.” 

Some trap shotguns achieve the 

results of an 80/20 bias by raising the 

comb to make it shoot high, but the 

shooter can see the rib climbing up. 

“Have you ever heard of the phrase, 

‘stacking beads,’” Miller asked. “That 

was the old trick to hit trap style 

The lines of the CZ 712 shotguns are clean and understated. Serrations 

extend from the receiver and along the rib to reduce glare. 

targets. The reason for the figure 

eight and such modifications to trap 

guns in the last 30 years was to get 

away from recoil. If you have a higher 

comb and less drop, less felt recoil is 

perceived. But we’ve evolved. Higher 

stepped ribs are what’s ‘in’ with the 

modern trap shooting world. Just 

look down the rib.” 

The receiver presents chromed 

controls. The charging handle isn’t 

oversized and protrudes ¾ of an inch 

to the right of the receiver. The bolt 

release button is standard as it would 

be on a field gun also, but chromed 

for subliminal location. Underneath 

is a chrome-plated loading gate (or 

elevator as it’s commonly called— 

depending on which job it’s doing). 

To the rear of the elevator is a bolt 



CZ 712 TARGET 

TYPE: gas operated, semiauto 


CAPACITY: 2+1 

BARREL: 30 in. 

OVERALL LENGTH: 52.5 in. 

LENGTH OF PULL: 14.75 in. 

WEIGHT: 7 lbs., 8.5 oz. 

FURNITURE: Turkish walnut, hand 

checkered 

FINISH: Matte black 

TRIGGER: 8 lbs. (tested) 

SIGHTS: fiber optic, green (front), 

brass bead (center) 

lock back button that does as its 

name describes. With it, a shooter 

can ghost load a shell, which will 

allow one shell to sit on top of the 

elevator while waiting for the action 

to cycle. Since even the great exhibition 

shooter Tom Knapp can’t outrun 

the speed of the action cycle in a 

712 with each pull of the trigger, I’m 

not sure that ghost loading helps in 

terms of how fast the action operates 

(though it does remove a step in the 

process since the shell doesn’t have 

to be sprung from the three-shot 

magazine tube). And when the action 

is made ready and the crossbolt 

safety is set to the fire position, the 

single-stage trigger draws cleanly 

with almost a ¼-inch of travel. 

like all 712 and 912 shotguns, 

sighting is accomplished with a 

short, fiber-optic green front sight 

and a little brass bead in the center 

of the rib. You could shoot a figure 

eight technique if that’s what you 

prefer, but the glowing green sight 

near the muzzle is the only thing 

you need to contrast with a bright 

orange target. I found that all I 

needed to do in order to dust birds 

streaking away from me was to 

place them on top of the green and 

keep the shotgun moving. no. 8 

does the rest. 

LAST SHOT 

Tonight I’m cleaning a shotgun that 

costs $625. When you consider that 

I spent just $6 to shoot 25 birds in 

a given round, you can begin to see 

why Trap is a sport that’s easy to get 

into, and affordable to get good at. 

I finished my first two stations with 

a clean sweep on seven birds before 

From the crossbolt safety behind the trigger, to the bolt release, 

controls on CZ autoloaders are finished in chrome. 

I missed a couple of unexpected 

fast flyers to the right. I missed a 

couple more, then corrected my 

mount before picking up a hit streak 

again. I quickly got used to the 712 

Target and never had a malfunction. 

It performed as reliably and 

delivered shot as well as others 

it patiently stood poised in the 

shotgun rack next to. 

Before the final round was complete, 

improper technique and my 

slow time to break the shot caused 

me to fire a miss as the bird safely 

fell below the horizon. Until then, I 

was feeling pretty confident in my 

odds of beating Payton at his own 

game and winning the round. With a 

one-sided grin, Payton leaned over 

my shoulder and whispered, “In this 

game, when you fix one leak another 

always appears.” 

cz-usa.com 55

Refined DW CCO 

DAN WeSSON perFeCTS The CONCeAleD CArry 

OFFICer’S MODel. 

By STAN TRZONIEC I Photos by SEAN UTLEY 

When I’m carrying concealed, my first choice is an Officer’s Model. Naturally, 

I became interested when I learned that Dan Wesson unveiled the Dan 

Wesson Concealed Carry Officer, or CCO. The CCO is a 1911 with a Commander-length 

barrel on an Officer’s Model frame. For those who like the 

balance, control and sight radius of a long barrel but prefer the concealability of a small 

frame, then this is the piece for you. 

56 cz-usa.com 


While it may seem odd to traditionalists 

to have a 1911 with a long 

barrel and short frame, handling 

reveals its position in the scheme of 

things rather quickly. The shooter 

benefits from a longer sight radius 

and less overall weight. To a lesser 

degree of importance, noise and 

muzzle blast occurs farther 

away. Thanks to the weight 

and shorter grip, the 

CCO is an easier gun 

to carry concealed. 

I particularly like this 

configuration because 

when I’m carrying, the 

shorter grip and the beveled 

mainspring housing doesn’t rub 

so abrasively against my body or 

hinder my movement. 

To reduce weight, both the frame 

and mainspring housing are made 

from anodized aluminum. To aid the 

shooter with grip control while under 

recoil, both the front and rear of the 

grip frame feature a new chain link 

pattern. Additionally, the frame is 

undercut beneath the trigger guard, 

which helps to compensate for what 

a shorter grip does in terms of reducing 

real estate to grip. 

Dan Wesson uses the proprietary 

black ceramic Duty coat from its 

parent company, CZ-USA. This 

coating has the benefits of a matte 

patina without the debris-catching 

bead-blast finish so common today 

on custom 1911s. 

The CCO is evenly polished, especially 

around the trigger guard and 


The cocobolo Shadow grips have a distinctive laser-etched pattern and the 

frontstrap features a chain-link pattern for enhanced control. 

the top of the slide. Slide serrations 

were cut sharply without any burrs, 

and all the sides on the gun were 

pancake flat without any dishing from 

the final finishing station. 

