Shadow 2 FTE!

[RaisingArizona]

Hi all,

Just bought my 1st CZ - a Shadow 2. Beautiful gun. Love it. However, over the course of 3 sessions and 405 total rounds I've had 6 failures to eject, all with American Eagle. Balance of rounds shot include Magtech, Fiocchi, Federal Champion and crappy WWB - all perfect. Removed extractor and cleaned it after 1st 4 fte on day 1. Any insights besides don't shoot AE? On a bit of a learning curve here so appreciate the input.   

[Tok36]

The first thing that came to mind was the extractor. It seams that you have already covered that so i am interested to hear the input of other forum members.

[Jigo23]

Hmmm, very interesting. Typically American Eagle is good to go in any guns, and the fact that various other brands ran fine would normally tend to make me think is ammo related?  Was all the AE ammo from the same lot, like a case of it?  Have you shot the same AE ammo in other guns and worked fine?  Is certainly possible any manufacturer can put out a bad batch of ammo but would surprise me with Federal?s AE.

[RaisingArizona]

Total AE rounds shot is 135. 1st 100 were same lot and unfired in other guns. Last 35 shot were a different lot number with 5 rounds shot fine from a Glock. It is weird. I don't know what to think. May send the gun to CZ-USA. 

[Jigo23]

Total AE rounds shot is 135. 1st 100 were same lot and unfired in other guns. Last 35 shot were a different lot number with 5 rounds shot fine from a Glock. It is weird. I don't know what to think. May send the gun to CZ-USA.

Yeah I would at least see what they think, extractor could be just slightly out of spec but shouldn?t be happening regardless. Very unusual.

[RaisingArizona]

So fired another 105 rds which all cycled perfectly - 100 Magtech and 5 Federal HST. Ejection is almost perfect at 8-10' so believe extractor is good.

Read the stickie regarding common sp-01 break-in problems and think the slide is picking up the unfired AE round and causing a FTE. Saw brass line on slide behind breech face. AE round does stick a bit in barrel - seems to be slightly larger than other brands' ammo.

Anyway, question is I'm debating whether or not to bevel the breech face and polish the slide behind it, or try and deal with CZ customer service, who almost certainly won't help me if I start modifying the slide (regardless of decision I'll call CZ).

Thoughts? Thanks guys. Hate to beat a dead horse here but I love this gun and hope I can get it to run flawlessly!

[Tim_B]

I have had the same thing happen with Federal American Eagle ammo in my SP-01 with the factory recoil spring.  I always thought it was the stiff factory spring that was too strong for the Amer Eagle ammo but I could be wrong.  I have used Winchester white box 115 gr FMJ and NATO spec 124 gr FMJ, Academy's Monarch brand 115 gr FMJ which is made by PPU, Remington 115 gr FMJ, Fiocchi 115 gr FMJ, and about 9 different kinds of hollow points and they all function with 100% reliability except the Federal American Eagle which had some failures to eject and the Winchester White Box which had some failures to fully return to battery.  I found that the Winchester 115 gr white box ammo failures to return to battery when feeding were caused by cartridge cases that were cut too long and not taper crimped.  Since I stopped using the WWB and AE rounds that I mentioned I have put several thousand rounds of various brands through the SP-01 and they all work well.

[RaisingArizona]

Thanks Tim_B. Just spoke with CZ and they basically said don't shoot AE. They were courteous, however. Did you change your recoil spring? I've decided to polish the slide area behind the breech face and possibly get an aftermarket recoil spring.

[tdogg]

AE round does stick a bit in barrel - seems to be slightly larger than other brands' ammo.

Bingo!

If the cartridge doesn't pass the "Plunk" test, it's not going to work well in use (if at all).  It sounds like the overall length is too long on the AE ammo and it is causing your issues.  9mm CZ's have a short leade and thus cannot run all brands/types/shapes of ammunition.  Head over here: https://czfirearms.us/index.php?board=33.0 to get more information, specifically here: https://czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=34225.0.

If you google "plunk test" there are plenty of videos explaining the process.  It's very simple to do and should be done with any ammo before purchasing in bulk.  Knowing the ammo passes the plunk test will alleviate many ammunition related headaches in CZ's.

Make sure you also pull your magazines apart and clean inside and out, leave dry and reassemble.  A detail strip, clean, and lube on the firearm is also recommended.  The grease that comes in the gun new is not a lubricant, it is a protectant and needs to be removed prior to use.

So fired another 105 rds which all cycled perfectly - 100 Magtech and 5 Federal HST. Ejection is almost perfect at 8-10' so believe extractor is good.

If the recoil spring is "perfect" for HST, it is most likely too strong for the plinking ammo.  You might want to consider a recoil tuners pack from CGW.  Once you settle on an ammunition favorite (that passes the plunk test and is accurate for your needs), you can tune the recoil spring for best operation.  I run a 12lb spring in my SP-01 with target loads.  I think the factory is either 14lb or 16lb.

Cheers,
Toby

[RaisingArizona]

Awesome info. As I said on a bit of a learning curve here as this is my 1st CZ (doubt it'll be my last). Thanks so much tdogg!