My son has been wanting a full-size gun to shoot in our local outlaw steel challenge match for a while. Somehow he convinced himself that it had to be a CZ P09, and there's been one sitting on the shelf at the LGS for the past few months with supressor sights and a threaded barrel. He has a thing for CZs, and already has a 75 Compact PCR. He's been working towards that P09, and today was finally the day that we picked it up.



We got it out to the range and put a hundred or so rounds through it along with testing the new Grayguns parts in my P226 project. I've not handled a P09 before, and my only experience with a similar platform was my brother's P07 Duty. The P09 feels much better in the hand than that gun did, with fewer sharp edges and better ergos.

The gun came with three back straps, and the small one installed. We were initially hitting very low left, so we swapped that out for the big one, which was kind of a pain as the pin also goes through the mainspring seat, so all that has to come apart and be properly aligned to go back together.

The factory mags are 20 rounders and feel very well made, load easily, and slide cleanly into the magwell. The mag catch retains them well, and is positive and easy to operate. The gon comes with the decocker lever installed, and the parts to swap it out for a manual safety instead (I believe it's the Omega trigger system). We're going to stick with the decocker. It's plastic and feels a little cheap, but it works well and is easy to operate.



The trigger shoe itself is great. I'm not typically a fan of flat or hybrid triggers, but this one is nicely contoured. It's made of nice, smooth, rigid metal and doesn't have any flex to it. That's where the good things about the trigger end, though. The pull is horrible in every way. It's long, it's heavy, it's rough, it's gritty, it's inconsistent, and it stacks. If I've ever felt a worse DA/SA trigger, I can't remember where. The DA is almost criminally bad, and the SA is actually pretty awful, too. I haven't taken it apart yet, but I can only imagine what I'm going to find. The little bit I could see of the top edge of trigger bar is cratered like the surface of the moon. I had pretty good success polishing up his CZ75 trigger, so I'm hoping I can do the same for this thing. It's like CZ skipped the whole finishing step of the manufacturing process on the fire control parts. To be fair, shooting it side by side with that sweet Grayguns trigger in my P226 probably didn't help my perception of it at all, but even taking that into consideration the P09 trigger is truly and objectively bad.

The gun has a threaded barrel, which will maybe be useful for a future supressor or comp. The thread protector is attractive and nicely finished, but keeps trying to unscrew itself when shooting.

The sights are extra-tall supressor height 3-dot, which is OK because he's already planning to get it milled for a dot. Out of the box the rear was clearly off to the left. It's dovetailed in, with a set screw, so I loosened the screw and gave it a very light tap with a brass punch and it went halfway across the dovetail. I found I could actually move it back and forth in the dovetail with finger pressure, so the only thing holding it in is the set screw. CZ, if you're listening, you suck at making sights. I tightened down the set screw and then we noticed that that sight is now crooked, presumably because the set screw is pushing the base up off the bottom of the dovetail. We got it mostly centered up for now, but I think the plan at this point is to have them mill off the factory dovetail when they cut the slide for the optic, and cut another one behind the optic for a Glock-style rear sight. Not the end of the world, but not something that should have been an issue to start with, either.



Reliability was awesome. The gun was flawless fast, slow, LHO, RHO, you name it. Recoil is smooth and pretty flat, with minimal disturbance to the sight picture. With the large backstrap it points pretty naturally, too. I was concerned that the grip texture wouldn't be "grippy" enough, but it's actually pretty decent.

I think ultimately it's going to work for what he wants to do, it's just going to take a little work to get it there.

Anybody on here have any experience with the P09? Any tips or tricks for working on the gun or cleaning up the trigger? I know Cajun will probably sell us parts, but it'll cost him as much as the optic and milling job put together, so that's not in the cards at the moment.

Thanks for the review. I've been curious about these. I imagine some careful polishing will help the trigger. If it's like the CZ75 trigger system, though, pay attention because it's a PITA to work on. Hopefully they've streamlined some stuff and improved the guts.

I was going to recommend Cajun but you mention that's not a possiblity right now which I understand. They make good stuff and their customer service is awesome also.

My buddy bought his wife a 2nd gen P07. Not the Duty. It was a great gun in almost every way. I got it from him at a reasonable price which allowed me to buy the Cajun kit to put in it. Night and day difference.

