CZ 75 - Design Details

Design Details

The CZ 75 is a short recoil operated, locked breech pistol. It uses the Browning linkless cam locking system similar to that used in the Browning Hi-Power pistol, where the barrel and slide are locked together on firing, using locking lugs milled into the barrel mating with recesses in the roof of the slide. An enclosed cam track integral with the barrel is actuated by the slide release lever's transverse pin. After the first few millimetres of the recoil stroke, the barrel is cammed downwards at the rear, enabling the slide to continue the recoil stroke and eject the spent cartridge.

Most models have the capability of being fired in both single and double action modes, and feature a frame-mounted manual safety. Some recent models have a decocking lever that doubles as a manual safety. Starting in the early 1990s, all CZ 75s have been made with firing pin blocks, designated by the letter B (as in CZ 75B).

The CZ 75 was one of the first high capacity 9mm pistols with a manual safety similar to that of the Browning Hi-Power. This allows the CZ 75 to be carried with the hammer cocked with safety applied and a round chambered, ready for use simply by switching the safety off, a configuration known as condition one. It is somewhat unusual for double-action pistols to have this "cocked and locked" type of safety; most such as the Walther P38 and the Beretta 92F have a combination safety/decocking lever (as do some later versions of the CZ 75). The trade-off of this configuration is that to uncock the hammer for a double action first shot, the hammer must be dropped manually by pulling the trigger while lowering the hammer with the firer's thumb under control. Once lowered in this manner, a double action first shot can be achieved in a similar manner to other double action pistols without actuating any controls. Subsequent shots will be single action unless the hammer is again manually lowered.

All non-double action only CZ-75 variants feature a "half-cock" notch. Unlike a M1911 pistol, this is not a safety position, but rather an operator aid to provide a safe place to manually decock the pistol. All of the "decocker" models decock to this position, and the manual advises not to attempt to place the hammer further on any model.

Unlike most other semi-auto pistols, the slide rides inside the frame rails rather than outside, similar to the SIG P210. This provides a tight slide-to-frame fit and a very efficient barrel lock-up, both of which contribute to good accuracy.

On current models frames are cast and slides are machined from forgings, though forged frames have been used in very early production models. The 6-groove barrel has traditional land-and-groove rifling with a higher-than-standard rate of twist (1 in 9.7).