Phantom is decocker only, more complicated and harder to get a nice trigger on. The SP-01 Shadow is THE production division gun for IPSC/USPSA. The standard 75B has a slightly different frame than the SP-01. The 75b has a shorter "beaver tail". Some examples of the stainless 75b have the longer beavertail, as well as the 75SA model. The SP-01 is several ounces heavier than the 75B.

SP01 of all flavors have the upswept beavertail vs the down beavertail of the standard 75 series. Mentioned that the SP01 come with night sights and has a full dust cover with rail underneath. The slide does not have the High Power appearance cuts, ie more weight on the front end. The metal SP01's are definitely more front heavy than the standard 75's. You get the SP01 mags with have higher capacity than the standard 75 mags. Both mags are interchangable so it's really not a big deal. You get some nice rubber grips with the SP01. I prefer these much more than the standard hard plastic grips of the 75.

Now you can get standard SP01 in DA/SA, decocker and finally plastic w/ decocker.

If you want a nice race ready gun looks at the SP01 Shadows with various different sight options and even made without a firing pin block , the horror. Finally you can buy all the go fast pieces from CZ custom and build your own customized piece.

My biggest complaint with the stock CZ75 DA/SA platform was the trigger. Several replacement hammers are available that will fix most complaints. Another complaint I had was the trigger reset but that can be improved by removing the firing pin block.

I've tried going plastic but I keep coming back to the SP01.

Thanks for the input. I also found that the Phantom doesn't work with the Kadet adaptor. I don't own a Kadet now but I'd like to get one down the road, so I guess that rules out the Phantom. The Shadow would be sweet but it's out of my price range. I'd like the SP-01 Tactical because it comes with night sights, but I'm wondering how much of a difference the decocker trigger makes. My M&P with an Apex sear has a pretty good trigger. How does a decocker trigger compare to a good striker fired trigger? This will be used for local 3-gun and USPSA matches, but will also do nightstand duty.

Comparing the M&P with an Apex sear to my SP-01,the M&P has a better trigger but the SA pull on the CZ is very close out of the box.Another choice might be the 85 Combat - no firing pin block and a little nicer trigger as a result[so I've read]. All I've done to my SP-01 so far is polish the feed ramp,put a lighter hammer spring in[for the DA pull] and ordered VZ grips which are slightly thinner than the OEM ones[my hands are on the small size]. CZ Custom and Cajun Gun Works offer hammers that lessen the trigger pull but I'm going to put more rounds through before I do anything else. As for the regular SP-01 coming with night sights,I wasn't aware of that. I thought only the Tactical version came with night sights based on comparing the different versions before I bought. Wouldn't be the first or last time I'm wrong. Take care.

Ok, I didn't know the regular SP-01 had night sights. So is there anything different about the Tactical other than being a Decocker model? I'm about 90% sold on a standard SA/DA SP-01. I figured I would put in the competition hammer from CZ Custom if I went that route.

RC51_Texas, if you decide to sell that extra SP-01 let me know. I will probably be in the market for one soon.

I've owned one for years now Buy one...you wont regret it.

I have decided I am definitely going with the regular DA/SA SP-01. Not just because of the better trigger, but because my regular carry gun is a CZ-75 Compact DA/SA. Having the exact same ergonomics and controls in my carry and competition guns is a big plus to me.

Thanks for the input everyone! Now to get that S&W sold.

Are you going to be at the NFOA meeting in September?

Well guys, I ended up finding a great deal on a Phantom here on the EE, so I went the plastic route after all The big stumbling block for me was the inability to run a Kadet kit on it down the road, but then it hit me that I could always run the Kadet on the 75 Compact I already have.

I already ordered a 13lb mainspring, extended firing pin, and reduced power FP spring from CZ custom. Maybe jumping the gun a little since I haven't even got the gun yet, but I can't resist buying stuff for a new gun.

No I don't have any other CZ's to compare it to, yet. I have or have had various 1911's (i.e. couple different Springfield loaded models, nothing fancy), Sigs, HK P30, couple of XD/M's, and a mishmash of other stuff. The Shadow is probably the easiest of all of them to shoot well for me so far.

My FFL has a range, so I picked it up yesterday and went straight to the firing line after cleaning the gunk off and oiling it up. I was physically tired and kinda shaky, and hadn't even held one of these before today, but all things considered it went great. The trigger is really nice, clean break, short reset, consistent every time. There was the slightest hint of grit in pull but that should even out shortly. One thing I wasn't quite ready for was how heavy this thing is, it's a lot of metal. But my resets were really fast (for me) because of it. I only had time to do 150 rounds and I was playing around at different distances and generally just having fun. I'll do some more focused shooting with it the next few days and will report back.

All in all I think we're going to be good friends

Most excellent, thanks for the report.