ManNamedJed Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 I always hear people getting bunched up about decocking a CZ by lowering the trigger. I've been shooting mine for two years and can say I haven't even come close. My wife now shoots my SP01 and has no problems with it. So, does anyone know of any actual instance where someone has had a ND while decocking a CZ? Has anyone even had the hammer slip out of their fingers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningsquirrels Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Yep. Oil on the hammer. At the start of every stage in USPSA competition in production division, all CZ shooters with manual safeties (and there's a good number of them) have to lower the hammer manually. That one day our friend just happened to eff it up and it slipped from his hands. Now when he does his pre-flight check, he added a step in his routine where he wipes his left fingers on the hammer, then wipes his left fingers on his pants before lowering the hammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micah Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Yep...I was ROing a local match when a competitor after the Make Ready command allowed the hammer to slip a bit on his CZ while lowering it. IIRC he was not very happy about being dq'd. (most folks are not) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-JQ- Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 I saw one at PB's range...might be same day. It was hot - he was sweaty...and it was the last COF. He was bummed/PO'd at himself and then of course, that @%^$@%^!!!!!! moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-JQ- Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 I de-cock with my strong hand only...not sure if that is good or bad but that is what I learned as a little shaver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jan13 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 We had a member at our local club had the hammer slip from his fingers on a cold morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningsquirrels Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 the big thing is to pull the hammer back and hold it there before pulling the trigger, and rotate your wrist so your fingers don't move as the hammer rotates back down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLM Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Been there done that, got the DQ to show for it. My CZ is a pre-B with the bigger spur hammer on it. I decock it with both hands but got in a hurry one time and didn't. Brain fart plus rushing what I was doing ended up a ND and the slide taking a nice little chunk out of my thumb. Oh well, live and learn. It was my fault and I know what I did wrong. It sure wouldn't chase me away from shooting that gun though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSabbath Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 (edited) I didn't dq with it, but I was getting used to my new Shadow in late 2008, doing a little plate rack work when it slipped. The slide came back as the gun discharged and hit me in the sternum... that hurt. Now I hold the gun out slighty to my strong side, away from my body while doing that part of "make ready..." As another shooter pointed out, just don't be in a hurry and you'll be fine. I haven't worried about it since it happened, just made sure I was smooth and safe. Edited February 17, 2010 by BlackSabbath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JThompson Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 (edited) My Tanfo "Stock" is the same way... I always get real intense about lowering it. I use my thumb and index of my left had to do it. If it should slip, my fingers are pointed the way the slide is going and not directly behind the slide. If it goes bang, the worst I should get is a little ringing in the fingers. Not the ideal situation for sure... JT Edited February 16, 2010 by JThompson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xfactor Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 (edited) Why not insert the tip of your weak hand index finger b/w the hammer and the back of the slide... pad of the finger on the face of the hammer? That way you can still lower the hammer with your strong hand thumb, but your finger is also in there to catch/block the hammer if it slips past your thumb when it initially releases from full-cock. Edited February 17, 2010 by Xfactor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManNamedJed Posted February 16, 2010 Author Share Posted February 16, 2010 Wow, so more than I was expecting. Those of you who mentioned the hammer slipped, but didn't specify if the gun went off, did it? Has anyone had a slip from about half cock and it didn't go off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningsquirrels Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 It can go off from a half cock depending on your setup, but never assume that it won't. I would advise to never use your strong hand thumb. If it goes off, it's going to break it and/or get the gun dropped. The weak hand pinch method would just ding your fingernails. Plus, that small gap that your index finger makes, is still enough to set off the right primer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-JQ- Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Wow, so more than I was expecting. Those of you who mentioned the hammer slipped, but didn't specify if the gun went off, did it? Has anyone had a slip from about half cock and it didn't go off? The one I saw set off the gun. And as mentioned, I would expect it to go off from half cock, so I wouldn't rely on the finger in the middle technique. I have the comp hammer and it has lots of traction that I use to dig into the meat of my thumb tip. It really can become a smooth motion with plenty of practice. But however, I wouldn't recommend this set up for pure novices...