Just brought home my new CZ-97B!

odd...

Why does CZ-USA sell a pistol that their head gunsmith says should only be fired with "mild" loads? Odder still is the fact that the CZ-75 series is quite comfortable with the hotter SMG rounds.

How many CZ-97 have been battered due to failure to shoot mild loads only...
 
And what is the full length guide rod going to improve? Do the head gunsmiths making 1911s know more than JMB? I'm clueless as to the function of it... would it prevent the recoil spring from binding? Has this been an issue.

As far as a heavier recoil spring, I can see how that would help dampen the impulse.

Any idea on the weight of the stock CZ mainspring (interested in force behind hammer)? Didn't find the info on Wolff's site.

And (shock to all...) not only does the USP have a terrible trigger and breaks firing pins (hmm, related?), but MINE has TOOLING marks underneath the top of the slide! I was too embarrassed to return it after hyping myself up for it.

Seems like CZs are rivaling the Makarovs in bang for the buck. Not only that, but if you get an awesome trigger, superb fit and finish, accuracy and reliability... gotta be a meathead not to see the writing on the wall.
 
oops...

almost forgot to add this because of the bizareness of my previous post:

Glad you like the pistol, nightcrawler. That's THE most important thing.
 
The full length guide rod, in addition to being made of steel instead of plastic, will help prevent binding of the heavier recoil spring weights. Also, in my opinion, in a gun as sturdy and beefy as the CZ-97, there shouldn't be any plastic parts inside.
 
Looking inside, I can see some marks that might be tool marks (not sure what a "tool mark" looks like).

No matter. A minor blemish inside won't affect performance in any way, and performance is more important than pretty (though I think it's a very nice looking pistol).
Click to expand...

I agree! If the blemishes do not affect performance, its not a big deal. With that said, I think new owners should know what to look for (nearly every make has areas where they are weak). From my experience as an owner of 2 CZ's (CZ 75B and CZ 97B), they (CZ) seem to cut corners on the inside part of the slide to keep price down (thats my hypothesis as to why CZ doesn't have the inside areas of the slide as well finished as the outside areas of the slide). Its no biggie, but a potential CZ owner should be aware of this before buying one. CZ's are my favorite production pistols BTW, even with the internal lack of detail. They work great, and for me thats all that matters! ;)
 
I don't think GEORGE needs to be calling the others of this string "PUNDITS", because he's supposedly talked to the HEAD GUNSMITH at CZ. Hey GEORGE,you awaken one night and think there's a problem with the CZ97, I'm going to call the HEAD GUNSMITH at CZ?If there's a link, a site, a recall, post it! I as others on here believe if the gun was sent out of the factory set up as it is, and there's not a national recall, use it and if it doesn't warrant a need for concern because it works perfectly, leave it alone.
 
Well, Mike, the Head (only?) Gunsmith at CZUSA does indeed recommend a 16 lb wolff spring in the 75B, over the factory 14lb. So I bought one, and as soon as Mike has fixed and returned my pistol, I'll put it in...
 
I think there is a problem?
Let's see... I'm firing 230 grain +P loads through a gun that only has a 13 pound spring. Yeah, I think there is something wrong with that. Also since I've been having some feed issues with my 97... I think I can put two and two together and come out with MY RECOIL SPRING IS TOO LIGHT.
That was just my guess. So I sent an email to Mike at CZ-USA telling him what was going on with my gun and what I thought I needed to correct it. This is what I got back:
The 16lb spring is a step in the right direction, but for reliable feeding
of hollow point or semi-wadcutter ammo, you will need to alter the feed ramp and polish it. Keeping the top
part where it is, you will need to lower the bottom part of the ramp with a
grind stone. This will increase the angle somewhat, but will bring the bottom of the ramp down where it
needs to be. Then polish out the grind marks and bring it up a high polish
with cratex, and buff to a final luster with felt bob and compound. You
will also need a full length recoil spring guide to keep the stronger springs in alignment.(available from CZ-USA 1-800-955-4486)
Do these things and you will be ready for anything.
Click to expand...
Dayum... Sounds like a lot of work for a pistol that is just fine and that I should leave alone. Doesn't it Wunzwas? Unless your more qualified than the head gunsmith at CZ-USA, then yeah... your just a dude with an opinion. And it's not string, its called a thread.
Look, Man - I'm sorry if I offended you because I don't think the CZ-97B is PREFECT right out of the box. But that is YOUR problem. If you want to make things personal - take it to email. If you want to discuss these firearms and you have more knowledge of CZ pistols than the cats at the 1-800 number above - be my guest. Tell me it's user error or I have bad mags or something. But you can drop the "It's Fine - Leave it alone" kinda noise because your starting to sound silly.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Mike is wrong too. Maybe, we are both smoking crack and should just listen to you, because your obviously the guru.
And maybe I'm Tom Bambidil and I make the peaches.

Question for you... If you shouldn't mess with a gun unless there is a recall - why did you put an Ed Brown hammer and sear into a Springfield TRP? If it was just fine before... Just leave it alone!
 
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I think you missed the point...

Why is CZ selling guns with the wrong spring?

I also think your tone as a moderator on one of the finest boards around is in need of a spring adjustment as well...
 
Up till now I aways thought the inside of my CZs was/were finished pretty well.

Could this upset my aim?
Increase my gun-cleaning pain,
Cause rust, from sweat ...or rain.

I slink away in shame.....

Emmmmm, probably not. I'll have to try and ware those tool marks off shooting the things.

S-

:D
 
This thread has certainly gotten interesting. Well, regardless of whether anyone thinks it's necessary or not, I'm getting the metal guide rod and heavier recoil springs. And when I send the pistol back to CZ-USA for an ambi-safety installation, I'll probably get a throat & polish done as well.
 
