I have joined the CZ-97B club!

[bullsi1911]

Last night my wonderful, beautiful fiancee gave me a polished blue, brand spanking new CZ-97B as a birthday gift (no, she does not have a sister  ).  I took it to the range this afternoon, and OMG, I am impressed!

So, without further interruption... the report.

The Place:

 
Red's Indoor Range ( www.redsguns.com/ ) south location- 100 yard indoor range.

The Ammo:
 
230 Grain FMJ commercial reloads by Collins Cartridge Company ( www.cccammo.com )

The Equipment:
 
The 1999 built CZ-97B, NIB with my homemade sandbags made out of old jeans legs and polymer stuffing pellets (the stuff that is in Beanie Babies)

And here are the results:
The first shots from the gun resulted in this-
 
Then...
 

And after running a bunch of rounds downrange, I was able to get this-
 

Other notes-
I experienced 2 stoppages.  One was when loading the first round from the magazine on the 3rd magazine load through the gun.  The round hit the feed ramp and stopped.  I 'sling-shotted' the slide, and the round fed into the chamber.  Towards the end of the test, on about the second to the last magazine, I had an identical stoppage during a string of fire.  I pulled the slide to the rear and the round fed into the chamber.  I am not real worried by the 2 stoppages, since they were reloads in a brand spanking new gun.  

Anyway, I love this gun.  It just fits me very well, and is unbelievably accurate.

[Jeff Bergquist]

Congratulations on both your new 97B and having such a great fiancee. They are great guns aren't they? I don't know if my 97B is the most accurate gun I own, but it's the one I shoot most accurately, and that's good enough for me.

Jeff

[n-12-Volt-Man-czechpistols82792]

Ooohhhh.  A blued one.  Looks like a good shooter too.  CONGRATULATIONS on your new gun and also on having a great girl friend.

[bullsi1911]

Now that I have been playing with the -97B for about 24 hours straight, I have the standard questions-

Getting rid of the mag base-plate gap?  Is it new base plates from CZ-usa that cures it?

FLGR and 18# spring- can I get the ploy FLGR from CZ-USA and which spring do I get from Wolff?  The CZ-75 18#er?

Feed ramp- has that little weird angle at the bottom.  Is that correctable?

[n-12-Volt-Man-czechpistols82792]

I solved the mag base plate gap problem when I was able to stretch on a set of Hogue grips that were actually made for the cz75b.  It made it so that there was not much of a gap at all.  I don't know what I will do if Hakan starts making grips for the 97.


Hakan.......Hint Hint.

[Gary in Pennsylvania]

Nice CZ-97!

That's a nice range too!

[Jeff Bergquist]

While I haven't done it yet, I prefer to deal with the mag gap issue by altering the mag catch to raise the mags to sit flush. I think that by positioning the top round in the magazine more in line with the chamber it will help the gun to feed more smoothly. CZ has issued some mags with base plates that close the gap, but this seems to me to cure the symptom rather than the problem. Ironically, if I do alter the mag catch, it will mean that those newer mags won't work on my gun. But Witness mags will still be plentiful.

Jeff

[dleong]

Quote:FLGR and 18# spring- can I get the ploy FLGR from CZ-USA and which spring do I get from Wolff? The CZ-75 18#er?

bullsi1911,

Congratulations on getting the 97B!

If memory serves, CZ-USA doesn't have a poly FLGR specifically for the 97B. The steel FLGR intended for the 40S&W 75B will fit the 97B, but doesn't look very good as the rod's diameter is too small.

You might want to try modifying a door hinge pin to serve as a FLGR, like I did, as outlined here. The 97B uses the same recoils springs as the 75B, so you can just get the Wolff "Recoil Calibration Pak" for the 75B and experiment with the recoil springs to find one that suits your shooting style. I am currently using a 22 lb. spring in my 97B when shooting hardball, and drop to an 18 lb. spring when shooting lead.

And, yes, the 97B is, as you've discovered, a seriously accurate pistol.

DL

[crt360]

Nice pistol.  You will enjoy it.  You better hitch up with your fiancee before a CZForum member tries to lure her away!  

I would avoid the CZ FLGR and, if you can't get a custom made one, do the hinge pin thing.  I had one of the CZ rods - it looked bad and was wearing around the hole in the spring bushing.

Your homemade old bluejean range bags have to be some of the coolest I've seen.