Side by Side: CZ Shadow 2 Compact & Shadow 2 Carry
About a year and a half ago, I was in the market for a new handgun. I’m a little embarrassed to admit this would be my first new-pistol purchase, my previous ownership restricted to a gently used Beretta 92FS and Grandma’s old S&W .38 Special. (That’s right, I said Grandma.)
I did have some experience with compact Glock platforms, specifically 23 and 19, and that was about the size I was looking for. Having written about a few CZ pistols in the pages of this magazine, my curiosity had been piqued. I was drawn to CZ mechanics, specifically the hammer-fired, slide-in-frame design. I wanted to gravitate toward a Shadow 2, with its finely machined lines and all-metal construction, but it was just a little too big and too much money for something that didn’t 100% fit the bill.
Then in February I attended the NRA show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and got to handle the newly released Shadow 2 Compact. The ergonomics seemed perfect, the balance sublime, and it looked to carry all the Shadow 2’s panache in a more manageable size. This was going to be my pistol.
It was one of the more buzz-filled releases of 2024. Allocations were hard to come by early on, examples were going for as much as two grand on auction sites, and even the local CZ dealers didn’t seem to know a whole lot about it. Having only dry-fired the S2C a couple times in the CZ booth, I put down a deposit and settled in to wait.
More than one firearms influencer had already posed the question—is this the perfect EDC pistol? That was not my primary intention, but might be a consideration down the road, I reasoned.
Then, this past April, CZ upped the ante and seemed to answer the question with an all-new compact release—the Shadow 2 Carry, what they seem to be billing as their ultimate EDC. We were very fortunate to get our hands on an early example, and this is how they stack up.
The Shadow 2 Compact and Shadow 2 Carry are, for all intents and purposes, nearly identical at first glance. The most noticeable difference are the Duralumin grips, silver on the Compact, black on the Carry. The latter features a few further modifications, however, which gear it more toward EDC, if that’s to be your intended use.
The biggest gripe from those who wanted the Compact for an EDC use-case was the lack of a decocker, which is present on the P-01 and other 75 Series compact models. The Shadow 2 Carry includes a decocking lever in place of the Shadow 2 Compact’s manual safety, and the slide assembly includes a firing pin block (FPB) to stay the firing pin in the absence of a trigger pull.
There are two ways to carry a Shadow 2 Compact with a round chambered. One is to set the safety and go “cocked and locked” as you would with a 1911. The other is to—very carefully—manually reset the hammer to safe, but the process is not generally something we’d recommend to new shooters or those with an attention deficit. Resetting the hammer requires a trigger pull, so keeping your wits about you and control over the hammer as it descends are critical when there’s a live round chambered.
The Shadow 2 Carry’s decocking mechanism takes any peril or guesswork out of the procedure. Simply press the decocking lever down until it engages and the hammer automatically snaps to its “safe” setting, about two-thirds of the way home, where it rests in the integrated safety notch.
Like many other CZ pistols, both the Shadow 2 Compact and the Shadow 2 Carry are single-action/double-action (SA/DA), with 95% of shooting being single action. The double-action reset, with the hammer at safe, is there for an added layer of safety for those who opt to carry with “one in the pipe.” Your first shot will be DA; each ensuing follow-up will be SA while the firearm is actively cycling. Compared to SA actuation, the double-action trigger pull is significantly longer and much harder to accidentally accomplish if you’re drawing under duress.
The other main difference between the Compact and Carry are the open sights. The Shadow 2 Compact uses a bright red fiber optic front and blacked-out adjustable rear, while the Shadow 2 Carry uses fixed sights with pale green luminescent dots.
Additionally, while both slides are cut for optics, the cut is different from Compact to Carry. The Compact features a cut that’s sized to accommodate an RMR footprint and requires the use of an adapter plate, available from CZ and other third-party vendors, for the optic you decide to use. Therefore the Compact can run a full-size red dot, but this also necessitates removal of the rear open sight.
The Carry features a smaller cut for a Shield RMSc footprint, and it requires no adapter plate so CZ bills it as a true “optics ready” platform, where the red dot mounts directly to the slide. It also retains the open rear sight with the optic mounted, so you can still use the irons in case of red dot failure or use the open sights for co-witness.