The front sight blade features 

a white target ring surrounding a 

tritium vial, and the rear sight has 

two white tritium dots for fast target 

acquisition in low light. The rear sight 

is low profile, melted somewhat into 

the slide and is drift-adjustable for 

windage. The rear notch is welldefined 

and when lined up with the 

front sight, allows just enough light 

The CCO uses a medium length 

trigger that’s hand-fitted to the alloy 

frame. An undercut behind the trigger 

guard offers more grip. 

cz-usa.com 57

Thanks To The weighT and shorTer grip, iT is easier To 

carry This gun concealed. 

The CCO sports a lightweight hammer and tritiumfilled 

ramped night sights. The dehorned grasping 

grooves on the slide are perfectly executed. 

on each side of the blade for perfect 

sight alignment. 

Operator controls—slide release, 

safety and magazine release—are 

standard 1911. To keep the gun as 

slim in profile as possible, there is no 

safety lever on the right side of the 

gun. I found this safety lever has a 

very distinctive detent from safe to 

fire, assuring positive feedback on 

the condition of the gun. 

The mainspring housing is flat with, 

as the name implies, a very slightly 

beveled frame, and there’s a memory 

groove on the beavertail safety for 

added comfort and improved grip. 

The CCO features a medium-length 

aluminum trigger shoe that makes up 

the difference between the shorter 

mainspring housing and the space to 

the trigger itself. Trigger pull on this 

gun averages 3½ pounds of pull with 

just a hint of slack. The hammer is of 

the competition breed—lightweight 

and Commander styled. 

The Dan Wesson match barrel 

is 4¼ inches long and fitted perfectly 

by hand to the slide and barrel 

bushing for accuracy. The polished 

feed ramp is mirror smooth, and the 

ejection port has been relieved for 

100 percent reliability. 

The CCO comes with a pair of 

handsome Shadow grips, which are 

58 cz-usa.com 

cocobolo and laser-etched in a very 

distinctive, stippled pattern. Two 

magazines are supplied, and the CCO 

carries a limited five-year warranty. 

At the range, the gun was a joy 

to use. Even with the shorter grip, 

there was more than enough gun 

to hold on with larger hands. The 

pistol recoiled 

pleasantly, and 

with lighter bullets 

such as Winchester 

185-grain FMJ, the 

gun behaved much 

like a 9mm. 

In 1968, Dan 

Wesson started 

his company in an 

old schoolhouse 

in Monson, Massachusetts. 

He 

was proud of his 

The match-grade barrel is mated to a stainless, wellpolished 

and beveled bushing. The slide is finished in 

a black-ceramic Duty coating used on CZ handguns. 

accomplishments in the revolver 

field, and I don’t believe he ever 

imagined his name would grace a 

1911. If he were alive to witness the 

progression of Dan Wesson pistols, 

he would have been as pleased with 

how they came out as I have been 

with this one. 

DAN WessON ccO 

TYPE: Recoil operated, semiauto 

CalibEr: .45 ACP 

CaPaCiTY: 7+1 

barrEl: 4.25 in. 

OvErall lEngTh: 8 in. 

WEighT: 1.62 lb. 

griPS: Laser engraved cocobolo 

FiniSh: Matte black, ceramic Duty 

TriggEr: Aluminum, nonadjustable, 

3.5 lb. (tested) 

SighTS: Three dot, tritium 

AccurAcy results 

Bullet Velocity Standard Avg Group 

Type (gr.) (fps) Deviation (in.) 

Remington MC 230 817 6 2.00 

Winchester FMJ 185 839 9 3.25 

Winchester JHP 230 853 17 1.75 

Notes: Accuracy results are averages of three five-shot groups at 25 yards off a braced rest. 

Velocities are averages of 15 shots measured on an Oehler Model 35P chronograph set 10 feet 

from the muzzle. Temperature was 65 degrees. 

Abbreviations: FMJ, full metal jacket; JHP, jacketed hollowpoint; MC, metal case 

www.cz-usa.com

AFAMILY 

AFFAIR 

A “ONE SIZE FITS ALL” SOLUTION 

TO THE FAMILY SHOTGUN. 

By PAYTON MILLER 

It’s been over a decade since CZ-USA 

began importing Turkish-made 

shotguns from the Anatolian concern of 

Huglu. They pretty much run the gamut of 

action type—side-by-side, over/under and 

even the gas-operated autoloader. 

A NEW MODEL 

The CZ 712 Adjustable is a solid, no-frills, 

three-inch chambered 12-gauge field gun 

with a 28-inch chrome-line barrel and a 

“lighter-than it feels” 7.6-pound curb weight, 

a byproduct, no doubt, of its anodized alloy 

receiver and the fact that the action return 

spring assembly is in the fore-end rather than 

the stock. 

What sets the 712 Adjustable apart from 

the standard walnut-stocked 712 is an 

adjustable, recoil-reducing synthetic stock 

system from ATI. The ATI Akita stock not 

only permits four positions between 12 and 

14 inches of length of pull, but the cheek 

rest also affords the shooter a choice of 

comb height. This stock is manufactured 

specifically for the CZ 712 by ATI. Because 

no action parts are located in the stock, 

the 712 is the only semiauto shotgun on 

the market to accept such an aftermarket 

stock. When drawing a bead on the target, 

up against the shoulder pocket is the 

removable ATI Scorpion buttpad. This pad 

is engineered with unique recoil-absorbing 

material from PolyOne. 

Dave Miller, project manager for CZ-USA 

indicates, “Originally the idea was to employ 

a user-friendly tactical shotgun stock on a 

sporting gun. I saw that as a pretty good idea 

for women and kids. It has a tremendous 

amount of drop and toe, and the high comb 

is ideal for women who often have difficulty 

getting their head down on the stock.” 

Actually, women and kids aren’t the only 

ones who can benefit from an adjustable 

stock. Larger, adult male shooters often need 

a shorter than normal stock if they’re wearing 


heavy clothes (think waterfowl or late-season 

pheasant) or are obliged to shoot from 

unorthodox “field-expedient” positions. 

Since the action return spring is located 

up front with the gas system rather than in 

the stock, the ATI Akita stock simply bolts 

on as if the 712 were a pump. Actually, the 

term “simply” kind of clouds the issue. It 

was necessary for ATI to design an 6061 T6 

aluminum adapter that helps to marry the 

stock and the receiver. 

The 712 Adjustable was conceived as a 

straight-ahead sporting gun. Fine by me. I like 

busting clays as much as the next guy, but 

when I do—whether I’m shooting skeet, trap 

or sporting clays—I like to use something that 

is—first and foremost—a hunting gun. 

