TFB EXCLUSIVE: Pre-Production Development of The CZ P-10 C – Part 3

Alex C
by Alex C

TFB EXCLUSIVE: Pre-Production Development of The CZ P-10 C – Part 3

The CZ P-10 family has grown. CZ started with P-10 C and decided to expand the family to cover both subcompact and full-size guns. The CZ P-10 C is called a compact gun, but I like to consider it less than full size. It is bigger than a Glock 19, with a longer grip. It doesn’t quite fall into the category of a compact pistol in my opinion. I won’t lie, I do wish there was a slightly shorter grip version of the P-10 C, similar to what FN did with the 509M. CZ knocked it out of the park with their other two guns. The CZ P-10 F and the CZ P-10 S. This new family did come with some significant changes.

Triggers

The triggers have slightly changed since the production model “Gen 1” P-10 C. They are now longer, closer to the trigger guard. The safety blade or “dingus” has also shortened up and has a slightly smaller profile compared to the Gen 1 dingus.

P-10 C "Gen 1" Trigger Profile
P-10 C "Gen 2" Trigger Profile

The “Gen 2” modeled guns don’t have much trigger pinch if you ride the trigger low to the trigger guard. It’s a lot more manageable and avoidable than the P-10 C Gen 1 production model. The trigger on the Gen 2 models also feels slightly smoother. They are still around the same poundage pull.

Optic Ready Systems

CZ has introduced optic ready P-10 series pistols. The optic ready pistols are produced by CZ-USA and are not being produced by CZUB yet. Pistol optics are a much more popular trend in the United States than overseas, for now. To be on top of your game as a pistol manufacturer in the United States, you absolutely must have optic ready series pistols. It is the only way to compete in the market.

P-10 C "Gen 1" Machined to fit for a Trijicon RMR
Traditionally, the P-10 C had to have an optic cut specific to each optic. Prices for these aftermarket services generally range from $100 to $200.
P-10 C "Gen 2" OR manufactured by CZ-USA.

CZ USA produces the optic ready system that comes with a flush fit plate as a placeholder for their optic ready Plate System.

CZ-USA P-10 F OR with CZUB Factory Plate
The system itself is eloquently designed and seems to be closer to a true optic cut rather than most optic ready plate systems of other manufacturers. The depth of the optic plate is very similar if not deeper than most aftermarket RMR cuts. This allows the optic to be more true to the pistol rather than creating a taller height over bore like the Glock MOS system. I think that CZ has one of the best optic ready systems on the market to date.
The factory CZUB plates occasionally appear on the CZ-USA website. CZ Custom Shop sells its own iteration of the optic plate, but it doesn’t have that nice flush fit look as the factory plate. There are a couple of companies that have found a way to import the factory plates from the Czech Republic. There is another company on the market that took a factory plate and had it reproduced locally to make it more readily available. CZ-USA usually doesn’t have the product in stock. I think that would be considered one of the only downfalls of the optic ready platform CZ P-10 series is the availability of optic mounting plates. This void has created a micro industry surrounding the product line.

CZ-USA vs CZUB Gen 2 Sights

These photos also depict the new style sights that CZ-USA is installing on the guns. The CZ-USA produced guns lack the step down slide profile of the Czech made sisters. They come with steel sights and an HD tritium/orange dot front sight post, and a blacked out rear. This is a huge improvement over the aluminum sights on the Czech made guns. Czech Gen 2 guns are slightly more similar to the Gen 1 produced P-10 C models.

Mag Release Change

The Gen 2 platform has a new magazine release. This change stemmed from people with weak hands that couldn’t get past the break-in-period of the Gen 1 ambidextrous magazine release. I found the ambidextrous magazine release to be super functional and was not an issue for me to break in. It was a very attractive feature of the pistol to be 100% ambidextrous.

CZ decided to produce a larger more tactile magazine release that was unidirectional. It can be reversed for a left-handed shooter. Now the system is no longer fully ambidextrous. As a right-handed shooter using the newer magazine release, I do find the Gen 2 magazine release to be easier to use and to get to in a hurry.

It makes left-hand manipulations more difficult. Double-edged sword when making changes like this. Myself and many of my colleagues also agree that this change was necessary to make the masses happy, but was a change that made many career shooters unhappy. Thank you to all the cry babies that ruined a good thing.

MAGAZINE BODY CHANGE

With the magazine release change, the magazines had to change. It is the same manufactured magazine body, but CZ has added an extra lasering cutting operation. Now the magazines look like the rear bumper of a 93 Honda Civic want-to-be race car. I call them lightning holes! With the new magazine release needed a new magazine release location.
The new magazines work with the P-07, P-09, P-10 Gen 1, and P-10 Gen 2 series pistols. Herein lies a problem for everyone that bought dozens of original P-10 C magazines. You now need to find a machine shop or a laser cutting service that can modify your magazine so that you can use it in the new platform; if you so desire to transition over to the Gen 2 pistol.

Steel Guide Rod Captured assembly

The newer P-10 Gen 2 guns have been shipping with steel guide rod assemblies. I do like this change over the plastic captured guide rod systems that have been traditionally installed in the P-07, P-09, and P-10 C Gen 1 models. A more sturdy guide rod can increase the mechanical accuracy of a firearm. One thing to note, the assembly is captured by a screw (all P-Series models, excluding the P-10 S). Introduction of screws in guide rod systems has historically been a failure point. I would recommend Red Loctite this Allen screw.

