CZ 75 Magazine Guide installation question

[taylorkh]

I just installed an extra power thumb safety spring from DS Perman in my new CX 75 Compact. The only issue was the re-installation of the magazine guide and hammer spring. The magazine guide has a curved "tail" on the bottom. If the guide is installed first this tail will interfere with the insertion of the spring through the bottom of the frame. It the spring is installed first, the tail prevents re-installation of the guide as the spring is now in the way. It appears the the "correct" re-assembly  process would be to install the guide and spring plug then drop the spring in from above. The hammer and strut would also need to be installed from above.

I have noticed in several on-line videos and other instructions that the magazine guides do NOT have the offending tail. Is the tail a new "improvement" or is it common for the tail to fall off?    I am totally new to the CZ platform so I am anxious to learn.

Thanks,

Ken

[Tok36]

When i reassemble a CZ 75 variant pistol the last thing i do is secure the bottem end of the magazine break before installing the pin. I believe the trick is that when the bottem of the mag break is pulled out from under the the Main Spring Plug it tends to straighten out the curve in the mag break tab. I have found that adding more bend back into this tab makes it easier to reinstall while still clearing the hole for the MSP retaining pin. With the top of the mag break secured, i grab and bend the middle of the mag break out away from the frame. This bring the bottem of the bag break up higher so that the tab can be positioned into the slot in the Main Spring Plug and the bottem of the mag break can be installed into its slot in the frame. This is accomplished with the MSP floating but pushed in, after the mag break is installed i push the MSP in on a table and install the MSP retaining pin.

I have seen plenty of folks cut the tab off entirely to avoid the reinstallation issues that it can cause. I have not found this to be necessary my self. I do not see much harm in removing the tab for those who do it.

I have seen a few instances of the Magazine Break folding up into the grip frame on a fast magazine change. This is what gave rise to the available thicker mag breaks. These thicker mag breaks do not have a retention tab at the bottem. Do to their increased rigidity they can not get caught and fold up.

[tdogg]

Use a small 1/4 inch socket that will fit up in to the main spring plug hole.  Compress the main spring and plug past flush and insert the magazine guide curved tang into the groove behind the bottom of the main spring.  Carefully release tension on the main spring and install the cross pin to hold the main spring plug.  Finally, position the mag guide and install the upper cross pin to hold it in place.

Or better yet you can clip off the mag guide curved tang and not worry about it.  The main reason for clipping it off is to prevent it from binding up and causing the mag guide to function as a mag brake.  I want my magazines to drop free.  If it is not installed completely under the main spring it will bow inward and act as a magazine brake.

I have personally stuffed a stock magazine guide up into the mag well on my 97BD.  It rendered the gun useless and I had to tear it apart at the range during a competition.  I have heavy magazine guides in my pistols now.  The heavy mag guides don't have the curved tang as Tok indicated.

Cheers,
Toby

[taylorkh]

Thanks for the replies,

Those Czech Republican engineers are certainly creative! I believe if I wanted to secure the bottom of the magazine guide I would have drilled a hole partially off center across the bottom of the slot, shaped the bottom of the guide like an upside down question mark and secured it with a pin. I have noticed that the CZ designers seem to love pins 

If I ever have an issue with the guide interfering with the magazine movement I will remember your references to stiffer guides.

Thanks again,

Ken

[M1A4ME]

I had some issues with my Pre B CZ85 magazine brake.  It was bent/warped and I couldn't get it straight enough to not interfere with the magazine.  I even filed a little bit of the metal off the front side of the frame posts where the grip screws thread in.  That is what the brake "stops" against when it moves to the rear.  I thought maybe they were adding to the brake interference a little.  That didn't help either.

Then I noticed that both the P07 and the P09 had exposed hammer springs/guides in the back of the frame.  Pull the magazine, look inside the well and there is the spring/guide.  So, I took the magazine brake out of my CZ85 and never looked back.  I figure the CZ85 is no more likely to be submerged in the mud/sand, etc. than my P07 or P09.  Makes it so much easier to put a drop or two of oil on the hammer spring, too, when I do a 6 month field strip/clean/lube on it (no longer carried, just another gun I like but find harder to shoot with the iron sights and glasses).

Which also might be a reason that I can use some of the Mecgar 19 round magazines???

[taylorkh]

Thanks M1A4ME,

I wondered about the reason for the magazine guide. I do not own any other pistol with one and I was considering going through some gunsmithing books to see if anyone else used such a thing.

As to eyes and iron sights... I have been using "progressive" lenses for a number of years. They are great as they allow me to focus at various distances by changing where I look through the lens. I only find two situations where this is a pain. Automotive work - when I am crawled under my antique MG for example. I am face to face with some component and I need to look through the bottom of the lens for a closeup view.

And, when shooting iron sights. I have to tilt my head back too far. I had my optometrist make me a pair of one lens, single vision glasses. The left lens is blacked out.  These are my "target" shooting glasses.

One other thing which I have found to really ruin my precision capability is shooting at steel targets. It is a WHOLE LOT of fun but... Aiming for a 12" x 20" silhouette at 25 yards is not a challenging as aiming for a 1.5" 10 ring at 25 yards.  I have gone back to shooting my Ruger 22/45 at paper and once I get my slow fire scrores into the 90s I will break out my High Standard Supermatic and see if I really remember how to shoot 

Ken

[Walt Sherrill]

And, when shooting iron sights. I have to tilt my head back too far. I had my optometrist make me a pair of one lens, single vision glasses. The left lens is blacked out.  These are my "target" shooting glasses.

I took a different route.  I had COSTCO make a pair of trifocals using my latest prescription (which was for bifocal lenses); the two eyes are different. 

• I asked that the Optician move normal bifocal part of the lens UP  a bit.  (This is necessary for them to position the next [middle section] of the lens higher).
  
  
• I then asked the Optician to make a middle section (of what will be a tri-focal lense) as wide as possible (only about 1/4" at Costco) that would d  lets me  clearly see and focus on the front and rear sight.  The bottom of this middle section hits at about the middle of the lens.
  
  
• The normal distance visition area above the middle zone is narrower than usual, but lets me see the distant target, and I only have to move my head a small amount to switch from the distant target to the sights.  I had them make the glasses with shatter-resistant material so they're ideal for shooting.

You can, of course, still black out your other lens, or have that made with NO prescription or  done with a single prescription so that you can lower the cost of having the glasses made.

(I'll probably have cataract surgery this coming year for my "shooting" eye, but I'll continue this practice with a different prescription, and maybe even for my regular glasses, because I find that this approach works well when I'm using the computer, as well -- which has a screen about 2.5' from my eyes.)