CZ Scorpion EVO 3 S1 Review — A PCC for Everyone

Today we've got the CZ Scorpion EVO 3 S1 — a blowback-operated pistol caliber carbine, all polymer, fairly lightweight at right around 5 pounds. Mine wears an SB Tactical folding brace, and the connection on the back end of the Scorpion is so solid it's probably one of the most sturdy braces I've ever seen — zero wiggle in it at all.

A unique touch up front: the flash hider is dual-threaded. The bird cage screws on over a thread protector, so you take the bird cage off, pull the thread cap, and throw on a suppressor — and it sits back far enough that there's room for it. There's a hand stop on the handguard too, which is nice, though I'll probably move it back a little; grab the gun right where it sits and it's really darn close to your fingers, and I don't care for that a whole lot.

Controls are where the Scorpion gets interesting. You can kind of do the HK slap with the charging handle — my optic mounted far forward makes it a little harder, but boom, it works. The charging handle is reversible for lefties, and the safety selector is ambidextrous on both sides. One heads-up if you're left-handed: the ejection port is only on the right, so you'll be catching brass across your body. The iron sights that come on it are great — I shot this thing a long time with just those — with three apertures from large down to very small for longer distance work, and the near-full-length pic rail let me mount my Swampfox Liberty way forward, exactly where I like it. Pic rails on the sides and bottom take a light no problem.

Now the gripes, and they mostly trace to one part: the stock grip. The angle on it is this unnatural, Glock-like A2-style rake, and it also puts the mag release — that forward-push lever on the trigger guard — at a real stretch. I don't have small hands, and I'm really reaching for it. Swap the grip and it gets easier, or they make a paddle-style release you can slap to drop the mag. The flared magwell itself makes reloads really, really easy. Also: it supposedly runs the Palmetto State Armory AR-V 9mm magazines, and they do run just fine — but getting those mags back out is a son of a gun. You'll probably have to shave them down with a little sandpaper.

Shooting it is the whole story: this thing fires amazing. Little to zero felt recoil, good trigger pull, mags feed in and out really well, and I have had zero malfunctions with it. It's so easy to open up and get on target extremely fast, with enough reach that you feel like you're getting accurate shots down range. And it's not just a range toy — folded up it fits like a glove in the Vertx Commuter sling bag, it drops in a nightstand, and it makes a great truck gun or backpack gun for defense purposes.

Cost: you'll see these ranging from about $699 up to about $899 right now — I paid right around $700 at a gun show here in Florida, and Locked and Loaded, Classic Firearms, and Grab A Gun all carry them in that range. At that price for what you're getting feature-wise, it's really, really good value. The Swampfox Liberty comes straight from Swampfox — the newer Liberator adds the circle dot I love — and the brace runs right around $100 when you can find one; they're a little hard to come by right now. Hell of a gun. I really suggest you buy one.