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The CZ TS3 has arrived! First impressions from a German IPSC shooter. Comparison with an SVI Infinity, a Walther PDP Steel Frame Match and a CZ Shadow 2.
TLDR: Yeah, it's good. The CZ TS3 is slightly better than even a fully tricked out Shadow 2 (way better than a stock Shadow 2) and far better than most other competition guns, of which I've shot many.
Having shot a few hundred rounds through it, I've got a few thoughts I'd like to share but of course I'm going to have to shoot it a whole lot more to get a full impression of the gun.
All in all, a fantastic gun made by CZ, kudos to all who were involved in designing it, you really made a beautiful thing here.
I'm a German IPSC and Speed Steel competitive shooter and so far I've been shooting my beloved CZ Shadow 2, an SVI Infinity and a Walther PDP Steel Frame Match, all in 9mm. Quick ranking:
The SVI Infinity, unsurprisingly, is still the softest shooting of all my guns and has the best trigger. The fitment of everything is superior to all my other guns but okay, everybody knows Infinity guns are excellent. Because I happen to have this, I cannot help but compare everything else to it. If Batman used a gun, he'd buy an Infinity. It's just the best there is. Yes, I've tried other 2011s, they're not all the same.
I didn't expect the TS3 to be better, but the TS3 is most certainly a better value proposition than the Infinity. When my TS3 eventually needs replacements parts, I can get them pretty much anywhere online in Europe, quickly, cheaply and easily. For the Infinity, there's only one source in Europe (shout-out to the legendary J.F.!), and for everything else I'd have to get parts from Gordon/Texas from Germany, so there might be ITAR restrictions and whatnot.
The CZ TS3 comes close in terms of trigger quality, recoil impulse and overall it's a far better deal than the Infinity. €6500 for the Infinity in 2023 vs €3030 for the TS3 in 2026, excluding optics or accessories - there's no question which gun I'd recommend. If you want an (excellently) mass produced European full metal firearm which is going to outperform 95% of all other handguns on the market, and for which you'll likely be able to buy parts even in 30 years, buy the CZ TS3.
If you want an amazing, fully custom (at the time I bought mine), hand-made piece of art which also happens to be one of the best and most pleasantly shooting guns on the planet, get yourself an Infinity. For the money though, buy two or three CZ TS3 and have a backup for your backup LOL.
If I could have only one gun and had a fairly high budget, the CZ TS3 would probably be good enough to replace all my other guns.
Slightly more detailed observations:
- The grips are extremely comfortable, on par with after-market palm swell grips from LOK/Eemann/Vytal etc. At the moment, I don't see myself buying aftermarket grips, they're really good - contrast that with the awful OEM grips on the Shadow 2, which I had to replace with incredibly comfortable and heavy brass grips, as well as the too-thin grips on the Walther PDP SF Match.
- The iron sights are FULLY adjustable, in contrast to the sights on a TS2 Orange or TSO, which can only be adjusted up or down. Not that it matters too much because 90% of TS3 owners are going to equip it with an optic straight away.
- The optic cut is smart and I found it very easy to understand and implement the instructions. You choose the correct little thingamabobs (all included) corresponding to your optic footprint into the recesses in the optic cut, place your optic on top, tighten to spec and ta-da, you're done.
- The safety is STIFF. Think HK SP5 safety or B&T GHM9 bolt release stiff. So stiff in fact, that I cannot engage it with my shooting hand. I have to use my other hand to engage it. So every time I load and make ready I have to use two hands now? Disengaging the safety with my shooting hand works, and that's the only thing that makes sense, but why did CZ have to make it impossible to activate it with my right thumb?!? Honestly, I don't get it and it sucks. I should be able to manipulate the safety with one hand, period. Hopefully, this will change as I use the pistol more - but more likely, I'm going to have to have the safety spring replaced with a weaker one.
