Failure to feed question

[Skookum]

Something else I would suggest would be quality ammo (my favorites being Sellier & Bellot and Fiocchi). I have never been impressed with American Eagle in any form.

Leave it to a Hoosier to bad mouth Minnesota-designed and manufactured ammo, don'tcha know.


S&B usually has an edge in CZs, given that it was likely the ammo the gun was designed around, but the vz 82 was designed to shoot a uniquely hot round of 9 Makarov that is no longer produced if my Wisconsin-nourished recall is any good, you betcha.

[EDinNC]

Thank you Skookum I will definitely take your advice about marking the mags and see if the problem repeats itself. Also will be looking into getting some S&B ammo.

[Birds Away]

I have found that S&B or Silver Bear works best for the 82s that I have owned.  I haven't had any luck with U.S. made ammo for that particular chambering.

[il.bill]

ED -

Obviously ANY failure in a firearm used for self defense / carry is cause for some concern.  Before changing out every spring in your CZ82 though, I would think the prudent approach would be to first shoot it some more and see if there is another failure.

The magazine with the top round that sits higher and points more upward is certainly suspect.  Mark the two mags with a dot of paint or nail polish on the base and see if that is the one that is problematic.  Folks often find the follower installed backwards, but I would thing that should affect feeding more than just a single time.  CZ82/83 magazines are not hard to disassemble - push the little nipple up against the mag spring pressure to disengage it through the hole in the floorplate, and carefully slide the floorplate off to the front.  A good cleaning would be my initial step, followed by some regular shooting. 

I purchase the vast majority of my 9x18mm Makarov ammunition online.  I have been paying less than 30 cents per round delivered to my front door for steel cased Berdan primed eastern European made ammo, but that is buying 1,000 rounds at a time, and I have to save up for a while to have $300 available before I charge it on my credit card.  It is not re-loadable 9x18mm brass, so not finding all the empty cases does not bother me at all, and it is nice to have a decent quantity of Makarov cartridges on hand that shoot fine.

Good luck to you with your pistol.  Given the stressful 'hot' spot you were in when you had the failure, it is very possible that 'operator error' was a major factor, but that first round with a different angle and height is a likely indicator of a magazine issue.  Check that out, and shoot it some more.

[Hurryin Hoosier]

Something else I would suggest would be quality ammo (my favorites being Sellier & Bellot and Fiocchi). I have never been impressed with American Eagle in any form.

Leave it to a Hoosier to bad mouth Minnesota-designed and manufactured ammo, don'tcha know.


S&B usually has an edge in CZs, given that it was likely the ammo the gun was designed around, but the vz 82 was designed to shoot a uniquely hot round of 9 Makarov that is no longer produced if my Wisconsin-nourished recall is any good, you betcha.

Make up your mind. Are you a Badger or a Gopher?   

[EDinNC]

ED -

Obviously ANY failure in a firearm used for self defense / carry is cause for some concern.  Before changing out every spring in your CZ82 though, I would think the prudent approach would be to first shoot it some more and see if there is another failure.

The magazine with the top round that sits higher and points more upward is certainly suspect.  Mark the two mags with a dot of paint or nail polish on the base and see if that is the one that is problematic.  Folks often find the follower installed backwards, but I would thing that should affect feeding more than just a single time.  CZ82/83 magazines are not hard to disassemble - push the little nipple up against the mag spring pressure to disengage it through the hole in the floorplate, and carefully slide the floorplate off to the front.  A good cleaning would be my initial step, followed by some regular shooting. 

I purchase the vast majority of my 9x18mm Makarov ammunition online.  I have been paying less than 30 cents per round delivered to my front door for steel cased Berdan primed eastern European made ammo, but that is buying 1,000 rounds at a time, and I have to save up for a while to have $300 available before I charge it on my credit card.  It is not re-loadable 9x18mm brass, so not finding all the empty cases does not bother me at all, and it is nice to have a decent quantity of Makarov cartridges on hand that shoot fine.

Good luck to you with your pistol.  Given the stressful 'hot' spot you were in when you had the failure, it is very possible that 'operator error' was a major factor, but that first round with a different angle and height is a likely indicator of a magazine issue.  Check that out, and shoot it some more.

il.bill Thank you very much for your very good response. I will learn a bit more and take the mag apart. It will be another new adventure. I very much appreciate the time that you and others took to respond to my issue.

