Help with my PCR ,scratches on the frame.

[CZCCW]

Hi guys: New to this forum. I got my new pcr last week and disassembled for inspection before shooting and everything looked fine. After 200 and something rounds at the range I went back for cleaning and found a very fine scratch mark in the frame under the recoil spring area. I took pictures and send them to CZ but still no answer after a week. I wonder if the recoil spring might be touching the frame somehow during firing and that it will keep scratching this area and would end up with the anti rust coating coming out . If anyone have experience with something similar and how to fix please let me know. I noticed the guide rod is bent a little bit and wonder if that also have to do, but being plastic ,I dont think it would have the force to actually bend the spring to touch the frame. I read somewhere that this guide on this gun is not even needed and that it would work with just the spring but I wont try to test it that way ever. Otherwise I love this gun but still with the itching that the scratches in that area may get worse. This factory springs are flat instead of round. I checked them with a magnifier glass and could see that they have a light scratch also and the green paint is removed from them, so it weights more in my opinion that the springs at some moment actually touched the frame.Any recommendation on other springs for this gun or maybe an aluminum rod from the CZ store? I wonder if the warranty will cover this small damage. I would like to know if anyone here have done some coating to that area with some anticorrosive beyond what the company put in them. I have alodine treatment available that is used on aircraft and the zinchromate primer that I could put on, but I would like some clear coating since zincromate is green . Of course I have to determine first what is causing this scratching. All my guns are in perfect condition as I take great care and cleaning/lub of all of them and have no failures on any one of them up to  now.I also noted a minor paint fading on the right side of the rear sight. It seems like they pushed somehow from that side when mounting the sight with the sight installation tool and somehow took some of the black coating off. I now ,.. I might be bitching about the sight paint but I like new things to look new and I expect the coating everywhere to be even. I like to keep my stuff looking brand new. Any help on this or any representative from CZ here that can chime in would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for the great forum. 

[Genin]

Could you post the pictures here so we can see the scratches? I'd be more inclined to think that perhaps a bit of dirt, dust, debris, etc got into the dust cover somehow and scratched back and forth a bit during firing. I am like you in that I take very good care of my equipment, but I almost get a bit of relief when that first ding or scratch happens. After the initial OCD moment of wanting it to be perfect, I just relax and then feel more comfortable running the platform the way it should be run.

If it's just a minor scratch, they won't do crap since it's bound to happen here or there for reasons mentioned above, but if it's gouging or gets worse with more range use, then yeah I'd bet they'd do something.

[jameslovesjammie]

There is no need for anti-rust coating on a PCR...the frame is aluminum.

[CZCCW]

I will try to post a few pics that I sent to CZ later. My worry is that if it is the spring, and it keeps doing it , the scratch will deepen and may damage the frame permanently. James: I work on the aircraft industry and we use all sorts of the same T6 aluminum and aluminum alloys DO get corrosion. Only pure aluminum dont get corrosion and nothing that is structural is made of pure aluminum. We treat this corrosion constantly so there is a misconception that aluminum alloys dont get corrosion just because the pure aluminum dont. All aircraft alluminum sheet metal and parts (alclad) are covered by a fine pure aluminum coating but when the metal get scratches deeper that this very fine layer , your aluminum alloy will get corrosion. Aluminum corrosion is not black like iron oxyde but a fine white powder that just eats away and you end up with  a nasty hole. Thats why we have to use alumiprep, zinchromate and a good paint even on brand new alclad sheets and parts. Thats also why CZ puts a parkerizing coat before the polycoat. If you see your CZ frame in the forward area that they dont polycoat you will see the parkerizing coat that looks shiny gray. That is a coating and if it gets scratched , with time, humidity, internal stresses and dissimilar metal contact it will start to corrode just like in aircraft and you will see a fine white powder forming that when removed will shown a layer taken away. The CZ warranty guy tried to sell me the same -aluminum dont get corrosion hype in the phone but I know better as I work with aluminum alloys everyday. Since an alloy have a mix of metals in it, the potential for dissimilar metal corrosion from within due to metal stress and changes in temperature do exist.If you have a part that is scratching in any way, your protective coating is gone and this corrosion will start.

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  You can google it but here is some more info:
"Aluminium alloy surfaces will formulate a white, protective layer of corrosion aluminium oxide if left unprotected by anodizing and/or correct painting procedures. In a wet environment, galvanic corrosion can occur when an aluminium alloy is placed in electrical contact with other metals with more negative corrosion potentials than aluminium, and an electrolyte is present that allows ion exchange. Referred to as dissimilar metal corrosion this process can occur as exfoliation or intergranular corrosion. Aluminium alloys can be improperly heat treated. This causes internal element separation and the metal corrodes from the inside out. Aircraft mechanics deal daily with aluminium alloy corrosion."
 

