Apple a Day
New member
I recently picked up a CZ-70 (.32 ACP). With all the fees I payed just under $120. Today I took it to the range to try it out.
My first impression of the CZ-70: If the Walther PP had an ugly sister there she'd be. The one I have is surplus, of course, and shows a good bit of holster wear. I bought it as a fixer-upper and plan to re-blue, replace the recoil spring, and nab an extra firing pin and at least one magazine soon. Most of the work will be done in about a week when I have my spring break- and I'm not grading papers.
It point well and feels okay for a small pistol in my large paw.
The sights are small but will soon be painted with primer and then flourescent glow-in-the-dark paint. I did the same for my Makarov and that helped tremendously.
One thing which troubled me was the magazine. I several boxes of ammo- some UMC and a few boxes of S&B, all of which were jacketed 71 grain brass cased. I originally loaded with the UMC and it just didn't seem to fit right in the magazine.
After a thorough inspection and cleaning I loaded up and went to the range. I usually go to Superior Pawn & Gun down on Mercury Blvd. but this time went to The Marksman in Newport News. This was the first time I had gone there since they moved quite a while ago. The place was nice, clean, and the guys behind the counter were friendly. As I was getting rigged with tagets it was nice to see a guy and his wife/girlfriend apparently renting a short revolver and getting the safety lecture from one of the guys behind the counter. Another soon-to-be CCL holder?
There was plenty of space. The lighting wasn't great but tolerable and I was soon situated and ready to shoot. Unfortunatelty the f#$%@! pistol wasn't.
The big problem was feeding the first round from the magazine. Faced with the problem I immediately applied EMERGENCY REPAIR PROCEDURE #1: I cussed it vigorously. No joy. Glaring didn't seem to make a difference either. I fiddled with it, messed with it, and even manhandled it some but to no avail. It seemed that the first round would move forward in the magazine and jam against the front lip. No end of attempts to seat the cartridges in place seemed to work. Finally I smacked the bottom of the magazine and sometimes that worked. Other times I took some random combination of cussing, fiddling, and smacking. Keep in mind that I began with UMC ammo.
By the end of the first box of ammo I was pretty angry and disappointed. I figured I was looking at an attempt to Dremmel the feed ramp smooth or switching magazines. I plunked the first magazine of S&B ammo into the handle and ZING! it slid right in, the first round chambered as smooth as warm butter.
What the...?
Then it struck me like a hot casing; Czech gun, Czech ammo, stupid! The S&B worked really well. Nary a hiccough with the trays of cartridges I then happily ran through. . Smooth feeding, no problems ejecting with either sort of ammo.
Accuracy was good. My fliers are in the 8-ring at 25 feet. The rest are in the x, 10, and 9 rings (B-34 target). I am no William Tell but got pretty good results with an unfamiliar firearm.
One problem I had with the CZ-70 is that the trigger would travel forward after each shot and mash my finger between the trigger tip and the trigger guard. The underside of my finger started getting tender. I don't have small hands so that may be part of the problem. Repositioning my finger higher on the trigger alleviated it for the most part.
All in all I am quite happy with the little money I paid for this pistol. I look forward to having the time and space to continue working on it.
My first impression of the CZ-70: If the Walther PP had an ugly sister there she'd be. The one I have is surplus, of course, and shows a good bit of holster wear. I bought it as a fixer-upper and plan to re-blue, replace the recoil spring, and nab an extra firing pin and at least one magazine soon. Most of the work will be done in about a week when I have my spring break- and I'm not grading papers.
It point well and feels okay for a small pistol in my large paw.
The sights are small but will soon be painted with primer and then flourescent glow-in-the-dark paint. I did the same for my Makarov and that helped tremendously.
One thing which troubled me was the magazine. I several boxes of ammo- some UMC and a few boxes of S&B, all of which were jacketed 71 grain brass cased. I originally loaded with the UMC and it just didn't seem to fit right in the magazine.
After a thorough inspection and cleaning I loaded up and went to the range. I usually go to Superior Pawn & Gun down on Mercury Blvd. but this time went to The Marksman in Newport News. This was the first time I had gone there since they moved quite a while ago. The place was nice, clean, and the guys behind the counter were friendly. As I was getting rigged with tagets it was nice to see a guy and his wife/girlfriend apparently renting a short revolver and getting the safety lecture from one of the guys behind the counter. Another soon-to-be CCL holder?
There was plenty of space. The lighting wasn't great but tolerable and I was soon situated and ready to shoot. Unfortunatelty the f#$%@! pistol wasn't.
The big problem was feeding the first round from the magazine. Faced with the problem I immediately applied EMERGENCY REPAIR PROCEDURE #1: I cussed it vigorously. No joy. Glaring didn't seem to make a difference either. I fiddled with it, messed with it, and even manhandled it some but to no avail. It seemed that the first round would move forward in the magazine and jam against the front lip. No end of attempts to seat the cartridges in place seemed to work. Finally I smacked the bottom of the magazine and sometimes that worked. Other times I took some random combination of cussing, fiddling, and smacking. Keep in mind that I began with UMC ammo.
By the end of the first box of ammo I was pretty angry and disappointed. I figured I was looking at an attempt to Dremmel the feed ramp smooth or switching magazines. I plunked the first magazine of S&B ammo into the handle and ZING! it slid right in, the first round chambered as smooth as warm butter.
What the...?
Then it struck me like a hot casing; Czech gun, Czech ammo, stupid! The S&B worked really well. Nary a hiccough with the trays of cartridges I then happily ran through. . Smooth feeding, no problems ejecting with either sort of ammo.
Accuracy was good. My fliers are in the 8-ring at 25 feet. The rest are in the x, 10, and 9 rings (B-34 target). I am no William Tell but got pretty good results with an unfamiliar firearm.
One problem I had with the CZ-70 is that the trigger would travel forward after each shot and mash my finger between the trigger tip and the trigger guard. The underside of my finger started getting tender. I don't have small hands so that may be part of the problem. Repositioning my finger higher on the trigger alleviated it for the most part.
All in all I am quite happy with the little money I paid for this pistol. I look forward to having the time and space to continue working on it.
