1978 CZ 75 Short Rail- Musings, Review, and Too Much Praise

[MM]

If I may quote an old African expresion.........'eish!' (meaning - 'oh bother' or 'oh sh*t' as appropriate and accompanied by a wry shaking of the head).? You are lining yourself up for quite some work there, please keep us posted as to the progress you make.?

The gun you bought definetly did not come from us here in Cape Town.? Our guns are marked somewhat differently and we also don't sell our guns off.

I have asked around as regards the RA number but so far have come up with a blank.? The only suggestion I have received is perhaps RA = Rhodesian Army, the guns vintage seems about right for that.

[Walt Sherrill]

The beauty of the toaster oven approach is that you can take it outside, under shelter, and let it stink away...  Which is how some friends have done it with similar finishes.  I think it does make for a much harder, more durable finish FASTER.

Be wary of too many coats.  You will lose much of the definition of the details and markings -- it's inevitable -- and that's a sure sign of heavy-handed refinishing or over polishing.

The real secret to the super finish you want is superior sanding BEFORE you put the finish on.  Sand and polish excessively (again, paying attention to details, markings, etc.) and then put as few coats as possible.  You're trying to protect the metal, NOT create a substitute finish.

[CM Rich]

Good advice, Walt.

I'll be putting on no more than 4 coats, perhaps 3 (the black base coat, and two layers of gloss with different blends of royal blue each, and perhaps a plain gloss if I still have the definition). The only problem with Duracoat, or at least my experience with it so far, is that it is subject to the same pratfalls as real paint. Everything affects your spray, and in this case, I want a super smooth, high gloss finish that lacks that graininess usually associated with spray ons.

I may either tough it out her ein the apartment and bake it in the oven, or I may go over my parents house with an old toaster oven and bake it outside. That might be too much of a hassle, though.

[MM]

Hey, CM Rich - How is your baby doin'?  You get any further with getting her all 'coated up'?

[CM Rich]

Well, she's been completely stripped down, and all of her pits have been refilled with Durafill. This time around, I've taken far more care in protecting rollmarks and misc. proofmarks, and everything has been sanded very smooth.

I stripped off the week-old Duracoat with Jasco, which worked really well along with an acetone bath and some time with a wire brush. Some of that Duracoat clung on very tenaciously. Also of interest is a bit of a test I had going with a piece of metal I had sprayed with Duracoat before doing the gun, and I've been doing my own abuse tests with it. Its about 3 weeks old now, and it wet sands with 1200 grit paper really well, giving me that mirror finish I was after. Its also really tough stuff, as it was claimed to be. I was hitting the part with a hammer, and the Duracoat resisted chipping away really well, and bent with the metal. It took a few mars here and there, but I was pretty impressed. The only thing that seemed to cause it damage was a cut from a razor blade, and even then the edges never peeled away. Keep in mind this was air-cure, and not oven cure, which as Walt said gives you a much tougher result.

Since I'm ordering new parts (springs, modern extractor, and just about anything I can replace with modern new stock), I can't really do much else until it all gets here. Once its all here, which will probably be a week from now, I'll finish up the painting, and hopefully have it all oven cured by the end of the month.

I've also decided to try out Springco's recoil system, since I'm really concious about protecting the frame. If EFK does roll out a Pre-B barrel (with the proper channels), I'll grab one of those too.

[CM Rich]

Well, she's done. For now, at least.

After all of that pit filling, I had a change of heart. I decided not to go the semi-tactical route with the Duracoat afterall. Its not that Duracoat is a bad product, but rather I realized that such a classic gun should remain classic, right down to the finish. So, I decided to forego the Duracoat for Brownell's Oxpho Blue.









While I believe I made an error in over sanding (all the way up to 2000 grit, baby!), which prohibited the cold blue from penetrating as deeply as it could, I wound up with the look of an old, weathered blue job that was still extremely glossy. It definately suits this gun well.

Down the line, I think I'll have it hot blued and finally call it a day, but for now, the Oxpho Blue, with its ease of application and blissful cheapness, will suit my needs well.