I am sure that I made every possible mistake that can be made too.

Yes, it would take me a bit to put aside $300 for ammo. I recently put a 12ga home defense shotgun and a 410 Rossi single shot on layaway at Buds. That was after splitting a 440 rnd spam can of 7.62 x 54R for my Mosin with my buddy. My wife knows about the Mosin rounds, but not the shotguns, yet. I'm gonna be in trouble

[Armor Snail]

 Don't tell her lol.
Do you carry your mosin to the range in a case? Bring the new ones in one at a time in the case.  Once they're in the safe she'll never know.  If she notices one day just maintain that they've always been there lol

[il.bill]

... Bring the new ones in one at a time in the case.  Once they're in the safe she'll never know.  If she notices one day just maintain that they've always been there lol

The voice of experience?

[Armor Snail]

Actually no.
Wife loves guns.  She just gets mad when I buy more for me then her. 

Still, the technique is solid.

[Skookum]

Make up your mind. Are you a Badger or a Gopher?   

With football season rapidly approaching, I had to give you some grief, even though I cringed when doing so meant defending the honor of the Golden Goopher state.  I did reside there for one year during my infancy, but I was raised in Badger Land and graduated from what I tell my fellow Washington state residents is the Real UW.


You and BA are lucky -- your Hoosiers don't play the Badgers this year.  We do invade your state on 11-8 to pummel the Boilermakers, though.

[Skookum]

The magazine with the top round that sits higher and points more upward is certainly suspect.  Mark the two mags with a dot of paint or nail polish on the base and see if that is the one that is problematic.  Folks often find the follower installed backwards, but I would thing that should affect feeding more than just a single time.  CZ82/83 magazines are not hard to disassemble - push the little nipple up against the mag spring pressure to disengage it through the hole in the floorplate, and carefully slide the floorplate off to the front.  A good cleaning would be my initial step, followed by some regular shooting.

Disassembling the mags, cleaning them, and ensuring they are reassembled properly is a great idea.  Consult the parts diagram in the CZ 83 Instruction Manual, which you can download from CZ-USA if you don't have a hard copy.  I clean the gunk out of my mags with 90% isopropanol, and lubricate them with car wax, which doesn't attract dirt.


A caveat about marking mag base plates -- they are interchangeable, so marking the body of the mag is more reliable.  Better yet, mark the body and the base plate the same so the two are always kept together.

[EDinNC]

... Bring the new ones in one at a time in the case.  Once they're in the safe she'll never know.  If she notices one day just maintain that they've always been there lol

The voice of experience?

She wants some new vertical blinds, I'm thinking telling her about the 410 is a fair trade.

[EDinNC]

The magazine with the top round that sits higher and points more upward is certainly suspect.  Mark the two mags with a dot of paint or nail polish on the base and see if that is the one that is problematic.  Folks often find the follower installed backwards, but I would thing that should affect feeding more than just a single time.  CZ82/83 magazines are not hard to disassemble - push the little nipple up against the mag spring pressure to disengage it through the hole in the floorplate, and carefully slide the floorplate off to the front.  A good cleaning would be my initial step, followed by some regular shooting.

Disassembling the mags, cleaning them, and ensuring they are reassembled properly is a great idea.  Consult the parts diagram in the CZ 83 Instruction Manual, which you can download from CZ-USA if you don't have a hard copy.  I clean the gunk out of my mags with 90% isopropanol, and lubricate them with car wax, which doesn't attract dirt.


A caveat about marking mag base plates -- they are interchangeable, so marking the body of the mag is more reliable.  Better yet, mark the body and the base plate the same so the two are always kept together.

I took the mags apart and cleaned them. It was pretty simple. I did them one at a time so as to not accidentally mix parts.

The car wax sounds like a good idea. I used gun oil inside the mag, but it was a bit difficult spreading it around.

It will be a week or so before I can shoot it.

[il.bill]

... I used gun oil inside the mag, but it was a bit difficult spreading it around. ...

I use an old straight handle tooth brush to lightly lube my magazine components inside and out with some Lucas Gun Oil after cleaning, followed by working a clean and lightly lubed patch with a wooden chopstick around the inside of the mag body to remove any excess oil.  I have always wanted to try some car wax, but then my magazines do not get very dusty or dirty while I am punching holes in paper.

[Stogies]

We just recently came across another batch of mags that were sold as "unissues factory mags" but were not ... what mags were you using, OP?