Never been a big fan of CZ, the DAO trigger is just a touch too far out for my trigger finger, and the safeties are just a touch too high for my thumbs.  Having said that, the Shadow 2 has a deeper grip cut for my hand to get into and I can reach the trigger, and the safety is so precision that even the lightest amount of contact can effectively get it to turn on and off.

What are the big differences between the Blue, the Orange, and the Urban Gray?  I know there is a huge cost increase for the Orange, but the Blue and Gray seem to run about the same price on GB.

Please educate me.

Slightly unsure about the orange,  but the blue and gray are the same.

Common rumor is that the castings for the grey have imperfections that forced them to be poly-coated as opposed to the standard black finish so an S2 Black or blue should be worth a nickel or two more than the gray one.

Blue has blue grips and black frame and and slide.

Urban grey has black grips and urban grey frame and black slide.


Orange has a lot of differences----1911 style bushing, hand fitting/polishing, short reset disconnector, comp hammer.  Then the cosmetics---orange grips and mag release, black frame and slide

Also, there is no "DAO" in either.  All are DA/SA, but there is a new SAO model out now.

Most Shadow 2's are poly coated, even the majority of the blue or black gripped models. There was a small run of guns in the first batch that had blue grips and no polycoat, just a black nitride coating. The black nitride does not hide any imperfections so frames and slides had to be hand picked. That model was quickly discontinued. I was one of the first to put a deposit on a S2 @ CZ Customs. They said they got about 30 of the black nitride version in their 1st shipment and it was a no brainer when they offered it for a little extra. More good info here -

https://forums.brianenos.com/topic/269791-shadow-2-black-nitride-vs-black-nitride-with-polycoat/

correct, all current models are polycoated no matter the frame color.

In fact, the urban grey models likely have 2 layers.  Every picture I've seen of a high use one where the grey is worn reveals black underneath.

Pretty sure you are just seeing the black nitride under the urban grey polycoat.  All S2's received black nitride coating for corrosion resistance, polycoat covers the casting imperfections.

Thanks for the replies guys.  I've had the chance to play around with an Urban Gray one, and if you take the slide off the coating is only on the exterior surfaces and doesn't go to the inside, which is black.

I wouldnt view it as a horrible thing, but its the reason you can find the UG ones cheaper than the black ones.

Functionally,  they'll still be great. I just don't love babyshit brown pistols

True, best price I've ever seen on the Urban Grey model is 959 and best I've ever seen on the Black and Blue is 1050.

I think the brown/tan/grey doesn't appeal as much to people so they move slower, hence the slightly lower price usually.  Functionally no difference, however.

The Orange comes in 2 flavors:
1. Shadow 2 Orange: DA/SA barrel bushing $2K
2. Tactical Sport Orange: SAO no bushing, thumb rest $1.7K

It really depends on the wants/needs for the pistol.

The TSO stands for "Tactical Sport Orange" and is quite different from a Shadow 2, as it predates it.

Basically it is a tricked out Tactical Sports gun, a model which is now discontinued.  It has a wider grip as it uses different, wider magazines but it has a narrower slide that is quite a bit longer than the Shadow 2s as well.  It has a bushing, but it is the standard CZ bushing and not the 1911 style bushing that the Shadow 2 Orange has.  It also comes with a thumbrest and magwell as it is designed to be run out of the box in USPSA Limited division.

There is no "orange" model, per se.  It is just a descriptor CZ is using for a top of the line package on two of their competition geared guns, the Shadow 2 and the TS.  The TS must have been too similar in price to the TSO though as sales must have really slipped for it to get canceled.

I love coyote and FDE colors, but CZ’s Urban Grey has to be the most unappealing color in the world. I’d rank it up there with HK’s baby-poop camo colors from the 80s.

I do really like how tough the polycoat finish is though, so I have no qualms with the standard Shadow 2 black polycoat.  Just changed the stock black grips (mine was black/black) to green S2 ones to make it mine.

The S2O is pretty sweet, but if you’re not competing or an enthusiast of those sort of handguns, the extra $800 of features may not be worth it.

Tomato-Toma-to. UR right... It is Tactical... although it is mainly used for target and competition shooting. Not sure what exactly CZ thinks is tactical about it? SAO?

The basic Shadow 2 bushing is more like a cylinder insert... but I guess it is a sort of bushing. I really only count the 1911 style bushings... like the SO2 or AccuShadow.