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(This is a reader-submitted review as part of our gun review contest. See details here.)

By David Blanton

If you’re the type of person whose eyes instinctively dart for the nearest target every time you hear an electronic beep and know the inviolable sanctity of the 11th commandment (“Thou shalt not break the 180”), then you’re likely already well familiar with the CZ SP-01 Shadow Target Custom. While the GLOCK 34 reigns supreme in the world of IDPA, according to the 2015 USPSA Production Nationals equipment survey, approximately 4 in 10 handguns represented were CZ, nearly as much as the next three brands combined. Of those CZs, most were probably SP-01 Shadows, and some of those were Shadow Customs, worked over by the ‘smiths at champion-shooter Angus Hobdell’s CZ Custom shop.

What separates the SP-01 Shadow from the SP-01 model is primarily the absence of a firing-pin block and other competition-related features. Deleting the firing-pin block makes for a short reset for the trigger. The target sights, enlarged controls, and extra magazine should be fairly self-explanatory. What separates the Shadow Custom from the stock Shadow is a reliability tune and a trigger job, carrying the good work the Czechs started to the next level.

 

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The DA/SA action is slicked up, a competition hammer fitted, the slide rails sport a glass-like finish, and it wears aluminum grips inlaid with skate tape. The result is a gun even the most ardent striker-fired fanatic will have a hard time complaining about. As the Shadow Custom shares many of the features with the baseline Shadow, much of what is to come holds true for the regular Shadow models, as well as the SP-01s. The Shadow Custom just has a ridiculous trigger out of the box.

Overall Appearance

The SP-01 sports a full-length steel dust cover. Unlike a standard 75B, the trigger guard is relieved and the rear grip tang/beaver tail is upswept, allowing a higher, more comfortable grip. The slide rides inside the frame, resulting in a slide that appears short to the uninitiated. As with most CZs, it’s black. The swept back competition rear sight married with the proper 1913 Picatinny rail makes me think of a shark mouth P-51 Mustang.

 

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Fit and Finish

As far as finish is concerned, the Shadow wears CZ’s excellent black poly coat paint. This is a very good coating that is very resistant to abuse. My particular example is a ’10 model with an unknown round count of at least 10,000 rounds. It’s holding up pretty well, despite the mileage and is only really showing wear at the muzzle from holster rub and on the slide where the former owner botched a rear-sight install using a steel punch on an improperly padded vise.

As far as fit, the folks at CZC have you covered. The contact areas are polished to a mirror finish, including the slide rails. CZC includes a test target highlighting the pistol’s accuracy as well as the trigger weights of the two pulls leaving the shop. The double action is smooth and predictable, the single action has very light take up, a small wall then a clean break. You can stage the trigger in single action if you’re careful.

A lot of plastic pistoleros usually cook off a few rounds before finding the “wall” for precision shooting. The sear/hammer engagement breaks at about 2 pounds and the trigger return spring/slack takes about 3 pounds of pressure to overcome. You can feel it when you get to it, but it will take a couple tries before you can stage it. This particular pistol left the factory rated at 8 pounds DA, 3 pounds 5 ounces SA. It really doesn’t feel that heavy in single action, it feels lighter. The trigger has an over travel set screw, to tune as much/little over travel as your shooting style needs.

Reliability

As of the time of writing, I have 5,000+ rounds downrange through this firearm. Most of the rounds are my reloads, but some factory S&B 115 and 124 loadings as well as some Atlanta Arms 115 commercial reloads. That said, it’s a Euro gun and as such the chamber is optimized for round-nosed ammunition. JHP’s or projectiles with JHP profiles are going to need to be loaded shorter to clear the lands.

I’ve plunk tested three brands of self-defense/duty JHPs and they all fit fine. I never bothered firing any SD JHP, but did fire some truncated cone projectiles no problem, which is close enough, right? I’ve experienced probably 5 to 10 malfunctions total, and in all cases they were hard primers not seated to the correct depth by yours truly (hey, S&B primers go on sale at Cabela’s). The follow-up double-action strike sent all rounds on their way.

Does it need to be pampered? Not really, I oil the rails and barrel every week. And I even clean it every 5,000 rounds or so, whether it needs it or not. That’s really just to pull the extractor and make sure there’s no carbon build up.

