New CZ 75B..........how good can it be????

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ajoker31

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I've been waiting forever for a Taurus PT-145 to show up at the local gun shop, I really need a .45 CCW. It's been too long since I've bought a gun so I broke down and bought a CZ-75b. (Yes, I finally folded to the peer pressure).

How good can it really be? Everyone thinks their pistol is the best right! I'd been saving my allowance for a little bit and bought one for $388 plus tax at the local Sports Academy. It came with two 16 round mags, a cleaning brush, jag, loader and snap caps.

I'm at best an average shooter normally. If I go to the range every week I can shoot in the above average range......(no 1" groups, but maybe fist sized groups.

The first ten shots I took with the CZ were all over the target (even though I dry fired it to work in the trigger) I really wasn't used to the pull. I thought to myself......ok this is just as good as I get. Then I fired 5 rounds at 15 yards while crouching at the bench......and a two inch group appeared. It was amazing! I rotated back and forth (5 shots in a weaver stance and five shots braced over the shooting bench. By the time I left I was in shock at how accurate the CZ75 is.

The only down side I had were some stove pipes with 115 gr blazer brass. I may put some new springs in it if the problem stays with the pistol after a few hundred more rounds.....and I'll definately get some different grips for it. I just couldn't be more happy with the gun though!!!!!!!! Peer pressure isn't always a bad thing! :)

Jerry
 
The first thing I do when I buy a new CZ is put in a Wolff extractor spring. They are normally 100% reliable with all brass cased ammo after that.
Yes they are very accurate.
 
I was impressed with my first CZ 75 also. Now I own several and like them all. My latest purchase is a CZ40b and I am very pleased with it. I like it better than my CZ75.

If you want a .45, try the CZ97b. It is a good and accurate gun but if you want to shoot hollow points, it would not be a good choice. It is a good range gun though.
 
ajoker31: Before you change out springs, may I suggest that you change brands of ammunition. Fiocchi or S&B is hotter ammunition and should make your weapon function properly.
 
A friend of mine had reliability problems with a new CZ 75 for the first couple hundred rounds. Seems to have been a break-in issue, though, because he's had no problems since then.

I have heard lots of people reporting good experiences with the in house gunsmith at CZ. If I had a new CZ giving me troubles after a reasonable break-in, I think I'd let them sort it out. You shouldn't have to go putting aftermarket springs in a brand-new quality handgun to get it to function.

+1 on the S&B ammo. Hey, it's a Czech gun; you'd be feeding it its favorite meal from home. Some folks say that hotter ammo is good for new stiff guns that need breaking in.
 
Seven High,

Thanks for the info. I tried some 124 gr Spear Gold dots and they worked flawlessly. I miss typed on my initial entry......the 115 gr stuff was aluminum Blazer not brass. I have a ton of it (at $3.86 I figured what the heck).

Tecolote has a good question.....I haven't tried the WWB's yet. In my experience it was so dirty that I just stopped using it in my other guns so I didn't have any to try. I'll have to do some looking around for Fiocchi and S&B, I'm sure their around I just haven't used them before.

Thanks again guys,
Jerry
 
I do not use the aluminum cased stuff. Brass cased ammo is "slicker" and will extract better in my opinion. NEVER use aluminum cased crap/stuff if reliability is your goal.

As you learn to shoot the CZ-75 better, you will be rewarded with accurized, high priced, custom pistol accuracy on par with high quality revolvers. The SA trigger pull out of the box is not great, therefore the ability to shoot even 2" groups is exceptional. A quality trigger job would most likely cut these groups in half.

My pre-B 75 shoots 10 shot, ONE HOLE groups at 21' using Remington FMJ ammo with -0- malfunctions and an out of the box trigger and stock springs.

I don't necessarily conspire to the new spring theory. How can such an excellent pistol be equipped from the factory with sh_tty springs? Doesn't make sense to me. Shoot your CZ a lot, it is built and engineered to last for thousands and thousands and thousands of rounds.

By the way, I think you'll find you've been CZ "bit".
 
