Coming over to 'The Dark Side'

[zhuk]

Hey everyone,

Welp I've just pulled the trigger (so to speak!) on a near-new and ridiculously priced (for Australia) SP 01 Black. After shooting an M&P in IPSC for the last 9 years, deserting the Tupperware Nation and coming over to The Dark Side of Shadow-ownership feels just a bit traitorous lol but I'm excited. Hey, 99% of Production can't be wrong, right?

I'd made a previous post here in the 75/85 forum as I'd found an exceedingly rare pre B (since I'm a lefty and I love the Browning type look of the older CZs) however it turned out not only to have a missing RH slide stop but a weird Tanfog slide release? Go figure.   

Then I found out from the local importer if anything broke/needed replacement "we don?t and can?t get any" lol...so a Shadow it is

Fortunately the newest gen SP 01s have lightened springs as stock, so I wont have to go to the hassle of swapping them out...being used to a 5lb consistent pull, having a go of a Shadow years ago I could have had a cup of tea while waiting for the DA to break heh

So as it will take probably at least 6 weeks for a handgun PTA (permit to acquire) I'm thinking of tweaking in the meantime. I dunno if this would be taken as kinda sacrilegious lol but I just don't think I could come at a f/o sight; they seem almost too distracting and I'm accustomed to focussing on the light hitting the top of the front sight. Guessing its fairly straightforward to replace with a plain white dot? Also just to have a bit of fun with all the 'gamers' I'm planning to get one of those repro 75 waffle grips and see how that goes...preferably in a dark brown/plum reminiscent of the old AK grips (I own a lot of service rifles, alas no AKs allowed) 

It's going to be a fair learning curve from a striker pistol I know; DA taken as read but also learning to lower the hammer without getting DQ'd and I'll actually have to think about OAL when reloading now. The M&P's barn-door tolerances mean that not only does the slide rattle in the frame when you shake it, but when barrel dropping ammo that tends to rattle around too. Don't think I've ever had to measure OAL, from memory heh


I gotta say, for one previous owner who seemingly barely shot it (maybe they went back to holding a tree in ISSF lol) she is a beauty    

[Frank72]

Great choice, I think your going to like to like it! Your Shadow will run better if you open it up and polish the insides as in contact points. I don't think that will disqualify it for shooting production.

Those of you in Aussie land need to elect some conservatives to your Parlement and get some gun rights restored. As you probably know gun ownership reduces crime.

Enjoy!

[Tok36]

Gratz on your new CZ! As you mentioned the front sight swap is rather straight forward. Some material may need to be removed from the bottom surface of the sight to fit it to your pistols slide. Once fit correctly, it should slide in about half way by hand and then be tapped in the rest of the way with a non marring punch and a hammer.

On CZ B (Example: CZ75 B) models dry firing allot can damage the Firing Pin Retaining pin. But you have a Shadow model without a FPB so you do not need to worry about it. The absence of the FPB allows for a shorter Single Action reset. This is the main asset of a Shadow model over a B model.

Here are some links to disassembly guides for the Shadows with good pictures.

Complete disassembly/assembly of a CZ 75 SP-01 Shadow handgun
http://www.olegnikitin.com/news/complete-disassembly-assembly-of-cz-75-sp-01-shadow

Shadow Trigger Job ending with 4#DA
https://czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=42644.0

[larryflew]

I believe you meant you saw the light

[zhuk]

Great choice, I think your going to like to like it! Your Shadow will run better if you open it up and polish the insides as in contact points. I don't think that will disqualify it for shooting production.

Those of you in Aussie land need to elect some conservatives to your Parlement and get some gun rights restored. As you probably know gun ownership reduces crime.

Enjoy!

Cheers Frank! Appreciate your reply.

Mate, I think I will too...it will be a wait (just lodged my PTA application today, takes much longer than for longarms because of handgins inherent evilness lol) but I'm looking forward to even just getting down to some dryfire.


