Originally Posted By: AMC
I too have been considering a CZ 97-BD for a long time. I just really wish the dust cover had a rail on it. If I am going buy a gun that large and heavy, I really want to be able to attach a light to it! A .45 ACP SP-01 from CZ would be ideal, I would buy one ASAP if they made it!
One very important thing to note is that CZ updated the design of the model 97 recently, I believe in 2013 or 2014. The pistol now has a different feed ramp and ejector, which supposedly improves the feeding of hollow point ammunition and increases the reliability of the pistol overall. I would not buy a CZ 97 used for that very reason. Make sure the gun is new and came from the CZ plant recently if you can.
Funny... My sentiments almost exactly. I had been looking at the SP-01 in a search for an all-steel, 9mm pistol for target shooting and plinking. I ended up going with a new Browning Hi-Power, as I talked about in the other thread. But, during the course of my research, I came across the 97, and I just think it's a bad-a** gun. Apparently the Czechs have good taste (beautiful women too, but that's another subject).
Anyway, I thought exactly the same thing - that the SP-01 would make a wonderful home defense pistol. Almost 20 rounds of capacity, with the capability to mount a flashlight. That was one of the things I didn't like about the HiPo - no provision for a light. But, eventually, the character and history and intrinsic substance of the Hi-Power won me over.
Why CZ didn't include a rail on the 97 is beyond me.