CZ75 B failure to feed

[hansb57]

Hi there,

I'm hoping you guys can help me on this one.
Since a couple of weeks my 75 failes to feed a round.
After this occurs the hammer is cocked but no round in the chamber.
The gun is not jammed, there is just no round in the chamber.
Manually racking the slide solves the problem.

I'm using factory ammo
It is a used gun and the previous owner reloaded
It almost seems as if the slide doesn't move back enough to pick up a round but enough to cock the hammer.

Your advice is very welcome!!

[n8vmdpath]

What brand of magazine are you using? And condition of the mags?   

Since gun is used, how is condition of recoil spring? Should also check the feedramp.

You are using standard ball FMJ 9mm?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

[hansb57]

The magazines are used CZ standard 16 round mags,
The ammo is 124 gr S&B FMJ
The feed ramp looks good, is clean and polished
The recoil spring looks ok, but I cant judge if it is worn.
I was thinking about the recoil spring also.

I have one other question. I'm not native english spoken and was reading through some articles on recoil springs.
Does the following sentence mean the same as "feeding a round"
"Most rounds will cycle just fine" 

[M1A4ME]

Cycle means feed from the magazine, fire, extract from the chamber, eject through the ejection port and push the slide back far enough to pick up the next round from the magazine and repeat all the above.

I wouldn't think a weak recoil spring would hinder the rearward movement of the slide.  Allow the slide to move rearward quicker?  Yes. 

If I were you I'd unload the magazines, disassemble them, and clean them.  The springs, the followers and the inside/outside of the magazine body itself. 

Then, degrease the inside/outside of the magazine bodies and put some car wax on them.  I used a cotton ball (pushed through with a pencil or clean wooden rod) to apply the wax to the interior of the magazine.  You can apply it to the outside with a soft cotton cloth.  Let it dry to a haze (just like when waxing a car) and then buff off the dried/excess wax with the soft cotton cloth.  You can use the same pencil/wooden rod to work the soft cotton cloth through the interior of the magazine to remove the wax there. 

Then I'd repeat the inside/outside waxing process, let them dry a few minutes, wipe the springs off with a lightly oiled cloth, put the maga zines back together and they should function better - if they are the cause of your problem.  And the wax will smooth up the workings of the magazines and protect them very well from dirt/moisture.  I waxed up some P01 magazines a couple months ago and they show no signs of rust/corrosion so far in spite of me sweating all over them everyday I'm working outside.  I do wipe them off with a dry cloth/paper towel when I come in the house and they've stayed nice a shiny for two months now.

Along with servicing the magazines you need to field strip and clean the pistol and then lube it during reassembly.  Then go to the range and see if it's working properly. 

While some people report shooting hundreds or even thousands of rounds through their pistols/rifles/shotguns between cleanings you'll find some guns just need more cleaning/lubing.  I had a buddy in college with a nice High Standard target .22 pistol.  It would shoot one box of Eley match ammo just fine.  Before the second box was finished he'd be taking it apart there on the range to wipe/brush it out and re-lube it in order to get it to function properly.  I don't know if he ever shot it enough to "break it in" or not.  I know it never loosened up in the couple of years we shot and hunted together.

Good luck with your pistol.  I really like my CZ's.  They are really good pistols.

[hansb57]

Thanks for your eleborate reaction.
Although I keep my guns clean I will follow your advice and clean and wax my magazines.
Wednesday I go to the range again and let yoy know what happened.

[M1A4ME]

I just oiled (wiped with an oily cloth) my magazines since the late 70's.  One of the guys here (1SOW) was talking about waxing magazines and how it keeps them cleaner and functioning well so I thought I'd try it.  It's been working well so far.

Good luck with yours.

[muncie21]

If the previous round ejects and slide closes on empty chamber, I would check the mag.

1) Does follower move freely inside mag body
2) Check mag spring
3) Are the bullets too long and dragging inside the mag body

You should also be able to manually rack the slide with a full mag to check functionality.

[1SOW]

Yes, check the mag(S),  but be sure the channel 'behind' the extractor is Clean with no built up crud to block the extractor from moving freely both in and out.  Pressing on the outside rear portion on the slide should be moveable by pressing on it.

