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Limited Gun - Shadow vs Custom 2011


Shawneeboy87

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After a match recently, I had a table full of Master shooters from all divisions and posed this question to them...

"I'm shooting production now with a CZ85 Combat. I'm interested in shooting Limited 10 with a .40. I love my 85 Combat and want the SP01 Shadow to shoot in L10. Is the SP01 a much more inferior gun to a custom built 2011?"

The answers I got were pretty much "yes," but I wanted to hear some other opinions.

I would get all the necessary work done to the SP01 to be competitive in L10 and it would probably still be much less (price wise) then a custom gun.

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Only reason one could say a Shadow would/could be considered inferior is because in 9mm it scores minor up against just about everybody else shooting major...having shot both platforms, if there were Shadows offered and supported in .40 any perceived advantage going to an STI/SVI would be purely subjective, honestly from a reliability standpoint (especially concerning feeding and mags), mechanically-speaking, a Shadow could then be considered superior as their frames/mags would have less physical hurdles to overcome as they've always been designed around the shorter OAL 9/.40 rounds (which is always a headache in 1911/2011 guns being designed and built intended for the longer OAL .45/.38super/10mm rounds).

A better comparison would be an S_I vs. CZ TS .40 (or better still CZ CTS) as they're currently available and viable in Limited, but then it's still completely subjective as comparable CZ with reliable mags would nearly cost half of what a good S_I does with mags that are "tuned" and 100% GTG.

I think the truth really is that CZ's are still very much an unknown quantity and people look at the hinged trigger vs. a straight-back 1911 trigger as a disadvantage having never felt a good one, and also that the 1911/2011 platform is the status quo. If most guys felt the awesomeness of a dialed in SAO triggered CZ in a gun with no FPB with all the excess pre-travel and overtravel removed they might think the 1911/2011 guns aren't as great as may think they are, especially with the improved feeding and without the need to buy $200-300 mags and become a mag tuning expert.

Lots of guys run Tanfoglios (CZ-based design) with great success, but since these days the large-frame guns are the only ones around they have the same issues feeding the S_I's do, only with less support and options to address/cure it. When guys could get the small-frame Tanfo's and run them they seemed to have no trouble racking up wins against the S_I's...

This topic does make me wonder why a viable Shadow in a .40 Limited platform still isn't out there... sometimes I feel like CZ & Co. wants to remain under the radar?

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i used to shoot L-10 with a CZ 40b. it was great. i had a 1# trigger that kicked butt and reset on a hair. if i had money, i could build a CZ-75 SA in 40 for L-10.

i also shot limited for a while. i was able to cram 15 rounds of 40 into the 75 series frame without going bolens internals. probably coulda done 16 if i did. woulda been great to have a small, lightweight limited gun.

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Yeah, a 75SA in .40 with a CZC comp hammer and CZC flat trigger could definitely hold it's own up against guns costing from 3 to 10 times as much.

In Limited, being legal, one could toss the FPB, essentially making a .40 cal short dust-cover "Shadow".

(thanks burningsquirrls, might've just found me a cheap way into limited ;))

Edited by ck1
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That's the one problem the .40 caliber CZ's/Small frame Tanfo's have. Capacity.

The C(TS) is a good option, but doesnt fit my hand very well. The S_I's are much better, and the Caspian Frame even better than that. (fit for my hand that is)

Edited by DWFAN
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yup. many will gripe about the 15-16 round mag limit in the small CZs but c'mon, rules say no more than 8 from any single position or view anyways. if you're moving it's always a good time to reload.

Bet Henning W. could cook up some 22rd small-frame mags for the CZ no problem for half what a so-so hi-cap S_I mag goes for.

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Yeah, forgot about overall height, a 22rd 75-series .40 mag could be done, it'd just stick 3" past the bottom of the box :).

I think a $500 75SA in .40 w/ removed FPB, a CZC comp hammer and flat trigger could rock in L-10 up against $$$ S_I's.

For capacity in regular Limited, the CTS seems to be the way.

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I've been shooting a CZ Custom SP-01 in production since 2006, and coverted it to a full-on limited minor rig last year. In your average monthly match it is a lot of fun and fairly competative. Zero recoil, cheap factory 9mm, and extremely reliable. In the right COF, namely short yardage shots with a high round count, I have finished pretty high on the leader board. High enough to surprise myself anyway, and often higher than a number of 2011's. I don't feel like I am out classed by the 2011's, and I often get comments on how nice my rig looks and shoots by 2011 shooters. If only it was a .40!!!

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Thanks for all the replies guys...I ended up ordering a CZ CTS in .40.

After speaking with my shooting mentor and speaking with CZ Custom, I couldn't resist. Counting down the days 'til that baby arrives....

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