Do CZs Require a Break in Period and FTE Question

[Tecolote]

My buddy took out his NIB 9mm CZ75B today. He cleaned and lubed it and replaced the plastic guide rod with a stainless steel Bedair guide rod before firing. He had one failure to extract (FTE) which subsequently caused a failure to feed when the next round in the mag jammed against the empty shell in the chamber. The problem occurred with Winchester FMJ. The empty shell had to be pushed out with a cleaning rod because it was snugly lodged in the chamber.

He fired about 350 rounds of Winchester and Remington FMJ with only that one FTE.

Two questions come to mind:

Does CZ recommend a break in period for their NIB pistols? In other words, should he write off the FTE as a break in issue.

If it's not a break in issue, what could've caused the FTE?

 

[j1979]

Mine did something similar to that. I had one FTE in the first 300 rounds. I changed my recoil spring to a 14lb one from ghostholster and have since put 300 flawless rounds through it.

 

[ChCx2744]

I hear some people replace the factory recoil spring with Wolff Extra/Super-strength 16.5-18.5 springs and it runs fine after that. The spring itself should be like...$10.00-$15.00 dollars after taxes. In comparison to the price of the gun itself, that is still one flying blue hell of a deal.

 

[j1979]

Some people will change the extractor spring to a more powerful one. The recoil spring needed however needs to be lighter. The spring on it from CZ is made for "hotter" european ammo.

 

[armoredman]

Never needed one before, and that's with owning/owned 7 CZ pistols. They all ran right outa the box.

 

[Tecolote]

I'm confused. If CZ uses a 14lb spring and US ammo is underpowered compared to Euro ammo, wouldn't you go with a lighter spring as opposed to a heavier spring?

 

[velocette]

With all due respect, no properly fitted and assembled firearm should need a "break in".
IM(nv)HO, "break in" is a weak excuse for poor fitting or poor assembly of an expensive piece of machinery.

Roger

 

[roc1]

I have 8 CZ pistols at the present time.I have had only a couple that was new and the P01 needed a breakin period.This gun is flawless after the breakin period.The CZ guys says it needs about 500 rounds through it before it is really broke in.This was quoted in a popular gunmag I read from a CZ shooting team member.I know that it also said other guns need the same treatment.I love my CZ but I would shoot any of my different pistols I would trust my life with several thousands of pracitice rounds with different ammo to see how they preform.This is a good excuse to shhot every weekend anyway.
roc1

 

[Tecolote]

roc1,

If I may ask, what kind of problems did you encounter during the break in?

 

[schmeky]

Pistols are machines. They are set up with tolerances, like any machine. If all the ammo fed through a pistol was absolutely perfect, theoretically, there should be no malfunctions. Dirt and grim play a part over time, but this is compensated for through periodic cleaning.

I think you had a bad round, out of spec, not up to snuff, something. If it were the pistol itself, you would have had more than one problem in 300 rounds.

I have a new Glock 34. On the second mag there was a FTE. Things happen.

 

[jdc1244]

Do CZs Require a Break in Period

Mine did not – 75B .40S&W, 83 .380, and an SP-01 – all run fine stock out of the box.

 

[Kenpo]

I have a little over 500 rounds through both my P01's - I have never had a problem. I don't know about a "break in" period. I have heard people talk about "breaking in" a gun, but my CZ's have been flawless.

 

[BlindJustice]

I got a CZ 75B last May. Paperwork said it left the factory Jan. '08.
I gave it a good cleaning to get the film of whatever they put on them
out of the factory. Since it was bought as a range gun and I had read of
so much reliability of this design I decided to just shoot it. After 670
rounds fired of every type of FMJ/JHP & bullet weight I figured what the
heck and gave it a cleaning. It's now at 950 rounds fired,
no FTFs, no FTEs or any other problems to date It has replaced a
S&W J-frame as the nightstand handgun.

I'll look into a new stock strength recoil spring and a 15 lb mainspring
at the 1500 round mark.

Break-in - heck any piece of mechanical tool that has working parts
needs some useage to bed-in. IMHO

When yah get a good example, keep it.

