New CZ-75B Range Report

J

J.R. Bob Dobbs

New member
I put 200 rds of assorted ammo thru my new CZ75B Monday. The trigger is very nice; SA almost as good as my Sig, DA is about the best I've ever felt. The grip shape is very comfortable, and overall the gun has an excellent feel. Mine's the polycoat version, and the fit and finish is very good.

Functioning was not perfect out of the box, however, as there were five failures out of 200 rounds. I had a problem with the feeding bullets hitting the slide stop and locking it back prematurely (4 times). Also had one feed failure where the round was stopped, nosing to a halt onto the feedramp. All jams were cleared by either depressing the slide stop, or racking the slide.

It shoots about 3" high and 3" right at 25yds with 124g+P golddots. Hits closer to point of aim with 115gJHP. The groups were nice and tight. I'll either file down the rear site a little, or order a shorter one from CZ. Otherwise, it ran great, and the excellent grip shape, balance, and trigger had me knocking over steel plates as well as with my best guns.

Afterwards, I smoothed the slide stop "mag tab" where there were visible copper rub marks; I think that will remedy the problem. I also polished the feedramp. This is not the first new gun I've bought that needed this slide-stop treatment; I've had the exact same problem with a Kahr and a Kimber.


I think I'm going to really like this gun, once I get these feeding issues sorted out. It's disappointing to have to "massage" a NIB gun, but for me, about 1/2 I've ever bought have had some problems. It adds significant "ammo cost" before I have confidence in the gun. I'll be getting 2 factory hicaps next week, and I'll give them a workout and check if I've got the gun running 100%. If it does, I may reward it with a set of Hogue wood grips :)
 
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BOB - You are getting as bad as me with this new gun every week stuff! :D Did I miss the range report on the P-38? :confused:
 
I hope somebody can convince me that the Polycoat finish is a good thing.

When it wears through, how do you fix it?
 
Tom, I think it's something in the water. It seems that a new gun only satisfys my "gun-lust" for about a month, more or less.

The P38 ran so badly, that I dumped it after the second range trip. It wouldn't feed FMJ at all, and I just didn't feel like trying to sort it out. I knew my local gunshop had this CZ sitting on the shelf for quite awhile, so......Took a small bath since I admitted it didn't feed well.

I'm optimistic about this CZ. It's very close to being just right, and it's under warranty ;)
 
Follow up to my CZ75B slide stop problem:

I've since taken it to the range twice, each time removing more material from the slide-stop tab. I don't want to remove any more for fear of it missing the mag follower and failing to lock it open when empty.

The problem is getting worse, not better, despite my changes. Out of the box, it did it about every 50 rounds. Now it's doing it almost once per mag, with many different mags.

That's it so far; otherwise it runs great. I'll call CZUSA tomorrow :(
 
I have found (reading, my two CZs and my buddy's gun) that it isn't uncommon for a CZ to have one or two hiccups during break-in (200 rounds or so). Your problem doesn't sound normal. From all I've heard CZ will take care of you well if you need service (and they take care of the gun well too :), the gun should be 100% when they are done).
 
Mike at CZUSA should take care of ya. Hes very very good.
Let us know what he says...
Goerge, there was a CZ97 in the classy ads for 400.00$ NIB
Hope you saw that one...below dealer.
shoot well
 
The gunsmith, Mike, at CZUSA isn't in today.

I heard the click as the phone was hung up after they told me to call back tomorrow, while I was in mid-sentence; yikes.
 
I talked to Mike at CZUSA today, and he's sending me a new slidestop spring. He said it's a fairly common problem, and other folks have had the same trouble on www.czforum.com , and a new spring seems to fix it. He believes that the springs get damaged during assembly at the factory, and warned me to be careful when installing the new spring.

Will update post when the new part is tested. I really want to like this gun, but it has definately lost much of its appeal right now.
 