RANGE DAY 

Everybody wants to run the table on a 

round of skeet, but I’ve always viewed it 

as a tune-up for birds. I’m happy to drop a 

few clays shooting from a low-gun position 

with a real-world smoothbore if it’ll lessen 

the chances of me embarrassing myself on 

the dove opener, or during a cornfield push 

for pheasant. 

So a couple of the staff decided to join me 

in shooting the Model 712 Adjustable at our 

local Skeet range. The ammo? Federal Gold 

Medal 12 gauge featuring one ounce of No. 8 

shots backed by 3¼ drams. 

This range day struck me as a fairly 

democratic arrangement. Eric Poole, editor 

of InterMedia Outdoors’ special interest 

magazines, is taller and longer-armed than 

I am. Gloria Shytles, managing editor, is 

smaller, shorter-armed and new at the skeet 

game. I’m in the middle, which, I figured, 

would provide a good indication of the 

adjustable stock merits of this 712. We shot 

two rounds apiece of Skeet in exceedingly 

blustery fall conditions. 

The 712 Adjustable ran through its paces 

flawlessly. Recoil was negligible, and reports 

from the field indicate that, even with threeinch 

magnums, the recoil is, if not pleasant, 

at least tolerable—which speaks well of the 

ATI recoil pad. Simply depressing an oval 

button on the stock’s underside unlocks it, 

allowing the user to set the desired length. 

Despite the fact that the clays were at the 

mercy of strong intermittent gusts, we had 

a blast. Since Eric had been cleaning my 

clock on the pistol range, I kind of figured it 

was time to get even. He’s essentially a rifle 

and handgun guy, so I figured he’d go into 

vapor lock with a shotgun. Unfortunately, 

he’d just taken a wingshooting course which 

stresses a low gun position, a fast (almost 

delayed) mount and a compressed swing. 

Not to mention a total, almost Zen-like focus 

on the target. 

After Eric smoked the first five or six 

birds, I knew it wasn’t going to be a walkthrough. 

But I’d shot this range before and 

finally managed to catch up with him on the 

straight overhead No. 8 station. No. 8 is a 

place where, if you have to think about what 

you’re doing, you’ve already missed—which 

is exactly what he did. I didn’t. 

Overall, everyone concerned acquitted 

themselves well. And so did the 712 

Adjustable. 

CZ 712 ADJUSTABLE 

cz-usA.coM 59

Brawn 

THE BANK-VAULT BOLT-ACTION OF THE CZ 550 IS 

THE STANDARD. 

By WAYNE VAN ZWOLL 

60 

cz-usa.com 



He loaded up as if the rifle were a .30-’06, thumbing the 

cigar-size .505 Gibbs rounds onto the follower as if he’d 

done it every day. In fact, he had never fired a rifle this 

powerful. I suggested he stand, rather than bench it. 

He nodded, leveled the .505, and 

pulled the trigger (this would have 

made good film). In concert with the 

concussive blast, the muzzle went 

vertical. The man staggered and 

lost his footing, landing hard. Like 

a baton, the 11-pound rifle soared 

through the air, end-over-end. 

I retrieved the rifle while the fellow 

picked himself up. “Golly,” he grinned 

sheepishly. No harm to anything but 

his pride, I decided. Certainly none to 

the CZ 550. 

IN THE FIELD 

My first hunt with a 550 dates years 

ago. The rifle, a 9.3x62, downed 

a mountain goat and a moose in 

British Columbia with Norma ammo 

loaded with 250-grain Swift A- 

Frames. Equipped with a 4X Cabela’s 

Alaskan Guide scope, it shot 

the Swifts flatter than traditional 

286-grain softpoints. The goat was 

scrambling away at 220 yards when 

the first bullet struck. The second 

landed as the billy halted at 250. 

The moose appeared, as moose 

often do, between the chalk arcs 

of its antlers far away. We sneaked 

through a maze of alder, willow and 

spruce. The bull rose when we got 

inside 40 steps, then dropped dead 

to my shot through its shoulders. 

Still with me, this CZ 550 has one 

crossbolt behind the magazine, a 

fore-end with reverse-angle tip that 


on current rifles has been upgraded 

to round. For hunting in a remote 

place, where durability and reliability 

matter, it remains a go-to rifle. 

Later I carried a 550 in .30-’06 

with Federal ammo to hunt deer 

on the prairie. It endeared itself to 

me, a solid rifle with the checkered 

walnut and long extractor I covet 

and the heft to make slinged-up 

prone as steady as sandbags on a 

concrete bench. 

THE ACTION 

The CZ 550 is essentially a modified 

Mauser, so its action has a muscular 

double-square-bridge profile. It 

looks, and is, as rugged as an armored 

personnel carrier. You fasten 

a scope with mounts that clamp on 

to integral 19mm dovetails front and 

rear. The big, flat footprint of the 

receiver makes for plenty of bedding 

area and epoxy bedding ensures 

full contact at recoil lug faces on the 

most powerful 550s. Magnums have 

a second, barrel-mounted lug that 

bears against a steel stock insert to 

distribute thrust. The fore-end screw 

and double crossbolts on these rifles 

are absent on CZ 550s chambered to 

less potent rounds. 

The traditional two-lug bolt on the 

550 features a full-length Mauser 

extractor and controlled-round 

feed. A fixed ejector emerges from 

a slot below the left locking lug 

cz-usa.com 61

ThE BrAWNY prOfiLE ANd cONsTrucTiON Of ThE 550 cOmpLEmENT 

AccurATE BArrELs. EVEN ThE BigBOrEs, i’VE fOuNd, priNT smALL grOups. 

as the bolt reaches the end of its 

throw. A Winchester Model 70-style 

bolt stop arrests the left lug. The 

two-position thumb safety locks 

striker and bolt. The adjustable 

Push the trigger forward to set it 

for a 14-ounce pull. The safety 

is off when thumbed back. 

While best known for 

its big iron, CZ-USA 

offers a lovely lightweight 

bolt action for small 

cartridges. The 527 I purchased 

a few years back is 

chambered in .221 Fireball, 

one of my favorite cartridges. 

