Slightly off topic...
Bart Noir said:
[Pavonas] are based on the CZ-75 design which has the slide partially contained inside the frame. The result is less slide to grasp and pull back. When a person has failing hand strength, the need to tightly grip a smaller area can be a problem.
Having handled a 9mmP Pavona at a gun show, IMHO you surmise correctly – it's about on par with a well-broken-in CZ. The deeply scalloped slide texture (almost not "serrations" per se) actually helps somewhat, and makes me wonder if other gunmakers will copy it, but I still think the slide of a broken-in M&P9c is easier to operate.
Also, to reiterate what I've noted in every past Pavona thread – the .380 Auto version is NOT locked-breech, and although I've not handled one, I strongly suspect that it probably has a STIFFER slide than the 9mmP version, based on having handled numerous blowback .380s of the CZ 83 / Beretta 84 / Astra A60 ilk. I think EAA/Tanfo made a mistake with this; what they
should have done is what Ruger did with the LC380 and put a .380 barrel and softer recoil spring in the locked-breech gun. THAT would have been an easy-to-work slide!
I'll confess that I'm impressed with the Pavona otherwise, although consider yourself warned – there are TWO blacks, one with gold and one with silver metalflake, and IMHO the gold version looks too much like a bass boat or old-school low-rider for my taste.
Tha charcoal and the black/silver are the least pimptacular.