good news for cz712's - factory firing pin fix

[tjcowboy]

called CZ today and spoke with one of the gunsmith's there, He said that on the '04 models that the problem has been corrected, unless it was a early '04 model, they might not have corrected it.
            What the have done is replaced the Firing pin itself with a totally new one (cant remember what exactly was new about it) and opened up the firing pin hole in the bolt face. (so if it does break then it wont get stuck).
           
            Good news if you take it and have them deal with it, if your warrenty is still good.
           
            Bad news if you have your local smith do it, it voids the warrenty. Even if they get the new firing pin from CZ cause of various reasons(what he said, didnt get into much detail about the reasons).
           
            Gonna head down to the local shop when they open up and hopefully catch it before he starts workin on it. keep ya posted if i catch him in time.
           
           
            moderator note: I added the "factory firing pin fix" to the title when I made it a sticky topic.

[tjcowboy]

i would assume this goes for the 720's also, dont know didnt ask.

[mike100]

I guess I should call in to see if they can tell me by my serial number what I have.  Good "lookin' out" for us closet huglu lovers.

[CZJedi]

If the problem was corrected in early '04, I think this was before the 720 was released (the 712 came out first, I believe).
           
            Good job with the info; I will make this a sticky topic.

[mike100]

Got the same story about the early '04's and previous with the firing pin issues when I called in.  The reason I posted was to mention the totally obvious way to decipher the year of manufacture.  the first two digits of the serial number are the year made...mine is an 05xxxxxx- so no further worries there- back to high volume shooting and sleeping good at night.
           
            they threw in a handful of new o-rings at my request due to difficulty matching the thin profile of the Huglu metric one.  A pretty productive phone call all in all.

[teachingguy]

Does this mean that the topics about the 712's exploding are handled by this firing pin fix?  I think that mine is a 2005, but I have a picture holding the shotgun from the dove opener in 2004, so I'm confused by my serial number that starts with an 05.

[Bombernl]

Per Michael Eagleshield, CZ's Gunsmith, the incorrect firing pin can be identified as follows:
           
            Disassemble the gun and remove the bolt.  Turn the bolt upside down so you can get a good look at the firing pin.
           
            The "Bad" version of the firing pin is tapered.  It is fairly obvious to see with the naked eye.  
           
            The "Good" version has no taper and is the same diameter from beginning to end and is shouldered down at the end where it strikes the shell primer. You will not be able to see the shoulder unless you disassemble the bolt.
           
            I identified this by calling CZ and they walked me through the above.  CZ sent me the correct firing pin and an extra "O" ring as well, this took about two weeks to ship to me.    
           
            Taking apart the bolt is a little tough as the keeper pin is a bugger to get out.   But I followed the gunsmith's instructions and was able to complete this myself.
           
            All is working well now, and I have a piece of mind that I should not expierience a firing pin failure.

[teachingguy]

I called CZ today.  I spoke with Scott who spoke to the gunsmith.  Scott said that the gunsmith said that the bad firing pins were silver and the good ones were brown.  I'll have to try to follow your disassembly tip and take it completely out.  I think that I can see the tip of it and it looks silver to me.  It's scary to think that I've hunted with it for nearly 3 dove seasons and 2 quail seasons, as well as plenty of target shooting and rabbit hunting.  I am very unimpressed by CZ's lack of concern for the safety of their gunowners by not making any attempt to notify us.

[Bombernl]

The first time I called CZ, the gunsmith I first spoke to also said that the good version was brown and the bad was silver.   This is a little deceiving though, because it is not bright shiny silver, but dull and could be perceived as brownish looking.
           
            I could not tell just by looking at it with the bolt in the gun, so I disassembled it and removed the bolt so I could get a real good look.  I then called CZ back and spoke to a different gunsmith (the head one I believe) and he informed me of the difference is in the taper (which is easier to discern) as I posted above.  He also said if I called back three times, I would get three different instructions of how to tell the good from the bad.  The taper difference is to me, the easiest to spot.  Color is really hard to tell the difference without a reference point.
           
             If I could figure out how to post a picture here I have one that shows both side by side so you can see the difference of the one I removed from my 712 and the one CZ sent me as the replacement.
           
            If anyone would like the picture, reply just to me or post an email address and I will send it.

[teachingguy]

The idea of calling 3 times and getting 3 answers, when referring to a possibly exploding shotgun, is rediculous.  I am so disappointed with this whole situation.  I was just looking at the Turner's website (where I bought my shotgun) and they have recalls and notices posted there.  Smith and Wesson has a recall posted, so that situations like this don't happen.  CZ should step up to the plate and do the same.