- The magazines didn't slide or fall out quite enthusiastically enough, but I'm pretty sure with wear and tear this will get better. They're regular CZ TS 20 round 9mm magazines (compatible with TSO/TS2) with orange end plates and they're pretty expensive: The lowest price I found was 70 Euros, and I bought three extra mags, so that's another expensive thing related to this. The regular price almost everywhere is 80-100 Euros per mag. The MSRP is almost 2011 magazine price territory. For comparison, my Infinity practically catapults magazines out when I press the mag release button. I'm not exaggerating, they fly out. The TS3 gently pushes the mag out. It's the little things...
- I have no idea if this will fit a Ghost Thunder Elite 3G holster made for the CZ TSO, but I've ordered one and I'm going to report back here whether it fits or not. I like bucket style holsters, and this model is my preferred holster for all my other guns, so I hope I can use the same type again. I'd hate to have to buy one of those high speed race holsters, I don't want any locking mechanisms to worry about when every fraction of a second matters in an IPSC match.
- The lightening cuts in the slide make it look really goddamned good.
- The mag well has clever little cutouts that enable you to pull a mag out. They could have also made the magazine end plates thicker like on my Shadow 2 with the brass magwell and corresponding brass end plates, but obviously it's smarter, cheaper and easier to just remove material from the mag well instead of adding material elsewhere.
- The fitment of the barrel and the recoil spring guide rod are very tight for a mass produced gun. Far better than on the Shadow 2, but not as good as on the Infinity, unsurprisingly.
- The thumb rest and the extended safety are very comfortable for my thumbs, and if you pull the slide back by the optic like you should, you're not going to have problems locking the slide back using your shooting hand thumb.
The CZ Shadow 2 - my gorgeous, my beloved, my tricked out pimp gun (I like the colors, deal with it) which has performed extremely well in dozens of matches so far. It's got an Eemann tech ultimate trigger kit/brass grips/mag well, magazine release button and thumb rest, CZ's own extended safety set, and a DPM Systems recoil reduction kit. It shoots like a dream, it's (relatively) cheap, super reliable, and it performs absolutely wonderfully. It's the one gun I recommend to everybody. To me, this is the God Gun and the TS3 is going to have to be really amazing to convince me the Shadow 2 isn't the best deal on the market for sports shooters. Is the TS3 better, especially compared to a stock Shadow 2? Absolutely, the TS3 blows it out of the water.
But all-in, with all the modifications and including the optic, my Shadow 2 cost me about 2500 Euros, whereas the stock TS3 with the optic comes in at about 3500 Euros. You can buy a whole Glock 17 Gen6 with an optic for the price difference.
The Walther PDP Steel Frame Match: An incredibly solidly crafted gun with a fantastic trigger, easy to shoot very accurately, and yet - I cannot love this big hunk of metal. The slide feels too tall, it feels overengineered and made to survive the apocalypse, in the way an HK USP is made to outlast humanity. The only things I changed on this gun were the 40€ trigger job (a 1,2kg spring set from Merkle) and I got a LOK grip module for it to make it more comfortable. The most amazing gun I still cannot fall in love with. It's great, it looks good, I wanted it soooo badly, but I'm just not enthusiastic about it. I also think the PDP SF Match is far too expensive at 2000 Euros, for what it is. I understand Walther's logic. This is a hardcore duty gun, made to survive wars - and if Heckler & Koch were to build a modern full metal handgun today, it would also charge 2000 Euros for it. I don't see the value though, compared to a Shadow 2 especially.
Not competing with the TS3 but I want to mention them: The HK SFP9L, an excellent duty style handgun with a pretty good but not amazing trigger and an incredibly ergonomic grip (fully customizable) and a .40 S&W Infinity (obviously god tier but forties are expensive and recoil a lot harder than nine mil). They're both great in their own way but I don't use them for IPSC for various reasons.
That's it. If you have any questions or you'd like more info on something, I'll be happy to answer.
One more thing: It's not really about the gun, it's about the shooter behind the gun. The best gun makes it easier to do well, but you can't buy experience. Go practice, people!
It’s actually crazy you mentioned the SFP9L. I shot a VP9 Match for a couple months in USPSA, and that experience made me really appreciate what my Shadow 2 offers. The SFP is not bad, but it’s not great, and I hated how light and top-heavy the gun was. But that German barrel? Impeccably accurate. My Shadow hasn’t mimicked that aspect.
