CZ 75

The CZ 75 is a semi-automatic pistol designed by Czech engineer Frantisek Koucky and introduced in 1975 by the Czechoslovak state arms manufacturer now known as Ceska zbrojovka Uhersky Brod. Chambered mainly in 9x19mm Parabellum, it combined a Browning Hi-Power-style locking system with a double-column magazine and a double-action or single-action trigger in a single all-steel design, at a time when few Western pistols offered that particular combination, and it is often cited as one of the original wonder-nine high-capacity 9mm service pistols. Because Czechoslovakia was outside the international patent system that would otherwise have restricted the design, the CZ 75's layout was copied and adapted by gunmakers across Europe, Israel, Turkey and the Americas, and the pistol itself has sold well over a million units and remains in production and widespread military, police and civilian use.