My CZ Kadet Review and Range Report (with pics)

[Mulliga]

Well, I finally bit the bullet and bought the Kadet kit for my CZ 75B. I ordered it from J&G Sales for $250 - you can probably get it cheaper if you search around, but I'm too lazy to do much more than Google "CZ Kadet" and check the prices . J&G was out of stock, so it took about a month for the adapter to finally arrive at my door. The adapter came in the standard CZ box, with 2 mags, manual, test target, and cleaning tools.

ASSEMBLY AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The adapter itself required very little fitting (perhaps about 5 minutes of light filing). I recommend making the fit as tight as possible, as it seems that shooting with the adapter naturally loosens the slide-to-frame fit enough to make it easy to remove the slide from the gun. Putting the Kadet kit on and taking it off is fast and simple - it works exactly the same way as a regular field strip.

The overall build quality is high. Though the internals have the slightly rough look common to CZs, the external finish is the same all-business black polycoat found on the full size pistol, and, as you can see from the pictures, it fits in very nicely with the frame. The sights are adjustable, and have a 3-dot configuration that is identical to the stock CZ 75B. The magazines are mostly steel, with a plastic bottom portion/floorplate. The whole affair feels very solid.

Here it is, fully assembled:

Stripped into its component groups:

On the CZ 75 itself:

Sight picture (I know, the front sight ain't centered ):

RANGE REPORT

The slide was slightly difficult to rack at first - it's very thin, and the target sights can get in the way of your fingers. The slide would probably have benefitted from Ruger-style protrusions, though this would have ruined the look of the Kadet kit. As far as weight and balance goes, it basically feels the same as the regular 75B, which is very nice indeed.

I shot a 100 round pack of CCI Mini Mags and about 1000 rounds worth of Federal bulk pack, Remington bulk pack, and Winchester Bulk pack. The adapter proved extremely reliable with everything but the Winchester stuff, which would sometimes have a fail-to-eject (I don't blame the kit - the Winnie bulk back wasn't even copper-plated, and it seemed to be pretty dirty when I shot it - still seemed as accurate as the other bulk stuff, though).

I'm only a beginning shooter, so I only managed about 3" groups at 25 yards offhand with all ammunition. I sincerely believe the gun is capable of better, of course, but I also think it might not be able to match a Ruger, Buckmark, or Trailside in the accuracy department (YMMV).

Typical Federal bulk pack group:

Typical Winchester bulk pack group:

THE BENEFITS OF A .22 CONVERSION

Ever since I got a membership to a local indoor pistol range (http://www.afn.org/~guns/), I've been going shooting twice a week, and even 9mm ammo was starting to eat at the wallet. Using a conversion means meaningful practice with the same holster, trigger, frame/grip, and sights as the full size gun at a fraction of the price. It means you can practice lots of fun drills - draw from the holster and fire, malfunction clearing (every bulk pack has a few duds), and mag changes - without using full power ammo, and with the same controls as the full size gun. Additionally, any upgrades you make to the host gun (Hakan or Omega grips, a trigger job, etc.) are automatically conferred upon your .22 autoloader.

There are numerous other practical benefits. The ability to start off new shooters with a .22 slide and then converting to 9mm on the same gun is nice, but there's also value in starting to learn one-hand and weak-hand shooting/drills with a .22, before moving up to the full power caliber. You could also use the conversion to do anything a regular .22 autoloader can do - from plinking soda cans to hunting squirrels.

CONCLUSION

CZ continues to impress me. The 75B has proven to be excellent, the RAMI has turned out to be a great concealed-carry pistol, and the Kadet kit has answered my .22 autoloader needs. Highly recommended!

PROS:
Tough as a brick outhouse
Reliable
Extremely easy to disassemble and clean

CONS:
Slightly difficult to rack the slide
Perhaps not as accurate as other .22 pistols (maybe)
Kinda expensive (you can get a lightly used .22 pistol for about the same price)

 

[hartzpad]

I use a Kadet kit on my CZ SP-01 and it works great. Never had a malfunction although cheap remington .22lr seems to spit powder back on my hands sometimes, every other type has been perfect. Now if they only had some hi-cap Kadet mags!

 

[Pilot]

I use my Kadet Kit on both the full size CZ-75B and comapct 75D "PCR". Once you get it dialed in wiht the right ammo and get used to it, the Kadet Kit is capable of excellent accuracy, equal to my Ruger MKII.

 

[atomchaser]

I've had one for a couple months. Very positive experience as well. I had a few Failure to Fire but I think it was the cheap ammo I was using. Accuracy has been good and all the shooting that it has allowed me to do has really smoothed out the trigger.

 

[sgtb]

I have one as well and love it. It fit perfectly on my 75B but would not fit my 85 Combat without fitting so I left it alone. I have never tried it on my PCR or P01 but others say it works fine other than the slide not staying back after the last round. I believe the slide stops are different. Mine is super accurate and a blast to shoot.

 

[chris in va]

Got one too. You won't believe just how accurate that thing really is. For example, I like to hang bowling pins from a tree at about 80-90 yards, and I can usually make them dance with half of my shots.