The newest of 527s, 

the M1 American, features 

the straight-combed stock 

shooters in the U.S. prefer, 

a 22-inch barrel and a 

detachable three-shot 

box magazine. Choose 

a walnut stock, black 

synthetic or, on the Ultralight 

Predator, camofinished 

synthetic. 

Weight is just under 

six pounds. 

I snared a 527 M1 

for testing a few 

weeks ago. It wears 

attractive straightgrained 

walnut, 

nicely checkered. 

The comb height 

is just right for 

a Weaver K6 

mounted low. 

Alas, CZ-sup- 

62 cz-usa.com 

trigger is CZ’s own, a single-set 

mechanism you can ignore or 

push forward to set the trigger 

for a lighter pull. All-steel bottom 

metal includes a one-piece guard 

The 527 M1 American handled 

bullets as heavy as the Remington 

62-grain match—and put them into 

a ⁄ -inch group. 

plied rings hike my 4.5-14X Weaver 

Grand Slam well above the barrel and 

pull my cheek from the stock. 

You can also get rings for CZ 

rifles from Talley, where Gary Turner 

offers quick-detachable versions 

so that you can easily remove a 

scope for travel or iron-sight use. 

And you can replace it with no loss 

of zero. I snugged the screws and 

scrounged ammo. 

A February storm left the range 

frozen under drifted snow, so after 

checking trigger pull (2¾ pounds, 

crisp, with a set weight of 12 ounces), 

I impatiently 

waited for a thaw. 

Prepared to run 

a few magazines 

through this rifle 

and write with 

manufactured 

enthusiasm about 

another .223 in 

a world awash 

in .223s, I was 

instead truly smitten. 

The 527 M1 

American handled 

bow and magazine housing, and 

a hinged floorplate secured by a 

button in front of the guard. 

Most CZ 550s are stocked in 

plain American walnut, either in 

SVELTE SMALLBORE 

For riflemen who practice their 

skill on coyotes, the 527 M1 excels. 

It’s nimble and deadly accurate. 

as if I’d been born cradling it. The 

trigger broke with such crisp consistency 

that I didn’t bother to set it. 

The perfect match of action size 

to cartridge dimensions impressed 

me. No extra steel here, but neither 

did the rifle seem awkwardly 

spare. It had the appeal of those 

early .22 rimfires no one born after 

Dwight Eisenhower’s presidency can 

quite remember. It was, in a word, 

enchanting. 

And that was before I fired it. 

Two of my first groups measured 

3 ⁄8 inch. And the 1:12 twist delivered 

half-MOA accuracy with 

bullets as heavy as Remington’s 

62-grain match. 

CZ 527 M1 AMERICAN 

TYPE: Bolt action 

CAlIbER: .223 Remington 

CAPACITY: 3+1 (detachable box) 

bARREl: 22 in. 

OvERAll lEngTH: 40.5 in. 

WEIgHT: 5 lb., 14 oz. 

STOCk: Walnut 

FInISH: Blued 

TRIggER: Single set, adjustable 

SIgHTS: None (drilled and tapped for 

scope mounts) 


CZ’s Ultimate Hunting Rifle, a 550 in 

.300 Win. Mag., drilled this group at 

500 yards. 

the Czech Republic with imported 

wood or stateside after the barreled 

action arrives at the Kansas 

City headquarters of CZ-USA. 

Laminated wood is an option; so is 

Kevlar-reinforced fiberglass (with 

aluminum bedding block). 

SAFARI-STYLE 

The brawny profile and construction 

of the 550 complement accurate 

barrels. Even the bigbores, I’ve 

found, print small groups. The Safari 

Classic is as fancy as the 550 gets 

and is chambered for traditional 

Africa-inspired rounds—the .404 

Jeffery, .450 Rigby, .500 Jeffery 

and .505 Gibbs—as well as for the 

.300 H&H and .338 Winchester, .338 

Lapua, .375 H&H and .416 Remington. 

A mercury recoil reducer in the 

buttstock is standard on rifles in 

.500 Jeffery, .505 Gibbs and .338 

Lapua. Safari Classics, which start 

at around $3,000, feature trued 

and lapped actions glass-bedded 

into figured walnut. Iron sights and 

barrelband front are standard. You 

can add options including a muzzlebrake, 

rust blue, ebony fore-end 

tip and special chamberings. 

The CZ Safari Magnums chambered 

in .375 H&H, .458 Winchester, 

.458 Lott and .416 Rigby 

list for half as much as the Safari 

Classics. Besides a more limited 

choice of chamberings, Safari Mag- 


Even with ancient handloads, this CZ 

.375 prints one-MOA groups. Thank 

the hammer-forged barrel. 

nums feature fore-end-mounted 

swivel studs and plain walnut. 

(Laminated and Kevlar-fiberglass 

stocks are available, too.) You can 

buy a .375 Field Grade for just 

$1,180. I’ve used Federal’s Trophy 

Bonded .375s on animals as big as 

buffalo. A professional hunter who 

culled elephants with a .375 told me 

he preferred it to a .458 because 

“hurling 500-grain solids makes 

my head hurt. Also, I get as much 

penetration with the .375—sometimes 

more.” A CZ 550 in .375 holds 

a capacity advantage over most 

of its competitors: The magazine 

takes five belted magnums. I also 

like the 25-inch barrel. It enhances 

the cosmetics and balance, and 

puts muzzle blast a comfortable 

distance from your face. Barrel 

contours on bigbore CZ rifles are 

just right, though the stocks are 

a tad generous. These rifles point 

quickly, but hang well on target. 

They’re stout, but not ponderous. 

On most CZ Safari rifles, a barrelband 

front sight complements a 

CZ’s 550 American Safari Magnum 

(top) costs considerably less than the 

Safari Magnum Express (above). 

trio of rear leaves, two folding. Their 

shallow V notches feature white 

center lines for fast aim. And the 

company offers 15 heights and sizes 

of front sights, so you can tailor the 

irons for any load you want. 

At 9½ pounds, the CZ 550 in .375 

is no mountain rifle. But that heft 

makes it more civil at the bench and 

helps with offhand aim when you’re 

out of breath shadowing a Zambian 

tracker who’d qualify for the Boston 

Marathon running backward. 

Weight also contributes to accuracy. 