Alas, we can't do any "polishing" of internals in IPSC...the rules are distinctly different and more strict than USPSA. What is allowed is (and I quote) the removal of burrs and/or adjustments unavoidably required to fit replacement OFM parts or components, and/or identifying marks which add or remove negligible weight to/from magazines

But seriously...even dryfiring in the shop it felt like a million miles away from my M&P initially...which had a pretty horribly gritty trigger that I spent a few nights just working it while watching TV. Of course its pretty nice for a striker now, but it has been I'd say over 30,000 rounds through it, if not more lol

The Shadow even newish feels awesome by comparision...and just shooting it will make it better


Re our 1996 gun laws which outlawed all semi auto longarms for just about everybody (except 3rnd pump shotguns for clay shooters with medical problems, farmers who can prove necessity can have them plus .22 semis if allowed...and only professional pest cullers ie roo shooters utilising helicopters & dealers can have semi centrefires) These laws were brought in by one of our most conservative, right wing Govts. Our Prime Minister at the time, John Howard has a deep abiding hatred of guns to the point of pathology and used an extremely rare shooting tragedy to capitalise on the nation's grief to bring in the bans. Also unfortunately, we will never have the right to self defence via firearm here..its never been in our culture/history and that is not likely to ever change.

He famously said: ?We will find any means we can to further restrict them because I hate guns. I don?t think people should have guns, unless they are police, or in the military or security industry. Ordinary citizens should not have weapons. We do not want the American disease imported into Australia.?

 

[zhuk]

Gratz on your new CZ! As you mentioned the front sight swap is rather straight forward. Some material may need to be removed from the bottom surface of the sight to fit it to your pistols slide. Once fit correctly, it should slide in about half way by hand and then be tapped in the rest of the way with a non marring punch and a hammer.

On CZ B (Example: CZ75 B) models dry firing allot of can damage the Firing Pin Retaining pin. But you have a Shadow model without a FPB so you do not need to worry about it. The absence of the FPB allows for a shorter Single Action reset. This is the main asset of a Shadow model over a B model.

Here are some links to disassembly guides for the Shadows with good pictures.

Complete disassembly/assembly of a CZ 75 SP-01 Shadow handgun
http://www.olegnikitin.com/news/complete-disassembly-assembly-of-cz-75-sp-01-shadow

Shadow Trigger Job ending with 4#DA
https://czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=42644.0

Thanks Tok36 We meet again from my initial thread, mate!

(and just to show off my Tokarev 1936 while I'm here...note 6mm bbl extension so I can actually shoot it. So much less concealable now lol)

Yeah, I've still got to source a front sight; the US does not allow exports under State Dept rules so I may have to look to the Euros/Czechs...no one has them locally as people either want f/o predominantly or plain black. And black on black doesn't appeal, too variable sight picture in differing light conditions.

Absolutely good news on the lack of a firing pin block; and not being used to anything which isn't just plastic with a fairly long reset should be great. Thanks for the GREAT russkie link to completely disassembly...much appreciated! I had a few Russians in my squad in NZ back in 2013 at the Australasian regionals, they were totally focused and dedicated and pretty much kept to themselves...though one guy who was meant to be with us allegedly came in through Auckland airport, picked up his gun, and promptly disappeared! LOL

Hey, if we could have trigger jobs in Production..but alas no go sorry to say, mate! Still an enjoyable and educational link, I appreciate it and learning anything is great.

[zhuk]

I believe you meant you saw the light

  Lols

I know heh. I'm just prepared to be copping a lot of crap when I get to the club; I've been paying out on Shadow shooters for years such is their total dominance in Production

I am gonna have the piss taken out of me mercilessly  and rightfully so LOLs

[Tok36]

Nice looking Tokarev, thank you for the pic. Fun story as well.

On an amusing note, out here in the U.S. some CZ owners pay more just to get the longer Aussie barrel because it looks different than the standard barrel we would normally get.

May your CZ function flawlessly.

[eastman]

Nice looking Tokarev, thank you for the pic. Fun story as well.

On an amusing note, out here in the U.S. some CZ owners pay more just to get the longer Aussie barrel because it looks different than the standard barrel we would normally get.

May your CZ function flawlessly.

True about the barrels.

I have an Aussie styled SP-01 9mm barrel that occasionally gets to play in my .40 cal SP-01 Tactical

[zhuk]

Nice looking Tokarev, thank you for the pic. Fun story as well.

On an amusing note, out here in the U.S. some CZ owners pay more just to get the longer Aussie barrel because it looks different than the standard barrel we would normally get.

May your CZ function flawlessly.

Welcome, mate

One other funny story from that comp also involved a Russian, a General as it turned out. First shooter of the first stage of the first day (never an envious position lol) the COF involved shooting out of one side of a makeshift wooden "jeep" at a bank of far targets/poppers and a couple of close ones, shuffle through to the other side and do the same. Comrade General shot his left side, moved through, shot the right...but forgot the close ones on that side. "If you are finished, unload and show clear, hammer down, holster"...then he realised he'd forgotten so promptly unholstered, reloaded and shot them 

"STOP!!!"

