Originally Posted By Advance:
It is my understanding that steel CZs are renowned for their close tolerances and precise fitment, especially when it comes to their competition pistols. I have a 12 year old SP-01 Tactical that I can barely get the slide to move left-right at the nose and that has zero perceptible slop at the hammer end.
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Yes and no. It is my understand that only the much more expensive "orange" models actually involve precise fitment. Every other factory model is a roll of the dice. I've owned two CZ-75B SAs, two SP-01s, and one Shadow 2. I was two for five (40%) when it came to a precise slide fit. (CZ-75BSA and SP-01)
The TSO I had was also exceptionally tight. And I've also purchased a couple of the CZ Custom CZ-75 versions with hand-fitted custom slides. Also very precise, but much more expensive (obviously)
I personally enjoy a precise slide-to-frame, so if I knew then what I know now, I would have just bought several of the original Shadow Orange pistols and called it a day. The original CZ-75 frame size works best for me. My only desire would be for actual checkering (but I digress)
I've even had several custom gunsmiths turn me down when I asked about tightening the slide to frame. Apparently CZ uses cast steel slides and frames, and they are very hard (brittle). This is also why hand-checking front straps is near impossible