My handloads—300-grain 

Herter softpoints launched at 2,420 

fps by 81 grains of H4831—printed 

inside 1¼ inches. My friends Sam 

Shaw and Rich McClure got similar 

results. In fact, the CZ shot the 

smallest groups of four .375s on 

the line that afternoon. Thank 

the hammer-forged barrel and, 

of course, that single-set trigger, 

which broke at 2¾ pounds as-is 

and one pound when set. I’ve 

cradled and shot just about every 

CZ rifle, from the 452 rimfire to the 

UHR (Ultimate Hunting Rifle). The 

UHR is an eight-pound 550 with a 

24-inch barrel in .300 Winchester 

Magnum. Designed for accuracy 

at extreme range, it comes with a 

one-MOA guarantee at 600 yards. I 

hung a bullseye at 500, hiked back 

to the line and snugged up the 

sling. Despite a cold wind, my fiveshot 

volley centered in the black 

with a respectable group. 

The .375 Safari Magnum had 

years earlier instilled dreams of long 

grass and crinkled footprints the 

size of manhole covers. Still, I had 

yet to get cozy with a bigbore Safari 

Classic. Jason Morton of CZ-USA 

took care of that with a beautifully 

stocked rifle in .404 Jeffery. 

But that’s another story… 

cz-usa.com 63

Endurance Run CZ 912 

THE CZ 912 auToloadEr is puT To THE ulTimaTE 

fiEld TEsT: 2,000 rounds on argEnTina dovEs. 

By MIKE SCHOBY I Photos by SEAN UTLEY 

64 cz-usa.com 



The mark of a good shotgun comes in 

many forms: fit, feel, style, grace, weight, 

and balance are just a few of the more 

important ones. But when it comes to 

semiauto shotguns, reliability trumps them all. 

To put it another way, no matter how good a gun 

points, balances or looks, if it fails to go bang, or 

only goes bang once before jamming up, it isn’t 

worth much. With an extended reliability field test 

in mind, i headed down to Cordoba, argentina 

to test out the newest autoloading offering from 

CZ-usa—the 912. 

cz-usa.com 65

WHEN WE BrOKE fOr LUNCH I HAd PUT ANOTHEr 750 rOUNdS THrOUgH 

THE 912, MAKINg fOr A COMPLETE fIELd TEST Of 2,000 SHELLS. 

at first glance, the 912 fits all 

of my requirements for style and 

function. The high gloss walnut 

furniture is finished nicely and 

has a better-than-average figure. 

The receiver is crafted from alloy, 

which reduces overall weight as 

well as shifting the point of balance 

slightly forward to improve swing 

and follow through. at 7.4 pounds, 

the gun is no featherweight, but 

no obese bruiser either. in fact, it’s 

nearly ideal for a day of hunting or 

sporting clays. 

on the first morning, the doves 

flew well. it had been a couple of 

years since my last trip to argentina, 

so i was not only trigger happy, 

66 cz-usa.com 

but rusty—a poor combination 

for the trial of a gun. But over the 

course of several hours, i managed 

to run 750 shells through the 912 

doing my best to look like i knew 

how to bring down wildfowl. i won’t 

bore you (or embarrass myself) with 

the hit percentage, but let’s just say 

the gun functioned fine—misses 

(of which there were many) should 

be blamed on the shooter (me) and 

not the gun. in the three cases of 

shells, i only had a handful of failures 

to feed, none of which could 

be attributed to the gun. in all cases 

the failure could easily be blamed 

on the horrible shells acquired in 

argentina. Bulged plastic hulls, 

and severed brass cases should 

not be included in the failure to feed 

category as they wouldn’t have 

fed in a break open single shot, let 

alone an autoloader. 

That afternoon, i got my eye in 

and got used to the swing (made 

a tad heavy, but smooth with an 

“argentina-style” extended magazine) 

and fired another 500 rounds, 

for a total of 1,250 shells expended. 

normally, i clean guns every night 

as a matter of preventive maintenance, 

but for this evaluation, 

i decided to forgo the effort in 

cleaning to see how the 912 would 

perform under such conditions. 

The following morning was just like 


More doves were shot at 

than actually hit, but the 

CZ 912 assuredly fired 

every shell true. 



TYPE: gas operated, semiauto 


CAPACiTY: 4+1 

BArrEl: 28 in., five screw-in chokes 

OvErAll lEnGTh: 50 in. 

WEiGhT: 7.3 lb. 

FUrniTUrE: Turkish walnut 

Finish: matte black, hard chrome 

TriGGEr: single, 8 lb. (tested) 

siGhTs: green fiber optic (front) 

the first, except i shot better. i was 

getting accustomed to this shotgun 

and the angles of incoming targets. 

When we broke for lunch i had put 

another 750 rounds through the 

912, making for a complete field 

test of 2,000 shells. 

The gun passed with flying 

colors. it shot well and cycled 

fine. of course, during the last 

200 shells i observed the operation 

begin to slow in its return to 

battery. The gas system was 

beginning to succumb to relentless 

fouling from the filthy ammunition 

and lack of oil. in these last few 

boxes, there was an occasional 

failure to feed, but much of this has 

to be blamed on the shells. Even 

the ones that weren’t physically 

damaged were dirty, leaving more 

gunk per shell in the gun than an 

entire box of faithful federals or 

Winchesters. Two-thousand shells 

fired in a day and a half. any gun 

loaded with this ammo is going to 

choke, so i was impressed. 

all-in-all, the CZ 912 is a hell of 

an autoloader. it has stylish modern 

looks and is joined with high-tech 

features such as an effective recoilabsorbing 

pad. Best of all, the 912 

meets a real world price of less 

than $500 and has the one feature 

i cherish the most: it goes “bang” 

every time. 

cz-usa.com 67

African Dreams 

A .30-’06 DElIVERS ANoTHER MEMoRABlE quEST 

To THE DARK CoNTINENT. 

By MIKE CARNEY I Photos by JOHN HAFNER 

68 cz-usA.com 



s the mass of gemsbok thundered out into the open 

through a cloud of dust, lafras, my PH, barked 

sharp instructions: “Mike! Third in from the right. 

Shoot!” 

I asked, “Third in from the right? “Which group?” 

“The far right,” he hissed. “Shoot now!” 

