The Norinco NZ-85B is a Chinese copy of the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

pistol, the

CZ 85 The CZ 85 is a semi-automatic pistol chambered for 9×19mm Parabellum.The Complete Encyclopedia of Pistols and Revolvers, A.E. Hartink, page 108 It was manufactured in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) by Česká zbrojovka firearms, Česká Z ...

, which was an improved version of the legendary Czech pistol, the

CZ 75 The CZ 75 is a semi-automatic pistol made by Czech firearm manufacturer ČZUB. First introduced in 1975, it is one of the original " wonder nines" and features a staggered-column magazine, all-steel construction, and a hammer forged barrel. I ...

Design

The pistol design is based on the Czech

, specifically the CZ 85B, which is a modernization of the old CZ 85. It has a firing pin block safety (which grants more safety to the user than the old manual safety, similar to that of the Browning Hi-Power, which did not decock the hammer), squared off trigger guard (for better handling of the weapon), a ring hammer (for easy cocking and decocking of the hammer), and tri-dot sights (for better aiming capabilities than the old system of front blade and a rear square notch). The CZ 85 itself is also a modernized and upgraded version of the

itself. The NZ-85B also has some improvements over its original gun. The NZ 85B, like a lot of Chinese copies of guns, has a heavy duty forged (not cast) steel frame and slide, what makes it one of the most solid, robust self-loading pistols on the market. Unlike

cast steel Steel casting is a specialized form of casting involving various types of steel cast to either final/net or near-net shape. Steel castings are used when iron castings cannot deliver enough strength or shock resistance.Oberg, p. 1332 Examples ...

forged steel Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it ...

is made with strength and toughness in mind. It has a chrome-lined barrel to extend the barrel life, make it easier to clean, and protect it better from corrosion and erosion than a non-chromed barrel. Because it's a handgun, one doesn't need to worry about the little difference of accuracy between a chromed and a non-chromed barrel (which has better accuracy). The gun has a slide-mounted safety/decocker, which makes it slightly more safe than other types of safeties or decockers, because when the safety is engaged, it also decocks the hammer, preventing any kind of accidental discharges. The NZ-85B has a double-action trigger. With this system, one can shoot the gun with the hammer cocked or decocked. This gun has a ten-round double column magazine, similar to that of the Browning Hi-Power, which was one of the first guns to ever adopt the double column magazine. The gun's frame has blue finished steel and it has a plastic grip that can easily be replaced by taking out a couple of screws. In addition to all these common stats of Chinese copied guns, the NZ 85B also has slide rails in the inside rather than the outside of the frame, a system said to increase accuracy and smooth operation.

References

{{reflist 9mm Parabellum semi-automatic pistols Semi-automatic pistols of the People's Republic of China Norinco