The CZ75's most distinctive feature is the slide that sits inside the full-length frame rails.

Way back at the turn of the 21st century, Shooting Times ran a series of articles about great guns of the 20th century. In his article titled "The Auto Pistol of The Century," Technical Editor Dick Metcalf not surprisingly named the grand old Model 1911 as the most influential design.

What may have surprised some readers in that report was Metcalf's discussion of the CZ75 being the most underrated auto pistol of the century. He pointed out that the CZ75 in its various iterations is an indisputable classic outside the United States. It has been globally accepted partly because it has proven to be considerably more reliable and durable under rugged, long-term duty conditions than other double-action auto pistol designs. Plus it is known for the consistency of its high level of accuracy.

One new CZ75 readers should consider is the Compact version in .40 S&W that CZ-USA (Dept. ST, P.O. Box 171073, Kansas City, KS 66117; 800-955-4486; www.cz-usa.com) has just unveiled. ST received one of the first production samples of the new Compact .40, and I rushed out to the range and put it through a shooting review. I found the pistol to be accurate and comfortable to shoot.

As has been written in Shooting Times many times before, the basic CZ75 mechanism is based on the same recoil-operated system as the Model 1911 but without the 1911's swiveling barrel link. The CZ utilizes an integral barrel underlug that contains a kidney-shaped cutout for the shaft of the slide stop. This setup provides the same range of motion as the Model 1911's swivel link but reduces the number of operating barrel parts from three to one. And as everybody knows, when it comes to machinery of any type, including handguns, the fewer the moving parts the better in terms of reliability.

SPECS CZ75 Compact .40 S&W Semiautomatic Pistol
Manufacturer:	CZ-USA
Model:	CZ75 Compact
Operation:	Recoil-operated DA/SA autoloader
Caliber:	.40 S&W
Barrel Length:	3.9 inches
Overall Length:	7.2 inches
Weight, empty	37.8 ounces
Height:	5.0 inches
Safety:	Manual trigger and slide locking safety lever, passive firing pin safety
Sights:	fixed three-dot system
Stocks:	Black rubber
Magazine Capacity:	10 rounds
Finish:	Black
Price:	$594

Probably the most distinctive feature of the CZ is the way that the slide sits inside the frame rails instead of the frame rails being enclosed by the slide as on the 1911 design. Having the slide inside the frame rails gives the slide a slimmer profile and allows the slide and frame rails to be joined all the way from the rear to the front of the gun, which helps make the CZ extremely solid.

The double-action CZ's stirrup-linkage trigger mechanism is enclosed within the frame, which also adds to the pistol's solid strength. The trigger's drawbar stirrup passes around both sides of the magazine, and one result of this setup is that the drawbar can be made of thicker, stronger metal. The review pistol's double-action trigger pull was too heavy for my RCBS Trigger Pull Gauge to measure (my gauge goes up to eight pounds), but the gun's single-action trigger pull consistently measured 5.75 pounds.

With a barrel length of 3.9 inches, the new .40 S&W CZ75 Compact falls in-between the standard full-length models with 4.7-inch barrels and the CZ 2075 RAMI (introduced last year) with its 3.0-inch barrel. The .40-caliber Compact has a steel frame, and the frame's dustcover features an M3 rail that accepts tactical lights and lasers. (I installed a SureFire X200 light on the review gun, and it is one bright tactical light!) The CZ75 Compact comes with one 10-round double-stacked magazine, rubber grips, and fixed three-white-dot sight system.