I got a fright today....

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easyg

easyg

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Okay, it was totally my fault.
I'm not trying to place blame on anyone other than myself.

I dropped my pistol today.


While in my kitchen, I was holstering my CZ 83 pistol.
It slipped from my grip and hit the tiled floor.
I picked it up and gave it a thorough inspection....not even a scratch!!! :)



I decided to check that it would still function properly.
I removed the magazine, ejected the chambered round, and did a function test (rack the slide, do a single-action trigger-pull, rack the slide again, manually lower the hammer, and do a double-action trigger-pull).
And all was well. :)


So, I go to reload the magazine when I notice the previously chamber round, the one that in the chamber when I dropped the pistol, has a tiny dimple in the primer. :uhoh:


My blood ran cold and I got that slightly sickly feeling.


I had thought that the CZ 83 was "drop safe". :(
 
Engineers like to split hairs on issues like that all the time. Since a firing pin must strike a primer with enough force to ignite it, and strike force that does not ignite it is, by definition, safe, regardless of the physical evidence left behind, the weapon is considered drop-safe. Empirically, you would have to continue to drop your pistol under those exact same circumstances with a sufficient supply of your carry ammo to be sure.

One example I can provide is with my M1 Garands. Each one that I have owned will dimple the primer of the first cartridge upon loading. It happens every time. Not once have I had the weapon discharge upon allowing the bolt to fly forward. Again, this is spitting hairs, but from an engineering perspective, impact but no detonation is exactly the same as no impact and no detonation.
 
Again, this is spitting hairs, but from an engineering perspective, impact but no detonation is exactly the same as no impact and no detonation.
Click to expand...
Regardless, I will no longer carry the CZ 83 as a self defense handgun.
 
In which case you will not be able to carry most auto loading weapons, since most designs will create that little mark on the primer when loading from the magazine. The inertia firing pin used in many auto loading weapons will run forward and tap the primer upon feeding a round from the magazine. This doesn't just occur on the first, manually loaded round but on every round fired. If this situation were as dangerous as you seem to think, guns would be going full auto all the time.
 
So, I go to reload the magazine when I notice the previously chamber round, the one that in the chamber when I dropped the pistol, has a tiny dimple in the primer.


My blood ran cold and I got that slightly sickly feeling.


I had thought that the CZ 83 was "drop safe".
Click to expand...

The gun did not go off.

It was you who was not "drop safe" but the gun was!

tipoc
 
Edarnold said:
The inertia firing pin used in many auto loading weapons will run forward and tap the primer upon feeding a round from the magazine.
Click to expand...
I can't speak to all semi automatics since I haven't examined one of each. But many modern ones have firing pin/striker blocks. If those guns ping the primer at all when chambering a round, I'd suspect some sort of significant internal damage that allows the pin to move past the block without the trigger being pulled.

My 1970 vintage "T" model BHP has no firing pin block of any kind. But of the many, many live rounds I've ejected by hand none had firing pin dings that I recall. Same is true for my old 1911 bought circa 1964.
 
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So you drop it....it doesn't go off (as it shouldn't) and now you cast it aside for not doing what it is supposed to do (not fire when dropped)? I don't really know what to say.
 
Some information on the CZ 83...

http://www.cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-83/

easyg,

You can always field strip the gun and measure the oal of the firing pin. Consult with others over to the CZ forum on the length of the pin. It's possible yours could be a few thousandths too long.

The gun did work as it was supposed to...it did not fire when you dropped it. Since you like the gun it's worth it to talk with others about what you feel could be a potential problem. CZ service and gunsmithing could also be a help. They are quite good over there in Kansas. You can at least get a straight answers to your concerns.

tipoc
 
I agree with what the majority have said. The gun did its job and did not fire when dropped. No reason to nix a perfectly good gun unless you want to sell me your "unsafe" gun real cheap ;). Give it a good test fire session and put it back on your hip and don't drop it anymore.
 
The CZ 82 and 83 do not have firing pin safeties. So if dropped directly onto the end of the barrel the firing pin could possibly put a small insignificant dent in the primer. However I think you could drop it from a 12 ft ladder and the firing pin would still never hit the primer hard enough to set the round off. The spring on the firing pin will simply not allow this to happen.There is no way that hammer hit the firing pin it is mechanically impossible the way the CZ83 is designed unless the trigger is pulled. I have a CZ82, And consider it to be a very safe pistol. Much safer than many other brands of pistols out there in todays market. IMO
As others have said the pistol did it's job exactly as advertised.
 
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I understand completely how you feel. You think you're buying a quality product, and it turns out to be the opposite. How depressing.

As a life long humanitarian, let me be the first to offer to take that offensive junk out of your presence. Send it to me, at no charge for my service.

You're welcome!
 
I agree with everybody else. Keep the gun.

Give it a few weeks, you will be back with that gun.:p
 
Gun did not fire so yeah, it is drop safe don't you think? Glad nothing bad happened to you. I'd keep the gun. CZ makes good stuff.
 
The advice below is the best reply I've read in this thread. You have concerns and the people to call are the gunsmiths at CZ. Tell them of your concerns and they will take care of them. Meanwhile, ignore the snarky comments. ;)



You can always field strip the gun and measure the oal of the firing pin. Consult with others over to the CZ forum on the length of the pin. It's possible yours could be a few thousandths too long.

The gun did work as it was supposed to...it did not fire when you dropped it. Since you like the gun it's worth it to talk with others about what you feel could be a potential problem. CZ service and gunsmithing could also be a help. They are quite good over there in Kansas. You can at least get a straight answers to your concerns.
Click to expand...
 
In which case you will not be able to carry most auto loading weapons, since most designs will create that little mark on the primer when loading from the magazine.
Click to expand...
Maybe with older guns, but I've chambered thousands of rounds in Glocks, Rugers, S&W M&Ps, Springfield XDs, and my HK USP, and I've never seen a primer dimpled just from chambering the round.


I'm keeping the pistol because I really like it and the way it shoots.
But it will be reserved for range duty only.
 
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