Converting CZ SP-01 Tactical into Competition Ready

[tdogg]

Well,

I have decided to make my SP-01 Tactical my competition gun.  I am a noob to the competition scene so I prefer to keep this gun eligible for SSP in IDPA.  I am going to perform all the work myself.  I don't intend on doing this all at once, as funds allow I will be updating this thread on my progress.

Here is my to do list (probably in this order):

Extended Firing pin
Respring
Full action polish
Sights
Grips
Hammer
Trigger

I have taken some preliminary stats from this gun and will update it after performing each modification (if applicable).

Mean Dual Action Trigger Weight:  11.26 lbs
Mean Single Action Trigger Weight:  4.82 lbs
Gun Weight with stock mag: 2.58 lbs (not on calibrated scale)

I purchased this gun used so I don't know the round count.  I know I have put at least 1000 rounds down the pipe, so the gun is fully broke in.  It is bone stock.

I have parts on order and plan on starting this project soon.

Cheers!
Toby

[Jake G]

Just make sure you use the CZ comp hammer if you want to stay in ssp.  CGW has an excellent selection of springs but their comp hammer would bump you to esp.  You could use CGW factory modified hammers and be ssp legal.  Also, keep in mind you have to make the 39.0 ounce weight limit for ssp.  Grip choices can greatly influence weight.

[ptr.1n]

Hi Toby,

sounds like an interesting fun project,
my two cents:
one thing i found useful in getting a good trigger pull is that to make sure that the sear cage is secure properly on the trigger bow and disconnector.

I would also like to second Jake G's recommendation of CGW's springs.

[tdogg]

Yes and yes.

I'm not sure what hammer I will choose?  Maybe by that point I won't care if it is legal for SSP and will purchase the new race hammer from CGW?  I think that will be a little way's out.  I want to play around with the stock components first to see how good you can make them before replacing parts.

As far as grips go I have big hands so I definitely want to handle them before making any purchases.  One of these trips to Phoenix will include a trip over to Ghost Products to handle them in person.  Obviously based on weight the Coco's are appealing.  Once I actually weigh the gun on a calibrated scale to get the true weight then I will know better how much weight I need to lose.  Currently my club doesn't care much about my gun's legality so I am not too worried about it.  As I get better that may change.  I have read up on things to swap, Main spring plug, mag brake, grips, etc...

I will post up the changes I make to the gun and try to characterize the effect on the gun with each change.  I want to methodically go through this process to determine the best bang for your buck mods.

The other reason this is going to take a bit is I need to wait till next year to really spend any more money guns or my wife is going to strangle me.  I can't really complain too much as I purchased both the SP-01 and the 97BD this year.

Cheers!
Toby

[tdogg]

Well I received my first batch of parts from CGW, Thanks David!

Before I started any work on the gun I weighed it on a calibrated scale.

Weights:
Stock SP-01 weight 2.6 lbs (41.6 oz) with magazine!  More than the 2.4 lbs posted on CZ USA's specifications.
Stock magazine:  0.2 lb (3.2 oz)
Mecgar magazine (17 rd): 0.2 lb (3.2 oz)

Reference:
Stock 97BD weight: 2.55 lb (40.8 oz) with magazine.
Stock 97BD Mag:  0.2 lb (3.2 oz)
Mecgar 97BD Mag:  0.2 lb (3.2 oz)

Stock 40P weight:  1.9 lb (30.4 oz) with magazine
Stock 40P Mag:  0.2 lb (3.2 oz)

I also took some trigger pulls with both a 11.5 lb main spring and 13 lb main spring before doing any action work.  I simply put the main springs in and took trigger pull data.  I didn't bother taking SA action trigger pulls as I didn't think it made much sense since you most likely would be doing other mods at the same time and the effect of the main spring on SA action should be small.
Mean 11.5 lb Main Spring DA Trigger Pull:  6.33 lb
Mean 13 lb Main Spring DA Trigger Pull:  8.07 lb

Next I installed a CGW extended firing pin, reduced power firing pin spring, reduced power firing pin block spring, carbide firing pin retainer, and the 11.5 lb main spring.  I also polished the firing pin block lever, firing pin block, and the firing pin block cavity.

Here are the parts ready to be installed:


Here is a close up of the firing pin block lever post polishing:


Here are the close ups of the firing pin block polished:



Notice I only removed enough material to smooth the surface.  You can still see the machining marks on the face of the firing pin block and the top of the firing pin block lever.

I installed the parts and lubed the gun.  I used silicone spray to lube the firing pin and my standard oil and grease regimen for the rest of the gun.  I then took another set of trigger pulls in both DA and SA.
Mean DA Trigger Pull:  6.42 lbs
Mean SA Trigger Pull:  3.12 lbs

The difference in DA trigger pull is quite remarkable.  I have yet to take the gun out to the range but I am impressed by the DA trigger pull.  It still has plenty of creep prior to the hammer dropping but the trigger pull is very light.  I am afraid to install the reduce power trigger return spring!  I don't know if I want the SA trigger pull to get any lighter?  I have yet to polish the trigger bar, sear, hammer, dis-connector, and main spring rod!

