Competition ready pistols have really taken off in the last few years. Many brands are now offering factory tuned guns which are ready to roll right out of the box. Bigger, heavier, more feature-rich and often with some flashy colors thrown in, there’s a lot to love about these excellent shooters. I’ve had the opportunity to try several models over time but this month we’ll be taking a closer look at one of my favorites: The CZ Shadow 2.
Built up from the time and service-proven CZ 75, the Shadow 2 is a hefty sidearm engineered for USPSA Production Division. The frame and slide are solid steel. The adjustable target sights are steel. The grip panels are a beautiful anodized blue aluminum. The only polymer I can find is on the magazine with the baseplate and the blue colored follower. The Shadow 2 is indeed a heavy gun but with some fantastic attention to detail and incredible fit and finish. The frame and slide may be plain black but don’t let the lack of flash fool you, there’s a fair bit to get into here.
Did I mention that it’s hefty? This is only bad if you have to carry it around on your hip. Unloaded it tips the scales at 46.5 ounces with an overall length of 8.53 inches. The Shadow 2 isn’t playing around. Not only is it an excellent target sight picture with a red fiber optic pipe up front and a serrated and blacked out rear notch for precision aiming but all of that mass soaks up recoil and makes this platform an extremely pleasant gun to shoot.
In addition the slide rails are inverted which allows everything up top to sit quite low within the frame. Naturally such a low bore axis helps even further with recoil and plays a big role in mitigating muzzle flip. Another benefit of this rail arrangement is that the Shadow 2 has full length rails from front to back. Every example which I have held (four or five of them now!) has had both minimal play and incredibly smooth operation, something which even the CZ 75 has been well known for.
The trigger is polished steel and is one of the smoothest I’ve felt, particularly the double action pull which is almost unparalleled. For a factory DA/SA trigger I have yet to find a finer example. In double action the pull is consistent start to finish without any felt staging and with a beautifully light weight. I wish every double action trigger felt as great as the Shadow 2’s!
The single action pull is two stage with a little take-up before hitting resistance then just a tiny bit more travel before it breaks. Over-travel is minimal and the reset is short for an external hammer fired gun. Once again for a double-action setup it is exceptionally good.
The lower frame has a Picatinny rail with one notch, comfortable and effective checkering on the front and backstrap, an ambi manual safety which comes with an extended replacement in the box, a slide catch on the left side, an extended beavertail, and a reversible extended magazine release. This release holds a nifty secret should you ever remove the paddle held on by a single Torx screw. Inside is a small rollpin which allows this paddle to be positioned in three different angles, it’s great attention to detail and allows that extra little measure to fine-tune the pistol for every shooter.
The grips on the Shadow 2 are quite slim and are a little curious to me. When I first held them I was a little unhappy with how they felt, something seemed a little off. I think it was along the back edge where the grip panels have vertical “steps,” I was feeling it around the web of the thumb. However, the more time I spent with it the more I came to appreciate its ergonomics. The panels are very thin and flat, grippy yet comfortable and nicely rounded along the edges. This arrangement has done quite well with female shooters. In particular the smoothing of the back of the frame is fantastic, this pistol nests right into the hand.
Brand new in the box the Shadow 2 comes with three magazines, one side is marked 9mm with witness holes up to 17 rounds while the other side is marked .40 and goes up to 12. It’s curious to see the same mags marked for two different calibers, especially as I don’t believe the Shadow 2 is chambered for anything other than 9mm.
Also in the box is a replacement ambi safety with an extended left side, also made out of steel. There are two Allen keys for adjusting the sights and a Torx key for the mag release button and trigger adjustment. There’s also a third bag which is something of a mystery to me, the Shadow 2 comes with black plastic buffers which sit between the recoil spring and the guide rod. These buffers also come in different thicknesses. I counted three of the thicker ones and two thinner ones. The pistol comes with one installed, I would guess one of the thins. These might be delving deeper into competition gun-fu than I am familiar with.
The skeletonized hammer is trapezoidal in shape and has enough serrations to easily catch with a thumb for manual operation. The slide has front and rear serrations which are comfortably aggressive, making the most out of the limited surface area. Nested inside is a cold hammer forged barrel measuring at 4.89 inches. Up top the slide is also grooved to cut down on potential glare when using the sights. As is typical with CZ firearms the frame, slide, and barrel are all serialized.
You can probably figure out where this review is heading. The CZ Shadow 2 is one heck of a great gun to shoot!
Any day where I can get 1″ or less groups at thirty feet with a handgun is a good day for me. Honestly I might have been able to push the Shadow 2 a little further if not for it being so heavy! Weight like this is great for cutting recoil but not so great for my arms, this is definitely a gun where most people will want to rest after every couple of shots. After my six groups of five I could tell that my accuracy was starting to falter.
That said, it’s rare for me to find no real complaints when reviewing a firearm and I can’t fault it for having a solid steel build. Rather, I find that to be a sign of quality. I might say that more rail slots in the frame would be nice but this isn’t a tactical style firearm, adding more slots is more likely to increase holster drag than provide any significant benefits.
There are a few variations of the Shadow 2 which I have been able to find on CZ’s website. The Black & Blue is also available in a single action only model for those who prefer a simpler operation. There’s also a variant which has an Urban Grey frame with everything else including the grips blacked out, it looks very sharp.
Also of note is an Orange model which is pricier but has a few more bells and whistles. While it may look like the same gun from the side it’s seen some notable changes on the inside such as having a barrel bushing.
The only word of caution I can give is to realize that the Shadow 2 is a competition handgun and is not meant for carry or service use. If you’re looking for something which will do a little (or a lot) of everything then this probably isn’t the right choice. If match shooting is more your speed then the Shadow 2 is absolutely worth your attention. Inside out and top to bottom, the CZ Shadow 2 is an exceptionally well built machine.
