GeneBray

I asked this question before (I thought in this thread, but cannot find it): What is the functional difference between any CZ-75/85 variant without a decocker and the hammer lowered to the "Safety Stop" (the CZ nomenclature or half cock) vice a CZ-75 variant with a decocker and the hammer lowered to the "Safety Stop"? Do any of the parts in the decocker variants provide additional protection that prevents the hammer from coming off the half cock and striking the firing pin? I know what the rules say, and I comply. I shoot a CZ-75 SP01. After 40k rnds, I have not had a AD while lowering the hammer. A similar question is: Can I replace a SP01 slide which has a FPB it with with a SP01 Shadow slide which does not? If so, why do I have to have a FPB installed in a plain SP01 slide? Just seems to me there are logic gaps in our current Production rules. That said, the rules are the rules so follow them.

All modern firing pin type pistols that I am aware of use an inertial firing pin. Meaning fire pin does not protrude past the breach face. The hammer strikes the firing pin with enough force to overcome the firing pin spring tension and drive the firing pin past the breach face into the primer thus firing the round. Don't know enough about striker fired pistols but suspect they use an inertial firing pin too.

If shooting production, then the hammer must be fully down. If shooting in any other division (obviously except revolver) then hammer cocked and thumb safety on. We've been screwing up then, hmmm. I'll have to ask my ROs and Match Director. I shoot a CZ 75 SP-01 Shadow Target which does not have the firing pin safety (the only 75 without) hammer safety only and have been starting cocked and locked and therefore single action. Lowering the hammer on a round, even to half cock position, is just waiting for an eventual thumb slip, AD and resultant DQ. A dropped pistol is dangerous with a safety on, hammer down just appears to be trouble looking for a place to happen. I'll write them now and post their responses. [Edit]: Now I'm really confused by reading the rules are different for SA and DA and the Shadow Target does both. Cocked and locked is what we've been doing and seems the safest. From page 30. 8.1.2 Self-loading Pistols: 8.1.2.1 "Single action" – chamber loaded, hammer cocked, and the safety engaged. 8.1.2.2 "Double action" – chamber loaded, hammer fully down or de- cocked. 8.1.2.3 "Selective action" – chamber loaded with hammer fully down, or chamber loaded and hammer cocked with external safety engaged (see Divisions in Appendix D). 8.1.2.4 With respect to Rules 8.1.2.1 and 8.1.2.3, the term "safety" means the primary visible safety lever on the handgun (e.g. the thumb safety on a "1911" genre handgun). In the event of doubt, the Range Master is the final authority on this matter.

All it takes is dry fire practice. I start all my dry fire with 5x20 reps of DA pull with the sights on a target. Trigger prep to a 1/2 to 1 lb remaining in the pull, and then continue the pull until the "shot" breaks. At 64 I'm getting slower that when younger. Nonetheless, my best draws are in the 1.0-1.1 sec range at 7-10 yds. Unfortunately, they are not the rule, but the exception. Just need more practice. on page 81 of the 2010 USPSA Handgun Rules at the end of Appendix D4. Been doing it wrong under the watchful eyes of the ROs. I forgive them as they are all Open shooters. Guess that I should go from a "D" back to a "U" and start again.Stopped by the local indoor range and wow that's a looong, hard (4.2 lb) pull in DA. SA is sweet. I'll have to pick something easy for my shot, damn.

My dumb question is, "Can anyone tell me the functional difference between a CZ75 with a decocker and the hammer lower to the half cock and a DA/SA version with the hammer lowered to the half cock manually?" I know what the USPSA rules say. It just seems dumb that you can lower the hammer to the half cock using a decocker but cannot do it on an SA/DA.

Very cool about the bullets. Don't forget that during the sliding cycling two springs are compressed--the recoil spring and the main spring. Both must be balanced to the bullet and load.

39,195 rnds thru my SP01. Broke trigger springs at 18,036 and 14,417 rnds fired. Significantly more dry fire after 18,036 rnds breakage which may explain the shorter, apparent life. YMMV

Used Wolf SR primers for a while since its was all I could find. Had to seat them very deep to get reliable ignition in my SP01--7lb DA/2lb SA. By very deep I mean .007" Still had problems occasionally. Switched to an long firing pin (from Angus) improved things more. Still had occasional problems where the primer simply would not fire (5-7 strikes). I don't have anymore so I'm happy with CCI and Winchester for now. No ignition problems with these primers.