Next will be installing the extended firing pin and reduce main spring on the 97BD!  Then after that I will start the action job on the SP-01.  Then sights, grips, hammer, ....

Cheers!
Toby

[9millie]

what grit did you use for polishing?

[tdogg]

what grit did you use for polishing?

I started with a couple light passes with 600 grit, then moved to 1500 grit.  Then I used a polishing wheel and compound.  I didn't sand firing pin block plunger outside diameter or the bore, just used polishing bits in a dremel with compound on those.

Cheers!
Toby

[tdogg]

So for those that are trying to loose some weight on your SP-01 variants, I weighed some of the stock parts and some of the CGW replacements.  Here they are:

CZ Part                           Weight (oz)
Main Spring Plug Flat:         0.1839
Main Spring Plug Lanyard:   0.2186
Main Spring (Stock):            0.1463
Main Spring (CGW 11.5lb):   0.1061
Main Spring (CGW 13 lb):    0.1130
Firing Pin (Stock):                0.2021
Firing Pin Spring (Stock):     0.0169
Firing Pin Spring (CGW RP):    0.0071
Magazine (Stock 18rd):       3.0404
Magazine (Mecgar 17rd):    3.1551
CZ Rubber Grips:                 2.3675
CZ Grip Screw:                    0.0346
Recoil Spring (Stock):          0.3893
Recoil Spring (CGW 10lb):    0.1979
Recoil Spring (CGW 12lb):   0.2019
Recoil Spring (CGW 13lb):   0.1970
Recoil Spring (CGW 14lb):   0.2205

So I didn't weigh the CGW extended firing pin or the carbide retaining pin before I installed them.  So maybe Schmeky can chime in on their weights?

Basically you can save about .25 oz just by respringing the gun.  The majority of the weight lost in in the recoil spring (I didn't weigh the 11 lb but it should be about .2 oz).

Note all these weights were obtained on a calibrated balance.  They should be fairly close but as with anything there are variances part to part.

Given the amount of weight my gun needs to loose, I may be stuck with the Marschal Grips.  It's either that or the stock CZ plastic grips.  I really don't want to have to purchase 10rd magazines.

[tdogg]

So I have finally got around to completing some (maybe all?) of the mods to my Tactical.  I have done quite a bit to the gun recently and I will discuss it all below but first I must say that this guns action is nice!  The trigger is smooth, light, and crisp.  I can say that the work performed has been worth it and it wasn't that hard to do.  I am a total noob when it comes to gunsmithing but with the tools and knowledge shared on this board, the work was easy.  I will say that I am a mechanical engineer so I have a knack for figuring out how things work and getting it all back together in one piece.

Here is my list of mods to date:
11 lb Recoil Spring
11.5 lb Main Spring
CGW Extended Firing Pin
Reduced Power Firing Pin Spring
Reduced Power Firing Pin Block Spring
Reduced Power Trigger Return Spring
CGW Fiber Optic Front Sights and EZ Drift Rear
DesignerGrips.com Carbon Fiber Thin Grips
CGW Short Reset System
CZ Custom Competition Hammer
Full Action Polish

First the exterior Mods:
I was fortunate enough to win a set of grips as part of the Christmas giveaway (this forum rocks! ).  I chose the carbon fiber thin grips because Paul from Designergrips.com stated those were the lightest grips he sold for a full size CZ.  They are light and are molded straight from the aluminum thin grips that you can find for our CZ's.  The grip tape is actually molded into the grip.  I have big hands so I don?t know if I truly will like the feel of these in competition but I am going to give them a shot for now.  The grips fit well and have Kevlar reinforcement around the grip screw so they should hold up over time.  The grips weigh .811 oz which is a savings of 1.56 oz over stock.  I may try to lighten these even more at work on the mill but we?ll see how much weight this gun has lost and determine if more is necessary.

I purchased the sights from Cajun Gun Works.  David is great to work with and really provides a great service to this forum.  All his machined parts and knowledge shared have made this project possible for a noob like me.  The sights were pretty easy to install and only required a fair amount of sanding.  All the instructions included in the kit were easy to follow and provided enough info to get the job done.  The sights fit well and the finish is a pretty close match to the gun.  The front sight width is spot on to the rear blade width.  There is plenty of light gap around the front sight (when looking at the sight picture) and the fiber optic is easy to pick up upon draw.  I am excited to go shoot a match to see how well these sights help me perform.

The CZ competition hammer was another lucky acquisition.  I was shopping for a P01 for the wife (and me ) and came across one with this hammer installed.  CZ Custom did a trigger job and modified this hammer for the decocker.  Given the P01 has the same internals as the SP01 tactical this made the hammer swap possible.  So I did the hammer swap and while I was into the gun did some other mods aswell (detailed below).  It is really amazing how much better this hammer is as compared to stock.  The hammer drop is crisp.  There isn?t any noticeable creep but there is still a good feel to the break point.