Barrels are different on CZ-USA Guns Vs CZUB Guns

The barrels on Czech made guns are cold-hammer-forged at the CZUB factory. An absolutely impressive facility making some of the best pistol barrels in the world. The CZ-USA barrels are made in the USA and are not cold hammer forged. These US made barrels are found in the OR Gen 2 models only at this time. They are still a high quality produced barrel. I think the only notable difference would be at very high round count barrel life. The CZUB barrels are easy 100K round count barrels. I personally only have around 27K rounds through my SP-01 and there are no signs of wear or lands and groove reduction. It would be very interesting to see a round count comparison between the US and Czech made barrels.

P-10 S

The P10 S is the subcompact series pistol from CZ-USA and CZUB. Comes with a fantastic 12 + 1 capacity. P-10 S shares similar dimensions with the P-10 C, so it can also be used in P-10 C holsters. After significant time carrying the P-10 S, I can confidently suggest that this gun in a P-10 C holster will conceal better than a P-10 S specific holster. This is because most male body types, the pelvis does not support a short-muzzled pistol and the rear of the gun will tip away from the body of the end user. Carrying the P-10 S in a P-10 C holster will maintain pelvic region contact, keeping the gun more vertical inside the belt. Outside of this suggestion, the gun itself functions just like a P-10 C.
  • MSRP – $577
  • Chambering – 9mm Luger
  • Magazine Capacity – 12+1
  • Frame – Fiber-reinforced polymer
  • Trigger Mech – Striker
  • Sights – Front tritium night sight, rear serrated combat sight
  • Barrel Length – 3.5″
  • Width – 1.26 in
  • Weight – 24.4 oz
  • Overall Length – 6.6 in
  • Safety – Firing Pin Block Safety, Trigger Safety

Do not put a P-10 S slide on a P-10 C frame with a compensator. The recoil spring assembly for the P-10 S does not fit inside the P-10 C. The gun itself is slightly more snappy than the P-10 C during firing. The factory magazine bottoms are too short to get a pinky on for a nearly full grip. I do recommend an aftermarket magazine base plate for the P-10 S to increase grip length. ANVL weighted base pad on the S pictured.

P-10 F

The P-10 F is a beautifully produced pistol. The P-10 F has a slightly longer grip than a Glock 17, transforming the P-10 F series into an excellent choice of duty style and sized pistol. It has two 1913 Picatinny slots. Unsure what one of the two is for, as I cannot find any lights that fit specifically in the second slot.

CZ P-10 F

  • MSRP – $524
  • Chambering – 9mm Luger
  • Magazine Capacity –19+1
  • Frame – Fiber-reinforced polymer
  • Trigger Mech – Striker
  • Sights – Fixed Three-Dot
  • Barrel – Cold Hammer Forged
  • Barrel Length – 4.5″
  • Width – 1.26 in
  • Weight – 28.2oz
  • Overall Length – 8 in
  • Safety – Firing Pin Block Safety, Trigger Safety
The P-10 F is just like the P-10 C, but longer in slide length and grip length. The P-10 F magazines fit and function well in both the P-10 C and P-10 S. I find this to be an excellent optic host, as well as, great range gun. In my opinion, the P-10 F is slightly too large to conceal comfortably and successfully in plain clothes in warmer months. I’m sure it can be carried concealed more successfully in the colder months with heavier clothing.
This is my favorite striker-fired pistol to run during classes and shooting events on my battle belt. It is very well balanced and I have not added any aftermarket components to my P-10 F. The only thing that I did switch on my personal P-10 F is I took a CZUB, cold hammer-forged barrel and replaced the American-made barrel with the Czech factory barrel. I have tried a plethora of defensive loads through it to see if there were any issues and had no cyclic problems with this barrel swap. I just prefer cold hammer-forged CZ Barrels. They are indestructible.

P-10 Family Moving Forward

CZ will continue to make minor improvements to the platform and hopefully introduce a couple more iterations of the product line. Coincidentally, after these guns were showcased, CZUB also introduced the CZ P-10 SC. You would think this means subcompact but it actually means semi-compact. They essentially took a CZ P-10 C frame and paired it with the P-10 F slide. This is something you can do at home with your P-10 C and P-10 F. The P-10 C slide will also function inside the P-10 F frame. The introduction of a compensator that fits within the frame can be a pretty neat setup if you find one that works. The P-10 SC gives you the length of slide of the P-10 F, but the grip length and concealability of the P-10 C.
It’s pretty cool that it is a modular system that is cross-compatible amongst part of the family of guns. These guns are a dream to shoot. They come from the factory with a very smooth, very tactile reset trigger. With the optic ready system, deep slide serrations, and mostly ambidextrous platform; the P-10 series has made its mark for its price point. I find it to be one of the more attractive pistol families due to features and price. I hope to see more offerings of the P-10 line and evolution of the platform in the years to come. This gun is not going anywhere and is constantly gaining more traction amongst shooters worldwide.
I hoped you all enjoyed this three part series!

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Alex C
Alex C

- Avid shooter and practicer of weaponcraft- NFA guru- PRS Enthusiast Competitor- CEO / Owner ANR Design LLC & ANVL MFG- Mechanical EngineerIG: @anrdesignllc @alex_anrdesignllc @anvl.usaTwitter: @anrdesignllcWebsite: https://www.anrdesignkydexholster.com/

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