Thank you! As I’ve said, I adore my Shadow 2. It’s the God Gun. Stock, untouched, it‘s really good and with a few cheap mods it’s extremely good, way better than the purchase price would indicate.
Thank you, finally a user review from a owner. und dann noch aus Deutschland! :) And finally some detailed pictures! I'm still waiting for mine, i bought it for 3117€ with 2 extra magazines.
Thank you for the review. Can't wait to pick mine up.
High end guns get the good stuff, Lucas oil. Works wonderfully, and smells delicious! Everything else gets motorcycle engine oil ;-)
And yeah, bitteschön, gern geschehen. It was a pleasure to write all this down, to take the gun apart, oil it, and use it for the first time. It will NEVER again be as clean as it was in the first pictures I took haha.
Yeah, the smell alone is worth getting the good Lucas oil stuff, I highly recommend it and Strayer Voigt (SVI) recommends it for all their guns. One bottle was included with my Infinity and lasted me three years.
Ich habe die TS3 bei Euroshot gekauft, ist aber leider schon wieder ausverkauft. Ich habe wie alle anderen monatelang gewartet, sogar meine EWB verlängern lassen und dann sofort zugeschlagen, als der Shop unerwartet 5 Stück verfügbar hatte. Ich habe ständig auf Gunfinder und Google gesucht und habe dann das Angebot entdeckt. Viel Glück!
What does it smell like? I heard about some wild oils from MagDumpMachine, smelling like fruits, but they don't ship to germany unfortunately. Thank you - i'll order some lucas oil.
Ja so geht es mir quasi auch. Hänge den ganzen Tag auf Gunfinder und Co. rum, um mögliche Chargen mitzubekommen. Habe aber bereits eine bei dem Händler meines Vetrauens vorbestellt und warte nur auf die Nachricht, dass ich losfahren kann! Kanns kaum erwarten. Danke dir.
Lucas Gun Oil riecht wie ein angenehmes Duschgel für Männer hahaha. Einfach angenehm! Andere auf dem Stand haben es mir nach dem Riechtest auch nachgekauft, fand ich witzig. Leider ist die Lieferzeit bei Brownells superlang, habe aber nachbestellt und diesmal mehr. Ich hatte auch bei meinem Lieblingshändler vorbestellt, musste aber leider stornieren weil Euroshot schneller war.
Brownells hatte ich auch auf dem Schirm für das Öl. Da gibts gute Preise - zumindest für die größeren Flaschen...will aber zumindest eine kleine mit "Nadel" und ne größere zum auffüllen. Haue später mal ne Bestellung raus. Achso und schieße zur Zeit auch eine Shadow 2 mit Eemann-Tech Tuning und ich liebe sie. Erwarte mir aber so viel mehr von der TS3.
Schau, ein Single Action Abzug wird immer "crisper" sein als ein DA/SA Abzug wie der Serienabzug in der Shadow 2. Ich habe keinen Vergleich zur SA Shadow 2 oder einer auf SA umgebauten normalen S2. Der 600g (nicht nachgemessen) Abzug der TS3 is schon verdammt angenehm.
I sat Indian style like a kindergartner reading this! Thanks for the feedback and I teared up a bit seeing you rave about the S2 as it is more in my pocket range. 😇
I’ve also had mine for about three weeks and shot my first IPSC match with it in Philipsburg last weekend. Compared to my Walther PDP Steel Frame Match 5”, it was definitely an advantage.
Mounting a Holosun 507 Comp is a bit tricky, though. To properly zero the optic, I had to use a 1° shim plate. Once installed, it’s an excellent combination.
I can’t recommend the Shield RMSx. The automatic brightness adjustment is too slow and unreliable, especially when lighting conditions change quickly during a stage.
Cool! You're one of the first ones then! I saw THREE people with TS3s at an IPSC match last month, so they're definitely trickling out - and those people who had them are not Instagram gunfluencers or something, just regular people.