Doesn't like hollowpoints?

I've got a box of Winchester 230gr JHP I bought. I loaded up a mag, inserted the mag into the pistol, and chambered a round.

The slide didn't come even close to going into battery on the first try. It took several tries to get it to feed the first round. This happens each time I load the pistol with that brand of ammo, though I dont' seem to have any trouble when manually cycling the rounds through the pistol.

Should I stick with FMJ until I get a feed ramp polish, or is it just a combination of:

-New mags (the rounds kind of stick in there sometimes, and they're hard to get the 10th round into)
-Weak recoil spring
-Maybe a brand of ammo my gun doesn't like?

It's not that I'd feel close to being underarmed with a hollow point in the chamber and 10 FMJ rounds in the magazine (hell, Buffalo Bore even loads .45 +P 230grn FMJFN ammo), but I'd very much prefer my pistol feed common defense ammo properly, for obvious reasons.
 
May be the first run of CZ-97Bs (I bought more than 2 years ago, mine has black polymer finish and serrations at the front of ther slide) has been somewhat diffirent from the ones that we're discussing now?

My CZ-97B feeds any hollowpoints w/o any problem, and overall,
seems to have no problems with nothing. I did have one FTF with reloaded shell, and one little problem with slide stop spring,
which I fixed right on the spot by bending and reinstalling the spring correctly.

Of course, it's still a new pistol, introduced a short time ago,
so obviously people learned some stuff on how to make it better.
When I talked to Mike at 2002 Shot Show, he didn't mention
nothing about CZ-97B which would alert me, but I really had no problems to discuss with him. However, I completely agree that if Mike says something, we should take it very seriously, because
Mike is not just #1 CZ specialist in the U.S., he is also very
honest guy who will never make any stories.

At the end of the day, George has any right to modify his pistol
anyway he wants, particularly if such recommendation is based
on Mike's advice. All I was saying that my CZ-97B seems to be working just fine as is.

Let's cool down, bros...
 
Nightcrawler, when you are chambering the first round, are you letting the slide fly, as it would under recoil or are you slooooowly trying to ease it in to the chamber? I would absolutely use FMJ in the magazine. Might want to look at ordering some Powrball or whatever it is that mimics the FMJ design as a safe bet until you find ammo that will feed properly? Some ferrous jeweler's rouge from the hardware store used with some Q-tips (better yet a buffing bit for a dremel or drill) to polish the feed ramp might help in the time being. IMO the rouge is so easy to work with that it's got to be impossible to screw anything up.

George, I'm pretty shocked that any gunsmith working for a manufacturer would suggest altering the feed ramp angle (unless you told him you were a smith). Man talk about an EASY way to screw up a barrel! It's almost like having a magazine feeding problem and taking a pair of pliers to "correct" the angle of the feed lips. My point is that I don't see a recommendation in his message to send it to a smith. Actually, shouldn't they do the mod? I recently started to make knives and know all too well how easy it is to grind just a liittle too much steel off, even on the tough stuff.
 
Hey Boy George, you failed to mention earlier that there was a problem with your CZ97B,and to have a gunsmith tell you or write to you saying use a grindstone to correct your feed ramp angle on an unsupported chamber, scares me.
The TRP you mentioned of mine had casting flaws and poor machining to the disconector and hammer-sear engagements, causing problems that were looked into by a "smith". If I have anymore gun malfunctions, I'll be sure to get ahold of you.
 
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Sorry if I came across a little hard. I was going for sarcastic. Should have added a winky. Kinda funny to get hit with a comment to leave the gun alone from a cat that did even more elective surgery to his gun. I thought that was hilarious. I was over here laughing. I was over here laughing as I was typing.

Dremmel to the feed ramp?
No, I'm not taking a Dremmel to my feedramp. I might have a gunsmith do that, but we shall see how it works with the heavier spring and guide rod.
Besides, I suspect that after the recoil spring issue, similar failures could be related to magazines. The round isnt hitting the ramp and stopping - the round is eating the very bottom of the feedramp like a baby sucking a nipple. So 1 of two things is happing, Either the magazine spring isn't getting the round up into position fast enough, or the mag spring is drooping the nose.
I've opened up the mags and inspected the parts. The followers had some tailings hanging on to the bottoms edges. Those things could have cause some hang or delay... just enough to bind it up. So I shaved those off, cleaned all the parts and inside the mag body. Then I wipe everything down with a nice thin coating of CLP inside and out. That as already improved the feeld of things....
If I still have issues like that - I think it (Flames Incoming!) that the mag springs may be weak too. If the malfunctions were different, then I wouldn't think that.
If your CZ 97s are running lile clockwork, then great. Then again, your probaly shooting a different ammo. I'm shooting some very hot loads over here. Admitedly, when I was firing some mild SPEER LAWMEN loads, it ran just great too. Differnt load, different bullet type and shape.
 
George, thanks for clearing things up.I appreciate that you went into detail on what you were experiencing with your weapon. If I had been having the same problem(s) with any firearm, I'd be on the horn to the manufacturer.Hope you get your CZ97B running.
 
It will be sorted out.
I think these are ammo and mag related. After I started shooting mild handloads, it was even ejecting into the same spot.
That spring IS too weak for those hot Tritons.
You shold have seen it...
we were shooting at logs.... and targets on the logs. We were SPLTITING the logs. Turning it into good sized hunks for firewood.
I think I found a more enjoyable way to chop wood. Throw a slug into a crack - splits it better than a wedge. Or at least with more drama.
 
Grr....delays....

Tracking my ammo shipment from AmmoMan (on UPS's package tracking site), I see it's supposed to arrive today. Yet on the tracking page, it's been held up down in escanaba for some reason, when it was supposed to depart there at like seven in the morning. They'd better not stall too much.
 
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