This is neither a gamer or a timmie gun, so it may be of minimal interest to most here, but I thought I'd share it anyway.
I recently picked up a CZ1911A1.
CZ put out a 1000 piece run of these last year. They were actually made by Dan Wesson (owned by CZ as most here know), but for whatever reason were released under the CZ brand. I bought this one strictly for the sake of nostalgia, nothing more. For some time I'd wanted a basic GI style 1911, like the ones Uncle Sugar used to loan me. This one is a nice example of that, a very nice example in fact. Other than the higher profile sights and the lowered ejection port it's straight up classic 1911A1 material. Cabela's had it marked down from $829.00 to $729.00 and I handled it several times before caving in. I compared it side by side to a basic blued Colt and I have to admit it beat the pony out in every category. I say that with a tinge of sadness as I'm usually a fan of the horsey marked pistols, but the evidence speaks for itself.
The thing came drenched in more oil than I've ever seen this side of some old surplus rifle. This forced me to do a complete take down in order to remove all the preservative. However, this did give me an opportunity to get a close look at the internals. While the magazine catch and grip safety are cast, everything else is machined tool steel. There are no MIM parts if you have that phobia. I don't, but it's a nice bit of traditional quality fitting for a retro-esque pistol like this. The exterior machining and finish are excellent and that's carried over into the internals. Everything is precisely machined, with evidence of hand fitting and polishing on things like the trigger, disconector, sear, etc. It's also the tightest 1911 I've ever owned. In fact, at first I wondered if I was going to get the thing apart. All of this is not something I'd expect in a gun in this price range.
After I cleaned it up, then greased it up, I headed to the range and fired a cursory 100 rounds of my standard range load: a 200 grain LSWC over 4.4 grains of Bullseye. The trigger broke at five pounds even, a bit heavier than I prefer but with a very clean break and no creep or over travel. Firing off hand at twenty five yards my seven shot groups averaged two inches, with a few hovering around one and a half. Honestly, this was more than I was expecting from a basic 1911 with a heavier than optimal trigger. The gun shot to point of aim when using a six o'clock hold at twenty five yards, with shots landing a bit to the left. A closer examination showed the rear sight to be slightly off center, something a single tap with a brass punch cured. Since I didn't receive any unpleasant surprises in that first outing, I replaced the factory sear spring with one from Cylinder and Slide as I've done with many 1911's. This reduced the pull weight to just under four pounds, right in the area where I like my 1911 triggers to live. One other alteration I preformed concerns the thumb safety.
The pistol's thumb safety is very stiff out of the box, this seems to be a common theme with these. I didn't need two fingers to work the safety as some have reported, but it was stiff enough to wear a blister on my thumb knuckle from repeated manipulation. I compared the plunger spring to several Colt factory springs from my Box-o-Parts and found the CZ's spring to be stronger than what I would consider standard. Determining that I had a little room for error, I cut two coils from the plunger spring and reinstalled it. Normally I would be hesitant to do this as this can also effect the function of the slide stop, but it seems to have worked in this case. The thumb safety is now easy to operate in normal fashion and no other problems have surfaced. I'm assuming this is the standard plunger spring Dan Wesson uses in their 1911's. With the greater leverage an extended thumb safety imparts this doesn't seem to be an issue, but with the nubby little GI safety it seems to be too much.
Since then I've had several range sessions with the CZ, for a total of five hundred rounds. I haven't encountered any malfunctions or problems in that time. The pistol's reliability has been one hundred percent thus far, with accuracy I consider above average for a baseline pistol in this price range. The quality of manufacture is also something I'd consider above average for a production gun. In that regard, I think I'd say this is the best production 1911 I've ever owned. I've shot a few Dan Wesson 1911's, although I've never owned one. I've always been impressed with their level of quality. Digging deeper into this pistol has made me want a higher end DW gun. After spending several range sessions with it, including speed drills, it has made me appreciate modern enhancements like beaver tail grip safeties and extended thumb safeties. The narrow tang of the GI grip safety really beats into the web of your hand after a hundred or so rounds. As I said in the beginning, I bought this pistol for nostalgia as it reminds of when the world seemed to have a greater sense of clarity. As such, it's a fun gun for me and I won't be tarding it up. If you're looking for a classic retro 1911 I don't think you can do any better. I also think the CZ1911A1 would make an excellent base gun for a custom project if that's your desire.
Submitted for your consideration.
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Originally Posted by JHC