Bad news is it isn’t exactly cheap. Good news is that the Omega system is way easier to work on than the old decocker and that crazy CZ sear cage. Lol.

One other thing. I think the grip is way too slick so I added skateboard tape but if Talon makes a grip I recommend that.

Great gun.

I sent my P09 to CZCustomShop for a trigger job. I think it was around $130.
Totally worth it. Gun shoots so much better now.

I've had his PCR sear box apart before. I agree, it sucks. Slave pins are your friend. I actually got it done with one I made friom a Q0tip rod that I cut down to size. I was able to get that PCR trigger pretty darn nice, though, after a few hours of work. If I can do the same to this one we'll be alright.

Working on CZs makes me glad I'm a Sig guy!

About 6-7 months ago, everyone was giving these away. Riflegear had them for 299! I picked one up and sent it off to Cajun for pro package and sights.

Here is the thing, at least according to me. The P07/09 are an interesting breed. They shoot extremely well. Great sizes, relatively cheap mags (not cz75 though which would be better), inexpensive.

The problem though is they feel inexpensive too. The Omega system is nice if you are someone who will swap back and forth. Who is that though? Most guys want a decocker or cocked and locked, not both. It is a solution that makes economic sense not necessarily gun sense. The decocker as noted feels like cheap plastic and it "wiggles". The steel version of cz75's are way better. The grip is slick and could use better texture which is easily fixed.

These are great guns and at a good price are a sleeper find. I love my P07 but I wouldn't pay a fortune for one because without the CGW stuff inside it is a marginally bad trigger gun. Even with the CGW stuff I don't think the trigger cleans up as nicely as on their metal guns.

I would buy another though. Great Glock 19 for hammer guys like me.

quote:

The steel version of cz75's are way better.

Based on my admittedly limited experience with both, I tend to agree. I tried to encourage him towards an SP-01 for $100 more, but this is what he wanted. He is convinced it will make for a better optics host, and he may be right about that, but either one would have needed milled, anyway. Sometimes there are things they just have to figure out for themselves .

He still wants a TS2 at some point, so he'll eventually get his steel full-size. He'll likely be grown and out of the house before he can afford that one, though (or grown and still living at home so he can save on rent money to buy guns lol).

I picked up a P09 shortly after they came out in 2014 if I recall correctly. I shot it in USPSA for several years and it is one of my favorite pistols. So much so that I bought a P07 for a ccw since they are so similar. The P09 was the intro to the "2nd gen" Omega pistols and the P07 was upgraded at that time to match the full size. It is an amazingly ergonomic pistol and having ran it with the talon ganulated grips I seem to prefer it in stock form. The texture isn't very aggressive but the shape and the way it is textured locks it into my hand all the same. I never have to readjust my grip while shooting.
I'll go against the grain here and say I like them better than their steel or alloy framed counterparts. I actually sold off all my 75b and P01 and only kept these two.
Night Fission makes great high contrast night sights but I prefer Dawson f/o on mine. The ones sold at CGW are slightly taller and have a better sight picture and brighter dot.
The triggers smooth out pretty quickly but if you tinker a bit like I do then check out this video. With an inexpensive spring kit and about an hour of your time you'll have a really great trigger.

^ Thanks for that, I'll give it a look! No issues with light strikes after the swap?

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
^ Thanks for that, I'll give it a look! No issues with light strikes after the swap?

You're welcome.
No issues whatsoever. They are fairly over-sprung out of the box so the slightly lighter main spring is still very stout.
I have a pretty big round count on the P09 with lots of different brands of ammo and have never had a light strike.
If you want the utmost in reliability you can keep the stock springs and just do the polishing which is the most important part in my opinion. Just make sure to change out the firing pin retaining pin for the rolled steel version. The solid one has been known to wear during dry fire.
The trigger return spring has also been a problem part but Mcarbo and CGW both make an upgraded one that should last forever.

Like Ryan I too swapped out my front sight. I left the rear sight and for 39 bucks bought the correct height fiber optic front. Big cheap improvement. Just be careful ordering the height because I think Dawson measures from the bottom of the dovetail not from the top of the slide. Or vice versa. I find it confusing either way. lol

I have the P-09, its fun to shoot and I can mount my suppressor, makes it one huge pistol to operate.

