The Tanfoglio Gold Custom Pistol: The Choice of a World Champion

CZ75 Heritage

The design of the Tanfoglio pistol is based on the Czech made CZ 75 9mm pistol. During the first year of production of the CZ 75 the factory at Uherský Brod manufactured some 2000 pistols. This rose in subsequent years to over 20,000 pistols, which did not keep up with demand. To help fill the large demand in the West for the CZ 75 licensing rights were sold to ITM of Solothurn, Switzerland. I have shot the ITM produced copies of the CZ 75 and can personally attest to quality of manufacture, accuracy and reliability. ITM closed down and the manufacturing rights were taken up by Sphinx of Interlaken, Switzerland.

To be a good pistol shot you must be able to adopt and shoot from unorthodox shooting positions. Your pistol must also be functionally reliable in these positions as well.

The Italian firm of Tanfoglio is the largest producer of copies the CZ designed pistol. The pistol has been produced in 9mm Parabellum, 9 x 21, .40 S & W, .41 Action Express, 10mm Auto and .45 ACP. Two things popularised the Tanfoglio copy; one was the reasonable price and the other was that Tanfoglio modified the basic design making the pistols suitable for IPSC practical pistol shooting in Open, Modified and Standard Divisions. The basic design has both been expanded into a full blown IPSC race gun and also reduced in size to be a compact concealable carry gun. In the 1980’s Tanfoglio solved the supply problem and importation problem, especially into the USA, with this copy of the Czech CZ 75 pistol, as at this time the Berlin Wall had yet to come tumbling down. Tanfoglio products are imported into the USA by European American Armory Corporation in Rockledge, Florida. In a competitive sport that is dominated by 1911 / 2011 high capacity pistols what is the appeal of using a Czech designed – Italian manufactured pistol? Used by a small number of competitors in the US and a bit more common on the European IPSC match circuit, Eric Grauffel has used the Tanfoglio pistol to dominate IPSC’s Open Division since winning the 1998 European Championship held in Crete in 1998.

Gold Custom Eric Model

With design input from Eric Grauffel, other features of the Gold Custom Eric are a custom ambidextrous safety, extended magazine release, extended magazine well, chromed magazines with aluminum base pads and a single action hammer. The frame is predrilled ready for a mount an optical sight. The C More is the most popular optical sight, with the Aimpoint the next most common choice. The pistol is presented in a Negrini custom gun case with a cleaning kit, two extra magazines and a set of extra recoil springs. This model is also available with an optional C More Sight mount.

The Tanfoglio Gold Custom model has reached its current position as one of the best Open Division competition pistols due to the input of Eric Grauffel.

Speed

To increase the reciprocal speed of the slide ( the speed at which it moves back and forward ) this model has had metal machined out from non critical areas in order to make it lighter. There are eight port holes in the barrel and a three chamber compensator for the V8 model and12 port holes in the barrel and a two chamber compensator for the V12 model. The port holes and chambers in the compensator direct the expanding gases from the burning powder charge in an upward direction, which in turn, reduces the muzzle climb during recoil. The port holes are 3mm ( 1/8 inch ) in diameter and are offset 30 degrees to either side.

The port side of Eric’s Gold Custom. Note the lightened hammer, slide racking lever attached to the top of the slide, extended magazine release button and thumb rest attached to the optical sight mount.

Things to note on the starboard side are that the optical sight mount has been relieved on the underside to stop ejected cartridge cases from impacting against it. Part of the recoil spring is visible near the muzzle as metal has been machined from the slide to make it lighter.

Here you can see how the Aero Wings work to raise the pistol slightly from the surface it is positioned on.

Another view of the Aero Wings shows how they are attached to the CMore optical sight. Looking through the CMore you see a red dot, which is used as you point of aim.

Eric uses the V12 ported barrel – six ports on either side and the two chamber compensator attached to the muzzle. Note the muzzle blast deflector attached to the front of the CMore sight.

Eric

“Eric” has been the name for the latest Gold Team models for the last few years. In 2007 Tanfoglio introduced the 2007 Gold Team Custom Eric model which has a 0.4 inch shorter slide than the 2006 models. The 2006 had a long slide, V8 porting and a three port compensator, while the 2007 model has a shorter slide. The short slide is equipped with a V12 porting and the shorter two port compensator. Eric states that “My Tanfoglio is very comfortable to shoot and is a very competitive pistol on the IPSC match circuit. Open Division which is probably the division requiring the most knowledge and technicality on the mechanical side of pistol performance. More over no other pistol has won Open Division four times in a row at the IPSC World Shoot.”

The Gold Custom is secured in a Rescomp competition holster. The circular disc on Eric’s belt is a magnetic magazine pouch.

