Back in 1991, I came across, to my surprise, in a small shooting range in central New Jersey (of all places), a freshly-imported new CZ85, brought in from Czechoslovakia by Action Arms out of Philadelphia PA. I was very familiar with the CZ75 family's history and reputation at the time, but was unaware that a US importer was finally bringing new ones into the country, suddenly out of the blue.
I bought the gun on the spot. I always like being the guy that has something a little different, so long as it's a "good" different. I immediately loved the gun, despite its very un-sexy flat black enamel paint n bake finish. To me, the finish seemed like something that belonged on a BBQ grill, especially after I had been collecting gorgeous high-polish blued vintage S&W revolvers for years. Regardless of the CZ's "mil-spec" industrial finish, my Browning HP's, Sigs, Berettas, etc. began collecting dust for a while, as I bonded with the ergonomically perfect, extremely accurate and very soft-shooting all-steel CZ85.
My CZ85 soon became my go-to 9mm auto. And I began to scoop them up. Cheaply. Very cheaply. In the early 90's, no one could even pronounce Ceska Zbrojovka, let alone thinking to go hunt one down to buy up, and no one seemed to know a thing about the guns. Some of the snootier folks at one of the local shooting clubs back then called them "price-point Eurotrash." Some pretty clueless folks typically mistook my CZ for a Browning HP. Very few folks (other than Jeff Cooper) seemed to have a kind word about the CZ in the early 90's, but the hi-cap madness of the era which significantly ramped up the popularity of the 9mm cartridge, kept the gun in the public eye as a viable, less expensive autoloader option, more or less.
And so I ran around collecting all sorts of 'em on the cheap, enjoying them tremendously. I've never been one to take much stock or interest in the random opinions and preferences of others, if something just works for me.
I eventually came across some nice high-gloss blued variants, and that really made me smile as my little collection grew with some pretty nice pieces. The high polish blued finish on the older guns is excellent quality, when you can find it. Makes the guns look and feel as good as they shoot. Who even makes high gloss blue all-steel autoloaders these days, other than the Browning HP, in this new world of plastic or alloy frames.....
And suddenly the CZ revolution took off, a few years back. Now all sorts of folks seem to brag on the gun, and sing its praises. Used CZ's, early variants, are finally commanding higher prices and are competitively bid on and purchased in online gun auctions. The CZ75/85 now seems to have a solid, hard-core following. I give lots of credit to the internet lettign the story out of the bag, and the aggressive support of the primary importer now, CZUSA, for making that happen.
So here's a big salute to the CZ 75/85!!
Some of mine...Some older pre-b's, some transitionals, some newer B guns, one that I had custom hard-chromed, and a stainless variant....and a gloss 97B 45acp for good measure....
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I bought the gun on the spot. I always like being the guy that has something a little different, so long as it's a "good" different. I immediately loved the gun, despite its very un-sexy flat black enamel paint n bake finish. To me, the finish seemed like something that belonged on a BBQ grill, especially after I had been collecting gorgeous high-polish blued vintage S&W revolvers for years. Regardless of the CZ's "mil-spec" industrial finish, my Browning HP's, Sigs, Berettas, etc. began collecting dust for a while, as I bonded with the ergonomically perfect, extremely accurate and very soft-shooting all-steel CZ85.
My CZ85 soon became my go-to 9mm auto. And I began to scoop them up. Cheaply. Very cheaply. In the early 90's, no one could even pronounce Ceska Zbrojovka, let alone thinking to go hunt one down to buy up, and no one seemed to know a thing about the guns. Some of the snootier folks at one of the local shooting clubs back then called them "price-point Eurotrash." Some pretty clueless folks typically mistook my CZ for a Browning HP. Very few folks (other than Jeff Cooper) seemed to have a kind word about the CZ in the early 90's, but the hi-cap madness of the era which significantly ramped up the popularity of the 9mm cartridge, kept the gun in the public eye as a viable, less expensive autoloader option, more or less.
And so I ran around collecting all sorts of 'em on the cheap, enjoying them tremendously. I've never been one to take much stock or interest in the random opinions and preferences of others, if something just works for me.
I eventually came across some nice high-gloss blued variants, and that really made me smile as my little collection grew with some pretty nice pieces. The high polish blued finish on the older guns is excellent quality, when you can find it. Makes the guns look and feel as good as they shoot. Who even makes high gloss blue all-steel autoloaders these days, other than the Browning HP, in this new world of plastic or alloy frames.....
And suddenly the CZ revolution took off, a few years back. Now all sorts of folks seem to brag on the gun, and sing its praises. Used CZ's, early variants, are finally commanding higher prices and are competitively bid on and purchased in online gun auctions. The CZ75/85 now seems to have a solid, hard-core following. I give lots of credit to the internet lettign the story out of the bag, and the aggressive support of the primary importer now, CZUSA, for making that happen.
So here's a big salute to the CZ 75/85!!
Some of mine...Some older pre-b's, some transitionals, some newer B guns, one that I had custom hard-chromed, and a stainless variant....and a gloss 97B 45acp for good measure....
