What are the NATO tests done on the CZ P01

[Dropped Hammer]

I've heard quite a bit about the CZ p01 being the only pistol to pass all NATO testing...That sounds pretty impressive but what were those tests ?...Does anyone know?...I'm extremely unfamiliar with SIG's but I know the newer ones were given a 250,000 round torture test and I also know that pistols undergo tests like extreme heat, extreme cold, water immersion tests, as well as the drop tests , the throw test and parts interchangeability..etc...So what type of tests were done on the CZ?...I just can't seem to find the info ..but maybe I'm not looking hard enough...Answers greatly appreciated...Thanks guys

[Stiletto]

Link?

[chris in va]

You may want to ask that here...

http://p201.ezboard.com/fczechpistols82792frm61

[BredanSIG]

Linky (http://www.czusa.com/07.01.php?msgid=37)


CZ P-01 gets NATO approval. The next Generation of perfect pistols
2003-02-01 09:24:31

The P-01 is now a NATO classified pistol and issued the NATO stock number NSN 1005-16-000-8619.

The CZ P-01 is the culmination of several years of exhaustive design and testing. Ceska Zbrojovka has always had some of the most rigorous testing requirements in the world but, the Czech National police has required that they go even further, the testing regiment for this new pistol was the most demanding anyone has ever encountered. There are almost 20 specific requirements covering everything from accuracy to interchangability, from safety to reliability/durability and everything in between.

The pistol: The CZ P-01 is a Gen 3 pistol that began as a requirement for a lightweight compact pistol that will deliver the accuracy and durability of a full size, full weight pistol. This was no small task, several manufacturers declined to even start the project.

The first thing you notice about this pistol is the M3 light rail on the frame, a first for CZ, the alloy frame is a little wider at the top than a steel CZ 75. This adds strength and rigidity for mounting the light and increasing the accuracy and service life of the pistol. The P-01 also sports enhanced controls as well as a drop free magazine and a lanyard loop.

The pistol was required to pass a wide variety of tests:

The police required that the pistol ensure the highest level of comfort, an extended slide release was added as well as an extended magazine release and the trigger was reshaped to give a more consistent pull throughout the trigger stroke.

The pistol must be 100% reliable in extreme conditions, the following is a list of some of the minimum requirements.

Must be able to complete the following without failure:

4000 dry firings
3000 De-cockings
Operator level disassembly 1350 times with out ware or damage to components.
Complete disassembly 150 times, this is all the way down, pins, springs etc.
100% interchangability, any number of pistols randomly selected, disassembled, parts mixed and reassembled with no failures of any kind including loss of accuracy.


Safety requirements:

Drop test
1.5 meter (4.9”) drop test, this is done 54 times with the pistol loaded (blank) and the hammer cocked. Dropping the pistol on the butt, the muzzle, back of the slide, sides of the gun, top of the slide, in essence, any angle that you could drop the gun from. This is done on concrete and 0 failures are allowed! A failure is the gun firing.

3meter drop (9.8”) 5 times with the pistol loaded (blank) and the hammer cocked, This is done on concrete and 0 failures are allowed! A failure is the gun firing.

After these tests are complete the gun must fire without service.

The factory contracted an independent lab to do additional testing on guns that previously passed the drop tests. These pistol were dropped an additional 352 times without failure.

The pistol must also complete an environmental conditions test:
This means cold, heat, dust/sand and mud.
The pistol must fire after being frozen for 24 hours at –35C (-36F).
The pistol must fire after being heated for 24 hours at 70C (126F)
The pistol must fire after being submerged in mud, sand and combinations including being stripped of oil then completing the sand and mud tests again.

Service life:
The service life requirement from the Czech police was 15,000 rounds of +P ammo!
The pistol will exceed 30,000 rounds with ball 9mm.

Reliability:
The reliability requirements for the P-01 pistol are 99.8%, that’s a .2% failure rate.
This equals 20 stoppages in 10,000 rounds or 500 “Mean Rounds Between Failure” (MRBF)
During testing, the average number of stoppages was only 7 per 15,000 rounds fired, this is a .05% failure rate, a MRBF rate of 2142 rounds! Over 4 time the minimum acceptable requirement.
The U.S. Army MRBF requirement is 495 rounds for 9mm pistols with 115 grain Ball ammunition.

Heritage:
The P-01 is based on the CZ 75, the most used pistol in the world. Over 60 countries use it as the standard side arm of their Armies, National police forces, National security agencies or other Law enforcement organizations. No other pistol can make this claim.

[LAK]

Credit where credit is due. And I wonder what hammering a steel framed version would take.

[Sturm]

Lak there is a steel frame version, but in .40 and it is a manual safety model rather than decocker. CZ 40 Compact www.cz-usa.com. CZ uses cast steel, but some very well known gunsmiths believe there is little or no sructural strength differences between forged and precision cast steel. Of course, Ruger has been precision casting longer than anyone I know of. The aluminum frame of the P-01 is however, forged and the PCR or D model is cast. In aluminum, I feel a little more comfortable with the forged frame of my P-01 vs. the cast frame of the PCR. It may be psychological because as the test report showed the P-01 frame is thicker in all the critical areas than the PCR! ;)

[Old Shooter]

BredanSIG, very nice.

Where did you find the information?

[pistolpete]

Old Shooter, it is on the CZ website. Here is the dir. link to that page:
http://www.czusa.com/07.01.php?msgid=37
I have shot my friends P-01 and it is very nice. Trigger is not as good as my CZ85B, but after about 1000 more rounds, my friend said that is is much better now. I really think that it will be my next gun.
Pete

[BredanSIG]

The linky in my reply takes you to the CZ USAs Press release.
Last weekend, I took my P01 to the range and am very impressed with the gun overall. The ammo of choice was Wally World WWB 115 gr. FMJ. Future trips will include S&B, Igman, Geco, M882 Ball, Winchester 124gr. and some Santa Barbra 115gr FMJ ammo. I may just subject my P01 to a ammo torture of some sort. Feed all the above brands in one range trip to see if the gun gets indigestion.

[LAK]

Sturm,

Ah, I hadn't thought to compare it with the CZ40. Yes, I am familiar with the cast v forged issue - and still prefer forged. Still, 15K with an alloy frame is really very good indeed.

CZ seem to have a history of turning out a considerable number of items that rate overall very good to excellent both in the handgun and long gun catagories.

[Sturm]

LAK, The .40 Compact looks great, but I don't have first hand experience. Then again, that was the situation when I bought the P-01. 15,000 rounds of +P, 30,000 rounds of standard pressure ammo, and that was just the test rquirement. After a year of shooting it, I really can't think of a better choice for a carry pistol. The accuracy level defies belief until you shoot one. 50' rested groups of 1" and even better are possible, in fact, this pistol is more accurate than many full size service pistols and it is light enough at 27 ounces for full time carry. It is truly impressive! When the SP-01 was announced, I was excited, all the way up to when I found out it was an all-steel 9mm. 42 oz. or thereabouts. Great for sport shooting, too heavy for a carry gun. I do believe though that CZ will eventually give us an alloy version. This frame design seems to be where CZ is headed with metal framed pistols;)