Tanfoglio Production and Standard Division Models

Everyone knows about Eric’s participation in Open Division, but it will be a surprise to many that he also competes in Production and Standard Division as well. His choice in Standard Division is the Tanfoglio Limited Custom in .40 S&W calibre. In Production Division Eric uses a Tanfoglio Stock II in 9mm calibre. He competes in these two IPSC Divisions mainly in local club and level 1 and 2 matches in France. When Eric takes part in major matches, such as this year’s STI Match in Germany and the Extreme European Open in the Czech Republic, he competed in Open Division. Many of you will have read the excellent article on using realistic airsoft pistols for match training by James Tarr in the May / June issue of Frontsight. Eric also uses a Cybergun – Tanfoglio airsoft pistol as part of his training regime.

The techniques that Eric demonstrates in his training courses are those which he uses to be a world class competitor.

Aside from his choice of pistol Eric uses a CR Speed WSMII holster and magazine pouches and a belt from the same company. For timing his training and chronographing his ammunition Eric uses products from CED. His clothing is from the Italian firm D – Shoot.

The Barrel

Lothar Walther Barrel

The barrel is 133 mm long and has a six grove rifling twist of one revolution in 400 mm ( or 16 inches ). All the competition and sport models have a polygonal rifled barrel made by Lothar Walther GmbH in Germany. The barrel and slide use the Browning short recoil locking system where the locking lugs on the barrel mate up with those on the slide. During firing the barrel and slide move back together as one for a short distance until they unlock. Unlike the Browning designed M1911 that uses a swinging link to unlock the barrel and slide, this barrel uses a kidney shaped enclosed lug under the chamber of the barrel. This enclosed lug reciprocates on the slide lock lever to lock and unlock the barrel and slide during the firing cycle. There is also no separate barrel bushing. This improved locking system was first developed by John Browning for his last pistol design, the Browning High Power and was modified into its present form in the Sig P210 and has been used in a number of pistol designs over the years. The design is capable of handling the pressures generated by centre fire cartridges.

The accuracy of this barrel is excellent and consistent. From a rested position groups of 10cm at 50 meters are possible. In a tactical pistol designed for law enforcement or military applications, it has to operate in any climatic condition. Where reliable functioning is paramount, tolerances between working parts will be greater, so any dust or crud getting into the mechanism will not cause it to malfunction. In this case precision accuracy will be slightly reduced, but this is of secondary importance to functional reliability. For a target pistol, which is to be used under more controlled conditions, manufacturers work to more precise mechanical tolerances. They employ additional machining operations and methods to improve the lock up between the barrel and slide and the fit of the slide to the frame, which will improve the ability of the pistol to group more accurately on the target. Hence the ability of this pistol to group its shots very accurately. To demonstrate the accuracy of his two Tanfoglio pistols I asked Eric to shoot a few groups from a rested position at 25 metres and you can see that they are scary accurate!

Eric’s two handed firing position. Note the head is level, tilted neither forwards nor backwards. Both arms are locked out and the pistol is brought up to eye level. The index finger of the non dominant hand is positioned on the front of the trigger guard.

This model is available in five calibres, 9mm, 9mm x 21, .38 Super, .40 S&W and .45 ACP. The calibre of choice for Open Division is .38 Super calibre. Bullets used are normally between 130 to 160 grains in weight. Velocities needed to make the IPSC major power factor of 160 with these bullet weights are between 1050 and 1250 feet per second. In .38 Super calibre the standard factory magazine holds 17 rounds. Extended magazines holding up to 28 rounds are available.

Tanfoglio Trigger System

The forward vertical face of the trigger guard is curved to allow the index finger of the support hand to be position here in a two handed grip. Even though my left hand index finger is long enough to reach the trigger guard, like most people I prefer to keep my four digits wrapped around the frame to increase my gripping force. If you ever watch Angus Hobdell shoot you will see that he wraps his left index finger around the front of the trigger guard – and it works for him! The trigger has a smooth surface and is curved to assist the single action firing stroke.

As well as being a world class competitor, Eric is also an excellent instructor and runs coaching courses to improve the abilities of other competitors.

The Tanfoglio trigger system comes in two configurations, which are single action or double action / single action ( DA / SA ). In this system the pistol is loaded and the hammer is manually lowered. The first shot is fired by cocking the hammer with a long double action trigger pull. Once the pistol fires the reciprocal action of the slide cocks the hammer into the single action mode for all subsequent shots. It is possible on all Tanfoglio models to convert a pistol from single to double action or vice versa. The main part that makes double action system function possible is the "interrupter". It allows the trigger bar to push, cock and release the hammer to fire the first shot in double action mode. Every shot fired after that is regular single action. If you want to convert your pistol from one to the other there are three parts you will need to consider changing or getting; which are the hammer ( DA / SA ), trigger (DA / SA) and interrupter. Tanfoglio offers their guns in either large or small frame sizes. All trigger system parts interchange except for the trigger bar (often called trigger bow).