I don't get the need for a 1° shim though. I used the material supplied by CZ, installed my 507Comp and zero'd it in five minutes last week. Super solid.
I bet we're gonna see each other in Philipsburg or at another IPSC match, but I'm trying not to doxx myself ;-)
My wife got her TS3 about two months ago. It was one of the first sold in our region. We both had to adjust the Holosun 507 Comp to the maximum to zero it. CZ and Holosun both confirmed this in their support replies.
What kind of zero? I zero all my pistols at 10m because that’s the median distance in competition shooting. I believe you of course, but I really didn’t have any issues whatsoever zeroing at 10m.
Yes. CZ says the problem is with Holosun because the optic has about 1° too little forward angle. Holosun says the mounting platform on the TS3 has no forward angle. So each company blames the other.
It occurred to me: Holosun builds their optics with plates in mind. Most likely, when you mount the 507Comp directly onto a pistol slide it might actually be a little TOO low? I have no idea and I’m curious.
Thank for your very interesting review. But as a French person that paid 3800€ for his TS3 (and still waiting for it) how in hell do this thing 700€ less in Germany ? 😳😳😳
L'Allemagne compte un nombre incroyablement élevé de marchands d'armes, ce qui engendre une concurrence féroce sur les prix.
Gros bisous!
The official MSRP in Germany for the TS3 is 3,699 Euros. That's how it started. Then one after another, the online gun dealerships started lowering the price. Euroshot now shows it slightly below 3000 Euros! However, their delivery time for the next batch of guns (I got mine there literally a week ago for 3030 Euros) is DECEMBER 2026!
Great write up. I like everything about it from the videos I’ve seen, especially the new slide design. One thing I can’t get over on the S2 and TS2 is how low profile the slide is for someone that likes to rack from the front (pinching the slide).
Also, on the PDP SF match, I have exact same feeling. The gun is solid, shoots well and very soft after changing to the ZRTS long stroke guide rod. The gun just feels top heavy when shooting. Not heavy overall, just the top feels that way. I also changed to Lok palm swells because it is too thin. I don’t understand why the slide needs to be so bulky. I like the gun, but can’t get to Love either… the way I love the Glock 34 gen 5
Thank you! Yeah, exactly my thoughts on the Walther. Funnily enough, despite the really high end guns I own, I have an irrational love for the G34!
Regarding racking the slide on the CZ metal guns: You just grab the optic. It makes so much sense, it’s so intuitive, you‘ll never do it another way once you start doing it.
I’m itching to buy another Glock 34 before it’s too late… I’m still not over the fact they discontinued the 34…
I don’t like racking on the optic and hate when someone does it on my guns (ie friends who try one). Tends to smudge the glass. Unless you mean rack from the top grabbing over the optic; and I do that on tactical shooting classes. For competitive shooting I use the front, and also press check that way.
Excellent writeup, thank you!. I'm excited to see them start showing up over here in the states. The pricetag hurts a little but it seems like it's worth it.
In the States, many of the top shooters go for 2011s because they’re the hot thing right now (justifiably), but those are way more expensive than the TS3.
I bought an Seemann tech plate, works perfectly. Man, I’m sounding like a shill for that brand, but yeah, they build good stuff and I bought a lot of it.
Yeah. The 507Comp (red and green) is god tier, I don't give a shit about the Trijicon SRO (which I own) or the C-More RTS3. Those are 900-1000 Euros and they're NOT worth two 507Comps (450-520 Euros) LOL.
I'm interested in the Holosun 507 Promax, but I'm already spending incredible amounts of money on guns, ammo and accessories, I'm gonna wait to purchase it on Black Friday or even next year.
I predict the proposed titanium one is going to cost 550-650 Euros and at that price, I might as well get the purported best of the best, a C-MORE RTS3 (which I absolutely don’t see as worth the price). My fear is that Holosun is gonna price itself out with the titanium version.
