CZ 75 Shadow Longslide

I been out of Uspsa loop for while but wouldn't a barrel longer than 5 inches put you in limited?

Oooo

Beladran wrote:I been out of Uspsa loop for while but wouldn't a barrel longer than 5 inches put you in limited?

Nah, barrel length in USPSA Production is only limited by the gun having to fit into "the box". Dimensions of the box are 6 1/16" x 9" x 1 11/16" deep (225mm x 150mm x 45mm):


I don't know the specs on the new CZ, but the folks on the brianenos forum seem to think it will be 8.9" long (5.4" barrel) and will fit, so it should be legal once it hits the required numbers imported and makes the official list. If so, CZ wouldn't be the first manufacturer to take advantage of box dimensions for slide/barrel length. Glock did so with with the 34/35 which were literally designed around the box dimensions (and have 5.31" barrels) and the Springfield XDM 5.25 JD mentioned is similar (obviously 5.25" barrel).

You may be thinking of IPSC, which does have a 5" max barrel length in Production and, confusingly, uses the same box dimensions above on other divisions. USPSA only uses the box on Production and Singlestack. Also, IDPA uses their own slightly smaller box dimensions of 6" x 8 3/4” x 1 5/8”, so the new CZ wouldn't work in either IPSC Production or IDPA (nor do the Glock 34/35, or Springfield XDM 5.25).

The longer sight radius may help with anthing beyond 35 yards. , not much more for me.

I made the switch to a lightened 6" Limited gun a couple years ago after shooting a 5" for 6 or 7 years. I like it a lot and am shooting it pretty well, but a look at my classifier scores shows it's not a panacea. I made GM shooting the 5" and have more 100% classifier scores with it, but I was actually practicing and shooting more back then, too. However, I do think the longer sight radius has some advantage on some targets, and much closer than 35 yards for me, because it can show the sight alignment or any aiming error a little better and allows an easier call of the shot. It is generally only on a few targets in a regular local match though, say a head shot or hard cover or no-shoot covered partial like in the classifier at the last Magnolia match. This number goes up a bit at more difficult matches like the Nationals, which may be part of why my best finish at the Nationals by 10 places or so, 25th in a field of over 30 GM's and 40 M's, was shot with the longer gun.

For this reason I'd personally choose a Glock 34 over a 17 or an M&P 9L/Pro over a standard M&P, and a XDM 5.25 or XD 5" over a standard XD. Similarly, if I was considering a new CZ, I'd consider giving this one a look (after making sure it would be legal). That being said, if I had a CZ now, I wouldn't likely switch to this one unless I got the opportunity to shoot it and felt like it offered a real advantage. Hopefully the slide is similar in weight to the shorter CZ, an approach taken by Glock, S&W, and Springfield with the examples above, or it may cycle sluggishly. With Production rules you can't go and take some weight off if you don't like it.

My $.02 anyway.

bsdubois00 wrote:LOOK AT THE FREAKING MSRP!!!!

$1450 with NO work done to it yet - hell at Matt's prices that would put this in the 2k range(not knocking Matt's work just saying his rate) BEFORE you add holster and mags.

It's about half the MSRP and a grand less than typical retail of a Sphinx, which is pretty much just a really high quality (billet and forged rather than cast), tighter tolerance, Swiss-made CZ copy. The Sphinx is heavy, too, among the heaviest if not the heaviest Production guns on the USPSA list and a half pound more than the heaviest CZ's if I am not mistaken. Maggie Reese, former Top Shot competitor and Mike Voigt's girlfriend, is shooting a Sphinx in Production as are some others.