The gun ships with three 18-round magazines. This is a complaint, kind of. They work, most people who run the OEM 18 rounders swap the main springs for +10% springs. If you compare the 18-rounder to the OEM 16-rounders, the mag bodies are less robust, I would imagine they’re more prone to feed lips getting bent out of spec, but I’ve not personally encountered it and I would assume that only power users would really encounter that. For competition, most folks use the Mec Gar 16-round or 17-round magazines with aftermarket base pads.

The gun runs like a Swiss watch…until it doesn’t. The black eye of the CZ 75 design is the fact that the trigger-return spring is a torsion spring and prone to snapping one of the legs. The other eye is blackened by the slide stop eventually fatiguing and shearing.

These issues are not unique to this gun, but the platform at large. Many anecdotes on the internet exist of folks with 10’s of thousands of rounds without either part breaking. I’ve broken one of each with a daily dry fire practice and 200 to 300 rounds a week in practice/matches. If the TRS goes, the trigger will stop resetting automatically, however you can work through that resetting the trigger manually.

The slide stop failing will seize up the action. Keeping the TRS oiled greatly extends the life of the spring. As a precaution, the wisdom of the internet recommends changing the slide stop and all the springs at 10,000 round intervals. It sounds like a hassle, but I’ve basically just said to you “If you spend $2,000+ on ammunition, you need to change $60 in parts”.

Further, the gun is tuned to function “optimally” with the correct spring weights, as opposed to over springing the gun from the factory so “the parts never wear out” (Hint: that’s why GLOCK triggers improve with time/use, the striker spring begins to wear in and lighten up in addition to contact points being polished from use.) As the gun’s mission is competition, I find the juice is very much worth the squeeze. Be that as it may I would still recommend any CZ for SD/HD due to just how shootable these guns are.

Ease of Use / Handling Characteristics

If you’ve not shot a CZ at this point in your pistol-owning career, just don’t. You don’t need to buy another gun and absorb the grief of your significant other will give you for another black plastic box taking up space in a closet. Joking aside, CZs are super comfortable in hand, and they point well for most people. More importantly they also shoot super flat. Recoil management is primarily the responsibility of the shooter, but the kind folks at CZ with their slide-in-rails-hammer-fired design sure do help out in the process. The SP-01 design takes the 75 design a step farther, including a thicker diameter barrel and a full length dust cover that keeps more weight at the front of the gun, combatting muzzle flip. As a result, the balance in hand is a little forward biased, as you would imagine. Plus the gun is simply heavy — tipping the scales at about 42 ounces with a magazine. That’s 1911 territory with a barrel length of just 4.6 inches. If you’re capable of doing a pushup, then that’s a great thing when pulling the trigger, however it does take a period of adjustment if you’re used to swinging around a pistol that weighs half of that.

The grips shipped with the gun make the grip very slim, about 1.1 inches thick, which provides excellent trigger reach. That’s also great for folks who like to pull the trigger closer to their distal crease. Folks with longer fingers may favor a more pronounced palm swell, available from dozens of grip makers, or simply the black rubber OEM grips that ship on the standard SP-01s/Shadows. I personally prefer the feel of VZ Diamondbacks. Folks with really large hands may just want to check out the Italian clones offered up by Tanfoglio.

On the SP-01 Shadow all of the controls are enlarged and extended. The slide stop is lengthened and larger than a standard 75B. Some folks can reach the slide stop with their strong hand thumb, but I can’t without breaking my grip, that doesn’t bother me as I release the slide with my support hand thumb on all reloads. The magazine release is a “D” style release that’s enlarged vs. the standard 75B, and extended more than the base model SP-01. It’s very easy to reach and activate, and as a result take care transitioning to support hand only so the magazine won’t inadvertently drop. I’ve witnessed one shooter punt his magazine down range on the switch.