I was more than a little hesitant. All I could see of the animal 

third from the right was hind. To be more specific, only part 

of the hind, in what looked like a sea of gemsbok—and they 

all looked like shooters. 

FREE OF WORK 

This was my first trip to Africa, but 

the fourth ticket I had bought in as 

many years. Work obligations had 

snatched the dream from me for 

three consecutive summers. This 

year, I was not to be denied. 

When my feet hit ground of the 

Dark Continent, I was on the soil of 

South Africa, ready to head eight 

hours northwest to the Kalahari, as 

the guests of Harry Claassens’ Mata 

Mata hunting lodge. Mata Mata 

literally translates “If you give, you 

will receive.” 

Four years of planning and three 

disappointing cancellations later, it 

was surreal to actually be in-country. 

Just four weeks earlier, I had 

chosen the CZ 550 chambered in 

.30-’06 for this trip of a lifetime. 

Kevin Steele, publisher of Petersen’s 

Hunting, assured me with his 

personal experience that it was 

the perfect rifle for my plains game 

adventure. I liked the idea of using a 

rifle ruggedly proven on every conceivable 

animal roaming the land. 

The 550 was adorned with a classic 

4X Weaver steel tube. I don’t consider 

myself a rifleman—not by any stretch 

of the imagination. I’m much more 


comfortable with a recurve bow and 

sharp sticks. And while I had brought 

my pet Hoyt and Dalaa recurve bows 

along for the trip, I didn’t want to be 

cooped up in blind for a week overlooking 

a waterhole on my first trip to 

Africa. I wanted my boots in the sand 

of the Kalahari. I wanted to see, hear, 

and smell as much of this experience 

as I could take in. 

RANGE CHECK 

Sighting in and using Hornady 

180-grain SST, my first group off the 

bench was astonishing. I have the 

privilege of working with some of 

the finest rifle shots in our industry: 

Scott Rupp, editor of Rifle Shooter 

magazine; Joseph VonBenedikt, 

editor of Shooting Times; Mike 

Schoby and Craig Boddington 

of Petersen’s Hunting; Eric Poole 

editor of InterMedia Special Interest 

Publications; David Fortier of 

Shotgun News, and many others. 

All accomplished rifleman in every 

sense of the description and all 

eager to lend advice, instruction and 

encouragement as I prepared for the 

trip. Peering through the spotting 

scope at the target some 100 yards 

cz-usA.com 69

“ THERE HE Is MIKE. sHOOT HIM AgAIN,” LAFRAs INsTRuCTEd. sTANdINg 

BROAdsIdE, THE gEMsBOK wAs ALONE 100 YARds FROM MY POsITION. 

distant, their unselfish investment in 

my shooting instruction was starting 

to appear. My first group measured 

just over an honest inch, something 

heretofore I was incapable of 

producing with any rifle. 

Was it an aberration? Groups two, 

three, four and five demonstrated 

otherwise, consistently hovering an 

inch. The 550 was definitely proving 

itself to be a shooter. Furthermore, 

it delivered these results without the 

use of this model’s set trigger. The 

CZ single set trigger is designed 

to reduce trigger pull to ounces. 

And the break is as crisp as glass 

breaking. Continuing with a variety of 

Hornady and Federal .30-’06 loads 

in 165- and 180-grain weights, I was 

producing groups at the bench that 

would make my instructors proud. It 

was hard to come up with a load that 

the 550 favored over others, but at 

the end I selected the heavier 180grain 

Hornady SST to take on my hit 

list: kudu, gemsbok and eland. 

BREAKING THE SHOT 

As I felt lafras’ growing frustration 

with my unwillingness to let 

lead fly back on the savannah, I 

remembered what Steele had told 

me weeks earlier: “Be prepared to 

shoot at only parts of an animal. 

opportunities at specific trophies 

in the bush are fast and fleeting, 

and you will have an accomplished 

tracker on hand if you need a 

follow up shot.” Still, for a boy from 

the Midwest who grew up on the 

double-lung mantra, ass shooting 

an animal just doesn’t come natural. 

When in Rome… 

Even through the sound of 

the moving herd, I knew I hit the 

gemsbok exactly where I aimed. 

lafras and the tracker were gleeful, 

“Nice shot Mike, get in the truck.” It 

was as if they were waiting all day 

to show off their collective recovery 

skills. Ten minutes later, laughing to 

70 cz-usA.com 

myself as they methodically shuffled 

through a veritable ocean of tracks 

in the sand with no discernable 

clues, the tracker pointed West. 

“There he is Mike. Shoot him 

again,” lafras instructed. 

Standing broadside, the gemsbok 

was alone 100 yards from my 

position. I couldn’t see the right ham 

where I previously aimed the 550 

and placed a Hornady SST. “Are 

you sure that’s him?” I questioned. 

Evidently, that’s not the thing to say 

to a PH and his tracker who just 

solved the Rubix Cube of tracks to 

earn you a follow up shot. 

I don’t speak Afrikaans, but I was 

pretty certain that their response 

was an enthusiastic “yes” peppered 

with colorful adjectives and colloquialisms 

reserved for just such 

client occasions. 

The next shoulder shot laid the 

gemsbok prone, and lafras and 

his tracker approached the animal 

very seriously. They applied a well 

rehearsed foot maneuver to trap his 

long, pointy horns to the ground. 

Apparently the gemsbok has a 

deserved reputation for exacting final 

vengeance on his foes. The “Desert 

Warrior” is not one to be trifled with 

during recovery. 

lafras offered me hearty 

congratulations while his tracker 

wagged his finger to simulate pulling 

a trigger while whistling some 

not-so-sweet nothings. My first 



African trophy. I thought I would 

wake from a dream and discover I 

was not actually here. 

In camp that evening, Harry and 

his wife Jolane, a former stewardess 

for South African Airlines, greeted us 

with smiles and stories as we looked 

at all the day’s trophies already hang- 

ing by the cleaning station. It was a 

great end to the first day on safari. 