If the recoil spring is suspected to be really weak,   stretch it by hand  and retest. (not a common problem unless feeding an unusually large or blunt nose bullet.  )   Stretching the spring is a very temporary 'fix'.  It won't strengthen the spring for many rounds.

[Texf6]

He might have used a stiffer / heavier recoil spring if he was loading hot rounds.  I would replace the recoil spring as well to the recommended pounds.  Your factory ammo variance may be on the weaker side for some rounds.  Might try  hot +P loads and see if everything functions before moving forward with one variable at a time.

[hansb57]

Although I should have know better and only change 1 part at a time, I changed 3 things before I went to the range tonight.
I changed the recoil spring and rod for one I had in my spare box (both of unknown strenght)
I changed the hammer spring from a 13 pound to a 15 pound  (the trigger pull went from 2.8 Lbs to 3.00 Lbs in SA)
and I took my 18 round magazines.
The problem seems to be solved.
Now next time I will take the parts I exchanged and see if I can find the spring or mags that are causing the feed problems.

[M1A4ME]

Although I should have know better, I changed 3 thing before I went to the range tonight.
I changed the recoil spring and rod for one I had in my spare box (both of unknown strenght)
I changed the hammer spring from a 13 pound to a 15 pound  (the trigger pull went from 2.8 Lbs to 3.00 Lbs in SA)
and I took my 18 round magazines.
The problem seems to be solved.
Now next time I will take the parts I exchanged and see if I can find the spring or mags that are causing the feed problems.

I feel your pain.  When I went to work for a big chemical company in 1985 that plant had been running for 14 years.  Similar overseas plants had been running since back in the mid to late 50's.  It was almost 100% sure that if we had a process problem multiple knobs would be turned.  If the process problem went away we never went back, nob by nob, to see which one, or combination of adjustments got us back on good product.  It was running/making product and the rule was "Don't touch anything!!  Just let it eat!!"  Still operating that way in 2015 when I retired.

Good for you, going back and making changes to see if you can figure it out.  Just take the old guide/spring/parts to the range with you and test it out right there, piece by piece.  Good luck

[Radom]

I had a similar problem recently with a '94 75 that has always been 100% reliable.  I went absolutely nuts until I looked and discovered that the feed lips on one of the magazines had been bent when my nephew shot it.  He didn't tell me he had dropped it on packed gravel... 

[hansb57]

After 2 trips to the range the feeding problem seems to be solved with a new recoil spring.
Now, another problem arises.
After 2 round the magazine drops from the gun.

I changed the magazine catch spring and made sure that I don't accidental touch the magazine release.
The magazine sits proper in the gun. You can hear a positive click as you push it upwards.
If I wiggle it, it stay in, if I take a pencil en push the follower down it stays in but as I shoot it, the magazine comes out.
This really drives me crazy.

I hope there is somebody with a sound piece of advice!!


( could the magazine problem be tigger or reset and/or preset related??)

Thanks!!!

[M1A4ME]

The only two pistols I've seen drop magazines had an alignment issue between the slot in the magazine and the magazine catch.

Take a look at the mag. catch with no magazine in the pistol and see how far out it sticks.  Insert a magazine and see if it sticks out the same amount after it moves back to the left.  Might do it two or three times just to get a good look at what is going on.  If the mag. release is catching/hanging up on the slot in the magazine check the mag. release to make sure there are no rough spots on it that might cause it to hang up while moving back into position.  If it's nice and smooth it might be an alignment issue.

Did you buy the pistol new?  If so, CZ should be able to fix it for you.

We ended up disassembling the magazines (he only had 3, if I remember correctly) and slightly opened up the slot in the magazine with small jeweler's files.  We removed a small amount of metal from the top of the slot and smoothed it out and he was fine with it (no more dropped magazines since the mag. catch was moving in far enough to hold the mag. in place.) 

Good luck with it.

[hansb57]

Thanks for your reply.

I tested it today with 9 different mags.
8 of my own and 1 mag from a range gun.
The problem was the same with all of them.
Just took the gun apart and the mag catch seems to work perfectly, it does not hang up on the mag.
Whatever I try to do manually, I can get the mag out.
There is a new mag release on its way and I replaced the old mag release with a used one from my spare box and will try that on the range next wednesday.