RE: Problem 2. Clean the left side of the breach face. There is a grove where the extractor pushes the case rim into. It can get dirty/gunked up and that will affect extraction/ejection as well. When you remove and clean the extractor clean the left side of the breach face too. A pick helps alot to clean out the grove.

Will try that technique. I found the firing pin retaining peg will work, but it is a little on the short side.

On my SP01, the screw holding the magazine spring was peened in two locations to keep it from backing out. Could not get it loose until I took a large blade screw driver (big enough to full fill screw slot) and with a square shank. Then took a small crescent wrench to get more torque on the screw driver. With that I was able to remove the screw. Maybe I just don't have enough strength in my shoulder and arms but I was able to keep the screw driver in the slot and not "bugger" it up and with my other I was able to turn the screw with the assistance of the wrench. I did about the same thing with my SP01 but then made one from a piece of music wire. Since the home-built spring was weaker than the original, I added a couple of crooks, bent inward at the ends of the spring and pared the tips down to limit excess travel of the catch. These keep me from pushing the button far enough to bind the magazine with button side of the catch. I'll have to try one of these solutions. It's not fun getting tripped up by your own equipment. I've got enough to trip me up without the mag release of my own gun adding to it.

On my SP01, I removed the magazine catch spring (hard to do) and bent the legs so they were closer together (i.e., reducing the tension applied to the magazine catch itself. Made the release lighter and I haven't had a problem since getting it depressed. My 2 cents.

I've found VV very responsive to requests for load information contained in their reloading books. Contact them via e-mail and ask about N310 and ask. That OAL is the absolute minimum for a 147gr. Gold Dot hollow point according to CCI Speer tech support they use 1.120 plus or minus 15 thousandths. I had to send some rounds back to manufacturer because they were under 1.105 oal. You won't see pressure signs with straight-walled pistol cases until you are way over pressure, or too late. That being said I load mine with 4.6 of 3n37, at 1.160 plus or minus 4 thousandths oal, for a power factor of 136, with a SD of 9.89. primers flattened, crattered,case badly bulged at the base are signs of overpressure we're looking after when testing . VV310 +anything over 90gr bullit .as there is no existing data in any book ,i had to guess and see from the first hand data collected from many experienced reloaders/shooters of this site...wich i'm glad i did. ...and on top of that,reming you the shadow show a very short chamber, over 1.120 it defenatly touch the riffling.....then, knowing this factor + a very fast propellant(vv310) wich you cant get any confirmed data coming with= a good recipe for flying parts ,wich doesn't mean nothing can be done safely another point of view here .vihtauori stipulate a oal of 1.142 for all their 9mm loads (from 3.8 to 4.2) with the vv340/147 HP combo..... for my CZ i just cant load this coal, all left is reducing the minmum powder charge of like 0.2-0.3 grs for the significantly shortened COAL. VV310/147grs .....,when you cant find any reliable tested data, the correct approach is going with the correct oal for your own barrel first, then work a load from a safe starting point , generaly a little under the MIN LOAD suggested for similar powders showing the same burning rate .

I worked both Nationals and the staff and ROs were not given copies of the new rule book except for the copy that was provided to each stage as part of the stage gear. Every Nationals that I've worked there has been one rulebook provided to each stage.

Joe, I contacted Kim at USPSA about a month ago about this and was told that USPSA is not going to provide new rule books to the membership. Gene Bray

Found some interesting information on the internet researching this. Apparently, in Europe (Italy specifically) then 9x21 round is loaded to the approximately the same COL as the 9x19 round so it could be used in the same pistols as the 9x19 round with minimal work. The 2 mm is 0.079 inch (rounded to the 1000th of an inch). The 9x19 case length is 0.754 and the 9x21 is 0.833 with the COL 1.169 and 1.170 respectively. With essentially the same COL and the rest of the case dimensions so close, modifying a 9x19 to chamber 9x21 should be a minimal task. Thus making it easy for Europe shooters to convert to 9x21 to be compliant with the law. And, using loads specifically identified for COL of 1.170 for the 9x21, there should not be a problem with pressures. In the U.S., IPSC shooters quickly extended the COL to accommodate more powder to make it easier to reach major power factor for Open Division and effectively work the compensator. Using reloading data that meets SAAMI specs for pressure, shooting a 9x21 in a 9x19 that had the chamber modified should be okay. However, shooting open 9x21 loads in a modified 9x19 pistol might NOT be a good choice. If the pistol was specifically made for Open and handling pressures of 9x21, .38 Super, or .38 Super Comp then there may not be problems.

