Gun Review: CZ P-10 C Suppressor-Ready

CZ’s P-10 C is my favorite striker-fired, carry-sized pistol. I gave it a full five stars when I reviewed it in December of 2016. If anything, my opinion of it has only gone up since. I’ve fired thousands of rounds of every type of ammo imaginable through my FDE P-10 C, including 10 rounds with the gun underwater. It has never failed me or anyone who has borrowed it (many of whom bought one afterwards). But the P-10 C Suppressor-Ready let me down . . .

The extremely limited-numbers first production run of the CZ P-10 C Suppressor-Ready (one of which I just had to get my hands on, naturally) has this little laser weld lump on the front rail insert. You can see it in the above photo just over the “read manual before use” warning on the frame. Subsequent production runs do not have this weld.

With the weight of a suppressor on the barrel, it causes the slide to press against the weld and it slows down the works. CZ told me to expect a break-in period of about 50 rounds. The hard-as-hell, nitrided steel slide will simply wear away that spot weld lump.

Unfortunately, after almost 200 rounds I still wasn’t getting successful cycling with weak plinking ammo. The CZ P-10 C Suppressor-Ready would cycle self-defense ammo and other 9mm loads that were, let’s say, in the top 70 percent of the 9mm power level spectrum. But it wouldn’t cycle stuff in the bottom 30 percent. What I’d generally call practice ammo or range ammo or plinking ammo, etc.

And after all those rounds, the weld lump was still there. So CZ suggested I use the heaviest suppressor I have and some powerful ammo (I had gone with the lightest suppressor, thinking it would aid cycling). The combo would take care of the weld lickety-split.

But I’m not that patient so I punched the front rail insert’s two pins out of the frame and lifted the insert up, then filed down the weld lump until it was perfectly flush. I hit it with my Super Black Touch-Up Pen to hide the missing finish and hit the range again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gc-CAUTQp4

Much better! But still not perfect.

When suppressed, this P-10 C Suppressor-Ready still isn’t 100 percent reliable with the lightest loads out there, such as Freedom Munition’s HUSH 165 grain (loaded to just 800 fps) and CapArms 147 grain (loaded to only 900 fps). But it improved from zero percent function with this ammo to about 85 percent.

It ran various, standard-power 115 and 124 grain ammo flawlessly, and ran Federal 147 grain subsonic (about 1,025 fps) with authority. It will undoubtedly run any self-defense ammo on the market.

So, fine, whatever. I love shooting the lightly-loaded subsonic stuff like the HUSH, because it’s so freaking quiet. But so far, with this first production run at least, the P-10 C S-R doesn’t run it reliably.

For what it’s worth, I’ve also had this happen with GLOCKs and a couple other pistols that use tilt-barrel locking systems, where the barrel hood locks into the slide. The weight of a suppressor pushes the hood up into the slide even harder, and more rearwards oomph is needed to unlock the system.

I should also mention that I’ve shot the 165 grain HUSH through four or five pistol caliber carbines: my CZ Scorpion EVO, the B&T GHM9, the Ruger PC Carbine, the Nordic Components PCC. I’m pretty sure there was at least one more, not to mention my CZ SP-01, a Rex Zero 1T and a CZ 75B Suppressor-Ready.

I had zero issues in any of them. It’s absolutely on the lightly-loaded end of the spectrum, but not cycling reliably is definitely the exception to the rule.

With the suppressor off, the P-10 C S-R eats everything. It runs the lightest plinking ammo out there (I shot some particularly weak 115 grain reloads through it) up to +P “flying ashtray” hollow points without complaint.

Like its non-suppressor-ready brother, the C S-R ships with a small, medium, and large backstrap and two magazines. But the C S-R’s mags come complete with +2 baseplates, bumping magazine capacity up to 17 rounds.

It also rocks tall sights with Tritium inserts. Two dots on the rear sight . . .

And one orange dot on the front.

The tall rear has a claw-like ledge to aid in one-handed slide racking. It’s fixed in place via a set screw; loosening that screw allows for easy windage adjustment without any need for a mallet or sight pusher.

Muzzle threads are standard 1/2×28 with a nice, square shoulder machined into the cold hammer forged barrel. The included thread protector also protects the shoulder, and is slotted on the muzzle end to aid in removal if stuck.

Everything else is standard P-10 C. Which is a good thing. I love the grip texture, the ergos, and the class-leading trigger pull.

At least with this first production run of the the P-10 C Suppressor-Ready, there’s no guarantee that it will cycle lightly-loaded 9mm ammo. Standard ammo? No problem. Self-defense ammo? Most assuredly.

Maybe another few hundred rounds and this one will break in. Maybe subsequent production runs of the C S-R have already solved the problem. At the risk of seeming a CZ fanboy (perish the thought), it’s a small imperfection in an otherwise crackerjack pistol.

Specifications: CZ P-10 C Suppressor-Ready

Caliber: 9mm
Capacity: 17+1
Length: 8 inches
Barrel Length: 4.61 inches
Weight: 26 ounces
Sights: suppressor height steel 3-dot night sights with Tritium inserts
MSRP: $519

Ratings (out of five stars):

Overall * * *
Everything from my original review applies. My only complaint: the first run of CZ P-10 C Suppressor-Ready handguns chokes on lightly-loaded 9mm ammo when fitted with a suppressor.