Magazine fit

[Uncle Alvah]

I am wondering what all is involved in altering the mag catch so that the gap between the grip and the floorplate of my 97b is "cleaned up"? It's probably 3/16" or so now.
Tried to do a search on the subject, 'cuz I know it's been discussed before, but had no luck.......

[Walt-Sherrill]

Several folks here have discussed this.  

One member, no longer active, even went so far as to have a couple of prototypes built.  

Angus Hobdell, I think, was looking at it.  Jim Miossi might be able to help as well -- as he has had a custom sear made and is selling them.  (Jim?  Another business opportunity!!)

But nothing is available, yet.

CZ modified the mag baseplates to fill the gap.  (On new mags.)

[Jeff Bergquist]

My mag catch on my AT84S was worn out and I was having difficulty finding a replacement so I brought it to a local welding shop and for a nominal fee had a bead of weld put on the old mag catch. I shaped it with a dremel and file and it's worked great so far. It seems to me that something similar would work to raise the mag catch on a 97B. One caveat though is that you'll probably have to refinish the outside of the catch end of the mag catch. Apparently the heat from welding doesn't do the finish much good.

Jeff

[vadimi]

I am having intremittent FTF problems with my CZ 97B, and am looking for a solution to this problem.  I've spoken to several people, and they tell me that as son as the magazine was raised by raising the mag catch, the FTF problems went away.  Needless to say, I need to be able to fully rely on my side-arm, which I cannot do right now.
Seems to me that CZ has an engineering flaw in 97B.  Rather than spend time and effort modyfying the firearm ourselves, can we have a factory rep look into this problem?
Regards,
-V

[Uncle Alvah]

I am of the impression that the mag catch issue is essentially cosmetic in nature, the gap between the grip bottom and the mag baseplate is none too "clean". I may well stand corrected by others more knowledgeable than I, but I don't think thats where I would start if trying to fix a FTF problem. I'd look at the mags themselves, the ammo, and the feed ramp.
What kind of round are you feeding your gun?
I polished the ramp on mine, 'cus I had a couple FTF when using Hydra-Shocks. Seemed to help but I simply can't afford a bunch of that ammo to try it out. I stick to standard ball ammo, (S&B) and I've  have no problems what-so-ever. It's what I shoot, it's what I carry in the gun.

[vadimi]

Uncle Alvah.
Thanks for the reply.
I've polished the ramp - no noticeable difference.  I regularly shoot Fiocci, Wolf, and S&B ammo, all FMJ.  All have intermittent FTF problems especially with a full mag, 2nd round may gets stuck with the tip of the FMJ bullet pointing directly at the feed ramp.  I have 3 mags and they all do the same thing.  The sharp slap in the mag bottom usually solves the problem and the gun feeds the round OK, but may or may not get stuck on the following round.
Basically I'm looking for a solution to my problem, and several people I've spoken with, who own and shoot cz 97B indicated that raising the mag would solve my problem.  From the problemsI've experienced their recommendation seems to make sense.
Regards,
-V

[Uncle Alvah]

You could well be right, no offense meant, I'm not doubting your "diagnosis".

Did any of the folks to whom you spoke offer any advice on just HOW to go about raising the magazine?

It would almost seem that bending the lips of the magazine upward would "raise" the cartridge as well. Not sure about that

Solutions for FTF's, especially with FMJ's is something I'd like to hear/learn all I could about!

[sanger00verdun]

Here's what I did.