(someone has to buy glocks - sorry haven't had much coffee this am.) I also like to let the RO know I'm decocking if they haven't RO'd me before...just to let them know - that I know what is going on...probably not needed but it makes me feel better and puts my brain in "super attention mode" too. ymmv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JThompson Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 I also like to let the RO know I'm decocking if they haven't RO'd me before...just to let them know - that I know what is going on...probably not needed but it makes me feel better and puts my brain in "super attention mode" too. I always tell the RO if he hasn't run me with that gun before. Good point... JT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cferree Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I've had the misfortune of witnessing two occurrences, one was the one burningsquirrels also saw. A very experienced CZ driver forgot to clean the oil off his hammer after cleaning the pistol the night before. At the LMR command of the first stage, the hammer slipped and the pistol discharged. The round impacted the berm (experienced shooter = safe gun handling skills). The second occurrence was with another seasoned CZ shooter on his last stage of the match. Same outcome, hammer slipped, gun fired, and the round impacted the berm. I very interested in moving to CZ, but if I do, it will be the decocker model. I shoot in the SE, lots of heat and lots of humidity, and I’m not going to take any chances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezco Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 No issues decocking my CZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xfactor Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 And as mentioned, I would expect it to go off from half cock, so I wouldn't rely on the finger in the middle technique.... The finger-in-the-middle technique catches the hammer if it slips past your thumb at full-cock - when it's under the most tension and rotated 90 degrees - which is when it's most prone to slip by your thumb. From there, you of course still need to be careful to lower it the last 1/4" or so, but at this point it's much less prone to slipping past your thumb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningsquirrels Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 charles! the decocker is very nice. make sure you get an angus or mink gun with the comp hammer fitted to it. it is VERY nice. if i had more cash and was a production shooter, i would be getting a decocker and fitting it with a comp hammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morphire Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 Well... Being the guy that BurningSquirrels and CFeree are referring to that borked it up on his first stage at the MR command... Seriously folks. Just keep your mind in the process. Wipe the oil from your hands and make sure you check for oil on the hammer when you gun up at the beginning of the match. Make it routine and you won't have happen what happened to me. Oh and I laughed and unloaded and showed clear and put my gun away and RO'd the rest of the match for my squad. A DQ sucks but at least mine was in a safe direction while not moving and at the full attention of an RO. I DQ'd but I'm very happy I did it as safely as I could considering I totally screwed the pooch in the process. LOL Oh and I'm a BIG proponent of simply using the thumb and index of your weak hand to firmly grab the hammer (stock or comp hammer both the same) so that the meat of both fingers presses into the hole in the hammer. Then pull back and press the trigger with your strong hand and lower the hammer with you weak. No need to complicate things with adding a finger into the mix to block the FP or taking it to half cock. Why go through a potentially dangerous and stressful process twice each time you have to decock the gun? Makes no sense to me. So to answer the thread. Yes it happens. It happens to experienced shooters as well as novices. It's part of owning and shooting a DA/SA gun in production if you don't have a decocker. Grab a decocker model and Have Matt Mink do his magic on it if you are concerned about it and you will have a great trigger on it. If you decide to go with the standard version, Matt's trigger job will be just that much more awesome for the effort. All my CZ's are standard models without the decock lever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skydiver Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 It happened to me while one evening during one of our evening plate league events a couple of years ago. Fingers slipped off the hammer due to excess oil on the hammer. Since that time, I make a habit of cleaning the hammer off at the beginning of a match, and then always wipe off the hammer and my fingers as part of "Make Ready". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cas Posted May 30, 2010 Share Posted May 30, 2010 Just to update.... I did this the other day. I was doing all DA shots to try and get used to the new gun and did something stupid. Rather than lower the gun in front of me and lower the hammer like normal, I tried doing it with the gun out in front of me like I was shooting it. It went off, didn't do any harm other than startling me. After I cleared the jam it cause I looked at the hammer and it's shape in relation to my thumb in that position and though "duh, no wonder stupid". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Tran Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Uh guys, why is everyone pinning the trigger to decock? If you hold on to the hammer and press trigger til it releases off the hammer hooks then fully release the trigger and get your finger out of the guard the fp block is reengaged and if the hammer slips then no discharge and no dq. Thats how i decock my sp01. Never once a decocking nd in 4 years of shooting matches twice a week. of course this only applies if you have a fpb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger10k Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 You have to keep the trigger to the rear for quite a while if your gun has a half-cock position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 (edited) Uh guys, why is everyone pinning the trigger to decock? If you hold on to the hammer and press trigger til it releases off the hammer hooks then fully release the trigger and get your finger out of the guard the fp block is reengaged and if the hammer slips then no discharge and no dq. Thats how i decock my sp01. Never once a decocking nd in 4 years of shooting matches twice a week. of course this only applies if you have a fpb How does that get the hammer past half-cock? Later, Chuck ETA: while Chuckie goes to the safe to try this techniques, dagger10 posts the same issue... Edited July 4, 2010 by ChuckS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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