[CZCCW]

I  talked with the warranty department. The first call the guy heard my story and seems like he hung on me because he never answered back and the second time they told me basically that is was a non issue(for them) . I really expected a better service from CZ. I explained my concerns about the scratches going on and  getting worst and their answer was to get a ss guide rod and another spring from their CZ custom shop. I asked if it was covered in the warranty and they told me to send the gun and they will have a look , but still ,it was a no issue.He said that the gun was made from aluminum alloy and that it would not corrode. (See my reply above). I also asked about any coating for the frame that he could recommend and he told me a few, but again , all out of my pocket. So i have to invest money on a guide rod , a different spring and maybe recoat it myself or pay for it , in a NEW gun?  The least I was expecting was for them to answer my email with the pictures, which they never did.And the second least thing I expected was a better spring and guide rod with no charge whatsoever after looking at the pictures. Way to NOT step up to the plate for CZ. This is my first CZ and if that is their service I may not get high hopes of getting another one.(Was already damaging my brain with a SP-01). I was impressed by the gun and really like it but service have to come with it. I can buy or make a kit gun myself so why should I in a new gun?? Even ParaOrdnance which many people dread as bad have given me excellent service and they honor their warranty. I might be ranting but this was a big turn off for me from their service department. I also sent the email to Jeff in customer service at the same time and no response from him either. I also commented on my rear sight and he said that it was normal and that as part of the manufacturing process sometimes the sights would not get painted evenly. Really? Because all my other sights on my other guns are even colored and without traces of scratches. If there is someone in this forum that represents CZ I would like to hear from him a better answer than what warranty department told me. What would cost to them to even send another set of guide rod/spring or to even look at the pictures and answer? Dont they realize that a first time customer may also be a second and third time buyer??Or  do they sell so many of them that they dont care about new customers, just first time sales???Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Canuck44]

Come on seriously.  You have a gun which is a tool.  If you scratched a hammer from hitting a nail would you send it back for refinishing.  The spring adds a scratch to the inside of your pistol, well ok when you shoot it the gun is going to get dirty as well.  Completely normal.

I suspect the warranty centre has other issues to solve and it may be awhile for them to return your phone call...don`t wait up.

Take care

Bob

[copemech]

I hate to break the news to this guy, but if it is normal, it is normal! Hey, even aircraft have parts that rub together as bare aluminum and the things do not turn into a ball of aluminum oxide and fall out of the sky!

 Shoot it, clean and lube, repeat! it will probably outlast you!

[Tok36]

What a nice fat wall of text.

I am thinking CZ's might not be the pistols for you.

[CZCCW]

 I did expected that most of the people in this forum would just tell me to forget about it. As I stated somewhere else , I am not a fanboy. I use what works for me. I came to this place because is precisely a forum of owners , but I wont let the awesomeness of the gun impair my judgement. I do know what I have to do to the gun ,that is not the problem. The problem as I mentioned before is that nobody should have to perform any kind of repair to a new gun. And CZ knows for some time now that their factory spring and rod, even though functional , have some problems. Just google about the spring issue and you would see that a lot of people  changes the spring and rod  in this gun . I just want the company to be straigh with his clients before they buy, not after. Again, a constantly scratching spring or rod is NOT normal functioning or acceptable. I have other guns and none of them do this. Why should I accept it from CZ? I know the gun is a tack driver, have great style and function etc. I would like that even as some of you would just ignore something like this , would also accept that is mostly your fascination with the gun that makes you accept any minor inconvenience about it. I know the gun is a tool , but my tools are all clean and nice, i know how to clean them after use and take care of them . And a gun is a different kind of tool. To compare it with a hammer is somewhat of a lousy comparison.I wonder how many of you would buy a new car and if it have some part that is scratching it in an abnormal place you will just go on with it thinking it is just a tool. Im not bashing the gun, Im cocerned about something that is wrong and may or may not get worst , and I am already taking the steps to fix it, BUT,.. again.. many of you are not seeing the point that if you keep accepting this small mistakes from the company they have no reason to change it or put a better spring from factory, or polycoat the inside of the dust cover. Is not like they give the gun free to you. If you have the money to buy a new one each time one gets bad, more power to you , but I do have a limited budget and like to keep my new stuff looking and working like new. That is all. Thanks to all that chimmed in with positive advice and help.

[jameslovesjammie]

Anyway you could post a picture?

[Skookum]

What will you do when you see the polycoat worn off on the slide rails?

[knoxy]

What will you do when you see the polycoat worn off on the slide rails?

[Canuck44]

Any more of this and I am going to buy a bow and arrow.  Less stress!

Take Care

Bob

[Skookum]

At least the wear you're seeing is internal, which is why God created gun lube.


Eventually you'll have to deal with external holster wear.

[cntrydawwwg]

Without pictures we can't tell you if its abnormal wear.