Need some guidance refitting a CZ-75 Pre-B

[Skarekrow88]

somoeone did the barrel himself.   Interesting and as shown the barrels are indeed different.

That was surprisingly more simple than I thought it would have been. I feel like even I could give that a shot.

I like the way the Pre B CZs are set up with that plate that fits into the back of the slide to hold the firing pin in place.  It's like a 1911.  Easy to take the firing pin and return spring out and clean them and the channel they fit/work in.  Easy to reinstall.

Likewise, easier than any pistol I've ever worked on.

Not sure about the firing pin return springs.  It may well be they are different since the firing pin design is different.

Might be a good question to call CGW about.

Oh, don't forget, when you put the magazine catch spring in (whether new or you spread the legs apart as a first trial) to either put some loctite on the screw threads or stake that screw in.  It should have been staked from the factory unless someone has removed it in the past.  When I reinstalled mine I had one that, at a certain point in tightening the screw, started to twist the spring legs towards the left side of the frame as the screw head grabbed the spring under it.  At that point I backed off till the spring legs were the same distance apart.  Don't let the screw affect the spring leg position.  And do something (loctite or staking) to keep the screw from turning loose later.

CGW made some mention of this on their "tech tips" for the replacement screw part they sell. Suggests to degrease the threads, utilize blue loctite, and not over tighten the screw to avoid damaging the trigger bar support spring. I'll make sure I'm not twisting the magazine catch spring too, thanks.

[M1A4ME]

good advice for fitting a barrel is to slowly remove metal and check the fit often.  If you take off too much you can't put it back on there.

[Skarekrow88]

good advice for fitting a barrel is to slowly remove metal and check the fit often.  If you take off too much you can't put it back on there.

Noted. The acquaintance of mine from another forum told me today he is still looking for that barrel so I'm just going to keep putting rounds through the old barrel for now. Thanks


This evening with the help of a friend we installed the new magazine catch, new magazine catch spring, floating trigger pin, reduced power trigger return spring, new retaining screw, and put the new 14lb recoil spring in.

I ordered five different weight hammer springs from Wolff to try in it (16lb-20lb) which should be here tomorrow. I was planning on just throwing the 18lb hammer spring in it and if it cycled and ejected cases properly I was going to leave it alone. I'm open to suggesitions on which weight hammer spring will most likely run best with the 14lb recoil spring.

I got the extractor pin moving with a starter punch but we ended up bending my friends only good punch after trying to get it the rest of the way. He said he was going to go by the hardware store and see what he could find tomorrow.

New grips are also supposed to be here tomorrow too, I'll post a picture when I get it all put together.

[M1A4ME]

- somoeone did the barrel himself.   Interesting and as shown the barrels are indeed different.

Either Pre B slides changed at some point or someone had already opened up that taper at the front of the slide on the pistol in this video.

[M1A4ME]

I've never worked with different hammer springs.  I shoot mine SA all the time and most people install reduced power hammer springs to make that first double action shot have an easier trigger pull.

I've read, here, that many folks believe the standard factory hammer springs really don't hurt the single action trigger pull.  It's how the internal parts move during the trigger pull that may give you the draggy, bumpy, gritty feel.

Your pistol is fairly old and well used and all that factory part surface roughness should have worn away over the years.  Doesn't mean it's got a great trigger pull, just means the parts are smooth now where they rub/work against each other.

Reducing hammer spring power can cause primer ignition problems with some brands of ammo.  Make sure you try it out before depending on it if you reduce hammer spring power.  Some of the threads here (you can search) have lists of primers from easiest to ignite to hardest.  All my guns have the factory hammer/striker springs still so I've not had any issues to remember due to harder primers.

[briang2ad]

If you use a CGW FP and or FP spring, you can go very low in hammer spring weight and deliver very strong blows to any primer.

[Skarekrow88]

All my guns have the factory hammer/striker springs still so I've not had any issues to remember due to harder primers.

I just decided to go with the 20lb hammer spring and leave it alone. I'd rather have the reliability over improved trigger pull.

If you use a CGW FP and or FP spring, you can go very low in hammer spring weight and deliver very strong blows to any primer.

I might play with it at a later date but for now I intend to keep it at factory spring weights.


Below are a couple of pictures of it put back together again with all the new parts I ordered from CGW, CZ Custom, Wolff, and LOK grips. Only thing left to do is fit a new barrel to it at some point but my acquaintance is still trying to find that barrel in his apparently cluttered workshop. I still dont know if I want to try to fit it myself or just send it to CGW and have them do it for me.

https://imgur.com/syPbRpY

https://imgur.com/rEZGyP5


I have a 16rd magazine on the way that someone recommended on another fourm. Should be here Friday, hopefully it will fit properly.

[M1A4ME]

I like those spur hammers. 

[briang2ad]

I have a 16rd magazine on the way that someone recommended on another fourm. Should be here Friday, hopefully it will fit properly.
 

I doubt it will.  If the gun came with the 'safety with a hole' and really unless it is a transitional with a squared TG, it likely will NOT fit the newer 16 round mags - likely won't even insert.  You must either find preB mags, AT-84 Mags, or just use NEW extended 18 rounders for the SP01.  The new SP01 mags may be the cheapest find.  You might get lucky at a gun show, but there is much less chance these days. 

