Slide/frame looseness Shadow 2

[Joe A.]

After several hundred rounds, my Shadow 2 has developed about ten thousandth of an inch up and down movement between slide and frame. It’s a noticeable movement. Is that very common with the Shadow 2? If it is, what is the remedy? Would CZ take care of it?
Thanks

[Grendel]

So long as the barrel locks up firmly, it is nothing to be concerned about and quite a few pistols have that slight movement.

[Mike9250]

I have three Shadow 2's, all low round count.  One has some up and down movement, but zero side to side.  One is fairly snug in all directions.  The newest one has no up and down, but a decent amount of side to side movement.  While a loose slide to frame is slightly annoying at this price point, all the pistols shoot great and are very accurate.   Another brand new S2 that I sold off had a lot of side to side and would actuallly rattle if I shook it.  Point is they seem to vary quite a bit in terms of fit, but it's generally a non-issue.  If you want one that is fit better, I'd look at the S2 Orange.  They supposedly are fit very tight. 

[Rmach]

My S2O has zero side to side clearance, but there is about .010 up and down clearance, more so at the front area.  It is my most accurate CZ in my collection.   

[Joe A.]

Thanks for the replies. The .010 up and down is not a lot at all compared to my Colt GM and my GCNM wihich each of them has a lot of shake, rattle, and roll. Even my Sig P210 has a slight amount of movement. On the other hand, my SA 1911 Loaded has just a tiny spect of play with slide installed with no barrel nor recoil spring and my SA Range Officer Compact has absolutely no slide/frame play with barrel removed.

The play in my Shadow 2 had no play when new but was only noticed after several hundred rounds. The other night I gave the rails a good cleaning. When placed under a good light, I could not detect any wear at all with my eye.

[Rmach]

All the handguns listed in my signature have a small amount of play, but they all have excellent barrel lockup. I had a few in the past that rattled very easily, and I never liked that, so those few were sold. I only keep the best of the best....

[M1A4ME]

Most of us seem to feel the tighter the barrel is to the slide and the tighter the slide is to the frame the better groups we'll get.

It's not entirely wrong to feel/believe that way.

What is your tolerance for group size?  How big of a group is okay by you?

I remember the old WW2 1911A1's in the Company Armory in the mid to late 70's.  You could grab one, hold it tight and shake it and it sounded like spare parts shaken in a steel pan/cup.  But take it to the range and if I did my part I could knock down the pop up targets at 50 meters one after another with GI hardball.  No idea what a 10 yd. group looked like.  At the eastern regional FORSCOM matches in 78 or 79 (been a long time) I came in just above the middle of the pack of 250 some shooters with a stock GI 1911A1.  I still wonder what it might have been like with a match prepared 1911 and more practice than the 4 or 5 times they let me go to the range with a box or two of ammo.  And some real coaching.  It was still fun.  I know my P07 or P09 shoots rings around those old worn out 1911A1 pistols.

The question is, how does it shoot and are you happy with the groups.  One thing might be to try to find different ammo (brand and bullet weight).  Sometimes the ammo makes a big difference.  None of my CZ's seem to care for 147 grain ammo (a more accurate way to say that is, I don't care for the groups my CZ pistols shoot with 147 grain ammo.)  All my CZ 9's seem to do very well with 115 grain ammo (Federal is better in mine than Winchester or Remington).  Haven't shot much 124 grain ammo but I know the couple of shot the Winchester NATO 124 grain FMJ in do better with 115 grain Federal for small groups.  The M&P 2.0 5" 9MM does it's best with that same 124 grain NATO ammo vs. the 115 grain ammo.  Different pistol, different ammo.

If it shoots groups that make you happy, do you care if there's some slide to frame play?

[Joe A.]

Thanks again for the replies. Accuracy seems find for this shaky old man. I need to try it from a rest since most of my shooting has been steel. Shooting fast at a 66% IPSC and a 8 inch plate at 25 yards is no problem with accuracy. At 50 yards on same targets I’ll get an occasional miss. Been a while since I’ve shot it from a rest I would get fist size groups with occasional flyer. Any inaccuracy is on me.

I’ve only fired 124 grain fmj reloads. I recently received 1500 115 grain Zero jhp to try once I get some loaded. Overall, I’m pleased with the accuracy.

It’s an enjoyable pistol to shoot.

Thanks

[alp3367]

 That's fine. Barrel lockup is a lot more important than slide to frame fit. A little movement is normal.