 

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Then there’s the curious choice of CZUB’s insistence that this be a manual-safety gun, and that the safety be enlarged. This pistol was optimized for IPSC Production competition, which requires double-action starts. Nobody really uses the safety in action-pistol games (ok, so there’s like three of you who do use SA starts and refuse to manually decock the gun, but we’re using sweeping generalizations here). In my first USPSA match with the Shadow I burned up 16 seconds trying to “clear” a seized-up slide which was nothing more than the safety being inadvertently activated on a reload entering a position. Either practice reloads with your thumb resting on the safety, or fit a pair of thin safeties (I went the thin safety route).

Let’s be clear: In the context of action-pistol shooting you will be required to lower the hammer manually on a live round. That’s a scary proposition to some, but not difficult to do. The Shadow Custom sports a “Competition Hammer” that is longer than the standard ring hammer that comes on the base Shadows, which make it pretty simple to lower the hammer. Please watch YouTube videos on lowering the hammer and PRACTICE it dry before trying it in a live-fire context.

The magazine well also sports a slight bevel, and CZUB even attempted halfheartedly to “checker” the front and back straps. This isn’t a deal breaker as I find the relieved trigger guard and upswept beavertail work together to lock the gun into your hand. All the same, you’ll notice my front strap wears grip tape, which is pretty common.

 

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The sights are a target set with a pretty large fiber-optic rod and wide front sight. It’s not as quick in transition due to less light coming through the notch, but it does shine at longer ranges where the wider front sight makes the “equal height” part of the equation easy to line up. My pistol came sighted for 124-grain projectiles, 115s hit a little low, 147s hit high.

 

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Ease of disassembly

Remove magazine. Clear weapon. Line up notch on slide with notch on frame. Press out slide stop from right hand side using a magazine base pad. Pull out slide stop.

Some people don’t like that CZs don’t have a little lever that you pull down on. I like the fact there’s not yet another lever on the frame taking up space for my support hand. Tomato, Potato.

Detail stripping is a lot more contrived than taking apart a GLOCK, but still possible by the kitchen-table gunsmith, if you’re so inclined.

 

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Accuracy

That’s what the boys at CZC could do, probably from a bench. I’m not certain on the distance, but the test target CZUB includes is from 25 meters, I would think it’s at least that.

That’s what I could do off hand at 25 yards at an indoor range with my reloads. I’m not a bullseye shooter. In a longer string of fire my hold starts to migrate south (it’s a little muzzle heavy, and heavy in general). I have no question it could keep all the shots in the 7 ring, if not the 9 ring, if you are more patient than I am.

Practicality

In a “Practical Pistol” context, the Shadow is brilliant. That’s really why you buy this gun. That and to show off to your friends. It’s very easy to shoot this gun well. I’m really not going to address an HD/SD scenario because that’s not what this is for. Get a vanilla SP-01/tactical if that’s what you’re after.

Accessories

Off the shelf, you’re not going to find a heck of a lot of choices for CZ pistols. But in the age of the internet, that’s not that big a deal.

Most major kydex companies make CZ SP-01 molds, pretty much all the custom ones do.

The magazines that are branded as CZ are somewhat pricy, especially the SP-01 variety (~$46-$56), but if you’re savvy and use the internet and are comfortable with Mec-Gar magazines, you can get into magazines for $21-$30 per. Here’s a hint: Buy the 17 round Mec-Gar magazines with anti-friction coating.

Small parts and springs are available through CZ Custom or Cajun Gunworks, or even CZ-USA themselves.

Springer Precision, Shockbottle, Henning Precision, CZC all make magazine base pads suitable for competition.

Sights are available from CZC, Dawson Precision, and Tru-Glo, plus the CZUB factory options.

Value

A 2014 Shadow Custom will set you back $1,300 at the time of writing. A standard SP-01 Shadow is $880, and an SP-01 is $610-$650. Most other competition pistols that sport polymer frames are in the $650 neighborhood (or less). I prefer the SP-01 frame to most of those. There are other CZ smiths on the net that will build you a Shadow, but they’re a little more spendy.

If you consider the competition for this gun to be other double-action autos, specifically production race guns, the price isn’t outrageous. If you consider the competition to be ALL service pistols then “YOU CAN BUY TWO GLOCK 34S FOR THAT!” You sure can. A more fitting comparison would be a TTI GLOCK 34. For some, the difference is worth it, for others it won’t be.

