Do CZs Need Upgrades?

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rjk2475

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hear alot about springs needing replaced. are these not good to go out of the box?
 
I have a 75B with the original springs. So far, it's worked fine. I do plan on putting in a new recoil spring since springs should be replaced eventually in any gun. When I order, I am going to go with the next highest rated spring from Wolff Springs. That will reduce the wear and tear on the gun.

My advice is go ahead and buy the gun and shoot. Pick up a stronger spring when you can, but don't worry if you don't do it right away. The gun will work fine in the meantime.
 
I just ran through a 1200-round course with Trident Concepts and my 75B never faltered. :D Neither did any of the other makes and models out there, except for a baby glock..and that could have been operator induced.

I'll upgrade the springs now that the weapon has hit the 3k round mark. That's just good maintenance, though, and not because I've had problems. A slightly stronger Wolff recoil spring and FP spring won't cause any worries.
 
What you heard is true.......the OEM springs are not always crap, but they run very inconstant in there weights. Thats all........Wolff's are right what they say they are and will improve the performance of most guns.
Shoot well
 
I'd like better sights. Heinie's would be nice if they made some...

A little smithing wouldn't hurt either. A bit too much take up on my SA pull and it was on all the 75's I tried before buying.

Other wise, I love mine. Not as classy looking as my HP, but certainly a great pistol at an awesome price.
 
If you are the kind of person that has to tinker with things, there are things to tinker with. If you just want it to run out of the box, it will run. My 75B is all stock (except for replacing the crappy grips that come on the Mils with Hogue wrap-arounds) and it runs fine. I can't make the thing miss.
Get the CZ, shoot the crap out of it and see what upgrades YOUR gun needs. That is the best way to tell if it needs to be tinkered with.

Have fun, be safe,
Calhoun
 
check out angus at www.ghostholster.com and http://www.ghostholster.com/cz_home.htm

some new hammers, sears, sights, triggers to upgrade you CZ..

My first one..I replaced the recoil spring and hammer spring (reduced power ) and made modifications to the mag brake to allow the mags to drop..

my second one is coming with the new sights, hammer, trigger job, etc..looking forward to trying it out..
 
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I replaced the recoil spring on my CZ75B with the factory spec one from Wolf. Don't remember the pounds, but the original seemed kind of wimpy. Other than that, all I've done is remove the magazine brake. I like the sights.
 
you don't need to do anything to your cz75b out of the box to make it work well.

I don't know why anyone is complaining about their service, they answer the phone, answer questions, and will take stuff back for repairs if it needs it. No idea on turnaround time as I haven't run into anyone needing to do more than have some spare parts mailed to them to fix any issues.

If you are going to shoot a lot, you should pick up a spare extractor and extractor spring as these are wear items and you will appreciate a spare if they go on you. The only thing they seem to have an issue with is the slide release breaking. You'll probably want a spare of that too just in case. That should get you through many thousands of rounds of ammo unless you start shooting light handloads for competition. Then you'll have to fiddle with various spring wieghts to get everything happy.

From what I have seen, you should be able to take it out of the box, shoot the heck out of it, and feel generally safe that the service intervals for springs, barrel, etc are reasonably conservative.

Like someone else said, if you want to tinker there is plenty that CAN be done to it, but nothing you really NEED to do to it.
 
I replaced the recoil spring on my CZ 97B with a 16# unit from Wolf. Not really necessary; I just thought that the standard spring was a bit 'light' for extensive use at around 13#. Functionally, there was no change to speak of except that the slide is a bit tougher to rack.

Other than that, I use whatever came in it until it's two coils shorter than a new one, and then replace it.

IMHO, most of the spring changing and other fooraw comes from personal preference and/or a need to tinker with something.
 
If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It!

Changing creature comforts or cosmetics is one thing replacing properly functioning parts is quite another.

CZ has been making guns for a long time. European 9mm ammo seems generally hotter than US fodder. If it needed stronger springs, I imagine CZ would do it to cut down on the warrenty claims.

--wally.
 
Out of the box, my 75B had frequent FTE and premature slide lock problems. I was told by many that their springs are notoriously underpowered so I replaced all springs with higher tension Wolff springs (even in the magazines). This fixed the FTE problems except for the premature slide lock, and that was happening at least once per full magazine at the range. So I sent it in for warranty service and they replaced the extractor and slide stop spring (which I had heard was also a frequent problem). That was over a year ago and I have had zero failures since then. :D
 
Nothing...well...*maybe* a trigger action job on a 75-series (but very very little work is required). And when the OEM spring wears out (as all springs do), get a Wolff (or maybe one of those new-fangled ISMI...but I haven't tried their stuff yet).

