CZ P-01 with NATO Stock Number

[Father of 3]

I know some question the reliability and durability of CZ pistols so I am curious about the P-01 being that it (at least most models) had earned the NATO Stock Number (NSN). From my understanding this isn't a cakewalk and is a pretty rigorous testing process.

How does the P-01 stack up against others in its class (DA/SA) and price range ($550-600)? Is the P-01 as "fragile" or "Timmie" as the standard CZ 75B?

[Greg]

According to CZ that NATO approval happened back in 2003.

http://cz-usa.com/press-release/cz-p-01-gets-nato-approval-the-next-generation-of-perfect-pistols/

Must be able to complete the following without failure:

4000 dry firings
3000 De-cockings
Operator level disassembly 1350 times with out ware or damage to components.
Complete disassembly 150 times, this is all the way down, pins, springs etc.
100% interchangability, any number of pistols randomly selected, disassembled, parts mixed and reassembled with no failures of any kind including loss of accuracy.

Safety requirements:

Drop test
1.5 meter (4.9”) drop test, this is done 54 times with the pistol loaded (blank) and the hammer cocked. Dropping the pistol on the butt, the muzzle, back of the slide, sides of the gun, top of the slide, in essence, any angle that you could drop the gun from. This is done on concrete and 0 failures are allowed! A failure is the gun firing.

3meter drop (9.8”) 5 times with the pistol loaded (blank) and the hammer cocked, This is done on concrete and 0 failures are allowed! A failure is the gun firing.

After these tests are complete the gun must fire without service.

The factory contracted an independent lab to do additional testing on guns that previously passed the drop tests. These pistol were dropped an additional 352 times without failure.

The pistol must also complete an environmental conditions test:
This means cold, heat, dust/sand and mud.
The pistol must fire after being frozen for 24 hours at –35C (-36F).
The pistol must fire after being heated for 24 hours at 70C (126F)
The pistol must fire after being submerged in mud, sand and combinations including being stripped of oil then completing the sand and mud tests again.

Service life:
The service life requirement from the Czech police was 15,000 rounds of +P ammo!
The pistol will exceed 30,000 rounds with ball 9mm.

Reliability:
The reliability requirements for the P-01 pistol are 99.8%, that’s a .2% failure rate.
This equals 20 stoppages in 10,000 rounds or 500 “Mean Rounds Between Failure” (MRBF)
During testing, the average number of stoppages was only 7 per 15,000 rounds fired, this is a .05% failure rate, a MRBF rate of 2142 rounds! Over 4 time the minimum acceptable requirement.
The U.S. Army MRBF requirement is 495 rounds for 9mm pistols with 115 grain Ball ammunition.

Not an easy testing scenario.

My only experience with newer CZs is with the 2nds Gen P-07s so I can't offer any insight into the P-01. The webpage linked above is a little confusing. These tests may be required by the Czech Police instead of NATO.

[Father of 3]

That's my question. If they are built to withstand such a testing protocol, and hence have a NSN, then are they g2g? I had read that somewhere along the way CZ made some changes with the P-01 and it lost the NSN certification. I am speaking about the ones floating around with the NSN.

I have heard various people talk about the questionable reliability/durability of CZ pistols, but does the P-01 in particular break that stereotype?

[Handy]

What I don't see in these tests are what the parts replacement schedule is. You wouldn't expect any pistol to go 30,000 rounds without a couple of recoil springs.

What if the maintenance schedule used in the test was a new slide stop every 2000 rounds? That would certainly prevent that part from breaking.