Do you need it? Nope. The 75 platform just makes a lot of sense if you like hammer-fired guns, appreciate good triggers and appreciate guns with insane practical accuracy with near nil recoil. Most everyone I let shoot this gun immediately shoots it as well, or better, than their preferred platform.

Can you build up a base SP-01/Shadow to this level? Sure, but you’ll spend close to as much on parts as to nearly close the gap in price. Arguably you don’t need quite all of the parts on the Shadow Custom. If you don’t care to do any polishing/tuning you can buy out of the box performance. My recommendation if funds are tight and you want a CZ for competition is to get a base line Shadow and build it up as it makes sense, and you feel the need. The base model SP-01s are fine weapons as well, but the firing-pin block introduces two more springs, a roll pin, and two small parts to monitor. It’s easier to maintain the non-FPB guns.

Due to the initial cost, it won’t make sense for everybody, but it’s pretty spectacular.

 

SPECIFICATIONS: CZ 75 SP-01 Shadow Custom (Note: Discontinued, replaced with SKU 91760)

Caliber tested: 9mm Luger

Frame/Slide: Carbon Steel/Carbon Steel

Grips: Aluminum

Sights: Adjustable Rear Sight/Fiber Optic Front Sight

Overall Length: 8.15″

Overall Height: 5.79″

Overall width: 1.46″ (at the safeties/slide stop)

Barrel length: 4.6″

Sight Radius: 6.42″

Safety: Ambidextrous Manual Safety

Magazine Capacity: 18

Weight w/Magazine: 41.6 oz

Action Type: DA/SA

Trigger Pull: DA 8 lbs./SA 3 lbs. 5 oz.

Other: CZ Custom stainless steel guide rod

Website (Shadow Target II): CZ-USA.com

RATINGS (out of five stars):

Accuracy: * * * * *

Way more accurate than I am.

Ergonomics (handling): * * * *

Size large gloves and medium gloves should fall in love. XL gloves may get crowded.

Ergonomics (firing): * * * * *

Double-action autos like this are affectionately referred to as “Cheater Guns” for a reason.

Reliability: * * * * *

Only issues were ammo issues.

Customization: * * *

Docked one star for mail-order factor.

Overall Rating: * * * * *

The Shadow Custom won’t make you a better shooter, but it sure makes it easier.

More from The Truth About Guns:

Gun Review: CZ Shadow 2 9mm Pistol

36 COMMENTS

  1. Great review!

    I didn’t understand most of the competition talk, but I enjoyed being mystified.

  2. Maybe it’s just me…. the skateboard tape I’m ok with, but that grip screw looks like something someone fished out of their kitchen junk-drawer to replace the original.

  3. Not a target, has fixed sights. The short reset is the oversize dis-connector that can be added thanks to the lack of a firing pin block. FYI can be added to a standard shadow for cheep. In fact, other than the polishing, you can get to 95% of this level with $60 of parts added to a standard shadow and the hammer will not keep you out of SSP in IDPA. Also standard Mecgar 16 rounders with rubber base plates stand up the best. After 5 -10000 rounds, you are polished just as well as the custom.

  4. I wonder if CZ uses the single action trigger because the decocker complicates the trigger. It is my understanding that the decocker models aren’t able to get quite as nice of a trigger job. I haven’t experienced this personally since my 75 BD and SP01 don’t have the same parts/work done to them. Also, I’ve never seen a decocker on a gun that didn’t have a firing pin safety on it. Just a thought.

    • I know a guy who has a fully worked over Shadow and Decocker. the decocker is better. both are way better than a CZ “custom”

      • Every single gun comes out different because of tolerance stacking. My back up 75b has a better double action than my Shadow, though the polishing is better on the Shadow

  5. “What separates the SP-01 Shadow from the SP-01 model is primarily the absence of a firing pin block and other competition-related features.”

    Eh, with no firing pin block, isn’t dropping the gun with ‘one in the pipe’ and hammer down risking a negligent discharge?

    Or am I just overly paranoid?

    • If you want to shoot Production in USPSA or SSP in IDPA you have to start with the hammer all the way down. If you want to shoot single action, I would recommend a Tactical Sports for USPSA limited or any of the CZ guns in single action for ESP

      • I apologize, perhaps I wasn’t clear –

        Does not having a firing pin block make the gun susceptible to discharge if the hammer is down on a live round in the chamber and it is dropped on the hammer?

