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CZ 75
The CZ 75 is a semi-automatic pistol made by Czech firearm manufacturer ČZUB. First introduced in 1975, it is one of the original "wonder nines" and features a staggered-column magazine, all-steel construction, and a hammer forged barrel. It is widely distributed throughout the world and is the most common handgun in the Czech Republic. Firearms expert Colonel Jeff Cooper considered the CZ 75, at least its original version (short rail), to be the best 9mm service pistol ever made.
The armament industry was an important part of the interwar Czechoslovak economy and made up a large part of the country's exports.[citation needed] However following the 1948 communist coup d'état, all heavy industry was nationalized and was cut off from its Western export market behind the Iron Curtain. While most other Warsaw Pact countries became dependent on armaments imports from the Soviet Union, most of the Czechoslovak weaponry remained domestic (for example, the Czechoslovak army used the Vz. 58 assault rifle, while other communist bloc countries used variants of the AK-47).
Following the Second World War, brothers Josef and František Koucký participated to some extent on designing all of CZUB's post-war weapons. Kouckýs signed their designs together, using only the surname, making it impossible to determine which one of them developed particular ideas.
By 1969, František Koucký was freshly retired, however the company offered him a job on designing a new 9×19mm Parabellum pistol. Unlike during his previous work, this time he had a complete freedom in designing the whole gun from scratch. The design he developed was in many ways new and innovative (see Design details).
Although the model was developed for export purposes (the standard pistol cartridge of the Czechoslovak armed forces was the Soviet 7.62×25mm Tokarev, which was later replaced with the Warsaw Pact standard 9mm Makarov pistol cartridge), Koucký's domestic patents regarding the design were classified as "secret patents". Effectively, nobody could learn about their existence, but also nobody could register the same design in Czechoslovakia. At the same time Koucký as well as the company were prohibited from filing for patent protection abroad. Consequently, a large number of other manufacturers began offering pistols based on CZ 75 design (see Clones, copies, and variants by other manufacturers).
The first CZ 75 models manufactured between 1975 and 1979 were made of high-quality forged steel, with a hammer and a hand-finished finish due to the low cost of labor in socialist Czechoslovakia. These models, referred to as the short rail, are among the rarest among collectors (less than 14,697 examples of this quality version were manufactured between 1975 and 1979).[citation needed]
In order to increase its production of CZ75s at a lower cost in order to export them, the Česká Zbrojovka company looked for alternative sources of supply for the manufacture of steel frames for the pistol in the late 1970s. Negotiations on the production of pistols outside Czechoslovakia had already begun in 1977 between Merkuria (Czechoslovak exporter) and the Spanish company Alfa in Eiba. An agreement was reached in 1979 with Alfa to produce cast frames in order to increase production, at the cost of a significant reduction in finishing and lower quality steel compared to the "short rail" models forged in Czechoslovakia.
In March 1979, tests on these Spanish cast frames revealed cracks. This resulted in the decision to strengthen the frame and slide for the second generation design due to lower quality steel, thus changing the appearance of the pistol at the rail level, making it longer.
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CZ 75
The CZ 75 is a semi-automatic pistol made by Czech firearm manufacturer ČZUB. First introduced in 1975, it is one of the original "wonder nines" and features a staggered-column magazine, all-steel construction, and a hammer forged barrel. It is widely distributed throughout the world and is the most common handgun in the Czech Republic. Firearms expert Colonel Jeff Cooper considered the CZ 75, at least its original version (short rail), to be the best 9mm service pistol ever made.
The armament industry was an important part of the interwar Czechoslovak economy and made up a large part of the country's exports.[citation needed] However following the 1948 communist coup d'état, all heavy industry was nationalized and was cut off from its Western export market behind the Iron Curtain. While most other Warsaw Pact countries became dependent on armaments imports from the Soviet Union, most of the Czechoslovak weaponry remained domestic (for example, the Czechoslovak army used the Vz. 58 assault rifle, while other communist bloc countries used variants of the AK-47).
Following the Second World War, brothers Josef and František Koucký participated to some extent on designing all of CZUB's post-war weapons. Kouckýs signed their designs together, using only the surname, making it impossible to determine which one of them developed particular ideas.
By 1969, František Koucký was freshly retired, however the company offered him a job on designing a new 9×19mm Parabellum pistol. Unlike during his previous work, this time he had a complete freedom in designing the whole gun from scratch. The design he developed was in many ways new and innovative (see Design details).
Although the model was developed for export purposes (the standard pistol cartridge of the Czechoslovak armed forces was the Soviet 7.62×25mm Tokarev, which was later replaced with the Warsaw Pact standard 9mm Makarov pistol cartridge), Koucký's domestic patents regarding the design were classified as "secret patents". Effectively, nobody could learn about their existence, but also nobody could register the same design in Czechoslovakia. At the same time Koucký as well as the company were prohibited from filing for patent protection abroad. Consequently, a large number of other manufacturers began offering pistols based on CZ 75 design (see Clones, copies, and variants by other manufacturers).
The first CZ 75 models manufactured between 1975 and 1979 were made of high-quality forged steel, with a hammer and a hand-finished finish due to the low cost of labor in socialist Czechoslovakia. These models, referred to as the short rail, are among the rarest among collectors (less than 14,697 examples of this quality version were manufactured between 1975 and 1979).[citation needed]
In order to increase its production of CZ75s at a lower cost in order to export them, the Česká Zbrojovka company looked for alternative sources of supply for the manufacture of steel frames for the pistol in the late 1970s. Negotiations on the production of pistols outside Czechoslovakia had already begun in 1977 between Merkuria (Czechoslovak exporter) and the Spanish company Alfa in Eiba. An agreement was reached in 1979 with Alfa to produce cast frames in order to increase production, at the cost of a significant reduction in finishing and lower quality steel compared to the "short rail" models forged in Czechoslovakia.
In March 1979, tests on these Spanish cast frames revealed cracks. This resulted in the decision to strengthen the frame and slide for the second generation design due to lower quality steel, thus changing the appearance of the pistol at the rail level, making it longer.