OTHER TROPHIES 

During our five-day trip, Brian 

lisankie from Aimpoint took a beautiful 

zebra, blesbok, impala and gemsbok; 

Michael Kinn of Federal took 

the same quartet; Jason Hornady 

bagged a magnificent gemsbok; 

Tom “one-Shot” Taylor of Mossberg 

checked in a gorgeous red hartebeest, 

a gemsbok, blue wildebeest 

and a kudu; And Rick Bednar took 

a magnificent eland, warthog and 

a kudu at 35 yards with a 10-Point 

crossbow. later in the safari, my 550 

downed a massive kudu, an impala 

and finally I grassed a fat warthog 

with my recurve bow. 

Jason Morton, CZ-uSA marketing 

director, was on point during safari 

with Kevin Steele filming an episode 

of “Petersen’s Hunting Adventures 

TV.” The pair managed to collect 

a great show featuring eland, red 

hartebeest and kudu trophies. 

The accommodations and professionalism 

of the Mata Mata staff, 

from the skilled PH’s and trackers to 

the game butchers and cleaners, is 

first class. I look forward to the next 

African safari as well as the day I can 

bring my wife and daughter. Without 

question, it’ll be at Claassens’ Mata 

Mata and when that time comes, we’ll 

be joined by my faithful CZ 550. 

cz-usA.com 71

Longslide 

BORING RELIABILITY AND EXCELLENT ACCURACY IN 

ANY PACKAGE FROM THE CZ CUSTOM SHOP. 

By JAMES TARR I Photos by SEAN UTLEY 

72 cz-usa.com 



Angus Hobdell has been shooting 

IPSC and USPSA for decades. He’s 

won more U.S. and international 

titles than anyone can easily recall. 

In addition to the fact that he’s still 

actively competing as a sponsored 

CZ shooter, he operates CZ Custom 

(czcustom.com) in Phoenix, Arizona. 

CZ Custom does all of the custom 

pistolwork for CZ-USA and any CZ 

owner who wants specific work 

done. In addition to custom gunsmithing, 

Angus and his crew work 

very closely with CZ-UB of the Czech 

Republic and CZ-USA in Kansas 

City, Missouri. Each year the custom 

shop produces a number of one-off 

or limited-run guns, and sometimes 

those models make it into the 

CZ-USA catalog of new offerings. 

This year, one of the new models 

from the custom shop is the CZ 75 

Longslide (LS). The LS was created 

by combining the CZ 75 frame wearing 

a short dustcover to the long CZ 

Tactical Sports (CTS) slide. There are 

two models: the “B,” which is singleaction 

only, and the CZ 75 LS-P, 

which is a DA/SA pistol. While they 

are being produced in-house at CZ 

Custom, they will be available soon 

through any CZ dealer. I acquired an 

LS-P for testing and was reminded 

again why this all-steel gun is still so 

successful in competition. 

CZ 75 CTS LS-P 

There are not many custom shops, large or small, 

that can say they’re run by an active world-class 

pistol competitor. That is the case, however, with 

Angus Hobdell and CZ Custom. The result is a 

seemingly endless supply of interesting variations on 

legendary CZ products. 

The CZ 75 LS-P is chambered 

in 9mm and starts with a standard 

steel CZ 75 frame. If you’ve never 

picked up a CZ 75, you don’t know 

what you’re missing. The late Guns 

& Ammo contributor Col. Jeff 

Cooper loved the 75. With its distinctive 

humpback grip, he liked the 

feel of this CZ in his hand so much 

so that he styled the legendary 

Bren Ten 10mm auto after it. This 

frame is slightly undercut under the 

triggerguard and utilizes a high-rise 

beavertail, but there’s no 1911-style 

grip safety. 

The CZ 75 has been in existence 

since 1975—long enough that there 

are numerous aftermarket grips 

available to fit every style and hand 

size. The preproduction LS-P I 

received wears traditional checkered 

and contoured black plastic 

grips, but Angus informed me that 

the standard grips would be black 

rubber. The custom shop also offers 

a number of aluminum grips of varying 

thickness that also look and feel 

great in the hand. 

The front of the triggerguard is 

serrated, but the front and back of 

the frame are smooth. In a small or 

stiff-recoiling gun, a smooth frame 

might be an issue, but the weight of 

the LS-P matched with its low bore 

dimensions provides a soft shooting 

cz-usa.com 73

IT woULdN’T BE A CZ CUSToM ShoP PRodUCT If ThE PISToL 

dIdN’T hAvE A TRIggER JoB. 

Controls are very low profile and beveled to reduce snags. 

The safety protrudes more than the magazine release. 

combination. It didn’t feel like the gun 

could ever work loose in my hand. 

This is not a small gun, and it has a 

long reach for the first double action 

shot, so if you do have small hands 

I’d recommend trying one first. 

Designed for competition and 

target shooting, the LS-P has an 

extended magazine release and extended, 

ambidextrous thumb safety. 

The thumb safety is not too 

large, but it does protrude. 

It sticks out far enough that 

dropping the pistol on its side 

won’t pop out the magazine, 

as it’s larger than the maga- 

zine release button. I’ve seen 

this happen more times than 

I can count in competition, 

especially when the pistol in 

question has a light magazine-release 

spring. On the 

Longslide, the mag-release 

spring is full power. 

It wouldn’t be a CZ Custom 

Shop product if the pistol 

didn’t have a trigger job. 

74 cz-usa.com 

The LS-P I received had a smooth 

7.7-pound double-action and a 3.8pound 

single-action pull. Advertised 

trigger pulls are seven to 7.5 pounds 

for DA and 3.1 to 3.4 pounds for SA. 

This great trigger can be partially 

credited to the fact that all internals 

have been polished smooth. 

The LS-P can be carried like a 

1911—Condition One, cocked and 

CZ 75 CTS LS-P 

TYPE: DA/SA semiauto 

CalibEr: 9mm Luger 

CaPaCiTY: 19 

barrEl: 5.4 in. 

OvErall lEngTh: 8.7 in. 

