CZ P-01 9mm compact: Range Report #1
This is intended to be an ongoing history of working my new CZ P-01 9mm compact pistol at the range. I will track the number of shots, jams/failures, goal while at the range, general comments on ergonomics and performance, and cleanings ... over the life of the pistol, from new. Each ~500rds or so, I will come back and post further comments as to performance, what I'm trying to achieve at the range sessions, how the gun's parts are holding up, how recent gunsmithing changes are working, and so on.
Hopefully, someone will find this useful, either when considering purchase of a P-01 or as a reference for reliability.
Gun: CZ P-01 9mm compact pistol. 28oz forged aluminum frame w/ steel slide, decocker, no safety, Browning-style tilt/lockup, plastic guide rod; 14-rd magazine.
Purpose: Daily concealed carry.
Carry Mode: Left-handed carry with a paddle-style pancake holster, slightly behind hip, high-ride w/ FBI forward cant.
June 16, 2006 -- First range session, after purchase.
- Goal -- Start the break-in period of the gun, loosen up the action, note any wear areas. Prepare for Matt Mink to do his trigger/action magic, in another 3K rounds or so.
- Initial Field Strip and Cleaning -- All metal surfaces lightly cleaned then wiped down with a lightly-oiled cloth. With an oiled patch, cleaned the barrel, rails, guide rod, magazine well, all magazines and followers. Wiped down all surfaces with a dry cloth. Re-oiled all friction surfaces with a lightly-oiled patch. Cycled slide 10x; cycled one magazine 10x.
- Feel -- Gun shot very well! Light recoil, despite the 28oz aluminum frame. Felt solid, not "buzzing" due to the aluminum, which was a nice surprise. Kept pointing well, wanting to easily get back on target. Steady during shots, with minimal muzzle rize and moderate rearward recoil.
- Grip -- A bit large for my hands, though not by much. Is correctable, with thinner grips, with some deepening of the "well" underneath the beavertail. Will have the gunsmith consider options.
- Magazine Eject Button -- Extremely sharp edges, IMO. Too "high" off the surface of the gun. Needs to be taken down 1/8" at a minimum and dramatically rounded.
- Ergonomics – Fairly nice. Everything is easily manipulated and within reach, even with my fairly small hands. A few too many sharper edges, despite the light factory “melt” for carry. Could use a severe “melt” from the gunsmith.
- Shots -- 475 Rounds of Remington UMC 9mm FMJ (1135 fps, 329 ft-lbs). 100 rounds shot double-action, while the remainder were shot single-action.
- Usage – 100 hammer drop via decocker; 40 slide release; 40 magazine drop/insert; mostly Weaver style, plus 10% left-hand, 10% right-hand.
- Aim -- (I shoot left handed.) Factory sights set to ~25yds, seemingly, as anything under 15yds was high. Due to heavy, rough trigger action and some anticipation, most rounds fell down and to the right of my point-of-aim by: 1.5" @ 7yds, 2" @ 10yds and 3" @ 25yds, more or less. Fairly tight groupings. The fliers and tendency toward low/right is my own problem, which hopefully will get better as the action smooths up. Otherwise, twice as accurate @ New as my Browning BDM is @ 1500 rds. Has strong potential to be highly accurate. The linked photo (below) shows ~3" Weaver acccuracy @ 10yds, minus occasional fliers. Will definitely improve.
- Ejection – Clean and crisp ejects, with brass all landing within 10” diameter on the floor about 3ft behind me to my right. Whatever springs are stock, they're about right for standard-pressure target rounds.
- Cleaning at Range -- None, other than wiping the barrel feed ramp once. Deliberately kept shooting, to see how bullet-proof the P-01 was right out of the box.
- Jams/failures -- Zero, nada, none. Not one single failure of any kind. Deliberately limp-wristed last 50 rounds, to attempt to cause failures.
- Cleaning -- After the session, field stripped and cleaned all surfaces with light Hoppe's #9; clean cloth; lightly oiled all surfaces; wiped down; lightly oiled all friction surfaces; lightly cleaned magazines; then wiped down exterior and all magazines.
Overall, I like it. It feels good in the hand. All controls are easily manipulated and reached. Not too heavy or large for carry, through noticeably larger than, say, a S&W 442 Airweight 38SPL (which is my other carry piece).
PHOTOS (click here) -- One pic of my holding the gun; one pic of five groupings @ 10yds (Weaver), with a couple of fliers noted with arrows.
Enjoy.
- Michael