Rifle season gets the attention in Pennsylvania, but the pistol by the bed gets used every night of the year, and the new CZ DUTY 4.0 is a serious candidate for that job. It is CZ's new-generation striker gun in 9x19: serialized internal chassis, fiberglass-reinforced polymer grip frame, direct-mount optics-ready slide with fixed sights, 4-inch unthreaded barrel. CZ's refined SFDA trigger is rated at 25±4 N (5.6±0.9 lbs) with a 4 mm reset.

Philadelphia and the suburbs from Doylestown to West Chester lean toward the compact DUTY 4.0 C: 15+1 (17+1 with the extended base plate), 770 g, 135 mm tall, easy to carry where Pennsylvania allows it. Up the Lehigh Valley through Allentown and Easton to Stroudsburg, and out to Harrisburg and York, the full-size DUTY 4.0 F gets the nod for home defense: 17+1 (19+1 extended), 780 g, 143 mm. Both are sold as plain or MS models, the MS adding a manual thumb safety. New release, $729 MSRP.

The F is the full-size frame: 143 mm (5.6 in) tall, 780 g (27.7 oz) with an empty magazine, 17+1 rounds of 9mm on board and 19+1 with the longer base plate. The longer grip fills a big hand and settles the gun between shots.

What is new under the slide is the registered modular chassis. The serial number lives on the internal chassis, not on the polymer grip, so the grip frame is a part you can change while the gun stays the same gun. Around it CZ put a reworked SFDA striker trigger, rated at 25 ± 4 N (5.6 ± 0.9 lbs) with a 4 mm (0.16 in) reset and 9 ± 1 mm (0.4 ± 0.04 in) of travel, and a slide cut for direct-mount optics. CZ's own photos show it wearing Holosun, Aimpoint and Shield red dots.

A manual thumb safety is the one thing that separates this model from its sibling. It sits beside the three passive safeties, firing pin block, trigger safety and drawbar safety, and does not change the trigger pull.

The CZ DUTY 4.0 F MS suits anyone who wants a modern optics-ready 9mm with CZ's grip and a trigger that is better than the class average: the belt, the bedside and the range; the version to buy if you rarely need to hide the gun.

Pennsylvania has no purchase permit and no waiting period. Choose the Pennsylvania dealer you want at checkout and the DUTY 4.0 ships to them. Your dealer runs the state PICS check at the counter when you pick it up. Ammo, optics and parts ship to your door. Current price and stock are checked live during the order, before payment is taken.

Questions buyers ask: What check does my Pennsylvania dealer run on pickup? Your dealer runs the state PICS check at the counter. There is no purchase permit and no waiting period in Pennsylvania. Does the DUTY 4.0 come with an optic? No. It ships with fixed sights and a direct-mount optics-ready slide. Red dots such as Holosun, Aimpoint and Shield fit without a plate, as CZ's photos show. Is the CZ DUTY 4.0 F MS the same gun as the F? Yes, apart from the manual thumb safety. Chassis, trigger, slide and the 17+1 capacity are identical.