Posted: 6/1/2009 7:02:31 AM EDT
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I own an XD9 and wanted a .22 training pistol of similar dimensions (read: full size, similar grip) with ridiculous long-term reliability. It came down to a 22/45 and a CZ Kadet, and after molesting both a number of times at my local gun shop I went with the Kadet, the training pistol for CZ's center fire line of handguns, finding the grip angle and width very similar, similar heft and balance with full magazine, similar magazine change ergonomics (except for a different slide lock location). I paid right at $600 including tax. You can buy a center fire CZ and a $350-ish Kadet conversion kit for it if you want to go that way.
The Kadet is SA/DA with an external hammer, 3-dot sights, rear sight adjustable for elevation and windage, hammer forged barrel, and ten round magazines. Every part is steel except the magazine follower and floor plate, so the Kadet weighs in at a substantial 2.4 lbs, actually just a tick higher than my XD9 with a full mag. The slide locks back on an empty magazine. The magazines are the same size as a center fire magazine, with a steel body and steel 22 conversion insert. Extra mags are fairly pricey, BTW, around $35. Mag springs started out very stiff. I received it last Thursday with two mags, plastic case, cleaning brush and manual. I cleaned the gun (unnecessary, it was spotless), lubricated very lightly and took it out this weekend. I shot 100 CCI standard velocity, 50 CCI MiniMags, 50 CCI Stingers, 50 Remington Yellow Jackets, and 300 Remington bulk pack (in that order) at 10, 25, and a few bulk at 100 yds. Function was 100%, no failures of any kind, no additional cleaning or lube applied. The slide locked back on every empty magazine. The trigger has about 1/8" of travel, starting extremely smoothly and effortlessly with a gradually increasing amount of pressure required before a clean break at around 4lbs. Trigger reset is an 1/8" or less. The sights did not require adjustment. Accuracy was very poor with 40 gr. CCI standard velocity which keyholed, apparently didn't stabilize, so I won't be shooting anymore of that. Minimags and Stingers shot well. The Yellow Jackets were surprisingly accurate, 1" at 10 yds, so I'm now on the hunt for more. Remington bulk pack did pretty well, I shot a little tighter at 25 yds than my XD9 (4" group). This is convenient since my 10/22 loves Rem bulk. For the hell of it I shot 20 rounds of Remington bulk at 100 yds with my wrists supported on a bench top, barrel unsupported. Took me four rounds to get the hang of the Kentucky windage involved (about 14" holdover, slightly left due to wind), after which I got 9 hits out of of 16 on an 8.5"x11" target. So I'm pretty happy, reliability is looking really good, quality of manufacture looks great, this thing is built like a tank. It does a decent job of handling like my XD and I expect to get a lot of training out of it. It's not a laser beam accuracy wise, but I wasn't looking for match grade. It's not a cheap pistol but my great-great-grandchildren may still be shooting this gun one day. |
| I had a Cadet/CZ-75 dual setup a few years ago, and also found the accuracy to be reasonable and the conversion easy and the unit durable. I ended up selling the rig and getting a Mk.II Ruger SS, and it simply shoots better. If the CZ-75 in 9mm was a little more accurate, I'd probably still have the combo. One could do worse. |
| I have had a CZ-75 for quite a while and finally got a Kadet conversion. I was very pleasantly surprised with the level of accuracy of the conversion. It also works very nicely. The design is very similar to the Marvel No. 1 conversion of the 1911, but the CZ is more elegant in its simplicity. |