For a few years, the guns I’ve gotten in – or already had – have been compared on a standardized test of my own making. It compares service/service compact guns across a range of performance standards -- single hits from the holster at distance, single hits from low ready (“guard” – the modern replacement for ‘gun point’), pairs, failure drill, one-handed shooting with either hand, a slide-lock reload and a precision single hit, up close, at speed.
As I had the CZ-USA P-10 S Optics Ready pistol, I thought I’d run it against the comparative standards. The test has been used for a range of firearms, ranging in caliber from 380 ACP to 9mm and 45 ACP, from single-stack subcompacts like the S&W Shield to 1911-analogs like the Nighthawk Custom T3 (“Officer ACP” frame under a “Commander” slide and barrel) to Glocks in 9mm and 45.
This gives me a range to compare. It’s all based on time with penalties. I adjusted the test to make points down worth one second each from the original test at .5 second per point down.
The P-10 S – originally discussed here --- was provided from CZ-USA’s law enforcement division along with a Tucker & Byrd Deep Carry DC-2 paddle holster. The rig is high quality. I found that the paddle didn’t ‘feel’ all that secure – but after all the draw strokes of the standards, I found it was quite secure.
As to the pistol, I really like the sights -- the front sight features a tritium bead and the rear sight is unmarked. Both sights are serrated on the shooter’s side. They are nicely rendered.
The gun is the currently fashionable polymer frame, striker fired design. Subcompact in this case means a 3 ½” barrel and a 12-shot standard capacity. The frame is ergonomic and I didn’t bother with the additional back straps in the box.
The gun is just over six and a half inches long and weighs just over 24 ounces empty. There’s a firing pin safety plunger in the slide and the face of the trigger has the ‘flipper’ safety, preventing trigger rebound if the gun is dropped.
The test is straight forward and the image below shows each stage and string:
As to my results, the CZ P-10 S OR fits right in the middle – of service size guns -- and better than some smaller guns. I found that the short grip compromises draw, but the gun has great sights – helping me to catch up. I imagine it would have scored higher if I were accustomed to the trigger.
It was noticeably quicker than a full-size service gun tried the same day – and that’s saying something. I nearly shot it clean, contriving to violently clutch at the trigger on the last round fired … even at that it’s only a little slower than ‘compact’ guns like the CZ P-10C, but faster than other subcompacts – with few exceptions -- and with terrific accuracy.
This run of the standards was fired from concealment – likely adding some time as I’ve gotten some of my data from shooting slick. The average time to a single from the holster at 25 yards was slow – short grip-itis – at 2.7 seconds. One of the singles from guard at fifteen yards was .08 – good for me – and the 10 yard pair from the holster was at 2.53 seconds – a little slow. The failure drill at 3.52 seconds and the strong-hand only pair at five yards scoring at 2.35 seconds also damaged the overall performance. I didn’t feel bad about the reload stage (draw to a single hit, slide lock reload to another single hit) at just over five seconds clean.
The ammo used was Speer 124 grain Gold Dot HP, a good service load.
All in all, I’m concluding that this little P-10 is a solid performer and it deserves a look by anyone interested in this size of subcompact service-class sidearm.
-- Rich Grassi