At the beginning of SHOT Show I made a bee line for the CZ-USA booth. The company has held a special place in my heart since I purchased my first pistol, a CZ 75 B, and they haven’t let me down since. I didn’t know it as I visited the CZ booth, but later that day I would find out that the first ever ladies only 3-gun major match was about to be announced. What made this news even more exciting was that it would occur in Covington, Georgia, surprisingly close to my home in Atlanta. Thus began my crash course in 3-gun competition. Back at the CZ booth I was shown their brand new 3-gun ready 712 Practical shotgun.
If Caleb seems to be ready to jump on the Beretta bandwagon, then I guess the same can be said of me for CZ. Unlike the Beretta 1301’s heafty price tag, the 712 Practical seems ideal for the 3-gun curious like myself, retailing for less than $700. CZ has also included five flush mounted chokes, a six position adjustable stock, and a fluted magazine extension from ATI. The tube extension brings the guns capacity up to 9+1 which is ideal for 3-gun.
The 712 is a solid base for someone who wants to enter the 3-gun world, or a competitor who wants a platform they can customize. As I dive into the 3-gun nation and shotgunning, I’ll be sure to do an in-depth review of this gun. In the meantime, I submit this new offering from CZ for your consideration.
– Love CZ/DW
– Like Pistol Grips
– Hate M4 Style stocks on non-AR “platforms”
I’d love to see what the loading port looks like. If it’s easy to reload I’d give it a try. Otherwise I’ll save my pennies for a VersaMax 3Gun edition.
It’s decently open, could use a little rounding over to break the edge.
Good thing they chose to run with a commercial buffer extension, so we have to go out of our way to find a stock that fits.
Just looking at the picture, two easy to add things spring to mind:
1) HIgh visibility front sight
2) Needs a bigger bolt charging handle.
Both of those should have been no-brainers for a 3-gun shottie. (I have both on my modded CZ-712U.)
Less important but useful would be enlarged safety and bolt release. I haven’t gotten around to those yet.
And don’t be shy with the lube. The -712 runs best wet. The only issues I’ve had with mine were all solved by putting more lube on the piston ring and tube.
I love love CZ guns. I’ve never tried one of their shotguns but it’s on the list. The one question I have is what’s the lifter on this gun look like and how hard is it going to be to find a replacement lifter because that part has been the bane of my existence with my Mossberg 930 JMPro. I want to get the lifter welded but I want to have a spare stock lifter in case the welded one fraks up on me but you cannot find a spare lifter anywhere, Mossberg won’t sell them to anyone but gunsmiths and they don’t have enough of them to make the guns so even they can’t get a spare.
Jesse, I contacted CZ-USA and they sent me an extra lifter at no cost.
Seriously? Are you sponsored?
I really really really hate the M4 style stock on anything. Putting it on this shotgun just killed it for me. Hopefully there will be an aftermarket solution.
Go to Front Sight in Nev. You’ll do it cheaper, faster, and get fed at the same time. Near Boulder City, Nv.