Gap in barrel? UPDATED With pics!

[Road_Wolf]

My own gun has this "gap" it might not be quite as noticeable as the one in your pictures but its there. I have seen this "gap" on other firearms as well. It seems like i have heard that the gap serves to aid in the extraction of the bullet by insuring the extractor arm has a proper grip on the case rim.

I would not worry with it much, if the gun shoots well why worry?

[gixxerdk]

My own gun has this "gap" it might not be quite as noticeable as the one in your pictures but its there. I have seen this "gap" on other firearms as well. It seems like i have heard that the gap serves to aid in the extraction of the bullet by insuring the extractor arm has a proper grip on the case rim.

I would not worry with it much, if the gun shoots well why worry?

Thanks for your reply. Hmm why worry? I assumed pressure would be lost at discharge. I guess its not that big of a deal. This is my first pistol so I'm still trying to get around.

[gixxerdk]

I looked at my 75B and it is the same as 1Sow described. I can not see a round in the chamber nor as big as shown in your photos. With how little is showing, particularly what part of the round is showing, I doubt you will have any problems or safety issues. Looks like it is imediately forward of the groove the ejector catches, the brass is thickest there.

Is this gun used or custom? I read in another thread today how the person grinds metal away in that area to aid the ejected rounds from hanging. That might be what was done with your gun.

Thanks for the reply. The gun was bought new no mods from Angus

[Walkure]

This is a normal feature on pretty much every semi-auto handgun.

The primary purpose is to provide clearance for the extractor during barrel locking and unlocking. This gap is usually not intended to serve as a LCI, though it may be used for that purpose on occasion.

ETA - Or more correctly, any semi-auto using Browning-type recoil operation. Guns such as the Beretta 92 do not have this, as they use a different operating mechanism in which the barrel moves only in one axis of motion (hence, the allowance for vertical movement of the extractor relative to the barrel is unecessary, since there is none).

And as for concerns over "lost pressure" - there is none, or at least nothing more than a trivial amount. No rimless round can have true "full" support on every single side. And it doesn't matter, because the extractor groove region is beyond the portion of the case that needs to act as a pressure vessel to begin with. (And even without the extractor gap, there is ALWAYS some degree of "free brass" "hanging out" along the feedramp side.)

[Matt85]

i have an SP-01 and it has a tiny sliver of a gap but its so tiny you wouldnt notice unless you looked very close. (the gap is slightly smaller then the width of the rim on the cartridge)

[BrianOblivion]

P-07 has this as well. Easy to use as an LCI in bright daylight.

But then, all guns are always loaded until you examine the chamber.

[eric0424]

Updated with pics

Sorry for the dirty gun pics

The photos below are of my 06 matte stainless 75B.  There is a small gap ahead of the extractor but not quite as big as on your pistol, you can barely see the brass case on mine.  The reason for this gap it to facilitate extraction and isn't going to be an issue.  The gap you see on mine is from the .016" machined off the barrel, you can see how it was cut from the factory in the second pic.  Even though the barrel was machined .016" there is only .010" gab between the barrel and extractor.  This gap will differ in size from one gun to the next due to the mature of mass production.  I don't think CZ intended this to be a loaded chamber window though, I think it would be a bit large and easier to see if that were their intentions. 

The window indicator on my Para P1445 is .065" wide and .093" long and is quite obvious to see in the third pic.  There is no gap on the Para in between the barrel and slide, this is because the extractor is inside and not exposed like the CZ's.  The barrel is machined to clear the extractor like the CZ it just isn't seen from outside due to the design of the slide, extractor and barrel.

It also appears that yours has been filed/stoned/ground a little on the outer edge a little more than my 75B, probably when the barrel was fitted to clear the extractor but still nothing to be worried about.

What I really want to know is when Glock started making Springfield XD-M's??    Widge?? 

(... and are me and Cesar the only two who noticed this??)