New (to me) CZ83 in 7.65mm

[Garys4598]

A loud shout-out of thanks to tenfourk for hooking me up with an excellent conditioned Czech police surplus CZ83 pistol in 7.65mm.  I have been looking for one of these for well over a year. . . and had almost surrendered to the likelihood that I'd probably never own one, but. . . then along came tenfourk who answered my WTB thread.  Thank you Sean!

As soon as the pistol arrived I swapped out her OEM polymer grips for a pair of Grips4U wood ones, and also replaced her front sight with a HiViz green fiber optic sight.  I think she's now precisely how I want her.  I'll know better once I get her out to the pistol range.   







Here is a photo of my new CZ83 with her bigger brother, my CZ75B SA:

[il.bill]

Yowza!

[LantanaTX]

really nice looking 83 and love the tricked out 75. 

[Garys4598]

Thank you for the kind words Gents.   

[rugerista]

Nice!

[Garys4598]

I took the CZ83 to the firing range during Saturday for the first time.  Put 75 rounds through her and did not experience a single hiccup.  Her grouping at approximately 10 yards wasn't the greatest, but I know I need to experiment with different ammuntion brands to discern which she likes best. . . I think I read somewhere that these Czech pistols seem to favor the hotter European manufactured ammo.

Her point of impact (POI) was a little to the left, so upon getting her home for cleaning, I placed her slide in my bench vise and had to smack the rear sight pretty-darn good to get it to budge and slightly slip in the direction needed to adjust her POI.

Now I'm working on modifying a LULA magazine loader (for 9mm - 45cal), to get it to work with these 7.65mm staggered magazines.  (Loading the five magazines by hand was a PIA, the magazines' springs are rather stout.)  The LULA's steel ramp that depresses on the mag's follower is too wide for these mags' feeding lips.  So. . . narrowing it with a metal file ought to do the trick.  I also intend to add some thickness to the LULA's bottom interior to obtain a better fit for the mags.  Presently, the gap is so large it makes sliding a mag into the loader way too sloppy IMO.

AND, I just uncovered the following forum thread by DenStinett which thoroughly explains and depicts how to go about modifying a LULA mag loader to work with 7.65mm magazines.  Thanks Den!  http://www.czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=24310.0


~Gary

[Psyop96]

Den's loader for the Kadet works well across the range of CZ calibers in 7.65mm and 9mm/.380.

[larryflew]

My 83 in .32 really shot the best by far with fiocchi.

[Garys4598]

Thank you for the recommendation Larry!  I'll most assuredly give Fiocchi a go.   

[jdubya87]

I still really want one of these.

[Garys4598]

During the last two days I got around to modifying a LULA 9mm-45cal magazine loader to work with my CZ 83 7.65mm magazines.  I went a step further from Den's recommendation by adding some polymer sheeting to the inside of the LULA loader to decrease it's inside diameter to get rid of the sloppy mag fit.  Now all my 7.65mm mags slip right in and work perfectly with the mag loader.  I couldn't be happier.

Regarding the two immediate photos below, the LULA loader on the left is the modified loader, and the one to its right is a standard LULA loader.










As my Pappy used to say, "If it's worth doing at all, it's worth doing right!"  (j/k)   

.

[Garys4598]

I forget to show the very minor mod I made to the left side walnut grip, since most of the photos above are of the handgun's right side.  I'm a right-handed shooter and to allow better access to the left side ambi magazine release button, I tapered the walnut wood around the mag button to allow for slightly easier access for my thumb.  I think it turned out pretty well. . . I was careful to avoid running into the grip's nice checkering.

[Garys4598]

Just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone that checked-out this thread and bumped its viewing to over a thousand.   

Oh, and as a side note, I just finished my diminutive collection of 7.65mm caliber handguns with the import procurement of a model HK4 Pistol.  I very much doubt that she will rival my enjoyment and the personal feelings that I harbor for my CZ83. . . but one never knows. 







~Gary

[Garys4598]

[tenfourk]

Thanks for the update and congrats on the HK. That is a beautiful trio and great job on the photos.