Canik55 Stingray-C SO FAR SO GOOD!

[DexterGSP]

I had picked up the Stingray-C, the olive drab model, at J&G Sales in Arizona for $320 on Friday.  I took the pistol home and cleaned and relubed it.  The finish is flawless throughout and there are no machine marks on the pistol.  I've owed three CZ-75B pistols in the past and all have come with a lot of machine marks and a finish that was not as flawless as the Stingray-C.

The trigger pull on the Stingray-C was about on par with the CZ-75B models that I have owed.  I have an RCBS trigger scale that goes to 8 pounds.  While I could not check the double action pull weight, it's heavier than 8 pounds, I did check the single action pull weight.  The single action pull weight measures 5 pounds, 12 oz.  I had a bunch of Wolff springs left over from my CZ-75B guns and decided to see if the Wolff hammer mainsprings would fit the Stingray-C.

According to the info that I have found on the net, the CZ-75B and the CZ Compact OLDER type guns take different springs.  The CZ-75B factory spring is rated at 20 pounds and the Compact models are rated at 19 pounds.  However, newer compact models use the same size springs at the CZ-75B models now.  Anyway, I disassembled the gun, which was easy with no problems, and measured the Stingray-C spring and the other spring that I had.  I assumed that the Stingray-C spring was rated at or close to 20 pounds.  I had a 16, 17, 18, and 19 pound spring from Wolff on hand.  Here's my measurements of the Stingray-C and the 16 pound Wolff spring:

Stingray-C spring
32 coils
.042? thickness of each coil
Calculated coil bind was 1.344?
Over all thickness of spring .345?


16 pound Wolff spring
29 coils
.040? thickness of each coil
Calculated coil bind was 1.16?
Over all thickness of spring .347?
The free length of this spring was about 1/8? longer than the Stingray-C spring.  (I forgot to measure each spring for length)

So, it would appear that the Wolff 16 pound spring would have no problem when using it in the Stingray-C, per my measurements.
I assembled the Stingray-C with the 16 pound Wolff spring and it worked to perfection.  I then checked the single action trigger pull with my RCBS scale and it measured 4 pounds, 14 oz., which is a net reduction of 14 oz. of single action trigger weight.  The next step would be firing the pistol to make sure I have proper primer ignition.

I live a few blocks from a local indoor shooting range and took my son there yesterday to test the Stingray-C.  I fired 40 rounds of the Remington ball and 60 rounds of my lead ball reloads.  The pistol worked flawlessly.  No failures or stoppages of any kind and every round went off as it should have.  The pistol at 7 yards shot 1? to the left and 1.5? high with both the Remington factory rounds and my lead handloads.  When I did my part I could put 5 rounds into a 1? hole at 7 yards.  When I got sloppy the groups opened up to about 2?.

So far I?m more than happy with the gun and it gives CZ a real run for the money.

Thanks, Paul

[henehcuhp]

The Canik trigger pull is really good. Not just for the money...it's just...good. Crisp, clean, not overly heavy. I'd take it with stock springs any day for a CC or home defense gun.

For max range plinking pleasure, though, it could definitely use some tweaks. The break is hard enough to upset my aim a bit when I'm going for slow squeezes at a decent distance. It would not be as noticeable if there was less overtravel. A little less takeup would be nice, too, but overtravel is the key to solid SA shooting, IMO.

I was thinking about drilling my trigger and putting in a screw. Haven't really looked into it much yet.

But it's nice to know about the springs. I've been wondering how light you can go without sacrificing reliable primer strikes...it's definitely doesn't HAVE to hit as hard as it does. I think my SAR BP6C could actually go lighter, based on the casings I've examined. My Canik makes a nice dent, but the SAR really digs in...some of the cases actually have some raised metal around the firing pin dent; it's smacking them hard enough to actually push metal out from under the pin.