In the early 1990s, the brand name “CZ” rocked the domestic firearms industry alongside the popularization of 9mm pistols. CZ or Ceska Zbrojovka, considered one of the biggest firearms manufacturers in the world, then battled it out with other 9mm giants such as the Jericho, Berreta, Tanfoglio and Sig Sauer as favorite side arm and even to some extent, competition guns.

It was actually the CZ 75 model with an all-steel construction frame with high-capacity double-column magazine that left a mark on Filipino hand gun enthusiasts.

However, the return of the caliber 45 – most of them upgraded with high-capacity load magazine – in the shooting community, the 9mm hand guns suddenly found the market very crowded forcing some of them to go into hibernation. There were shooters who also shifted from 9mm to more powerful pistols that included Super 38s, Calibre 40s that seemed to be more effective in downing steel plates in shooting competitions.

But civilians who are aware on government policies on firearms ownership tend to be more rational in owning 9mms than other more powerful pistols. Other than issues on local firearms laws – that change more often than weather condition, they find 9mm pistols handy, lighter and more practical to use both for defense and sporting purposes.

“We believe that 9mm pistols are still the most popular and most sought after handguns in the country,” Perry Punla of Countermeasures Equipages & Security Technologies said.

Perry and his partner, Marissa “Sasa” Punla, bagged the exclusive distributorship contract for the CZ SPO1 Shadow in the country in December last year. Since then, the Shadow has selling like hotcakes as the company had sold around 100 pieces already.

Designed by Angus Hobdell and Adamy Tyc, top-ranking CZ sport shooters, the Punlas think that CZ will again be a household name in the shooting community with the its many features that were designed for Filipinos. Starting with the special grip that is a lot smaller than those from other 9mm breeds, the SP-01 Shadow can be held comfortably even by Filipino women shooters with average palm size. Despite its thin configuration, the proportionality in overall design did not compensate the “good looks” of the Shadow.

Another remarkable new feature of the SP01 Shadow is its 18 plus one magazine capacity. It has an almost unnoticeable extended grip length. Its predecessor, the CZ-75 only can load up 16 plus one bullet. Comparing them on overall height specs, the CZ SP-01 Shadow is 147mm tall vis-a-vis the CZ-75’s 138mm.

Out of the box, Perry claims the SP-01 Shadow is competition-ready. He was quick in highlighting other features of the Shadow without looking at the gun brochure. The Shadow has an integral beaver tail and ambidextrous safety lever.

Shooters can easily nail the targets with the highly visible, elevated Novac rear sights that are matched with fiber optic front sights. Also for competition use, it is also equipped with extended magazine and slide releases. The SP-01 features no firing block, which reduces trigger pull weight and improves trigger travel. Having both single-action and double-action characteristics, this unique feature shortens the trigger pull from the second shot and there after.

From the second shot, it will give you a feeling that you’re shooting a single-action, semi-automatic pistol. This feature also allows the Shadow to be placed in a cock and lock position while staying on semi-auto mode. Just unlock and pull the trigger to shoot. And then when the hammer is “homed” or down, the Shadow is on a double action mode. Again, just pull the trigger and it’s always ready to fire.

On the safety angle, the Shadow has a load indicator just beside the extractor. For tactical use, there is also a crafty-designed railing on the receiver for flash light and laser point device.

On world shooting competitions, the CZ SP-01 Shadow has made other 9mm insecure when Adam Tyc bagged the recent World IPSC Production Division Championship (men, junior and team); recent Austral-Asian IPSC Production Division Champion (men and junior); and two-times Czech IPSC Production Division Champion.

The Punlas attended the Shot Show Convention at Las Vegas, Nevada last February 2 to 5, 2008 and they were told by the American shooters that they envy Filipino gun enthusiasts since the CZ SP-01 Shadow is readily available in the Philippines and not in their country.

The CZ SP-01 Shadow is priced at Php 80,000 which includes the CZ original gun box, two magazines, a cleaning kit, an ammo magazine loader, an extra main spring and dummy bullets with dummy primer for dry fire practice.