So he didn't get through the first stage of 4 days without being DQ'd..must be a record I reckon LOL


Interesting that our barrels are a bit of a fashion item heh. My M&P bbl got checked once at a State Titles...came out at 126.99mm! (max allowed length 127mm)

I almost had an aneuyrsm...just as well it wasn't a hot day lol

[zhuk]

Might be a bit of a necropost after so long guys, apologies if so.

Finally got my permit to acquire after 6 weeks lol and I now have my Shadow...and what a thing of beauty she is! I can't believe the SA which averages out at 2lb 9 oz...just wow  lol

I've already slapped on some LOK grips and now am trying to get a workable spring combo up...because I have not only fairly small hands but more importantly a wrist issue which is why the M&P has served me well to date on trigger pull; but it just never fit my hand to an acceptable level where I could not get a repeatable grip so my ability to hold my own in competition suffered. The CZ fits like a glove, by comparison.

I'm looking for a low DA trigger pull on this gun; have an 11lb mainspring in it now with an 11lb recoil spring (but someone at my club suggested 8lbs yesterday) It's not nearly as painful as it was, but I am going to try a 10lbs mainspring and see if that helps. A mate knows a Canadian shooter who will be traveling to the US next week and with luck can pick a 75 recurve trigger from Angus, which should help a lot on the DA reach.


Not to diss on polymer...but man, it feels like a "real" gun lol

[Earl Keese]

Not sure what you have available over there for primers or if you even reload, but with an 8lb mainspring you'll need soft primers. Do you already have an extended firing pin? My gun with an 11.5lb spring(and some internal polishing) has a 5lb DA pull. W/o the reduced power trigger return spring it comes in at 5.5 lbs. You can also do a little work on the disco to move the trigger position back. Obviously I'm not certain what would be allowed  over there. Btw, that is a fine looking Tokarev you have.

[zhuk]

Not sure what you have available over there for primers or if you even reload, but with an 8lb mainspring you'll need soft primers. Do you already have an extended firing pin? My gun with an 11.5lb spring(and some internal polishing) has a 5lb DA pull. W/o the reduced power trigger return spring it comes in at 5.5 lbs. You can also do a little work on the disco to move the trigger position back. Obviously I'm not certain what would be allowed  over there. Btw, that is a fine looking Tokarev you have.

Thanks for the reply, Earl.

Yep we all reload here (factory ammo isn't allowed at many ranges either) and I use Federal primers exclusively so that should help with lower spring weights...and yes i stumped up for an extended firing pin as well, just in case.

Internal polishing (apart from deburring or relieving metal in order to fit OFM parts) is out for IPSC, unfortunately...but I do have the pre-B disco (as yet uninstalled). 9 lbs is as low as we can get with mainsprings, so I will have to see how the 10 & 9 go when the importer gets them in (will also ask about a reduced power trigger return spring, thanks for the suggestion) Interesting that you have a close to 5lb pull with a slightly heavier spring than is in.my gun currently, whereas I'm getting 7.5, does polishing make that much of a difference?

Also, can I ask what recoil spring you're using? Coming from a striker it's a bit uh, confusing lol

Thanks on the Tok, I was lucky to pick it up as they are very rare here (and ammo is extremely scarce) but she's a nice example, absolutely 

Also have an (equally rare)  M1895 Nagant, in similarly great condition

[Earl Keese]

I'm using an 11lb recoil spring. Ammo is 124gr coated lead at 1050fps. I have a Cajun barrel bushing in mine so anything lighter and slide speed becomes an issue with my gun(feed jams).
I'd say polishing is worth a couple lbs in pull weight, depending on how rough the gun was to start. 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[zhuk]

I'm using an 11lb recoil spring. Ammo is 124gr coated lead at 1050fps. I have a Cajun barrel bushing in mine so anything lighter and slide speed becomes an issue with my gun(feed jams).
I'd say polishing is worth a couple lbs in pull weight, depending on how rough the gun was to start. 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

No worries, thanks Earl.

My recoil spring is also 11lbs and the importer threw in a few CZ buffers so I'll have to see if they assist with felt recoil at all (or do they just help the frame to not get so beaten up lol)

I've always shot coated 135gr RN so will have to see how that goes in this gun. Powder is ADI AP70 which is apparently roughly equivalent to Universal/Unique burn factor wise. Most people I know shoot lighter pills but I'll see how the 135s go in a steel gun for comparison.

We are allowed to "deburri" new parts just not "polish" so I'll have to look into that.