CZ Shadow 2- USPSA Production Gun

[NETim]

Strangely enough, as I age, the arthritis seems to be worsening in my elbows and hands. I'm thinking it might be time to shoot less 45 ACP and start shooting the 9mm more. Maybe a lot more.

I've tried to learn to love the Glock but that damn grip angle just doesn't seem to be a good fit in my 1911 addled hands. The CZ's do. I see a lot of them in use too. Must be something about them that works.

I shot a friend's Shadow 2 yesterday (out of the CZ custom shop) that seemed to work nicely for me. I think I could make this work for Production/Limited Minor and our very informal club matches (club matches are wide open, so the 9's rule.)

They don't look too hard to work on for the DIY'er as far replacing springs etc. Just curious about their durability and what spare parts I should have on hand. I'm not a high volume shooter as far as competition goes (2-4K annually at present. The overwhelming majority of my shooting is on the range, running drills and dryfire)

I might just have a case of "gotta have a new gun" but the Shadow is any easy shootin' gun. I like it.

Any issues I should be aware of with the CZ's and my low intensity plan?

[Papalapa]

I'm no CZ expert but if memory serves from reading from others, the trigger return spring is the weak link in the platform. Of course dry fire counts towards the number cycles in the life of said spring as well as live fire. I think the true high volume shooters have two on hand and preferably a third. It seems one is back at the shop frequently. That said I've been eyeing the CZ 75 in most of it's varieties lately. Of course none of what I wrote may be a problem for the Shadow 2's. I'm sure someone will be along soon to school us both. I don't have arthritis in my elbows but it is pretty rampant in my hands. When I shot my buddy's Czs a few weeks ago I found them all pleasant to shoot for what that's worth.

[MSparks909]

Pick up a trigger return spring or two and a spare slide stop. If you manage to break either in less than 15-20K rounds I'd be surprised. As much as I love my Berettas, my lone CZ Shadow 2 is my superhero gun, as that's how I feel when I shoot mine. It's a wolf in sheep's clothing as far as USPSA Production guns go.

[cheby]

I have been using CZs as my Production and carry guns for over 2 years. This summer I have switched to Shadow 2s. As of today, my practice gun - 13K, my match gun - 2500K. Plus daily dry fire. I have not seen any issues at all. Considering that I clean my practice gun at around 3-4k rounds, I am pretty happy. I shot over 60K through my old practice shadow and used to replace the TRS every 3-5K as a preventive measure. (When I cleaned it). They cost $2. This time I am running my practice gun to see if anything breaks. So far - nothing.
I used to shoot Glocks, messed with Tanfos, and other guns. IMO, CZs have absolutely best DA/SA triggers available even without doing anything to them. Durability and reliability are on par or better than any modern pistols these days.

[NETim]

My early research indicated the TRS could be an issue if not changed regularly but that's all I'm aware of. I'm a very casual competition shooter, so it won't get shot much comparatively speaking. Just wanted to get some feedback on CZ's here if possible.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Clusterfrack]

After the 320 was shown to not be drop-safe, I switched to a Shadow 2 for USPSA Production (thanks Cheby). It's been excellent so far, and while I really like the 320, I expect to keep shooting CZ after the safety issues have resolved. I have around 1500 rounds and about 10x that in dryfire. No issues so far. I've only shot one match with this gun, but placed quite well even with the relatively unfamiliar gun. I'm feeling like the Shadow 2 suits me well, and will buy a second gun fairly soon.

BTW, the $10 Shadow 2 OEM trigger return spring appears to be of higher quality than previous models.

[pastaslinger]

The Shadow 2 was supposed to mostly resolve the TRS and slide stop problems but I don't own one (yet) so no direct experience (even if I did it would probably not have the round count to really tell aka 5 digits)

[GJM]

The Shadow 2 is obviously a fine pistol, although if your prime consideration is your elbows and hands, almost any full size nine will be much better. Not sure how much is the recoil and how much is the weight of the pistol, but a Shadow 2 is pretty heavy.

[Kirk]

Regardless of if you the Shadow 2 fixes the TRS issue (they claim it does), I'd still have 3 on hand. When I was training hard for USPSA, I would break them a few times a year.

[GJM]

Regardless of if you the Shadow 2 fixes the TRS issue (they claim it does), I'd still have 3 on hand. When I was training hard for USPSA, I would break them a few times a year.

Running only half joke with my friends -- when shooting a Shadow in Production, since I didn't wrench on them, I had five. One for dry fire, one for practice, one for matches, and two to go back and forth to Matt Mink. That assured I always had two that worked.