CZ’s P-10 F is not a gun that catches the eye, because it is not flashy. The P-10 F is a sleeper—you don’t see it coming. This model from CZ is not loaded down with bells and whistles; it is built for function. The great guns turned out by CZ over the past several years have carved out a serious portion of the USPSA market share, and that is because they turn out quality products. The P-10 F is no exception. Light weight for a gun from CZ, the P-10 is a quality handgun. It is ready, willing and able to roll in Production or Carry Optics.
The CZ-USA P-10 F (MSRP: $524, cz-usa.com) is a full-size polymer striker-fired pistol and fits nicely into any budget. It is left-hand friendly; the slide release is ambidextrous and the magazine release can be swapped out in a few minutes for a southpaw shooter. The grip of the pistol is large and will accommodate large hands very well, yet is narrow for a double-stack gun and will allow smaller hands to reach the trigger. The front, back and side panels of the grip have plenty of texture to hold onto the hand of the shooter and prevent the gun from slipping around. The generous trigger guard that would allow use by a gloved hand is undercut to allow a good high hold. This is a 9mm pistol that can fill a number of needs.
The frame of the gun has texture on both sides where the trigger finger should be when reloading or moving and not engaging targets on the move. The frame also includes a rail for lights and other accessories. Plus, the 19-round magazines fit flush with the grip. In addition, the back strap of the gun is adjustable.
As for the slide, it sports user-friendly front and rear cocking serrations, and the fixed front and rear sights are quite visible. The rear sight on this model is black, squared off enough to allow one-handed slide racking in serious situations. It is also possible to rack the slide on a desk, belt or holster one-handed if the situation demanded. Additionally, the slide has a removable plate for mounting an optic; the rear sight sits behind that plate so it remains in place even with an optic on the gun, which is a superior design compared to makes and models that sacrifice the rear sight to place the optic on the gun.
The features described aboved emonstrate that this gun is well designed and can do what is required. The trigger is nice; it breaks crisply after a small amount of take-up and resets positively. The reset on this trigger is very short, which bodes well for making fast follow-up shots. In my opinion, the trigger is by far the best feature.
There was one initial concern with this gun—the grip just feels cheap. When I said this to Jake Martens, he responded with, “A lot of people like these guns.” At the range he agreed with my observation, but after we had both shot the pistol, we stopped caring about the feel. It became obvious why so many people like these guns. This gun performs well above its price point.
Martens and I tested the P-10 F on the same day as we tested the BUL SAS II. While he shot the drills with the SAS II, I shot the P-10 F and then we switched. It became clear early on that the P-10 F can run with the big dogs. For the P-10 F, the holster was a simple one made at Parabellum; it was not on a hanger of any kind, so it was snug to the body—making it very suitable for carry but not for competition. However, the times on the drills were right in the vicinity of the Limited gun.
The P-10 F simply points naturally.During live testing at the Riley Conservation Club, the P-10 F was impressive. I did a series of nine one-shot draws at seven yards. The slowest time was 1.03 seconds and the fastest time was 0.89 seconds with five sub-one-second repetitions. This grip and rip session resulted in A-zone hits, and highlighted the great trigger. The narrow width of the top of the grip makes this gun snuggle right down into the hand. The bore of the gun seems to sit a little lower in the hand than many CZ guns; holding the P-10 F while holding a Shadow makes this obvious. The P-10 F simply points naturally.
El Prez was fired a couple of times for score, as is standard for us to do in live fire. Martens recorded times of 5.14 and 5.81 seconds on steel targets with all of the hits. I recorded times of 6.74 and 6.35 seconds with the hits. For the record I would like the point totals to be seen on this drill, but the steel targets were just telling us hits and misses.
We next shot the “front sight forward” array of three targets at 10 yards. Martens ripped off three fast runs of 2.64, 2.43 and 2.35 seconds. At this point he said, “This gun is a shooter and I see why so many people like it.” My times were 2.65, 2.65 and 2.49 seconds. I agree with Martens completely on the P-10—it is a shooter.
The “Near to Far” array this time consisted of four steel targets at distances of 11, 16, 19 and 25 yards. The width of the array was 12 yards from side-to-side. Martens pulled two clean runs on this eightshot drill with times of 3.89 and 3.53 seconds. He then attempted to really push and put up a time of 3.05 seconds; the problem was that only five rounds connected. My times were 3.86, 3.87 and 3.83 seconds with all the hits.
Next up was my least favorite, the “Bill Drill.” Marten’s three runs were 2.21, 2.04 and 2.14 seconds with the hits. My times were 2.13, 2.39 and 2.01 seconds with the hits. The gun tracked well and returned to the original sight picture nicely. The recoil impulse was not very strong, which is surprising for such a light gun.
Next we fired a 16-round drill on four steel targets, shooting eight shots from the left side of a wall and eight more from the opposite end. Marten’s times on this exercise were 8.75 and 9.62 seconds, which was better than he did with a Limited gun on the same day on the same array. My times were 9.31 and 8.50 seconds. We were faster with the P-10 F, with no misses.
The first range session came to an end at this point, and my attitude regarding this gun had transformed from uninterested to big fan. During a later range session with a focus on some other guns, I took the P-10 F along for a little more shooting. We had Showdown set up on the side of the bay. I stood in the right-hand box and ran through two or three magazines, just ripping through the stage time and again. There wasn’t a single miss, and the pace was solid. I was trying to focus on seeing the front sight lift on each plate and just be smooth. The gun performed yet again. I decided at this point that this gun was staying with me. It was lunacy to send a pistol of this quality and price back to the manufacturer. The P-10 F is good enough that there is no reason to need it, but when it comes to guns, need often has little to do with the purchase.
Some people might say the P-10 F is too big for carry because the grip is so long and it would be hard to conceal. That might be true on “little” people, but there are plenty of plus-size folks out there who could conceal this pistol; the number of XXXL-size shirts at a USPSA match proves my point. I think this pistol would be great on the nightstand, or stashed for emergencies with its 19+1 capacity and the ability to include a rail-mounted light. A squad of zombies could be dealt with in the dead of night and a reload would not be needed. If you have not checked out the CZ-USA P-10 F, do yourself a favor and check it out.
Article from the July/August 2020 issue of USPSA’s FrontSight magazine.
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