CZ P07 Duty 9mm: It Was My Duty Gun in Iraq and Served Me Well – The Czech-made 9mm CZ-75 is right up there with the M1911, Beretta 92FS/M9, and Glock 17 as one of the best-regarded combat auto pistols of all-time. And like those other aforementioned full-sized pistols, the CZ (“See-Zed” as my South African friends pronounce it) has spawned its fair share of compact variants that are more practical for plainclothes duty and private citizen concealed carry purposes. A fine example in the case of the CZ brand is the CZ P07 Duty. This is a gun I know well and have used extensively over the years, the subject of my review in this article.
CZ P07 Goes On “Duty”
The CZ P-07 was introduced in 2009, 34 years after the original. As noted by the official CZ-USA website, it:
“was the first handgun to feature the convertible Omega trigger system. A simplification of the CZ 75’s hammer ignition method, the Omega’s trigger parts are interlocking in nature, allowing full disassembly and reassembly without the need for gunsmithing experience or tools…The best part of this system is its convertible decocker/safety system. Whether the user wants to carry the pistol cocked and locked like a 1911 or decocked for a double-action first pull of the trigger, a few minutes time allows the swapping of the safety for a decocking lever or vice versa…The P-07 received a facelift in 2014, removing any sharp edges and adding forward cocking serrations and interchangeable backstraps. Metal sights, new trigger and hammer designs and a fiber-reinforced polymer rounded out the updates, resulting in a pistol that’s even more comfortable for all-day carry, increasingly adaptable to user preferences and hardier than ever before.”
For the basis of comparison, the original CZ-75 is also a double-action pistol that permits cocked-and-locked carry a la single-action semiauto pistols such as the M1911 and Browning Hi-Power, which is a major reason the gun earned the praise of hardcore single-action auto aficionados such as the late great Col. Jeff Cooper (“The Father of Modern Combat Handgunning”) and Capt. Chuck Taylor.
However, on the old-school CZ, the safety does not do double duty as a de-cocker. and therefore the hammer must be slowly and carefully lowered under manual pressure whilst the trigger is pulled. Another key difference is that the old ’75 is all-steel construction, whilst the P07 has a polymer frame just like the Glocks.
The P07 Duty retains the 15-round magazine capacity of its parent gun. The barrel length is 3.75 inches, overall length is 7.2 inches, and weight is 27.7 ounces, which equates to a reduction of 0.95 inches, 0.92 inches, and 12.3 ounces compared with the full-size original.
CZ P07: My Own Personal Shooting Impressions
My hands-on experience with the P07 Duty was garnered back in 2017 during my last Iraq contract, when I was a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) Assistant Team Leader working for Sallyport Global (now known as Acuity International) at Balad Airbase in support of the Iraqi Air Force’s (IqAF) fledgling F-16 fighter jet program and the fight against the ISIS terror group (or as the Iraqis call them, “Da’esh”).
The course of fire was no mere paper-punching static range environment, but rather a shoot-and-move course that involved dealing with multiple targets, shooting around barricades, through windows, etc. as well as rifle-to-pistol transition (the rifle in question was the AK-47, to enable us to have primary weapon commonality with our IqAF counterparts), all within a prescribed time limit (sorry, folks, I don’t remember the exact time allotment; senility and old age getting the best of me).
My colleagues and I had the run the course of fire twice, regardless of whether we passed it on the first go-around. I’m proud to say that I shot a perfect score both times, the first time with maybe a second or two to spare, the second time with a bit more of a comfortable time margin. Both times, I even squeezed in some gratuitous headshots even though torso shots would’ve sufficed. (Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maximum culpa, I may have been showboating just a little bit; if you’re not having a bit of fun, what’s the point, eh?) And my performance got my kudos from our Response Force Manager in front of the whole QRF crew at the subsequent all-hands team meeting, which might have boosted my ego just a tad bit.
Suffice it to say that experience endeared the P07 Duty to me right then and there. The superbly ergonomic grip, smooth trigger pull, top-notch sight picture, and flawless reliability all certainly helped. And it wore quite comfortably on my hip both on- and off-duty (no pun intended).
CZ P07 – Bottom Line: Yea or Nay?
I haven’t yet purchased my CZ P07 Duty yet, but it’s certainly near the top of my Wish List. They can be purchased for as little as $489.99, which is especially remarkable in this day & age of runaway inflation (hell, just look at the cost of ammo nowadays). Whether you’re a fan of CZ-pattern pistols or have never fired a CZ but are simply looking for a high-quality handgun, I can recommend this gun without reservation.
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Christian D. Orr has 33 years of shooting experience, starting at the tender age of 14. His marksmanship accomplishments include: the Air Force Small Arms Ribbon w/one device (for M16A2 rifle and M9 pistol); Pistol Expert Ratings from U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP); multiple medals and trophies via the Glock Sport Shooting Foundation (GSSF) and the Nevada Police & Fires Games (NPAF). Chris has been an NRA Certified Basic Pistol Instructor since 2011. In his spare time, he enjoys (besides shooting, obviously) dining out, cigars, Irish and British pubs, travel, USC Trojans college football, and Washington DC professional sports.