It's fed everything I give it, cheap or not. If only my other firearms were this reliable and accurate.

BTW, I sold my *very* nice Ruger 22/45 due to this.

 

[Caseless]

Love my Kadet kit, too. But I wish CZ could have installed the Kadet front sight onto my 75B and vice versa. The Kadet front sight looks like a combat sight, not made for precision shooting.

 

[Pilot]

Love my Kadet kit, too. But I wish CZ could have installed the Kadet front sight onto my 75B and vice versa. The Kadet front sight looks like a combat sight, not made for precision shooting.

I think the intent of the Kadet Kit is for inexpensive training with a service pistol. The bonus is one accurate .22 pistol. You can always modify the sights to your liking.

 

[wally]

Are extra mags available and how much do they cost?

My wife and I like to show up at the range with 50-100 rounds pre-loaded in mags ready to go for each gun.

Nice thing about Ruger is you can order all the magazine parts and assemble them yourself for <$10 each.

The ~$35 each cost of extra mags for the Kimber, Ciener, & Marvel conversion kits is generally the deal breaker for me, plus everytime I start looking at them I end up deciding I'd rather have another gun instead that'd end up costing less -- that's how I've ended up with Walter P22, Browning Buckmark Camper and Ruger MKIII 22/45. The ~$21 cost of extra Waltehr and Browning mags was painful enough. Hmm... I don't have a SIG Trailside

--wally.

 

[DMK]

Nice writeup Mulliga! Another huge fan of the Kadet here. Goes to the range with me every time I go. Just as accurate at the Buckmarks, MKIIs and 22/45s that I've shot with. More accurate than my 6" Single Six.

Wally, the mags are available from a number of places (right from CZ, J&G, Ammoclip). They are about $30 each.

 

[rain164845]

Kadet questions

Have you tried the kadet kit on the RAMI? Does it work, and do you have any pics? I just picked up a RAMI and it is awesome, but not cheap to shoot with the increases in ammo prices. Thanks!
Joe

 

[accur8shot]

I have had a CZ PCR for several months and it has fast become my all-time favorite pistol. I just purchased the .22LR conversion kit - can't wait to set it up.

Does anyone know if the barrel can be sent out for extension/threading to be able to accept a suppressor? I just bought a Spectre and would love to be able to use it with the CZ PCR/Kadet combo.

Thanks for any info you have.

 

[KingTiger]

I got my Kadet as a complete package with threaded barrel from Tactical Innovations. At one time, they were also selling just the conversion kit with threaded barrel, not sure if that's still true. It cycled CCI subsonics with no issues from day one.

 

[armoredman]

Nice setup-long wait for the paperwork for the 'can?

Here's my Kadet review, from this morning, first time.

I finally had an opportunity to try the CZ 22lr Kadet Kit adapter! No, not the NIB one we gave away for Christmas, (note, for High Road readers, we gave away a Kadet Kit on our forum for Christmas. ), this is a used copy, and I was skeptical. Note the word - WAS.



Only have two types of ammo, some REALLY old Federal loss leader 36 grain HP, and some Aguila Super Extra 38gr HP I got from MidwayUSA last year. Well, we'll see. The Federal ammo gave several misfires, all with well struck primers, not the Kits' fault. The Kadet Kit functioned perfectly, no issues whatsoever.
Nice fit on the PCR. Note full size magazine sticks out just a bit.



Set up at the range, cussed myself for forgetting camera again, and loaded up at 10 yards. First shot I thought was primer fire only! No, that little [size=7pt]pop[/size] is supposed to sound like that with low to no recoil. I had forgotten...

OK, lets see what it will do just slinging them down range.





Ok, not bad, but what if I slow down and concentrate a bit, maybe adjust the easily adjusted rear sight?





Wow. Well, OK, but that's only 10 yards, so let's widen it out to 25 yards, good range for a pistol, right? By the way, the persistant misfire issue with the cheapie Federals gave me three duds in this one string of 10 - that's my excuse and I am sticking to it!




So, how about when using the no dud Aguila ammo?



Not bad at all - all 25 yards strings were fired two hand kneeling supported, all 10 yard groups fired two hand standing. Also note, I am not a great shot.

Ending summary - if you don't have a Kadet Kit, you need one.

 

[1-UP]

Riiiissse...rrrrIIIIIisssseee I say! Death is no reason to loaf about!

Bile rose to my throat when I saw the $250 price tag for the kit (All of 5 years ago ). I really wanted one about a year ago but they'd already risen to $400. As much as I want one, I simply refuse to pay that price when I could walk away with an awfully nice dedicated platform for around that cost.

$250 I'd have snapped one up.

Hopefully prices come back down to Earth in my lifetime.

 

[Paints]

CONS:

Kinda expensive (you can get a lightly used .22 pistol for about the same price)

I agree. I've had a Cadet for years but prefer to use my Ruger Mk II if I'm shooting a .22. Cost wise, they were about the same price, new, IIRC, but I've had both for 15 years.