Thanks guys,

I'll take your advise and keep firing away and see what happens. I'll hold off on the springs for a while.....no reason to mess with it yet. I appreciate your help, thanks much.

Jerry
 
Welcome to the fold. I love my CZs. I've put some factory ammo through mine. Mainly WWB and S&B and they've never had a problem. Now, some of my uber-cheap mixed everything surplus powder handloads? They are REALLY dirty and only thing they function in even 99% is the Glock. They give my RAMI fits and occasionally piss off the 84 Compact but it will run factory ammo without any problems. Good for failure drills but cleaning is a bear. :)

I even used my RAMI in a charity shoot and placed mid pack in stock pistol class.
 
I feed my SP-01 WWB and UMC ball almost exclusively and hasn't coughed on one yet.
 
change the springs out right now!

Do not listen to anyone that blames a cz's function on ammo. A cz with the proper springs and extractor will feed anything. I could probably make ammo made out of aluminum foil and match heads function in my new and improved cz.

Problem is you just got one of the plentiful crappy sprung cz's that nobody seems to believe in. Go to the cz forum. What I am saying is so matter of fact that they get pissed if you even bring it up. Especially here.

As soon as you chage out your springs and extractor you will be able to shoot any kind of ammo you want and the gun can be as dirty as you want.

I had a crappy cz that I just kept shooting hoping it would get better. never happened! wasted time.

steps to cz happiness...

buy a new version of the extractor.

Buy a wolf extractor spring and a 14lb wolf recoil spring. You may invest in +5% mag springs too but that might not be needed.

Replace the extractor and the springs. You will then be dancing the happy dance all the rest of the cult members dance.

Here me now and believe me later!

-bevr
 
How can you tell if it's the new or old style extractor? Anyone have a link to an on-line detail strip guide?
 
the new extractor

has 3 circles on it to form a right triangle. This is not visible when installed on gun. The new claw is sharper and thinner but I can't give you dimensions.

There are a number of directions on the cz forum. I will warn you replacing the extractor spring may not be as easy as some make it out. It may be worth what it costs to foist that duty on a gunsmith. Sure most can get it done ( i did ) but getting those holes to line up with the new spring in can be a noteworthy endeavor.

good luck -bevr
 
I'm not brand loyal,but my cz's would be the last pistols I sold.They have eaten all of my reloads without a hitch,didn't matter if is was powder puff or plus p.I put one of their fiber optic sights on my 85 and it really helped me pick up the sight picture a lot better.My pcr is so much more accurate than it has any right to be with xpress sights.When you order springs,if you get wolff,I've had as good of luck with browning hp springs as the eaa springs they say are supposed to be correct.
 
Bevr told you what he had to do to fix HIS... All of that might not be necessary with yours.

I wouldn't get the "new" extractor -- not yet, anyway. (All of the CZs I've owned, and there have been a bunch, had the old extractor and none needed to be replaced.) But I would get the extractor spring from Wolff.

Over the past year or two, CZ had a run of bad springs -- primarily trigger (return) springs, and the extractor springs were anemic.

My CZs -- I still have several -- shoot all brands of ammo fine, but some CZs have problems with WWB VP and CCI Blazer Aluminum cases. Other guns have problems with this ammo, too. Still other CZs love anything they're fed; one IPSC Master shooter I know shoots nothing but WWB Value Pack in his CZ and he swears by it.

If, after trying the extractor spring and maybe a new recoil spring, it doesn't work as it should, ask CZ for a new extractor. But wait for a while. If you've not got at least 200-300 rounds through it, its still breaking in.

Whatever you do, change one thing at a time. Sometimes the FIX creates new problems -- and if you change several things at once, you don't know what's causing the fix and what's causing the problem.
 
Walt Sherill is probably one of the most knowledgable CZ guys I've ever seen. And, he's from North Carolina like me, so that's 2 gold stars for him. :neener:

Bevr is right. That's what it took to fix his.

I still have the stock innards in my 85 combat model and have had no problems whatsoever.
Of course, your mileage may vary, but it can't hurt to finish the break in and see what happens.
If you want some new grips, go to the CZ forum and check out some of the advertisers. There are some nice pieces out there.
 