Looked into the CGW for modifications, they said they have all the parts, most lumped into one kit the Pro-Grade Upgrade, $226 includes firing pin, springs, new hammer roller etc. Link Pro Kit

If you don't want the new hammer, you can piece together the parts for $140. That would be the Roller Bearing, Short Reset Kit, Upgrade Spring Kit and Omega Sear Spring kit.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
^ Thanks for that, I'll give it a look! No issues with light strikes after the swap?

You're welcome.
No issues whatsoever. They are fairly over-sprung out of the box so the slightly lighter main spring is still very stout.
I have a pretty big round count on the P09 with lots of different brands of ammo and have never had a light strike.
If you want the utmost in reliability you can keep the stock springs and just do the polishing which is the most important part in my opinion. Just make sure to change out the firing pin retaining pin for the rolled steel version. The solid one has been known to wear during dry fire.
The trigger return spring has also been a problem part but Mcarbo and CGW both make an upgraded one that should last forever.

Great to know. I'm going to order one of those kits. I'm big on smooth and consistent when it comes to triggers. Lighter weight is nice, but not as important as the former. But if I can shave a few pounds and still get 100% reliability, I'll happily take that too. That video you posted is really excellent, too...great visuals and explanations. It really doesn't look like too bad of a job. We'll see how far I can get with just a spring swap and polishing the factory parts and then go from there.

quote:

Just be careful ordering the height because I think Dawson measures from the bottom of the dovetail not from the top of the slide. Or vice versa. I find it confusing either way. lol

Yeah, that always drives me nuts, too. I never know where I'm supposed to measure from. The last time I did sights on a rifle I tried doing all the math and ultimately just ordered 3 different sizes and swapped them until I found one that worked, lol.

The factory sights should be sufficient for the moment. At this point my plan is to sort the trigger out first, then he can order his optic and get the slide cut. Once all that's done we can figure out what irons are appropriate. I'm hoping we can keep the factory front, because it seems pretty well constructed and secured.

I’ve always kinda wanted a P07 not enough to pull the trigger and I have a P01 I love but the P07 and P09 always struck me as a great polymer traditional CZ.

I hope your son loves it.

Take care, shoot safe.
Chris

The P07 is a great gun especially if you find it cheap. The P09 is too big. It gets in SP01 and S2 territory so I don't need that overlap. Get a P07 you won't regret it.

Got the Mcarbo kit installed tonight. Took about 3 hours, including all the polishing, and reminded me why I hate working on CZs, lol. Honestly, I don't think it would be so bad if I did it regularly, but even then it'll never be as simple as a P-Series Sig.

The difference after the polish and spring change is night and day. The DA pull went from 10lb 3.5oz to 6 lb 13oz, and the SA pull went from 3lb 12oz to 2lb 0.7oz. More importantly, the stacking and grittiness is gone. If it proves reliable, I'll be incredibly impressed. It'll stick a pen in the ceiling, so I'm optimistic lol.

quote:

Got the Mcarbo kit installed tonight.

This Kit? Link how much polishing was required, noticed it comes with the silicon carbide sandpaper..

Yes, that's the one.

Lots and lots and lots of polishing. Literally until my fingers hurt. The idea that you could do all the polishing with that tiny scrap of included sandpaper is a joke, lol. I think CZ cuts their parts from a sheet of steel with an angle grinder and an abrasive wheel...there were some really ugly surfaces in there. The gritty finish they put on everything doesn't help, either.

I started with an oiled Arkansas stone, and then went through about half a full-size sheet of 1500 grit. And although I hate resorting to it, the Dremel even came out for a couple of pieces (just a buffing wheel, no grinding).

Even after all that, I could have done more. There's always that balance you're trying to achieve in a job like this between good enough and too far. Some of the casting anomalies and machining marks were so deep I can completely understand why people resort to quality, properly-finished aftermarket components from vendors like CGW.

Finally got it to the range and put about 75 rounds through it today, mixed factory and reloads. Reliability was absolutely flawless and it shoots like a totally different gun. Thanks RyanP225 for the McCarbo recommendation! I really don't need it, but now I kinda want a P07...