What Pistol is the best kept secret?

atblis · Feb 25, 2015

Nice! Two people with similar excellent taste.

Grand Power. I've seen people comment that it looks like a cheaply made pistol. Quite the contrary. Lots of precision machined high quality steel in that pistol. Great triggers too. Accuracy is superb.

The CZ Kadet. CZ pistols are not a secret anymore, but the Kadet doesn't seem to get the attention it deserves. I've been jumping and yelling about about this one for years. Sig Mosquito and P22 are a joke compared to the Kadet (there is a price difference though). You can get the Kadet as a pistol by itself, but it's a better deal to do the conversion kit. CZ needs to make a tactical version with an extended threaded barrel.

OrbitalEllipses · Feb 25, 2015

lkenefic said:
I agree about the CZ75. But since the late 80's early '90s, they've gone way up in price. I prefer the earlier model 75 anyway. Mine was a Czechoslovakian import And cost $350. I've not seen anyone mention Star yet, but the model BM and BKM in 9mm were very inexpensive and 100% reliable. I had the all steel BM.

Edited to ad: cost... less than $200 with 2 spare mags

With the inflation, $200 in the early 80s is about the MSRP of the CZ-75 currently. That said, I wouldn't call them a best kept secret - at this point they're a fairly well known secret.

erwos · Feb 25, 2015

OrbitalEllipses said:
With the inflation, $200 in the early 80s is about the MSRP of the CZ-75 currently. That said, I wouldn't call them a best kept secret - at this point they're a fairly well known secret.

This times a million. The CZ-75 is just not a secret anymore. Maybe it was a couple decades ago.

Marauder · Feb 25, 2015

erwos said:
This times a million. The CZ-75 is just not a secret anymore. Maybe it was a couple decades ago.

I was thinking the same thing. :thumbsup:

jimbobborg · Feb 25, 2015

erwos said:
This times a million. The CZ-75 is just not a secret anymore. Maybe it was a couple decades ago.

And yet when someone mentions wanting a 9mm, every service sized 9mm is mentioned except the CZ :innocent0

navyis2 · Feb 25, 2015

I feel like CZ still falls into the secret category. Those in the gun community hear about them, but even then the percentage of owners is much lower than sig, glock, or other service pistols. They just never seem to garner the same attention the other wonder 9s do.

OrbitalEllipses · Feb 25, 2015

jimbobborg said:
And yet when someone mentions wanting a 9mm, every service sized 9mm is mentioned except the CZ

The reason for that is because polymer striker-fired 9mm are all the rage. Big metal hammer-fired DA/SA? No one wants antiquated junk...

protegeV · Feb 25, 2015

navyis2 said:
I feel like CZ still falls into the secret category. Those in the gun community hear about them, but even then the percentage of owners is much lower than sig, glock, or other service pistols. They just never seem to garner the same attention the other wonder 9s do.

Yup, when I mentioned my cz some people ask me who the manufacturer is. They think cz is a model name is something...

Magnumite · Feb 25, 2015

jimbobborg said:
And yet when someone mentions wanting a 9mm, every service sized 9mm is mentioned except the CZ

Excellent observation. I had a CZ pattern pistol, wasn't crazy about it.

erwos · Feb 25, 2015

Eh, hammer-fired steel guns have fallen out of favor in general. Ask for a 9mm, it's gonna be a Glock 17/19 or M&P9 that gets recommended.

But it's also a little disingenuous to ignore the huge numbers of C-75 clones and derivatives out there. Taken as a whole, there's quite a few of them out there. Maybe you haven't heard of the CZ-75, but a whole ton of people are gonna be hearing out the Jericho 941 when it starts rolling out from IWI-US in a marketing blitz.

jimbobborg · Feb 25, 2015

erwos said:
But it's also a little disingenuous to ignore the huge numbers of C-75 clones and derivatives out there. Taken as a whole, there's quite a few of them out there. Maybe you haven't heard of the CZ-75, but a whole ton of people are gonna be hearing out the Jericho 941 when it starts rolling out from IWI-US in a marketing blitz.

Are they bringing back the 41 AE, too?

HumbleEinstein · Feb 25, 2015

If CZs weren't a secret then more gunshops would actually carry them. The first thing I ask in every shop is "where are the CZs" and they rarely have any.

Bafflingbs · Feb 25, 2015

I had never heard of it, until recently. Now I want one.

echo6mike · Feb 25, 2015

jimbobborg said:
Are they bringing back the 41 AE, too?

Ah! I remember reading about that .41 when it was around. Didn't exactly catch on, did it?

DC-W · Feb 25, 2015

.40 and .357SIG were there instead

I'd love to shoot some .41AE sometime though just to say I did it.

Got mad love for my 941

jimbobborg · Feb 26, 2015

Those were interesting times.

INMY01TA · Feb 26, 2015

Sig 2022?

Long1MD · Feb 26, 2015

Ruger LC9s Pro

Compact enough to carry daily

Great trigger

Reliable

Under $450 all day long

9mm not 380

Not much of a secret, but shoots as well as my $1k+ pistols

erwos · Feb 26, 2015

HumbleEinstein said:
If CZs weren't a secret then more gunshops would actually carry them. The first thing I ask in every shop is "where are the CZs" and they rarely have any.

Eh, the decision to stock or not stock an item often has more to do with margins, ability to move the item quickly, and concerns about future support requests. That last bit is more important than some people realize - having to ship back a gun on the store's own dime eats margin, and the shop is really screwed if they have to do it more than once.

Plus, if the dealer margin is less than $60 to begin with, why bother stocking it? Just have the customer order from their favorite online dealer and the store will make just as much (arguably more, since there's less inventory and support costs). I assume this concept isn't advertised because stores love people who come in and impulse buy the higher margin stuff.

atblis · Feb 26, 2015

jimbobborg said:
And yet when someone mentions wanting a 9mm, every service sized 9mm is mentioned except the CZ

I've actually noted completely the opposite. Just did a quick search on some gun boards, and CZs were always recommended within the first few posts.

I think the problem with CZ's popularity is having things in stock. They don't seem to be the best about it.

What Pistol is the best kept secret?

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