Don't be completely fooled by the pictures, either. The oil smudged around, and that's where you see spots and streaks. The actual finish is suprisingly even for a cold blue. Oxpho Blue is awesome.

[Walt Sherrill]

Oxpho Blue is a very good finish.  You can continue to touch it up, coat it with that finish, over the coming weeks, and it will slowly continue to darken. 

I did as you did with an older pre-B, and it ended up looking almost like an old S&W (revolver) blue, which is very dark, indeed. 

Just apply the finish with a clean cloth pad, wearing latex gloves, and it will continue to improve.

[tekarra]

That is one fine looking cZ.

[CM Rich]

Why, thank you tekarra!

And Walt, you've hit the nail on the head. I just reapplied a quick coat of Oxpho, and wow what a difference. It is now easily twice as dark as it was before and is really evening out. I think I'll do this nightly for the next week and see what I come up with.

How's your finish holding up, Walt? I'm very interested in seeing how this stuff will last in the long haul.

[Cliff47]

Oh, BEAUTY!!!

[Walt Sherrill]

How's your finish holding up, Walt? I'm very interested in seeing how this stuff will last in the long haul.

My experience with Oxpho Blue is that the gun has to be touched up periodically on the front and back strap, but pretty nice, otherwise.  And more coats may make that less necessary. 

The particular gun in question was sold a few years ago to someone who was a forum member at the time (a GI, overseas who had me send it to him once he returned home).  Seems like I got ripped off for a mag on that particular transaction.  (I sent a replacment for one he said wasn't good, but he never returned the "bad" one.) He hasn't been around for a while.

[CM Rich]

Sorry to hear about the bad transaction, Walt. Hope one bad one didn't leave a sour taste in your mouth.

But, it's good to hear Oxpho is a relatively good finish, considering what it is. I don't mind some touch up work every now and then, since its really easy and cheap with this stuff to do so. Hard not to recommend it to someone else after my experience with it thus far.

[Walt Sherrill]

Nah.  I've sold a number of guns to forum members since then...  Stuff happens.

My general experience with members has been that they are honorable people and often generous.

[SASDesertRat]

Congratulations!  I've been wanting a short rails for years.  Yours looks fantastic after the refinish.

[lazyengineer]

Another RA# owner signing in.  Same story of lore - supposedly came in from South Africa as some kind of police or military pistol. 




This gun came into the US in such a sad state:  When I first saw it, it was in a store and was such miserable junker I didn't give it a second look.  No finish, lots of pitting, bent parts, just worthless crap.  Should have been melted down and thrown away.   6 months later a buddy called, said they had fixed them up so he bought one.  Whatever!

So I meet up with my friend - and he pulls out this brand spanking new looking short rail CZ-75.  No pits, smooth straight surfaces, solid gun fit, gleaming finish, crisp sharp looking lettering.  It was the same gun!  Impressive.  Told my friend, if he ever needed a few bucks I'll pay him whatever he paid for it.  He paid I think $400.   

Some time later - friend got bored with it, knew I loved it, and as a favor, sold it to me. 

Since then, I've replaced the grips.  it had the original spec looking ones, which were so scratched to Hell they couldn't be saved.  So I threw them in a drawer and put on some CZ rubber grips (can't recommend those high enough - they really really help the otherwise slippery CZ grip hold)

I  also replaced the hammer, the spur just bit me too much.  I put nail polish on the sights - bright pink dot on the front, and two silver dots on the back - highly recommend that color spectrum.

The only part that bugs me is it has a replacement angular looking slide stop.  Works, just don't like the look.  The single action trigger has some creep.  Not bad, but I'd like it to be a little crisper.  I'm thinking of ordering a new sear, and seeing what a little careful emory filling can do.  The double action pull is a dream. 

I use the heck out of it - and it's been abused well before me.  Holding up very well - original slide, frame, and barrel still.  The FOBUS holster I use in IDPA matches is starting to rub off some of the blue in a spot, which is annoying.  I may take it back to those magicians in South East Texas if it gets bad, for a touchup.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=6&f=42&t=255049