If I'm reading things right it sounds like it might be a good idea to run a new CZ through a break in period. How many rounds should be fired before problems are abscribed to more than a normal break in?
 
Probably 300 rounds. Maybe 400. Most of the "new gun" complaints seem to disappear somewhere around those numbers.

All of mine have been totally functional out of the box, except an 85 Combat that would lock back the slide prematurely. (My gunsmith looked at, took a little metal off the slide stop, and its been 100% ever since. That's been 5-6 years. I've since learned to diagnose some of these types of problems myself... They occur with other guns, too.)

As noted, springs have been CZ's weak link -- but not with all guns, and not consistently. CZ's recoil springs were once on the anemic side (don't know if they still are), and the extractor springs, at least in recent years, have been less robust than they should be. (I think CZ recently upgraded this part.)

We have 5000+ members on the CZ Forum, and I've heard of a a few (under 10?) broken trigger return springs. I've only experienced a broken trigger return spring once, and that was in a Glock 17.

The design of the extractor and extractor slot is an issue, too, as gunk can build up in the slide, under the extractor in the slot, which will keep the extractor from closing as tightly as it should. Periodic cleaning (by removing the extractor, or at least blasting in the cavity with solvent) seems to keep problems to a minimum. (Some of the CZ clones OPEN the back of the cavity, so that gunk goes into the firing pin channel. I don't know if that's a better solution.)

CZ seems to have changed its sear/hammer angles in the last couple of years (probably concern about liability), which causes the hammer to "lift" or "cam" a little when firing from SA mode. It seems to vary from gun to gun, with some having almost NO noticeable "camming," and some showing a pronounced lift.

The camming may become less noticeable, but it won't go away with wear-in. The only thing you can do about that issue is get an action job by a gunsmith with the proper jigs (which reset the angles). We have several who participate on the CZ Forum. Done with the right jigs, an action job gives you a very crisp, 1911-like SA trigger.

The triggers do tend to smooth up considerably by 500 rounds.

Personally, I prefer to get trigger jobs before waiting that long -- as I want to ENJOY the shooting I do.

The biggest issue with CZs is that they aren't for everyone. If you've got a small hand or short fingers -- and are uncomfortable with cocked-and-locked carry, you may find you can't use the DA trigger -- which has a long pull. Several of my friends would love to own CZs, but their hands and the gun aren't a good fit. Except for that, the ergonomics are superior -- and you'll be hard-pressed to find a gun that feels better in your hand or which points more naturally.
 
Now that you've been CZ bit, consider their rifles! I have outfitted our school team with 452's, and they keep us competitive in a world of Anschultz's & custom 10/22's! Enjoy!
 
The spring thing

Extractor spring I can see changing.

I don't understand the recoil spring thing.

They're as good as any other combat gun.

All of mine easily shoot under 3" at 25 yards.
 
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What I am saying is so matter of fact that they get pissed if you even bring it up. Especially here.
Click to expand...

To condemn an entire line of guns or recommend procedures to fix them based on an individual example is ridiculous. That being said, I've replaced the recoil springs on all my CZ's, not that they didn't function, but the recoil springs seemed a bit light to me.
 
back to defend myself

Pilot,

Please provide a quote where I condemn an entire line of handguns.

My only beef is with the ones that don't work and are not as exceptionaly rare as some would have you believe.

Walt, wheelgunslinger, others,

Not all of the steps I advised where necessary to fix mine. But I stand by my recommendations just the same.

Walt,

you especially should realize that if you are taking the gun down so far as to replace the extractor spring that you might as well make sure you have the modern standard in extractors while you are there?

By the way Walt just how long have you been a cz owner/shooter? I love ya man but you really seem to have a bone to pick. You seem to read in as much bad as you can.

Why don't some of you guy's ever quote me on something positive like

Replace the extractor and the springs. You will then be dancing the happy dance all the rest of the cult members dance.
Click to expand...

I stand by my advice. The sooner this guy gets a sweet working gun the sooner you all will have another moonie. If he follows my advice he should be happy. You all can nickle and dime him to happiness if you want. I stand buy my advice.

-bevr
 
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