Was always curious about the Zastava brand so I picked this up recently. Takes some design cues from the P226 and Walther P88 (so I've heard). Interesting that the barrel is chromed inside and out.

Anyone with any positive/negative experiences with the CZ 999?

A solidly made copy of a P-226.

20/25 years ago, it was a hidden gem for 250-300.

18Z50

Under slightly varying names and a host of different importers, it has been around since the 1990s. The combination slide stop and decocker lever is in fact from the P88. Despite being called CZ, it has nothing to do with the famous Czech maker. I believe it is Serbian, or if not, one of the former Yugoslavia countries. That's about all I know about it.

I’ve had the earlier CZ99 version for years. Solid pistol. You can easily convert Beretta 92 mags to work if you need additional mags.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Despite being called the CZ, it has nothing to do with the famous Czech maker. I believe it is Serbian, or if not, one of the former Yugoslavian countries.

Czech CZ = Ceska Zbrojovka, or "Czech Armory".

Zastava (in SerboCroatian, "flag" or "banner") is the shorter version of Crvena Zastava, or "Red Banner". The name is a holdover from the bad ol' commie days when various factories were given what were supposed to be inspirational names, of which "Red Banner" tended to be one of the more popular ones.

Zastavas are made in Kragujevac, Serbia, which used to be a part of Yugoslavia before Yugoslavia got broken up and went through the Balkan Wars.

I have three of them; a surplus CZ "Made In Yugoslavia" version with "Made in Serbia & Montenegro" on the magazines, a mint South African Tressitu TZ-99 and an Israeli mint KSN Golan.

Il Cattivo has it right on the story and locations. Quality is good. The early ones were a little nicer because their barrels (IIRC) were made from Bofors steel and they were assembled with a little more attention to detail than the current ones. But the only real downside to any of them (IMO) is that the finish on the alloy frame tends to chip and peel. Maybe they've fixed that. They're reliable and accurate though.

The pistols may look similar to a P226, but they’re clones of the Walther P88. Not that there are drastic differences.