There is a tutorial on the magwell opening, but I don't recommend it.  I've done it to one and after considerable work I quit - not worth it on some guns - these are NOT uniform gun to gun, year to year.

[Redhemi]

Wow looking at the pics of your gun I say do not refinish it. I really like that battle worn look and those Lok Grenade grips fit perfectly. I hope you find some good mags and your friend comes up with that barrel so you can enjoy many years of shooting that CZ.

[Skarekrow88]

I like those spur hammers.

I do too. Much prefer the feel and look over the newer design.

I doubt it will.  If the gun came with the 'safety with a hole' and really unless it is a transitional with a squared TG, it likely will NOT fit the newer 16 round mags - likely won't even insert.  You must either find preB mags, AT-84 Mags, or just use NEW extended 18 rounders for the SP01.  The new SP01 mags may be the cheapest find.  You might get lucky at a gun show, but there is much less chance these days.

There is a tutorial on the magwell opening, but I don't recommend it.  I've done it to one and after considerable work I quit - not worth it on some guns - these are NOT uniform gun to gun, year to year.

Someone on another fourm posted "I have a pre “B” and I just bought a half dozen mags for it from CZ. Not cheap by any means, but they work flawlessly and it was worth it to know that I had the right ones."

I'm pretty sure I ordered the magazine he mentioned. I tried to ask him but never got a reply. I realize that even if it is the same magazine he ordered for his Pre-B there's still a chance that it won't work in mine, I just figured I'd give it a try anyway.

Below is what I ordered.
https://www.defensedepot.com/product/cz-11101-cz-75-85-9mm-luger-16rd-black-detachable
If it doesn't fit I have another pistol (IWI Jericho II) I can use it in so it won't be a total loss. I'll just grab some more SP-01 magazines for the CZ-75 if that turns out to be the case.

I also previously looked into opening the mag well but found it was a little more work than I was willing to undertake. Not to mention it seemed like an easy way to end up ruining the frame. I called CGW and asked if they could do it and they told me they won't. That solidified my decision to leave it alone.

Wow looking at the pics of your gun I say do not refinish it. I really like that battle worn look and those Lok Grenade grips fit perfectly. I hope you find some good mags and your friend comes up with that barrel so you can enjoy many years of shooting that CZ.

Thanks. I was actually about to ask on here for opinions on re-bluing the gun. I was already leaning towards leaving it alone though for the reasons you mentioned. I ordered the black and dark red color grenade pattern grips from LOK as they seemed like they resembled older wood grips in the pictures on their site. I'm glad I went that route and was pleased with how they both look and feel on the pistol.

[Skarekrow88]

So the magazine I ordered will seat completely and functions but it gets very tight towards the end of its travel before locking in. Kind of a pain to remove from the magazine well but I can remove it by hand with considerable force. It has a very slick blued finish so I know that helps. Any ideas on making it any better? Could I maybe try polishing the inside of the magazine well or something? If not it looks like this will be another magazine for my Jericho II.

I suppose I'll just resort to test fitting SP-01 magazines from my LGS from here on out.

I bought two baby eagle magazines made by Tanfoglio when I first acquired my Pre-B. One fits much like that of this new magazine but not quite as tight so its easier to remove from the magazine well, the other gets jammed stuck before seating completely like many others I've tried. I've been using both in my Jericho II.

Hard to believe that such slight differences in dimensions that you cant even recognize by eye can make all the difference, and with same make and model of magazine no less...

[Skarekrow88]

Something else I had been meaning to ask but forgot about until now is my pistol has a sizable gap between the slide stop and the frame when installed. It functions fine and always has so there's no current issues or any that I can foresee happening. I was just wondering if this was typical or is something weird going on here such as a different models/generations slide stop got installed in my gun at some point in its life maybe?

Below is a picture
https://imgur.com/B51qo8f

[M1A4ME]

That's way more gap than I'm used to seeing.  It looks like someone's used a different slide stop on that pistol.

The slide stop has that groove in the right hand (towards the) end of the pin.  The spring that both holds it in place and makes it stay down until the magazine follower in and empty magazine pushes it upwards to lock the slide back rides in that groove.

If the spring is in that groove the groove is in the wrong place or the slide stop was in a different pistol at one time.

It appears to stick out the right side of the frame really far, too.

Someone on the forum mentioned, awhile back, that the aluminum framed CZ's had a wider frame (if I remember the post/thread correctly.)  Those would require a wider slide stop pin.

Let me see if I can find a picture of one of mine.

[M1A4ME]

CZ75 modified to use a CZ85 slide stop.  Notice how far the right side of the pin sticks out of the frame (similar to yours) but even with the CZ85 slide release the left side is pretty much flush with the frame (as is the right side lever.  Even if someone had used a CZ85 slide stop in your pistol (the way the right side of the pin sticks out) the left side should be closer to the frame.



Pre B CZ85 and you can see how close both slide of the slide release levers are to the frame.



Only two pics I've got of the slide stops on the metal framed guns.

These are P07/P09 slide stops.  That groove near the right side end of the pin/shaft is where that spring leg sits to hold the slide stop in position.

I'm amazed your slide stop works as far out as it sticks from the left side of the frame.