CZ 75 The CZ 75 is a semi - automatic pistol made by Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod ( CZUB ) in the Czech Republic . First introduced in 1975 , it is one of the original " wonder nines " featuring a staggered - column magazine , all - steel construction , and a hammer forged barrel . It has a good reputation amongst pistol shooters for quality and versatility at a reasonable price , and is widely distributed throughout the world . It is also the most common gun in the Czech Republic . History . Development of CZ 75 . The armament industry was an important part of the interwar Czechoslovak economy and it was responsible for much of the country ' s exports ( see , for example , Bren light machine gun , which was modified version of Czechoslovak ZB vz . 26 ) . 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 , much of 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 ) . Brothers Josef and František Koucký became the most important engineers of the CZUB following the Second World War . To some extent they participated in designing all the company ' s post - war weapons . As they used to undersign their designs together ( using only the surname ) , it is hard to assess which of them thought out particular ideas . By 1969 František Koucký was newly 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 later replaced it with the Warsaw Pact standard 9mm Makarov pistol cartridge ) , Koucký ' s domestic patents regarding the design were put into category of " secret patents " . This meant , that nobody could learn about their existence , but also nobody could register the same design in Czechoslovakia . At the same time neither Koucký nor the company could file 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 pistol was not sold in Czechoslovakia until 1985 . It became popular foremost among sport shooters ( sport shooting is the third most widespread sport in the Czech Republic , after football and ice hockey ) . It was adopted by the Czech armed forces only after the Velvet Revolution in 1989 . Development of sport variants of CZ 75 . In years 1992 - 1993 , rising popularity of the IPSC competitions in the Czech Republic led to inception of CZUB ' s factory team . Initially , the sport shooters were using CZ 75s and CZ 85 s , however already in 1992 Stanislav Křižík designed a new version called " CZ 75 Champion " . This version had a SA trigger , a muzzle brake and adjustable weights . 150 firearms were initially made in 9×19mm Parabellum , . 40 S & W and 9×21mm . The design was further modified ( i . e . the adjustable weights were eliminated , a new compensator was developed ) , however its main shortcoming of the same capacity of magazine as the standard CZ 75 ( 15 / 16 in 9mm , 12 in . 40 S & W ) remained . In 1998 , the versions " CZ 75 ST ( Standard ) " and " CZ 75 M ( Modified ) " were introduced . These had a different frame from standard versions allowing for more modifications . While the ST had become very successful , M was not initially designed for use with collimator , the use of which led to limited lifespan of the frame . The popular ST version was further developed mostly with aim of prolonging its lifespan , which led to introduction of " CZ 75 TS ( Tactical Sports ) " in 2005 . It uses a longer barrel ( 132 mm ) and has also a higher weight ( 1 , 285 g ) compared to the standard model . High capacity cartridges may use either 20 9mm rounds or 17 . 40 rounds . As of 2013 , the model is used by the CZUB ' s factory shooters in the IPSC Standard division , with a custom made version " CZ 75 Tactical Sports Open " being also available . In 2009 , the sale of " CZ 75 TS Czechmate " began . The model is a development of the CZ 75 TS Open , available in 9×19mm Parabellum and 9×21mm with magazine capacity of 20 or 26 rounds . As standard , the gun is sold with US made C - More Systems ' collimator . CZUB claims that its factory shooter Martin Kameníček had shot 150 , 000 rounds through the gun in 5 years , in which time he only needed to change the barrel once in order to maintain precision . Design details . The CZ 75 is a short recoil operated , locked breech pistol . It uses the Browning linkless 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 cammed downwards at the rear , enabling the slide to continue the recoil stroke and eject the spent cartridge . Most models have the capability of being fired in both single and double action modes , and feature a frame - mounted manual safety . Some recent models have a decocking lever that doubles as a manual safety . Starting in the early 1990s , all CZ 75s have been made with firing pin block s , designated by the letter B ( as in CZ 75B ) . The CZ 75 was one of the first high capacity 9mm pistols with a manual safety similar to that of the Browning Hi - Power . 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 one " . It is somewhat unusual for double - action pistols to have this " cocked and locked " type of safety ; most such as the Walther P38 and the Beretta 92F have a combination safety / decocking lever ( as do some later versions of the CZ 75 ) . The trade - off of this configuration is that to uncock the hammer for a double action first shot , the hammer must be dropped manually by pulling the trigger while lowering the hammer with the firer ' s thumb under control . Once lowered in this manner , a double action first shot can be achieved in a similar manner to other double action pistols without actuating any controls . Subsequent shots will be single action unless the hammer is again manually lowered . All non – double action only CZ - 75 variants feature a " half - cock " notch . This is not a safety position , but rather an operator aid to provide a safe place to manually decock the pistol . All of the " decocker " models decock to this position , and the manual advises not to attempt to place the hammer further on any model . Unlike most other semi - auto pistols , the slide rides inside the frame rails rather than outside , similar to the SIG P210 . This provides a tight slide - to - frame fit and a very efficient barrel lock - up , both of which contribute to good accuracy . On current models frames are cast and slides are machined from forgings , though forged frames have been used in very early production models . The six - groove barrel has traditional land - and - groove rifling with a higher - than - standard rate of twist ( 1 in 9 . 7 ) . Variants and Derivatives . CZ variants of the CZ 75 include : Clones , copies , and variants by other manufacturers . Today the CZ factory is located in the Czech Republic ( EU ) and the gun is offered worldwide , however during the Cold War , Czechoslovakia was part of the Warsaw Pact and thoroughly communist in its political outlook . The CZ 75 was the first 9mm semi - auto pistol developed expressly for sale to the West and it offered new idea in auto - pistol manual safety design : it was a dual mode design . It could be carried in the conventional double - action / single - action mode of operation , or it could be carried " cocked and locked " like the 1911 pistol . Due to politics the Czechs could not market their pistol in the United States and because CZ failed to secure world patent protection for their design , a number of firms copied it . Foremost Italian firm Fratelli Tanfoglio made good business marketing the pistol to the West with the design being so solid , that two shooters , US national Doug Koenig and Frenchman Eric Grauffel , have won the hard fought IPSC World Championship using pistols based on CZ 75 design . That was tremendous endorsement for any handgun design because all other World Champions up to the time had used pistols based on the John Browning 1911 format . Other notable copies / clones are those of Swiss origin , which have reputation of manufacturing quality rivaling that of the CZ original . The clones , copies and variants by other manufacturers include :