Randall

 

[1SOW]

I shoot a CZ75B DA/SA. When new, the trigger tends to be rough. A common answer to questions about this roughness is to shoot it 'til it smooths out. Usually about 500 rds is suggested; OR you can do a minor trigger job that smooths it out in an hour. The sear is not smooth when new. Repeated trigger pulls smooths it out
As to FTEs: Mine had one (or two) FTEs in every mag of CCI aluminum cased ammo. It ejected brass nicely. After asking questions on two forums, I replaced the extractor spring with a Wolff extra power spring and it fixed the problem. The aluminum cases have a very slight different shape at the base. I still don't shoot aluminum. Other shooters have no problems with aluminum.
CZ USA now uses Wolff springs for replacement parts.
Mine has thousands of rounds through it and its my baby.

My Sig P239 loosened up and smoothed out noticeably after about 1000rds. It's another good gun with no problems at all.

Blind Justice: You'll love that new hammer spring! BUT, I may go back up to 16lbs cuz I have had TWO FTFs in the last 1500/2000 rds. Hitting them a second time they fired.

 

[ChCx2744]

I found out the hard way how bad some ammo will cause malfunctions in ammo cycles. I tried to shoot Cor Bon 125 gr +P JHP at the range. The crap FTF and FTE many, many times. Never using that stuff again. After all the good reviews of the ammo I've heard, I'd rather have ammo that cycles right. Either that or I need to switch out this dad gum recoil spring. Take this as an example and be wary of what ammo/recoil spring/extractor spring you use.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I can forgive a sporadic malfunction like this in the first couple of hundred rounds if it does not repeat itself. As already noted, it could have been the ammo and not the pistol itself.

 

[Heck]

I have around 3500 rounds through my 75BD and only one failure. It had one stove pipe with a cheap after market high cap mag. Threw the mag in the trash and never had another issue.

 

[burningsquirrels]

do they need a break in? no more than any other pistol. just start shooting the crap out of it. make sure you clean it out and lube it again before going out for the first time.

 

[KCWebPlaza]

What about putting in the factory plastic guide rod? When I purchased my CZ P-01, I had planned on replacing it with an aftermarket stainless steel one. Several people talked me out of it, and said the plastic is just fine, in fact, the stainless steel rod may cause problems.

I kept the plastic one in and haven't had one issue with the pistol.

 

[Average Joe]

The first few hundred rounds had a few jams, after that, no problems.

 

[Deer Hunter]

He cleaned and lubed it and replaced the plastic guide rod with a stainless steel Bedair guide rod before firing

Bingo.

I've heard of CZs choking every once in a while when a steel guide rod was put in.

Maybe that's the problem, maybe it was a bad round? Maybe it was limpwristing? I'm not certain.

 

[BCRider]

The guide rod on the CZ is really only there to keep the recoil spring from buckling to the side. I've got 1300 rounds through mine now and when I was cleaning it the other day the plastic guide rod still looked like new with not a single sign of wear from the spring digging into it.

On the breakin issue. My own CZ SP-01 Shadow had a lazy casing ejection and suffered 3 stovepipes during the first session where I shot 200 rounds. No FTE's at the next night out with 150 more rounds but the ejection paths were still really lazy and tended to rain back towards my face and upper arms. Over the next 200 rounds at the 3rd time out she started to loosen up and the ejection path curved more over to the side. That was when I cleaned all the slides and barrel and from then on it's been lovely with a nice energetic ejection cleanly to the side in an arc that would put them on the ground about 5 feet to the right if the range's side barriers were not blocking them.

 

[burningsquirrels]

i know folks with tens of thousands still using the plastic guide rod. it's fine.

 

[Canuc Shooter]

CZs are a well made firearm, and do not need any sort of a break-in period, just a good cleaning and a lube job. Then they are good to go.

 

[schmeky]

BCRider,

Sounds like the factory recoil spring is taking a "set". CZ's are pretty stiffly sprung out of the box.

I think this is the single biggest reason for initial problems, which invariably go away after a 150-300 rounds.