There are a few other slight differences that may not be immediately apparent and don’t really seem to make a big impact on use. The trigger shoe on the Carry is matte black, the shoe on the Compact shiny. The hammers are shaped differently, the Compact featuring a more raised edge at the rear whereas the Carry’s is rounded down ever so slightly. The slide lock levers are shaped differently, the Carry’s angling down toward the rear and its traction steps facing upward, whereas the Compact’s steps face downward. This latter design gives the feel and function of a “gas pedal” or thumb rest, an indexing point for the support hand as is present on a full-size Shadow 2. And the Carry’s magazine release is a simple black button while the Compact’s is topped with a textured cap that matches the grips. Each model features the capability of switching the mag release to either side, depending on user preference.
Having pointed all that out, the similarities between the two are many. Both feature nearly identical physical dimensions and a forged 7075 aluminum frame in which the steel slide cycles. Both use a cold-hammer-forged 4-inch barrel that is guaranteed against defect and for accuracy over many thousands of rounds—indeed, for the life of the pistol. Both frames feature a 1913-style rail for accessory mounting beneath the muzzle end, and both slides come with an optics cut (keeping in mind the above mentioned differences).
CZ touts its pistol ergonomics, having honed its approach over decades, and that is especially true of the Shadow series pistols, whether full-size or compact. Besides the engineering, that’s the other thing that drew me to this platform. Whether Compact or Carry, this Shadow 2 just feels right when you’re holding it. The generous, 1911-esque beavertail allows a high, comfortable grip to put the bore axis closely in line with your wrist and forearm. And from a practical standpoint, I just prefer a metal frame. There’s no “poppy” or “snappy” feeling, the added weight serving to anchor the pistol in space as you shoot, keeping the firearm flatter and helping mitigate recoil for more effective follow-up shots.
In an abstract sense, I never imagined myself describing a hunk of metal as something comfortable to hold, especially when it’s bucking in your grip whilst sending supersonic projectiles downrange, but these pistols are exactly that, and feel at home in your hands. The fit and finish are top-notch; each is a thing of beauty, and not only in a functional sense.
Then again, the added weight should be considered if you’re interested in carrying the pistol all day. At give or take 31 ounces, each weighs around 7 or 8 ounces more than a comparably sized Glock 19 or SIG P365. So it’s something to think about if EDC is your primary goal.
Finally, the published specs for the trigger on these models are not identical, and the feel is slightly different between the two. The Compact’s feels a bit sharper than the Carry’s, the pull weight being slightly lighter and the reset a bit shorter. The difference is minimal and you’d probably have to shoot the two back to back to even notice it. We imagine this is owed to the added machinery of the decocker and FPB thrown into the mix on the Carry model.
I am currently more accurate with the Compact, but I am also about a thousand-plus rounds in with it versus a few hundred with the Carry. Further shooting will be warranted, but the two should stack up very closely once the nuances of the trigger mechanics are properly digested.
There’s a general rule of thumb when shopping for a pistol that you should find a place that’ll not only let you handle it but also shoot it before you make a commitment. I didn’t do that with the Shadow 2 Compact; I just went for it. Maybe it was luck, maybe it was provenance, but I couldn’t be happier. We’re looking forward to further testing and reporting on these two platforms, mounting a red dot (or two), and possibly exploring further modifications.
CZ Shadow 2 Compact
Weight Unloaded: 31.7 oz.
Trigger Reset: 0.14 in.
Trigger Travel: 0.4 in. (SA), 0.6 in. (DA)
Pull Weight: 3.4 lbs (SA), 10.3 lbs (DA)
CZ Shadow 2 Carry
Weight Unloaded: 30.7 oz.
Trigger Reset: 0.2-0.3 in.
Trigger Travel: 0.4 in. (SA), 0.6 in. (DA)
Pull Weight: 4.7 lbs (SA), 11.9 lbs (DA)
Specifications
Caliber: 9×19
Capacity: 15 + 1 (standard)
MSRP: $1,599
URL: cz-usa.com