        • Kind of and issue, but I figure I have a better chance of being killed drive to the match than that happening. I really wish they would change the rules, but given that it has not happend yet and the number of shadows used in compition, not to much of a worry

        • In theory yes. I am not aware of issues resulting in injury but I do know of folks to be disqualified dropping the hammer.

        • The reason I asked was it’s possible someone daily carrying it chambered hammer down and the hammer takes a hard hit it going KB on some poor person.

          To me, that’s a risk I don’t want. Some may be fine with it, I won’t be…

        • RenegadeDave: If someone cannot safely lower the hammer at the line, they should not be using the CZ75 in double action. They can start cocked and locked or by a gun with a decocker. The fact that they came to the line without that skill really makes me wonder if they need to reexamine all their firearm skills. It is very easy to practice at home before going to the range. I probably went through the entire loading at the line rotation 100 times with snap caps before my first match. I still have one RO that gets nervous, so I run locked. I know there are exceptions, but the fact you said folks and not one time, just wow….
          Geoff: Carry it half-cocked, or carry one with a firing pin block if you really need to.

        • I do not disagree… It’s not a mystical skill lowering the hammer, and is safe. The gentleman who cooked off a round was being nonchalant, and the hammer slipped. As far as dropping the gun on the hammer, in the context of competition it does not amount to anything more than an academic concern IMO. Every match day thousands of DA Autos get decocked thousands of times cumulatively, if it was a serious concern then I suspect we would know about it by now. It’s predominantly a fear of folks who don’t shoot DA

    • The approved method to de-cock my accu-shadow is to place your finger in front of the hammer between the hammer and slide and then pull the trigger (then release the trigger). When you withdraw your finger, the hammer comes to rest on a notch, not on the firing pin. Of note is that CSC smoothed out the edge of the hammer so when I do this, there is no hammer bite.

        • And in uspsa too. All the way down for competition, safety notch or cocked and safe for carry. I was talking more for people who are paranoid about the hammer resting on the firing pin when they have the gun for “general use”.

  6. I must be one of the 3 folks who will never manually decock a SA semi. Are you pulling the trigger on a loaded round? Yes? Then it’s a fucking stupid thing to do. In no way is it a safer practice than cocked and locked.

    • You are. FYI, point it in a safe direction. And you trust the decocker on a gun? More chance of the deckocker failing than the hammer going threw my thumb.

    • The rules require you to start fully decocked in divisions these are most competitive.

      • The only time I fully decock is for competition, I have not had a issue yet, and there is usually a safe direction to point at a firing range.

    • rent a CZ SP01 and they are easier to get excited about, but yeah, it’s a production race gun.

  7. I have a new cz97, I had no complaints, until the top corner of one of my grip plates broke off this past weekend.

  8. Two comments. First:

    2015 Production Nats.
    CZ-35%
    Glock-28%
    Tanfoglio-12%
    S&W-9%
    Springfield-8%
    Beretta-2%
    Sig-1%

    Second, Glock 17, B8, 25 yards, 49/50, 4x. Yes, that’s 4x. Freestyle. Factory sights, Zev connector and springs. Reloads. Disclaimer: I am not a bullseye shooter.

  9. Very well done article. I love my two Jericho 941s in 9mm and .45, and they are based completely on the CZ 75. I shot one in Iraq a few times and loved it, but I actually like the Jericho better.

  10. does the omega trigger configuration address the trigger return spring failure issue?

  11. I love my CZ SP-01 Shadow Target from CZ USA. Smooth, accurate, with easy follow-ups, and it fits my hand superbly. I handed it to my younger brother and he closed his hand on the grip and said “Oh. I think I just found my new favorite handgun!” 😀

    See picture: http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0BwVmJSau6EweX3NVakJJTUE5Q2c

    I bought it in 2011 specifically as a Production class USPSA gun, and it has never let me down. Lowering the hammer to start seemed stressful at first, but you are in such a safety conscious mode for the whole event, in the end it was just one more thing, for me.

    – Thomas

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