CZ75 and CZ75B magazines

ultratec1 said:

Ok I have a question about the difference between the CZ 75 and the CZ 75B magazines. I have 5 magazines that were given to me that look identical to my CZ75B magazines however when I insert them into my gun they catch halfway going into the mag well and you have to tap them to seat. Once they go in the slide does not lock to the rear. So my question is will pre-B magazines still work in the B models???

Click to expand...

I had CZ75 from late 70s I bought extra B magazine and it worked in that gun. I do not know if old CZ75 mags will fit in 'B' guns.

Old mags work just fine in the newer CZ -- or always have in mine, and I've had a bunch of both type of CZs and both types of mags.

The fact that the slide does not lock to the rear suggests that the mags are not true CZ mags, but might be mags from a different brand of gun. Some of the mags from early Tanfoglio-based CZ clones had a different follower, and wouldn't engage the slide-stop. If you can find a newer CZ mag, compare the followers -- some of the problem mags have an indentation where the slide stop would normally be engaged. If so, new followers will fix that specific issue.

The oldest CZs had a narrower mag channel in the grip, and that area is been enlarged in the newer models. Newer CZ mags typically won't work in the pre-Bs. A gunsmith (or you) can open that area us with a flat file. (It's tight near the top.)

Older factory 15-round and 10-round mags always worked in my pre-Bs. If I had a pre-B now, however, I'd just open up the top of the mag area in the grip.

15 round 'old' mags seem to work well in the 1990 and newer Pre-b's, anything before that is questionable. The slide locking back after the last round is dependent on the follower in the magazine having a spot on it that will lift the slide release. As anybody who's dealt with CZs and CZ clones can tell you, sometimes it's a crapshoot with anything other than the mag that came with that specific gun.

there was a thread with pics over on the CZ forum on how to make a minor mod to your pistol to accept both old and new mags.

like Walt said it involved a little filing but not too much to the front of the sear cage housing to open up some space. seemed pretty simple though.

might have been in their gunsmithing section.

The pre B mags I have fit in the Bs, but not vice versa, so I filed the inside of the grip frame to accept the B magazines. As with many other modifications, work slowly and check often.

I have a later model pre-b that I use with my modern CZ mags. I did find that they are a snug fit but most of them still dropped free once the mag well rear leaf was changed out for a flat match style one. The mags that rubbed on the sides lighty were carefully squeezed flatter by a few thou with my big metal working vise so they work with both my older gun and the new one while dropping free easily with the old model.

Some folks found that this was odd that I was able to do this. So I often wonder if there was a late model change to the mags and frames just before they switched to the B models with the firing pin blocks.