WEighT: 41 oz. 

griPs: Rubber 

Finish: Blued 

TriggEr: Double action: 7 lb., 12 

oz.; single action: 3 lb., 

13 oz. (tested) 

sighTs: Red fiber optic (front), 

Kensight adjustable 

(rear) 

The grips on production models are molded rubber with 

tactile checkering. 

locked. Personally, I don’t find the 

thumb safety to be as user-friendly 

for that purpose as the ones found 

on modern 1911s so you should practice 

with this pistol before making 

a complete transition. CZ Custom 

has replaced the standard recoil and 

hammer springs with reduced-power 

springs, which greatly soften the trigger 

pull and cut down on muzzle dip 

during rapid fire, but combine 

with the extended firing pin 

installed in the pistol, it does 

not affect reliability. The 

pistol sports an attractive 

skeletonized hammer that 

is a bit small for easy cocking 

by hand. As there is no 

decocker, the only way the 

hammer can be lowered on a 

live round for a DA first shot 

is by hand, and this small 

hammer spur makes that a 

delicate proposition. 

The trigger is smooth 

and wide. There was a lot 

of takeup in my gun on the 


like a 1911, the CZ 75 CTs ls-P can be carried 

“cocked and locked” and operated with either hand. 

single-action pull, but the reset was 

short and audible. There was almost 

no overtravel. I could see that both 

the hammer and the underside 

of the slide had been ground and 

polished to provide a smooth 

working gun. Several CZ 75 models 

have firing-pin safeties, but those 

extra parts always affect the weight 

and quality of the trigger pull. As the 

LS-P is designed for competition, it 

does not feature an internal firingpin 

safety, but the hammer does 

have a half-cock notch. 

The standard CZ 75 has a 4.7-inch 

barrel, while the longslide sports a 

5.4-inch barrel. 

As a result, the long slides come 

into the U.S. oversize and have to 

be precision machined and then 

hand-fit to the frame. The CZ 75, 

with its inside-the-frame slide 

design, is designed to be completely 

interchangeable, but the CTS was 

designed for a different gun, so these 

are the only CZ pistols that you’ll find 

with a hand-fitted slide. While not as 


The spring-powered extractor follows the contour of the familiar 

ejection port relief cut on this CZ 75. 

tight as a custom-built Dan Wesson 

1911, the slide-to-frame fit on the LS 

is excellent. There’s almost zero play. 

The preproduction example I 

received had a stainless steel recoilspring 

guide rod, but production 

models will have a polymer guide rod 

“to reduce cost on a gun that’s already 

expensive due to hand-fitting,” 

Hobdell explained. 

The undercut post front sight has 

a red fiber optic insert, and the rear 

sight is the CZ version of the justifiably 

renowned Bo-Mar adjustable 

Champion. I would have preferred a 

larger notch, as there was not a lot of 

daylight around the front sight, but 

that’s just my personal preference. 

Longslide guns are all the rage in 

modern action-pistol competition, 

as the increased sight radius helps 

competitors hit those difficult targets 

more quickly. The top of the slide 

has been flattened and serrated. 

This is ostensibly done to reduce 

glare, but if you’ve got a proper sight 

picture, you can’t see the top of the 

slide. Some competitors go for any 

advantage they can get, perceived 

or real. 

Not too long ago, I had an opportunity 

to spend a couple of days 

visiting the CZ Custom Shop in 

Phoenix. Angus Hobdell is a transplanted 

Brit who relocated after his 

native government outlawed all the 

“dangerous” guns he made a living 

shooting and working on. He loved 

the Phoenix area and set up shop. 

Hobdell employs five people, including 

a machinist from South Africa. He 

and Hobdell began good-naturedly 

insulting each other in Afrikaans 

while I was standing by. Everyone 

who works in the shop shoots, 

including Rob, who’s a USPSA 

GrandMaster. Between the Afrikaans, 

Hobdell’s attempt to teach me 

Cockney rhyming slang and Rob’s 

Jersey accent, I felt like I needed a 

Universal Translator. 

“The problem is I’m speaking 

in English, but you’re listening in 

American,” Hobdell explains. 

cz-usa.com 

75

My saMple caMe with a target illustrating a five-shot, 

1.2-inch group fired at 25 yards. 

As opposed to 

most of the automatics 

Americans are 

familiar with, the 

frame of the CZ 75 

rides inside the frame 

rails as opposed 

to the outside like 

other semiautos. 

This makes for a 

very narrow slide. 

Combined with the 

low bore, this design 

reduces the amount 

of slide available to 

grip, so I was pleased 

to see that the slide 

on the CTS LS-P 

was serrated both front and back for 

positive manipulation. 

The LS-P arrives with two extended 

19-round magazines—a definite plus. 

Standard CZ 75 magazines hold 17 

rounds of 9mm and fit flush with the 

frame. Like other CZ 75 magazines, 

these drop free from the gun and have 

black plastic followers to consistently 

76 cz-usa.com 

The CZ 75 CTS LS-P features a light-gathering fiber optic front sight. 

The top of the slide is serrated to reduce glare. 

guide the stored rounds. The pistols 

are function-fired at the CZ Custom 

Shop and are supplied with a test 

target. My sample came with a target 

illustrating a five-shot, 1.2-inch group 

fired at 25 yards. 

At the range there were no surprises—boring 

reliability and excellent 

accuracy. It was interesting to note 

CZ-USA is making efforts to get 

the CZ 75 CTS LS-P approved 

for use in the IPSC Production 

Division. 

accuracy results 

how many shooters 

asked me, “Hey, 

what’s that?” 

The fiber optic 

front sight works well 

indoors and glows as 

brightly as a batterypowered 

red dot sight 

in direct sunlight. 

As CZ Custom is 

a true custom shop, 

the shop can build 

you a model chambered 

in .40 S&W or 

one that’s tricked out 

for fastest practical 

shooting event. They 

can add aluminum 

grips, a magwell—almost anything 

you can desire. 

Hobdell’s plans are to get the CZ 

75 CTS LS-P approved for use in the 

IPSC Production Division, which is 

ironically dominated by the CZ 75 

SP-01. Whether you compete or not, 

this is a longslide that looks great and 

shoots even better. 

Bullet Weight Avg. Velocity Standard 

Make (gr.) (fps) Deviation Group (in.) 

Hornady 147 XTP 147 944 17 1.8 

Black Hills FMJ 115 1,103 15 2.1 

Hornady TAP/FPD 124 1,089 13 1.9 

Accuracy results are the averages of four five-shot groups at 25 yards from a sandbag rest. 

Velocities are averages of 10 shots measured with an F-1 Alpha chronograph 12 feet from the muzzle. 

www.cz-usa.com

Yearbook 2012 CZ-USA - Ceska zbrojovka

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