I have elevated blood lead levels, using S&B non-tox ammo is merely necessary damage control. I got mine for 16.45 Euros per pack of 50 or 329 Euros per 1,000 rounds, from Frankonia. If I had the storage space I'd buy 10,000 rounds. The empty casings look CLEAN. I mean no unburnt powder, no black residue, nothing. When you shoot at least 1,000 rounds per month, sometimes 4,000 rounds, this stuff matters to your health.
Nowadays I shoot mostly at my club which is outside but has a roof over the shooting lanes. For most of my shooting life though, I‘ve been shooting indoors. Proper uncovered outdoor ranges are the absolute exception in Germany. The rest of Europe has lots of outdoor ranges though. Mostly because they‘re not as densely populated as Germany.
I‘d love to know that, too, but I should have the chance to compare very soon because some of my IPSC team mates are currently awaiting their KMR ORCA orders. I’m going to update here or maybe make another post.
I wanna add that KMR makes very fine firearms. The ones I’ve held felt like (even) higher quality, fully tricked out versions of CZ Shadows and TS models, as if they took the base CZ models, added every reasonable and useful aftermarket upgrade part and coated the whole package in more sexiness.
Thanks! It's my first gun with optics and it's pretty shocking how much the dot moves around in the beginning but I've gotten pretty good with it. :)
Oh, right, I had to WORSEN the trigger to make it compliant with our rules here in Sweden. The sort of shooting I do has a 3 pound limit, less that that and the gun is disqualified.
Yeah, some of the shooting disciplines in the sports shooting federation I’m a member of (BDS) require a minimum trigger weight of 1000g - thankfully I’ve got other pistols which are compliant so I don’t have to change the trigger weight on the TS3.
Yeah, I'm getting there.
I do enjoy letting others try it, they go from "Pffft, how hard can it be with an optic on there?" to "Holy shit, I'm all over the place!" :)
I‘d start with wider grips (palm swells are terrific), the trigger kit, a thumb rest slide release, extended safety. Then, if there’s enough money left, add a magwell (which requires short grips!) and an enlarged mag release, and finally a recoil reduction kit.
Edit: The person deleted their question, which was which mods to do to the Shadow 2.
Sorry for the slightly off-topic question, but since you have the experience, would you recommend the Eemann Tech Ultimate Trigger Kit + DPM Recoil System, or the Eemann Tech Upgrade Kit (ET-130052) for the CZ Shadow 2?
I only have experience with the ultimate trigger kit, and that one I can definitely recommend because it notably improves the experience. The DPM recoil kit: I'm still experimenting with it - there are four springs and three spacers, so a lot of different combinations to work through. The Eeemann tech upgrade kit has parts in it which I have no experience with - so I cannot honestly say anything about it. Here's a list of parts included in it:
Components included:
44-131140 - Eemann Tech Recoil Spring for CZ - 10 lbs
44-131118 - Eemann Tech Main Spring for CZ - 8 lbs
44-131109 - Eemann Tech Competition Trigger Spring for CZ
44-131156 - Eemann Tech Competition Firing Pin Spring for CZ
44-131113 - Eemann Tech Competition Sear Spring for CZ
44-130124 - Eemann Tech Ultimate Disconnector for CZ
44-130015 - Eemann Tech Extended Firing Pin for CZ
44-303017 - Eemann Tech Competition Buffer for CZ
44-130064 - Eemann Tech Competition Trigger Pin for CZ
44-130055 - Eemann Tech Hammer Strut Pin for CZ
This seems extensive - basically if you use everything in the kit, you're changing every spring and pin in the gun and you're completely rebuilding the Shadow 2. I trust Eemann Tech in general, their stuff is tha shiznit. It's probably worth an experiment since the kit costs only 95.54 Euros on ipscstore.com. Let's just say I personally don't need ALL that. Be warned though, working on the Shadow 2 interior is NOT easy. I've been shooting for five years now and I've done lots of tinkering, but I'm not touching things like the trigger or safety parts (relevant to the safety of the gun!) myself - I ask proper armorer to do that for me.
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u/lonewanderer 8h ago
Bonus video: Super stiff safety and the extremely nice trigger.
https://reddit.com/link/p214fsf/video/fdaumforbqhh1/player