And the new P-01 has one of the best triggers from a factory trigger that I've felt yet, right up there with Sig. Give that puppy 1000 rounds or so and she'll smooth out real nice. I'd replace that plastic guide-rod with a metal (maybe stainless or hollow) guide rod, though.

Enjoy your CZ!!
 
It is strange that CZ uses a plastic guide rod on an otherwise all-steel gun. It bothered me at first too. Fortunately, the guide rod works just fine. I have 35,000 rounds through my CZ-75B and the guide rod isn't even showing signs of wear.

I changed the recoil spring around 20K because I was having premature lockback problems. It turned out to be caused by a damaged slide stop which CZ replaced at no charge. The stock spring was probably just fine.

I polished the feed ramp on mine because I could see the tool marks. It never gave me a problem, but it seemed like a good idea and it's easier to clean.
 
Due to some early feeding problems using junky 165 gr Win Value Pack ammo, my CZ 75B in .40 S&W has had the barrel throated & polished by my own pistolsmith. The extractor spring was replaced with the one that Wolff sells. The recoil spring was replaced with the Wolff 18lb replacement. The mag springs were replaced with the Wolff XP (+15lb) replacements in the stock 10 rd. Mec Gar factory mags. Thank God for Wolff Gunsprings!

I bought a replacement full-length guide rod from CZ after the plating on the original started to flake off (no clue how or why!). I repainted the stock sights using Testors white gloss enamel. The crappy plastic grip panels cracked and were replaced with the rubber panels from CZ. The crappy phillips head grip screws will soon be replaced by the slotted screw replacements that Hogue sells.

It was all worth it for me, because the handfit & balance of the CZ 75B is on a par with my SW1911, and both are as good as it gets for me. After all is said & done, the gun runs 100%, it is as accurate as the day is long with regular 180 gr. FHJ Blazer Brass ammo, and is therefore a joy to shoot and own.
 
Wally........CZUSA is sourcing a new spring supplier for ALL CZ's. They are aware of the problem and are looking into rectifying it.

Most guns run fine out of the box....the ONLY thing I recommend is if your recoil spring feels weak.....go with a Wolff. Thats it.

Shoot well.......
 
Spring feels weak? Only time I'd replace a spring in a 100% working gun would be if it threw the brass so far I couldn't find it :), then IMHO a stronger recoil spring in an otherwise fine working gun would be indicated.

OTOH, if the gun is having problems, changing springs is a start if you don't want to send it back under warrenty.

If CZ is having spring supplier problems seems they might send you a replacement spring if your gun is having problems and you called them.

--wally.

PS I've five CZ pistols: 75B in 9mm & .40S&W, 40B, 97, & 83 all have been 100% out of the box, although the 97B doesn't feed my 200 gr H&G68 cast SWC reloads very well.
 
I have to agree with Wally. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. My .40 S&W RAMI is the only CZ I've ever had any trouble with. It didn't like 165 gr. WWB. Every now and then a round would hit the feed ramp and stop. Polished the feed ramp and the problem went away. So far, i haven't had any other problems with the 5 CZ pistols I own.
P.S. Next on my list is a -97B. Come on tax return!
 
Here's a short history of my CZ-75B usage:

Shot 400 rounds of various 9mm FMJs. Two fail-to-return-to-battery errors, each corrected by tapping the slide lightly from the rear.

Shot ~1200 more rounds. Occasional stovepipes, maybe once every few hundred rounds. Nothing major, and nothing that couldn't be cleared in a half second (sometimes with one hand), but it still irked me.

I read about underpowered CZ springs and got a Wolff 16# recoil spring, and an extractor spring. I changed out both springs and found that the slide was much more difficult to rack, and that if I didn't rack the slide hard enough, the spring would force the slide forward so fast as to jam the cartridge up against the feedramp (fail to chamber). I figured this was bad.

I switched out the heavy recoil spring for the stock recoil spring and haven't had any problems since (well, okay, one stovepipe, but I was shooting one-handed with my left hand - it just might have been my fault ;) ).
 
I'm convinced the problem with my .40 75B was the 165 gr. Win VP ammo; at the time, I wnated to modify the gun so it wouldn't be ammo-sensitive. In hindsight, I probably should have just avoided the VP then like I do now, because 180 gr Blazers, Lawman, UMCs, S&B, 180 gr Win Whitebox, Fiocchi, and Fed. AEs always fed fine. No big deal, because the gun runs great now. In fact , I have 3 boxes of Blazer Brass that have been sitting in the safe too long, so I may take the CZ out for a range date this weekend.
 
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