kneelingatlas

9 and 2 not the tit at 12

Very sweet!

What I've done to plug holes in the frame is loctite the set screw from the inside and sand it smooth, looks like they were never there.

That's pretty wild

Just heavy enough to cycle reliability, 8-10lbs

The TS and the Czechmate use unique mags which are wider than the regular 75 mags. The capacity in 9mm is the same since the 9mm TS mags have ribs, but a 141.25mm .40 mag for a TS holds 21 where the same length mag for a 75B only holds 15.

The optic and mount will work on the TS, but the magwell, base pads, and cone comp will be different.

I guess I would use that mod if I wound up with an older CZ, but I stick to the newer frames.

A 6" barrel is available new from CZ USA for $145, so you can't really beat that, although I suppose if you have a few hundred hours to burn, you could cut one from a blank If you pull out the factory barrel bushing you can make a cone comp to fit tight in the factory slide, a Shadow slide would add a lot if cost with little benefit. With the magwell, again it sounds like you could make one, but you can buy one from CZ Custom for $75, so I don't see a compelling reason to. If you use the 75B SA as I suggest you're all set, but even if not the SAO conversion is a piece of cake and the factory SA trigger is only $9 from CZ USA, the same hammer can be used. Matt Cheely makes a horizontal Cmore mount for the Czechmate which will work great for your purposes, but again, you can make one if you choose. Can't wait to hear all about your progress

My ears are burning It sounds like you're a very capable machinist and if your friend is handy with a TIG, you can do anything, but how much time do you want to spend on this project? After all, time is money. I know you're looking to save money with a surplus PreB, but I highly recommend you start with the 75B SA (which can be found used for ~$500) for your base for the following reasons: -not all PreBs use modern mags, so if you're not an expert at identifying them it's a crap shoot -there is no drop in extended mag release for the PreB, the Shadow mag release drops into the 75B SA frame -there are no drop in extended safeties for the PreB, the 75B SA comes with them -the PreB has a short beaver tail which digs into the web of your hand in recoil, the 75B SA has an extended beaver tail just like a Shadow -the PreB has a narrowed slide at the muzzle, which is going to limit the width of your comp and cone, the 75B SA has a full width slide at the muzzle Now to your questions: When you say "muzzle brake" I assume you mean compensator, I've done tons of testing only to reveal most of the popular comp designs do a pretty good job, although none of them are made to drop into a CZ, so I suggest you pick a port configuration and make your own. Check out Jared's CFD comp videos:

That is some bad ass slow motion!

It sounds like a chamber problem, how hard is it to get the cases out? Did you plunk test them before firing? Is the extractor marking the brass on it's way out? Which caliber?

I'm not much of a metallurgist, but I've read about spot annealing to soften the metal before drilling/tapping.

Yes, the holes are M4x0.7, but be aware the frame may be very hard.

They're pretty small and close to the muzzle, so I'm not surprised

I would do a cross cut dovetail and use a 1911 front sight, much easier.

Looks good, can't wait to hear about it!

Ports are not nearly as effective as a decent comp

I don't think so

Time for an update: now that I own a real Czechmate I'm planning to do some great comparisons once I button up a few of my projects: This one is my 4.5" mini Czechmate top end: and my 6" super CM!

Peter, The very first 9 major load I ever shot in late 2012 was SP2 under a 124gr bullet, the friend who gave them to me mentioned a desire to try 135s, so that was the first bullet weight I ever tried and the powder was HS6 (powder was tough to come by those days), in summer of 2013 I jumped on the opportunity to buy a mother load of SP2, and started loading it under 135s, but by the end of the year I started experimenting with lighter bullets: 124s, 115s and 100s. I found that given the same PF and the same powder the lighter the bullet, the flatter the gun shoots. Most dramatic is huge charges of powder under 100gr bullets which not only shoot flat, but surprisingly soft as well. I've never directly compared different powders and different bullet weights at the same PF, while the two loads you propose may result in a similar level of gas volume and therefore comp performance, neither is going to compete with 3N38 under a 115. I always recommend people try some 100/95gr bullets, even though they're not legal for major, they will show you what your setup is capable of. I know what you're thinking: "if lighter is better, why do so many shooters use 124s?" Obviously I don't have a definitive answer because I cannot know the minds of others, but I can think of a handful of reasons: - "It's what everyone else does, so it must be the best" monkey see, monkey do; not everyone is scientifically minded, nor is everyone interested in years of testing and data chasing the dragon, so they may have asked another Open shooter, or their gunsmith for a load, loaded it, and never looked back - "I don't want to spill powder all over the place when I load" there's no getting around it, loading 9.4gr of powder in a 9x19 case pretty much fills it to the brim, so it takes a practiced technique to load on a progressive press without spilling it everywhere when the shell plate indexes although I can still load 100 rounds in under five minutes of handle pulling (loading these loads with an auto drive requires major tuning) - "I prefer softer to flatter" a perfectly valid preference - "It's what everyone was using back when major was 175PF" loading to 180-185PF using 115s is beyond what the slowest powders can do without loading really long, and it gets a little loud and nasty, so I can understand not a lot of people did it before the min PF was changed to 165 - "I shoot IPSC", the minimum bullet weight for major in IPSC is 120gr, not 112gr like in USPSA - "I put it on the timer and I shoot faster with 124s" entirely possible In the end, being a good shooter doesn't necessarily make you an expert on powder and loads, quite to the contrary, the good shooters I know don't waste time obsessing over the flattest load/gun because they're out there shooting, training and getting better. I like this stuff for it's own merit, I'm sick in the head, and becoming a GM is not a primary focus in my life, so I sacrifice myself for the knowledge base of the community

Peter, I've tested 9mm and 38 super loads in a handful of pistols with different comps, barrel lengths, numbers/sizes of holes, bullet weights from 95gr to 135, and the following powders: Power Pistol, WAC, CFE Pistol, Silhouette, Longshot, HS6, 3N38, SP2, N105, and Lil Gun. WAC and 3N38 have very different burn characteristics, so 7gr of one gives very different results than 7gr of the other. Your test would give you valuable first hand data, so I suggest you do it, but I have a pretty good idea what you'll find. There's a large degree of personal preference in load development, and each shooter has different priorities with regards to soft vs flat, noise, flash, and peer pressure, so there is no substitute for rounds down range.

It was just a double post of "sounds good". I refuse to wallow in the mud

If you want safe 9 major, 3N38 is the powder for you. It's one of the slowest powders which can make major in 9x19 and Vihtavuori even lists a load for 9x21 which makes major and can be loaded in a 9x19 case: 9.4gr under a 115gr JHP @ 1.161" makes 1483 fps (171pf).