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ASG CZ 75

The original pistol and history

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.

Developed in the early 1980’s, the CZ 75 is a short recoil operated, locked breech pistol. It uses the Browning link-less cam locking system similar to that used in the Browning Hi-Power pistol, where the barrel and slide are locked together on firing, using locking lugs milled into the barrel mating with recesses in the roof of the slide. An enclosed cam track integral with the barrel is actuated by the slide release lever’s transverse pin. After the first few millimetres of the recoil stroke, the barrel is tilted downwards at the rear, enabling the slide to continue the recoil stroke and eject the spent cartridge.

The CZ 75 was one of the first Wonder Nine handguns; most models have double-action/single action triggers and feature a frame-mounted manual safety. This allows the CZ 75 to be carried with the hammer cocked with safety applied and a round chambered, ready for use simply by switching the safety off, a configuration known as condition 1.

The CZ 75 Pistol
The CZ 75 model B pistol

TV & Film

Surprisingly this pistol pops up in a fair amount of films, my notable entries are The Equaliser 2, The Heat, Mission: Impossible and various episodes of the NCIS tv series.

Specifications

  • Calibre: 9x19mm Parabellum, 9x21mm
  • Capacity: 16 rounds
  • Weight: 1100g
  • Length: 207mm

The CO2 replica

Although it’s a good looking pistol, the ASG CZ 75 seems to be modelled on two variants – mostly the model B but it has the magazine protrusion and magazine release button from the pre-B models.

Despite it seemingly mixed heritage, the CZ75 is a fine pistol, it’s large but fits the hand well and is nicely balanced. The slide is the full blowback type and gives a satisfying kick on every shot. The trigger is fairly heavy in double action use but once the first shot is made that way its all single action and much lighter, you could also manually rack the slide making the first shot single action.

One notable design feature on the original and carried through to the replica is that the slide rails are reversed when compared to many pistols of this type – the slide rides inside the side frames instead of on the outside. This makes for a narrower grip area on the slide for racking and supposedly improves accuracy, it is a very distinctive feature of the CZ75.

Field strippable, it’s a well built replica, the only negative point for me again is that damned white lettering, it’s not terrible here but the letters should be stamped or cast into the slide. The safety is very positive with a clear safe indication.

The ASG CZ75 left side
The ASG CZ75 right side

The BB’s are tricky to load, the plunger has to be pulled right down to uncover the loading port and there is no plunger lock! CO2 loading requires a small button to be pressed which then releases the the plastic cover plate shown, 12g CO2 installation is then easy.

The drop-out magazine and CO2 installation

The slide will lock open on the last shot adding a nice boost of realism. Slide travel is fairly long too as shown below.

The slide, locked open.

In use the CZ75 is accurate, plenty good enough for tin cans at 6-12yds or so. Gas usage is also good at around 60 shots before too much drop off in power. This is another nice pistol to own but could be so much better without the white lettering and the seemingly mixed modelling.

Specifications

  • Calibre: 4.5mm BB
  • Capacity: 17 rounds
  • Weight: 970g
  • Length: 210mm
  • CO2 Usage: 60 shots at usable power