Slide stop and trigger return spring are the most common. Eventually, the extractor will break. Just my experience.

My CZ 75 SP01 has 33,971 rnds through as of end of practice today. From experience, I can tell you that if you don't remove the extractor can clean the slot and extractor thoroughly every 5-10k or less depending on what powder you are using it will come back to bite you. One of the problems is powder residue buildup behind the extractor hook. The other powder residue build up in the extractor slot, and on extractor spring and body. The end result is extraction problems. And, the first rule of IPSC shooting is that problems occur at the most inopportune time (i.e., nationals, areas, state championships, important local matches, etc.). Hate to admit it, but been there, done that, and tore up the tee shirt. P.S. This is not my CZ.

I shoot an SP01 with the trigger work done by Matt Mink. 13# main spring, 11# recoil spring. No problems with Winchester SP or SR primers,and a few 100 Federals. With the primer shortage, I'm currently using Wolf SR. Had problems until I began seating the primers to .007". Reliability is now about 99.9%. In 5K plus Wolf, I have found 2 primers that would not ignite with multiple strikes in multiple pistols to include two stock M&P 9 Pros. Pulled the bullets, dumped powder, and carefully deprimed the cases. Primers had anvil and looked fine. No clue as to why no bang..... Discounting those two, I have maybe 1 per 1k that require two trigger pulls to go bang. Don't know if I didn't seat deep enough or if the main spring should be stronger. I now have CCI SP and SR as well as Wolf. Planning on using CCI SP for USPSA Nationals but will test 1K before using in a major match. I know people who have used lightened 13# main springs and still get reliable ignition with all primers. Longer firing pin would help to ensure no light strikes.

I'm using Wolfe SR primers right now for practice and local matches. Since I have a large amount of R&P brass I use if for my loading right now (saving the Fed and Win for later). I have to seat the Wolfe primers VERY deep to get consistent ignition-- .007". Normally, I seat primers at ~.002-.004" using Win SP and SR and have no problems. No problems with CCI SP or Federals either at .002-.004" depth. Titegroup is not as clean as VV N320. I typically don't field strip the pistol and clean until I get at least 2K rounds through it. I don't have issues with powder residue us TG. Is the clean? No. But it cycles and feeds fine. I've used Clays in .40 S&W and really liked its feel. Haven't tried it in 9mm but probably should. Since I have nearly 10lbs of TG it will be awhile before I test it. If it feels as good in 9mm as it does in .40S&W I might change. I think Clays is about the same price as TG. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the recipe . What different powders have you tried? Do you recommend Titegroup? Right now I am trying to decide between VV N320, Ramshot Silhouette and Titegroup. Angus uses N320, mainly because it is cotton based and very easy on the barrel. A friend that shoots a Shadow custom tried N320 and Ramshot Silhouette and likes Silhouette better (burns cleaner, measures better). I've been using Titegroup for 9mm for 5 years. Much cheaper than VV powders. Can't speak for Ramshot Silhouette--never tried it. My load is 3.9 grs, 124/125 gr bullets (RN, JHP), COL 1.12", PF consistently between 129-131 using CED chrono, IR screens, in coffin. Main spring is major component on how the pistol cycles. Most forget the slide's rear motion compresses the main spring.

Mileage seems to vary on slide stops. I have 32,982 rnds through my CZ-75 SP01. Slide stop broke at 14,812. Trigger return spring broke at 18,036. Second slide stop broke at 22,720 (7,953 rnds since 1st replacement). Extractor broke at 27,175. The slide stop breakage has not been a show stopper during a stage. Just hold it in with the left thumb until finished and replace. I am not unhappy at all over the minor problems. Springs will break or weaken--a fact of life. Either replace on a schedule depending on experience or fixed schedule. The slide stops, I would track rnd count set up a schedule for replacement. Might not hurt to install a new one for major matches just as insurance and go back to the every day slide stop until you get a life expectancy. My SP01 seems to break them periodically. Extractor will fatigue and break eventually. I may start replacing every 25k rnds since a broke extractor will really wreck a stage unless its on the last shot. Just sayin'.....

The simple answer to the question is to ask Amidon. If he says it is okay, and can modify the pistol be sure to do it exactly like Amidon said was okay and keep a copy of the e-mail with you at matches.

I would vote for either of the choices.

Really didn't want to travel 1,200 miles round trip to watch a match since I can't shoot too well due shoulder surgery. It really would be nice if the scores were posted on the match web site or at USPSA in a timely manner. It really isn't that difficult. It is a match that a lot of people like to follow.