Elcidaviator Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 And so it begins... A few weeks back I purchased a poor condition CZ-75 Pre B as a gift for my father. My dad doesn't know it, but I bought the gun for him and I have been asking his advice throughout the project to allow him to build his own gun. I send him text messages asking things like; what grips would look good, or what finish should I go with? His suggestions are become the plan for the build. As part of the gift, I plan to document the progress here and show him this thread. Hopefully he enjoys the progress and some of the trials and tribulations that went into his new blaster. So without further delay here's what I started with... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elcidaviator Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elcidaviator Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elcidaviator Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elcidaviator Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 I got ahead of myself and before I remembered to take pictures I disassembled the pistol. ohhh well here's how it looks without the internals. As you can see the pistol has a descent amount of damage. The lock up is pretty bad, and it will need a new barrel bushing. There are some pretty deep nicks toward the barrel that will take a fair amount of filling to get out. The next step is stripping and draw filling. I'm going to reshape the beaver tail, high cut the trigger guard and bevel the magwell. Hopefully it comes out looking descent when all is said and done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 48 minutes ago, Elcidaviator said: reshape the beaver tail ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elcidaviator Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 4 minutes ago, kneelingatlas said: ? I saw that on another thread. I am reshaping the beaver tail, but that’s a little extreme for my taste. I don’t think it would look good with a classic blue and wood grips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Yours looks like a beauty queen compared to how mine started out! I have an extra ambi safety and two extra barrels for the pre B, let me know if you want to try them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 3 minutes ago, Elcidaviator said: I saw that on another thread. I am reshaping the beaver tail, but that’s a little extreme for my taste. I don’t think it would look good with a classic blue and wood grips. I was planning to cut it off, but it had such a nice curve to it I couldn't bring myself to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elcidaviator Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 3 minutes ago, kneelingatlas said: Yours looks like a beauty queen compared to how mine started out! I have an extra ambi safety and two extra barrels for the pre B, let me know if you want to try them. Thank you! I’m going to go through my parts bin tonight and figure out what I need. I’ll PM you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endall Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Never have seen one this old. Did not know Interarms was ever based in Houston either. I thought they were in VA. How is the rear sight? The front is something I would replace very quickly. Guess it is age related, but good sights are a priority to me. Plus a comfortable trigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolcw1987 Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 (edited) ...... Edited January 22, 2018 by coolcw1987 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thompsoncustom Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 From the looks of those guns im gonna say there in the 1993 to 1994 range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elcidaviator Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 2 hours ago, Endall said: Never have seen one this old. Did not know Interarms was ever based in Houston either. I thought they were in VA. How is the rear sight? The front is something I would replace very quickly. Guess it is age related, but good sights are a priority to me. Plus a comfortable trigger. Front and rear sights have already been tossed. I’m ordering some parts from Cajun today, I think the only thing I’m really wanting to keep is the hammer. I like the classic looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elcidaviator Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 2 hours ago, thompsoncustom said: From the looks of those guns im gonna say there in the 1993 to 1994 range. Correct, mines a 1994 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elcidaviator Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 Standby for more pics tonight. Its stripped and started some sanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven312 Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 I've been there and wondered what I'd bought. It was rusted and pitted, which you couldn't tell just by looking at it. I didn't do the work myself but sent it to a fantastic guy who restored them when he had the time and inclination. He took on mine as a project and I'll keep this gun forever. There's a thread about it in the CZFirearms forum, if you're interested. (And don't knock bluing and wood, it is a winning combination... [emoji6]) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elcidaviator Posted January 23, 2018 Author Share Posted January 23, 2018 4 hours ago, Raven312 said: I've been there and wondered what I'd bought. It was rusted and pitted, which you couldn't tell just by looking at it. I didn't do the work myself but sent it to a fantastic guy who restored them when he had the time and inclination. He took on mine as a project and I'll keep this gun forever. There's a thread about it in the CZFirearms forum, if you're interested. (And don't knock bluing and wood, it is a winning combination... ) That’s gorgeous. I want a compact in a bad way. I personally love the blues and wood grips. I’m familiar with the thread inn CZFirearms, it was some of the inspiration for this build. I originally planned on rust bluing the firearm, but a local Gun Smith has graciously taking me under his wing and offered some advice. Along with the advice he has offered to hot blue the gun, so I plan on going that route now, just for the time savings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven312 Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 That’s gorgeous. I want a compact in a bad way. I personally love the blues and wood grips. I’m familiar with the thread inn CZFirearms, it was some of the inspiration for this build. I originally planned on rust bluing the firearm, but a local Gun Smith has graciously taking me under his wing and offered some advice. Along with the advice he has offered to hot blue the gun, so I plan on going that route now, just for the time savings.If I had someone mentor me through the process I'd do it in a heartbeat. Something as personal as a gift for your father will mean that much more coming from your hands. Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elcidaviator Posted January 23, 2018 Author Share Posted January 23, 2018 12 hours ago, Raven312 said: If I had someone mentor me through the process I'd do it in a heartbeat. Something as personal as a gift for your father will mean that much more coming from your hands. Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk He is extremely generous. I called him to crown a barrel and he told me to bring the entire project by. Before I knew it he was giving me tips on how to complete the project. I’m definitely blessed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven312 Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Indeed. I look forward to seeing your progress and end result.Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouperMan Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Very cool project! Curious, how do you rework the beaver tail to make it longer? Does it require brazing on and blending another piece of metal or ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elcidaviator Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 1 hour ago, SouperMan said: Very cool project! Curious, how do you rework the beaver tail to make it longer? Does it require brazing on and blending another piece of metal or ? The gentleman with the longer beaver tail welded a piece of steel. I simply have just reshaped it. I need to post some pictures and hopefully I can get around to it tonight. But between work, this project and my two little boys, I haven't had a ton of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elcidaviator Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 I've been really bad about keeping everyone updated on the progress of the pistol. So here's some phots to catch y'all up. I stripped the pistol using epoxy stripper. It sat for about 24hrs in that and I had to do some scrubbing here and there to get all the coating removed. After that I put it in Evap-O-Rust for another 12ish hours to remove the undercoat. This turned out to be a mistake. My gun smith laughed at me and then pointed out where the Evap-O-Rust bath had eaten some of the metal. He explained to me that Evap-O-Rust eats away at the iron in the gun making it a little more brittle. It also made me have to sand a lot more in the parts where it left marks. Hopefully in the pics you can see the lines that the solution left. Just a little bit of advice for the next guy, don't use this stuff. It was recommended on a couple other forums, but use it with caution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elcidaviator Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 Here's some pics after it was stripped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now