Internal Mods:
Using the info on this forum I polished the internals.  I polished the trigger bar, sear, ejector, disconnector strut, and all pins (that weren?t replaced).  I used a combination of polishing stones, sand paper, and a dremel with buffing compound to get all parts smooth and polished.  The stones were helpful in keeping appropriate surfaces square (trigger bar to disconnector) and were able to get a pretty decent finish too.  CZ Custom already took care of the hammer and disconnector so I was ahead of the game.  I also installed a CGW trigger pin, lighter trigger return spring, and new disconnector pins.

While I was in the ejector cage, I installed the Short Reset System from CGW.  Using CGW?s new slave pin and some patience getting the ejector cage back together wasn?t as bad this time around.  I was able to get the ejector cage (with all internals) together in about 15 minutes!  I don?t know if the stars were aligned just right but it went really smooth.  Once together I followed the SRS instructions and set the firing pin lifter lever height and secured the setscrew with loctite.  The firing pin release timing is perfect and the reset feels much shorter as compared to my other CZ?s.

The DA action is smooooottthhhh.  I am really impressed.  The reset is short and positive.  The break point is crisp and deliberate.  Given the earlier respring job with the CGW extended firing pin the DA pull is also light.  The SA weight is borderline too light.  I may end up going back the the OEM trigger return spring.  We?ll see how it goes at the next match.  Below is a summary of the mods performed and the average DA and SA trigger weight.  The numbers are based on an average of 30 pulls per mod level/pull type.  The numbers don?t tell the whole picture, the feel is night and day better.

Summary:
Mod Level                                                      DA (lbs)   SA (lbs)
Stock                                                               11.26         4.82
Stock (13 lb Main Spring)                                  8.07         DNM
Stock (11.5 lb Main Spring)                               6.33         DNM
Respring and Extended Firing Pin                     6.42         3.12
Respring, Hammer, and Polish                          6.33         2.29

Here are some current pictures:

[recoilguy]

Nice work! nice pics of what you have done.
Good luck with it, it is very nice getting that DA down in the 6# range isn't it?

RCG

[tdogg]

Thanks!  The action is incredible.  I don't even have the lightest main spring that CGW sells.  It seems to function with both winchester and federal cheap ball ammo.  I have only had one light strike in hundreds of rounds.

I didn't take any pictures of the internals while performing the action polish.  I used many threads for reference.  Many thanks again to this forum and it's experts for sharing this info.

http://www.czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=42537.0

This thread has great detailed pictures of the decocker ejector cage as assembled.  Not sure who to thank for it (SuperDuty)?

http://www.czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=19127.0

This thread points to the underside of the trigger bar where it rides on the trigger bar spring.

http://www.czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=14685.0

This thread ensures that the first trip to the range is a safe one. 

http://www.czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=21470.0

Cheers!
Toby

[tdogg]

I was able to take it out today and test it out post action polish and with the new (used) CZ comp hammer.  I stand corrected.  There seems to be a confounded issue with the 11.5 lb main spring and the CZ Comp hammer.  I am now getting light strikes.  I have only had 1 light strike with the OEM hammer in hundreds of rounds up until this point.  Today I was shooting Winchester 115 gr ball (white box).  I wish I had brought some Federal with me but I didn't.

I racked the slide to eject the light strike and examined the primer.  I wanted to see if it was a timing thing with the new SRS and if there was an impact on the primer.  There was a dimple on the primer so the firing pin block is releasing (which I expected given the testing done at home per CGW's instructions).

I think the hammer is slightly lighter than the stock hammer and that may be the cause of the light strikes.  All I have to do is pull the trigger again and it fires.  I shot 4 mags and had about 6-8 light strikes.  I put the 13lb main spring in the gun and did my standard trigger pull test again and here are the results:

DA:  8.04 lbs
SA:  2.22 lbs

I will have to go back out with the same ammo and practice some more to make sure all squeezes go boom with the 13 lb main spring.

Cheers,
Toby

[Compshooter]

the gun looks great

How much o you think in parts you have in it?

I am contemplating doing it piece by piece or getting a CZC one.

[tdogg]

So I here is the approximate breakdown:

CGW Short Reset System, 11 lb recoil spring, 13 lb main spring, trigger pin, Fiber optic/comp sights, reduced power firing in block spring, reduced power trigger return spring:  ~$225.00
CZ Comp Hammer:  ~$75.00 if you modify yourself (for decocker),  ~$150-200 if you have CZcustom do it (i don't actually know?).  If non tactical SP01 then ~$75.00 for hammer.
Grips:  Apparently my grips just became unobtainable so they are priceless   Maybe they will be worth something some day?  Kind of like when the artist dies and the paintings go up in value.
Performing the work myself:  One mmiiilllllliiiooooonnnn dollars!  I value my time, especially when I get to learn the internals of my firearm.

Is that it?

Of course I have spent more than this on my gun experimenting and doing it it pieces.  I have spare parts now though.

Cheers,
Toby

[bamarammin87]

Awesome thread man.