SouthronBoy
Member
Picked up my new (to me) CZ-82 from my new FFL on Tuesday. I ordered it from makarov.com, who advertised it as near mint. I don't have words to express just how beautiful this gun is. Except for a little wear down by the business end, the finish, which looks like a gray powdercoat, was flawless. Even my FFL was impressed.
I picked up 100 rounds of Silver Bear 95g FMJ at a gun show a couple of weeks ago, and I had a box of commercial S&B that I've been hoarding for a while. Mak ammo is pretty scarce around here, and pretty darned expensive when you find it. I'd never used the Silver Bear, but I'd heard good enough things on gunboards.com to try it.
There's an indoor range near my kids' school, so I slipped out of work a little early Wednesday. The gun shop attached to the range usually carries Mak ammo, but they're proud of it. They carry Hornaday and Winchester regularly, and this trip they had about six boxes of Barnaul 95g HP. I'd never seen Barnaul before, but remembered that a lot of folks around gunboards.com really liked it. (Isn't it out of production, or something?) They wanted $14.99/box for the Barnaul, which is darned steep for Mak ammo, but I've gotten a little extra overtime lately and decided to splurge. Besides, I wanted to see if the CZ would take the hollow points or not.
I loaded up two magazines of Silver Bear to start with. Let me tell you, those mag springs are STIFF. It was all I could do to get 12 rounds into the magazines. My left thumb (I'm a southpaw) is still a little stiff, more than 48 hours later.
My first two magazines out of this little beauty were the best groupings I've ever shot. I ran the target out to about 7 yards, and the rounds hit about 3-4 inches to the right of my point of aim. I typically shoot about 3-4 inches down and to the right (about 5 o'clock), but with this pistol I shot at 3 o'clock. I had decided to alter my grip a little since my last range visit. I've shot to 5 o'clock pretty consistently for years, so I figure it's me, not my pistols.
I didn't have any malfunctions with any of the ammo, but I noticed pretty much right away that the safeties on this CZ are very loose. On several shots, I'd nudged the safety with my knuckle, and it went up enough to keep the gun from firing. I'll have to do something about that, I want a safety with a crisp action. Who wants a gun to go into safe mode without you realizing it? I usually don't use safeties all that much because they're awkward for me as a lefty. The ambidextrous nature of the CZ-82 is one of the things I found most attractive about it.
To adjust to the loose safety, I altered my grip a little more and rested my left thumb over the safety to keep from nudging it up. It didn't seem to hurt my accuracy any, but it was considerably more uncomfortable than the improper grip I'd been using.
The sights are a whole world better than the Mak. There are two white dots in the rear, and a white stripe along the front post. It was pretty easy to pick up the sights again after a first shot. I may have to tinker with the front sight to make it a little more visible. I run my own version of the Mogadishu drill, and I was getting two pretty consistent heart shots followed by a head shot. I was aiming for the sternum, and hitting the heart. I guess if I'm going to be off from my point of aim, that's the way to go.
You can see daylight between the frame forward of the trigger guard and the slide of this pistol when the slide's forward. Not much, but it's noticeable. I didn't think much of it, and still don't.
I don't know if it was the ammo, remember I was firing two brands that I've never used before, or what, but the gun sparked a lot. At the end of the session, the muzzle was covered with gray powder residue. I don't ever remember that happening with my Mak. Again, not a big deal, just something different.
The pistol handled all three types of ammo with no problems. The mag springs loosened up a tiny bit over the course of the afternoon, but not much. My thumb gave out before my ammo did.
I wound up firing 75 rounds of Silver Bear, 25 of the S&B, and 25 of the Barnaul. I liked the Barnaul, and may wind up getting some more to use as my "Homeland Defense" ammo. Currently, I've got two mags of Hornaday loaded with my Mak for that purpose. I'll have to try some more before I trust either the gun or the ammo for that purpose.
I may try to get back to the range next week. Does anybody know any good thumb exercises?
I picked up 100 rounds of Silver Bear 95g FMJ at a gun show a couple of weeks ago, and I had a box of commercial S&B that I've been hoarding for a while. Mak ammo is pretty scarce around here, and pretty darned expensive when you find it. I'd never used the Silver Bear, but I'd heard good enough things on gunboards.com to try it.
There's an indoor range near my kids' school, so I slipped out of work a little early Wednesday. The gun shop attached to the range usually carries Mak ammo, but they're proud of it. They carry Hornaday and Winchester regularly, and this trip they had about six boxes of Barnaul 95g HP. I'd never seen Barnaul before, but remembered that a lot of folks around gunboards.com really liked it. (Isn't it out of production, or something?) They wanted $14.99/box for the Barnaul, which is darned steep for Mak ammo, but I've gotten a little extra overtime lately and decided to splurge. Besides, I wanted to see if the CZ would take the hollow points or not.
I loaded up two magazines of Silver Bear to start with. Let me tell you, those mag springs are STIFF. It was all I could do to get 12 rounds into the magazines. My left thumb (I'm a southpaw) is still a little stiff, more than 48 hours later.
My first two magazines out of this little beauty were the best groupings I've ever shot. I ran the target out to about 7 yards, and the rounds hit about 3-4 inches to the right of my point of aim. I typically shoot about 3-4 inches down and to the right (about 5 o'clock), but with this pistol I shot at 3 o'clock. I had decided to alter my grip a little since my last range visit. I've shot to 5 o'clock pretty consistently for years, so I figure it's me, not my pistols.
I didn't have any malfunctions with any of the ammo, but I noticed pretty much right away that the safeties on this CZ are very loose. On several shots, I'd nudged the safety with my knuckle, and it went up enough to keep the gun from firing. I'll have to do something about that, I want a safety with a crisp action. Who wants a gun to go into safe mode without you realizing it? I usually don't use safeties all that much because they're awkward for me as a lefty. The ambidextrous nature of the CZ-82 is one of the things I found most attractive about it.
To adjust to the loose safety, I altered my grip a little more and rested my left thumb over the safety to keep from nudging it up. It didn't seem to hurt my accuracy any, but it was considerably more uncomfortable than the improper grip I'd been using.
The sights are a whole world better than the Mak. There are two white dots in the rear, and a white stripe along the front post. It was pretty easy to pick up the sights again after a first shot. I may have to tinker with the front sight to make it a little more visible. I run my own version of the Mogadishu drill, and I was getting two pretty consistent heart shots followed by a head shot. I was aiming for the sternum, and hitting the heart. I guess if I'm going to be off from my point of aim, that's the way to go.
You can see daylight between the frame forward of the trigger guard and the slide of this pistol when the slide's forward. Not much, but it's noticeable. I didn't think much of it, and still don't.
I don't know if it was the ammo, remember I was firing two brands that I've never used before, or what, but the gun sparked a lot. At the end of the session, the muzzle was covered with gray powder residue. I don't ever remember that happening with my Mak. Again, not a big deal, just something different.
The pistol handled all three types of ammo with no problems. The mag springs loosened up a tiny bit over the course of the afternoon, but not much. My thumb gave out before my ammo did.
I wound up firing 75 rounds of Silver Bear, 25 of the S&B, and 25 of the Barnaul. I liked the Barnaul, and may wind up getting some more to use as my "Homeland Defense" ammo. Currently, I've got two mags of Hornaday loaded with my Mak for that purpose. I'll have to try some more before I trust either the gun or the ammo for that purpose.
I may try to get back to the range next week. Does anybody know any good thumb exercises?
Go ahead. You know you want to. Your wife won't mind. Really, she won't.
