CZ-50 decocker unsafe?

[yeet]

I got a surplus CZ-50 pistol and have no ability to go to a range even remotely any time soon. I also cannot pull a round and test with just a primer but I'm pretty sure the decocker on my CZ-50 is not safe to operate. I tested it with some solid plastic .32 ACP snap caps that were new from packaging (so no marks where primer would be on a real round) tested one by pulling the trigger on it, clear indent as expected, then put in another one and tried the decocker. There is a faint mark where a primer strike would be. Not as deep as a trigger pull but definitely significant. I tried this again with two more and in case it was just the hole for the firing pin indenting on the snap cap, merely closed the slide on a fresh one and then ejected and there was nothing where the primer strike would be. I assume this means the decocker is unsafe to use? Any tutorials on how to fix this? I would send it to the smith I normally use but I could be waiting up to a year for it to come back and I'd rather not...

 

[Hugger-4641]

I have never trusted the decocker on my Cz52 even though I have tested it several times and it has worked every time. Something in me just can't make a habit of letting that hammer snap with a live round.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

I too seldom trust de-cockers but on a 50 if operating properly, the hammer should have plenty of a gap left till the face of the firing pin is struck.

See that your firing pin is not broken as so many in 50s are. Broken but not having fallen out might allow for a bit of inertial effect.

Also, do a little test.

Cock the hammer
Holding the hammer manually, depress the de-cocker to the point of allowing the hammer to move forward while controlling its movement. Controlling it manually the entire time.
When the hammer stops its forward travel - note that point.

Now.... And, do NOT dry-fire!

Cock the hammer
Controlling the hammer manually once again, pull the trigger allowing the hammer to move to its most forward position against the firing pin. When it stops, note that point relative to the first test.

The stoping point in the two test should be markedly different.


Todd.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

"I have never trusted the decocker on my Cz52 ...."

I use the decocker on my Cz52 to release the hammer to be lowered under thumb control, without my finger on the trigger, and with the pin controlled by the trigger blocking the firing pin if my finger might slip on the hammer. I suppose that blocking pin can be battered into uselessness by repeatedly using the decocker to drop the hammer on the firing pin from full cock.

My H&K USP also has a decocker, probably better designed made of better material than the Cz52 system. I use the decocker on my H&K USP to release the hammer to be lowered under thumb control, without my finger on the trigger, because mechanical systems can fail.

When I tested my decockers, I used empty casings primed with standard pistol primers (magnum pistol primers usually have cups as thick as rifle primer cups).

 

[MedWheeler]

I have several guns with de-cockers. Like some of you, I don't care for snapping hammers on loaded chambers, either, so I also control the hammer.

I have a 70 that I've never shot yet. I'll have to take a look and see if anything is off with it..

 

[film495]

I have a CZ-70, and I think it works correctly, but I don't use the decocker. It does have a firing pin block, so - you should be able to push the firing pin forward with the hammer back and see/feel that it does not go all the way forward. If you pull the slide off, and work the trigger, you can see a little arm that lifts up, that will push on the bottom of the firing pin block, and that is the firing pin block safety, in theory it prevents the firing pin from striking the primer unless the trigger is pulled.

In the slide, if you push down on the block the firing pin should just slide out the back. The firing pin block should have a spring that keeps some pressure on it and in place. I'd clean that whole mechanism out good, and check to make sure the spring is there - and that the firing pin block is not stuck or sticking. When I cleaned out the firing pin channel on mine, there were dried up pieces of old cruddy patches stuck in there that bubba left, probably 20 years ago.

 

[yeet]

I took the firing pin out, there's no spring and it's not broken. From what I can see online the CZ50 doesn't have a spring over the firing pin except modified after market parts. Not sure about the blocker but I took a picture. I did notice when decocking the hammer DOES barely tap the firing pin though.

 

[Terry G]

I have never trusted the decocker on my Cz52 even though I have tested it several times and it has worked every time. Something in me just can't make a habit of letting that hammer snap with a live round.

I had a CZ 52 in 7.62X25 and had a round go off downrange (luckily}. Thinking I may have hit the trigger, I tried the pencil test. Yep, shot the pencil straight up. I had to try one more round and sure enough the gun went off with my finger no where near the trigger. I sold it to a 'smith that said it was an easy fix. I do have a CZ 52 in 9MM that show's no sign of doing this but I don't trust it. Funny thing is I'm a confirmed CZ guy.

 

[film495]

do you have the firing pin block, and the little spring that holds it down until the little arm presses it up? It fits in the notch in the firing pin. there is also supposed to be a small spring that holds the pin block down, and the little lever presses it when the trigger is pulled to move the firing pin block to allow it to strike the primer.

 

[yeet]

do you have the firing pin block, and the little spring that holds it down until the little arm presses it up? It fits in the notch in the firing pin. there is also supposed to be a small spring that holds the pin block down, and the little lever presses it when the trigger is pulled to move the firing pin block to allow it to strike the primer.

I do have those, yes. Could this just be a matter of replacing those?

 

[film495]

I do have those, yes. Could this just be a matter of replacing those?

I messed around with my CZ-70 for a few minutes, and the decocker does not cuase the hammer to strike the firing pin. It stops well short. Also, if you push the hammer down, you can not push it forward to strike the firing pin. If you cock it, and then pull the trigger - you can let the hammer down, and it will push forward into the the firing pin. When the trigger is reset, you can no longer push the hammer forward. Not sure what in the mechanism cuases the behavior, I'd have to take the grips off and examine it closer to see, but - these observations may give you a few ideas of what to look at. Oh, I also - with the slide off the fiream, if I push the firing pin all the way forward - it does extend through what I think is called the breech of the bolt, where it might hit a primer if the gun was in battery, so - not sure if it is supposed to do that, but my guess is my CZ behaves the same as yours there and the issue you have is somewhere else in the mechanism.

 

[yeet]

the issue you have is somewhere else in the mechanism.

Funny how these things usually turn more complex. Another odd thing for me is firing pin only goes back in the slide at the exact opposite side that seems logical... ie the side you would think would be where it catches the firing pin because of the indent... it doesn't go that way but the opposite if that makes sense? It's hard to explain without visual demonstration.

 

[film495]

I think I get what you mean. I'd have to take mine apart to see which way it goes - don't really remember. There are a few videos of guys stripping and cleaning these things I remember watching, those might help if you can search and find them.