The Gold Custom model is carried cocked and locked with a round in the chamber, the hammer cocked and the safety catch applied. The safety lever is up for safe and is swept downwards to fire the pistol and is ambidextrous to enable it to be used by either hand.

Eric uses the larger framed .38 Super calibre Tanfoglio pistol and has designed products to extract the best performance from his Tanfoglio pistol. One of these products is the Aero Wings, which is the answer to fast retrievals of an IPSC Open Division pistol from any flat surface. Many competition stages start with the pistol lying on a table or on the ground. Any serious competitor knows how important it is to be able to retrieve your pistol quickly, grip it properly, and obtain your sight picture effectively. The Aero Wings are designed to leave a gap between the surface the pistol is resting on and the grip to enable your hand to wrap around the grip quickly. This will improve the speed in which the pistol is lifted off any flat surface regardless of how it is positioned. You will be able to retrieve it faster, while obtaining a better grip, resulting in a faster sight acquisition.

Ammunition Selection

Eric has spent a lot of time selecting his ammunition components to ensure that they work in harmony with his pistol. “I actually use the rimless brass from Armscor which fits perfectly the Tanfoglio with a 9mm extractor powered with a Wolff extra power extractor. I use a Dillon 1050 reloading machine with a GSI bullet feeder. I use an Armscor 124 grain Gold Jacket bullet for my match load and a Frontier 148 grain round nose bullet for my practice loads. Both loads are powered by Vectan powder and CCI primers.”

Champion

The Making of a Champion

Everyone one involved in IPSC competition knows that Eric moves and shoots very quickly, but are usually surprised with the emphasis that Eric places on precision shooting, which he considers to be especially important. When a young Eric Grauffel started learning to shoot IPSC, he used a single stack M1911 .45 ACP calibre pistol. His first trip to the range with his father was with 500 rounds of ammunition and 10 magazines for his pistol. His dad told him that for every D zone hit he would confiscate one magazine from him. In a very short time he was out of magazines! His second trip to the range did not last much longer! On his third trip to the range he managed to fire around 300 rounds before running out of magazines. You soon learn that fast misses do not count. Speed is great, but accuracy is final!

Reloading on the move. Note muzzle down range and finger off the trigger. The depleted magazine is beside Eric’s left knee as it has been ejected from the pistol, while the new magazine is being guided towards the magazine well on the frame.

As Eric testifies there is no substitute for diligent practice. The hard truth is that unless you are willing to spend some time dry handling at home and on live firing at the range, you will not see any dramatic improvements in speed. It will take several sessions per week to show significant improvement otherwise you are only maintaining your present capabilities or inching forward. Spending several secessions per week dry handling will help if you cannot get to the range, but there is also no substitute for going to the range and setting up multiple targets and shooting a lot. How you practice is as important as how much you practice. Eric placed emphasis on the fact that to be a complete IPSC competitor, you must be capable of doing everything that is required in an IPSC match. Having trained with him, every time Eric shoots, he is totally focused on making every stage a perfect stage and also has that rare ability to pass on what he knows to others. What he knows he shares. Living by the sea on the west coast of France, Eric is also as skilled with a wind surfer as well as he is with a Tanfoglio!

Here Eric demonstrates the corrected braced position to adopt while firing a pistol with the non dominant hand.

The Tanfoglio Gold Team pistol is the signature model of 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2008 IPSC World Champion Eric Grauffel. Every Gold Team pistol is carefully hand built by Tanfoglio's master gunsmiths. Special features of the Gold Team are an eight hole ported match grade polygonal rifled barrel, a three chamber compensator, lightened slide, single action trigger with over travel stop, square trigger guard, checkered front and back strap, extended beavertail, ambidextrous custom shop safety, Hart hammer, custom shop magazine release, extend magazine well for speed reloading, and one piece aluminum grips. The full length dust cover frame is drilled and tapped to allow the use of various styles of optic mounts and sights. Eric has settled on his choice of sight. “My optical sight of choice is a C-More Slide Ride with a six minute of angle dot. The Open Division gun I am currently using has been designed to my request and up to now, it is the best feeling I ever had with an open gun.”

Reloading on the move, this time in the opposite direction. The empty magazine is already on the ground behind Eric’s right leg and the fresh magazine has been drawn from the magazine pouch to be inserted in the frame.

This is a shooter who is totally “in the zone” when he’s on the starting block, but who is very personable when he is off the line. Having watched this guy dominate Open Division since winning the Europeans in 1998, it is Eric’s speed and accuracy combined with his good analytical abilities and the mental handling of the sport of IPSC practical pistol competition that has enabled him to be IPSC European and World Champion four times in succession. The other major component that has lead to his success is his choice of pistol, which is a Tanfoglio Gold Custom Eric 2007 Model.