Forgive me for changing the subject. But why is it so difficult to register on the CZ forum? The EZBoard is a nightmare! I'd really like to post on that forum but it's just to difficult and to register. Any comments. JohnH
 
Many rounds fired, gun still broken

This is a dupe of the post I just made on the CZforum.

The new slidestop spring arrived today. It had a very, very slight bend about 1/4" from the rear end, just like the old one. But the overall shape was different, with a "U" shaped bend in the retaining pin area, unlike the "V" shaped original. I made a pencil tracing of both springs, to satisfy my curiosity and for future comparison. I installed the new spring and went shooting.

The slide stop prematurely engaged while firing the very first mag. I immediately packed up and came home, and called Mike at CZUSA. He said to bend the spring at the knee, so the end was about 1/8" tighter than it was, and try again. He said I could repeat the bending if necessary, and he felt that this would certainly fix the problem.

I bent the spring as recommended, using the original tracing I made as a guide to see how far it was bent. I also made a pencil tracing of the newly bent spring, for my records. It was much tighter to install than before. I went shooting again. Out of 200 rounds of the same assorted ammo, it locked back prematurely 3 times. I installed a Wolff 16lb recoil spring midway thru the range session, and while it made the slide more difficult to rack, no functional difference was seen. I'll leave it in.

Came back home, removed the slidestop spring. Compared to my tracing, it was still exactly the same as when I installed it (good), so I figured I'd give it yet another 1/8" bend per Mike's suggestion, and made a new tracing. I installed it; it was EXTREMELY tight. I hand cycled the slide a few times, removed the slidestop a few times, and then removed the spring. Compared to the tracing I just made, it had unbent itself to the previous shape. Apparantly I had tightened it enough that re-installation and use had pushed on it so hard that it bent itself back.

So I am at a loss, the spring doesn't seem to be able to be tightened any more, yet the gun still fails. I'll call Mike in the morning, but I sure don't have a good feeling about this situation. I've put about 700 rds thru the gun in the 2 weeks I've had it, replaced the slidestop spring, bent the slidestop spring, smoothed the slidestop mag-tab itself, and it still fails as often as the first time I fired it.

I'm tired of wasting my time and ammo trying to fix this new gun. I'll probably keep it, but for now, it will only be a nice, pretty range toy, certainly it's not a defensive weapon. Makes me love my perfect functioning Sig239 and hideous but perfect Ruger95 even more.
 
I would like to know exactly what Mike means by a "common" problem. Ive been a Co admin on the CZ Forum for a while and have owned more than one CZ along with a bunch of friends, some locally...we have never heard of the problem! Sorry to hear about your problems with your gun...they really are one of the best available and rarely have the type of problems you encounter. But hey stuff happens. My Compact gave me fits for a while but got it sorted out. Perfect.

Are you sure its the slidestop? Copper marks? Very strange.
Honestly, this is weird and sounds like a mag problem. The slide release/stop spring wouldnt have anything to do with it unless the mag follower is pushing up on it. This shouldnt happen until your outa ammo. If your mags are working correctly they should keep ammo away from the slide release/stop ...enough to stop this type of interference anyway....

I would send in your gun and let them deal with it....and sorry to hear about your Cz probs.

Shoot well
 
Hi Eric,

Take a look at my thread on the CZforum. You'll see several people responding that they had the exact same problem. After I removed some material from the slidestop "tab", the copper marks stopped appearing, but the problem still exists. This pointed to a weak slidestop spring.

Luckily for the other folks who had this problem on the forum, a new slidestop spring fixed it. I was quite hopeful, based on their responses. But I'm not the luckiest guy in the world <understatement>
 
I just talked to the General Manager of CZUSA, and she was extremely polite and helpful. She generated a UPS call tag as we spoke, and said if they can't fix it, they'll replace it. So we'll see what happens. If they replace it, I'll probably sell the new unfired gun to minimize my losses.

I had to get the name of the GM, because Mike the gunsmith said CZ would not reimburse shipping charges on warranty work. A quick hop to the top of the ladder immediately resolved that little issue with no arguement required, thankfully.
 
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