Horrible Day at a Local USPSA Match...

[justaute]

I had a horrible day at my local match today. Although it's only my 6th match, I consider myself a decent, competitive shooter. Well, I think I had more Mikes today than those of all my previous matches combined. Below is a summary.

Gun: CZ 75 SP-01 Shadow Target

Ammo: S&B 115gr

Problem 1:

Shadow Target has an adjustable Novak-style Kensight. Well, several weeks ago, I noticed the windage adjustment screw crept out a bit, so I pushed it back in. This would occur a few more times; each and every time, I would push it back in. Yesterday, while practicing, I noticed the sight-blade moved to my right after just 10 to 12 rounds. Of course, I again pushed the screw back in; and, again, the screw would back out a few millimeters. Called Rob at CZC and he told me Kensight should replace the sight under warranty.

So, I had figured the sight should last one more day, through my local match. Got to the match, asked an RO to let me sight-in the gun. Sighted in... another 10 rounds later, the windage blade moved to my right again. Well, after stage 1, everything just hits the fan. I took 2 shots at the first target of my 2nd stage, a partial about 7 yards away, then I peeked at the target to see whether my sight is still on-target; well, saw two holes in the black. Took two more shots, two more holes within about an inch from the first two holes. From that point, I had several Mikes on tight shots. By this point, the rear sight-blade has moved all the way to the right. Needless to say, today's match is just about worthless. For the rest of the match, I had to aim just outside the A-zone for Alpha. Suck, suck, suck,...

Result/Action --> Will contact Kensight first thing Monday morning for a warranty replacement. The windage adjustment screw is the only negative thing about the stock, adjustable sight. I bought a Tripp Research adjustable, spring-less sight for my CZ 75 Shadow. Hope this sight will work out. Jordan O seems to love his so far.

Problem 2:

During Stage 2, where I first discovered how badly my rear sight blade has moved, my gun jammed twice. I think it was a feeding problem -- not sure which. In short, the next round was stove-piped by the chamber. This happened once at my previous match about 3 weeks ago. Not sure what is causing this. Prior to today's match, my SP-01 Shadow had run almost flawlessly.

Result/Action --> Not sure. Any idea what I should do or check on?

I have Double Tap Championship, my first Level 2 match coming up in two weeks. I need to soon figure out what to do. If I get my CZ 75 Shadow's slide back, after cutting the slide and installing the Tripp sight, I just might use it with my SP-01 Shadow's frame to shoot DTC. If not, then I hope Kensight can do an expedited replacement.

Edited May 22, 2011 by justaute

[ck1]

Damn, sucks Ken, sounds like some weak sauce.

If you've still got the screws intact on that Kensight, might want to try some blue loctite, bring it to the range and get it sighted-in before it dries, but you'll still be able to change it later without it being a PITA.

As far as the jams are concerned, I'd guess weak/worn out mag springs first, then maybe beat up extractor or the extractor spring if the gun has a lot of rounds on it..? Those are really the only things that seem to be able to stop the CZ's, weak mag springs being fairly common, extractor issues maybe not so much...

Good luck.

[JorDanO]

Sorry to hear about that. I've had good luck with the Tripp sight until I got back from the MS Classic. When I took my gun out to put it in the safe I noticed the elevation click wheel that good around the allen screw was missing, and the blade was about 1/16th of an inch higher than normal. I didn't notice shooting high at the match though, so I don't know when it happened. I called Tripp on Tuesday, but Virgil was out and hasn't returned my call yet.

If you're worried about getting a replacement from Kensight in time, you could just buy any LPA cut adjustable sight to get you through. Then you'll have a spare and never have anymore problems

[justaute]

Y'all are up late.

ck1 -- on extractor spring, what is considered "a lot" of rounds? I have about 9,000 on the gun. How often should I replace the extractor spring?

Jordan -- hmmm... that's not good about the Tripp sight. Please keep us posted. Good idea on the spare LPA-style sight. I'll see what Kensight says on Monday.

[ck1]

ck1 -- on extractor spring, what is considered "a lot" of rounds? I have about 9,000 on the gun. How often should I replace the extractor spring?

Well, 9,000 sounds like it wouldn't be a bad idea to pull the extractor and at least give it a full-on cleaning as there's probably a decent amount of crud stuck back there, might want to change the spring out anyhow once you have it apart... You'll be able to get a good look at the extractor too and if it's chipped or looks worn just take care of it as well, might just be crud though...

Edited May 22, 2011 by ck1

[huskerlrrp]

ck1 -- on extractor spring, what is considered "a lot" of rounds? I have about 9,000 on the gun. How often should I replace the extractor spring?

Well, 9,000 sounds like it wouldn't be a bad idea to pull the extractor and at least give it a full-on cleaning as there's probably a decent amount of crud stuck back there, might want to change the spring out anyhow once you have it apart... You'll be able to get a good look at the extractor too and if it's chipped or looks worn just take care of it as well, might just be crud though...

I replace extractor and recoil springs at 5-6000 rounds. Premature?...probably. Considering it's less than $10 to do this it's cheap "insurance" to avoid failures. In my opinion the extractor spring/area is a weak spot for the CZ75 and needs attention. Pressure cleaning of debris is a must (I like Gunscrubber) and occasional disassembly to detail clean. This is my experience at least. Good luck, I hope your future matches go better.

[RangerTrace]

Hey Ken,

Sorry you had so many issues, but at least you were shooting, right?

Production has a lot of rules. You might want to read them again or ask someone here, but I think swapping out a slide between two different models, might not be legal. If you don't get it fixed in time, you're welcome to borrow my G17 for DTC.

[JFlowers]

Always remember, it could be worse.

A gentleman I was shooting with on Sat had a round detonate against the ejector. A piece of the brass case hit his gum/tooth with enough force to do a significant bit of damage. And he stayed and shot the rest of the match!!!!

[Joe4d]

adjustable sights suck and serve little purpose other than making it easy to zero or allow you to change loads, I'd rather have one load, zero, and never worry about it again.

[justaute]

-- All: Thanks very much for your feedback and ideas. Will contact Kensight and CZ-USA tomorrow. I should know more about the status of my sights by mid-week.

-- Trace: Thanks a lot for your offer. If my CZs are not ready by DTC (knock on wood), I can always shoot my M&P Pro, which I have as a backup gun. I got it as I just wanted a striker-based pistol in my collection. Missed you at JCSSA on Friday.

[RangerTrace]

-- All: Thanks very much for your feedback and ideas. Will contact Kensight and CZ-USA tomorrow. I should know more about the status of my sights by mid-week.

-- Trace: Thanks a lot for your offer. If my CZs are not ready by DTC (knock on wood), I can always shoot my M&P Pro, which I have as a backup gun. I got it as I just wanted a striker-based pistol in my collection. Missed you at JCSSA on Friday.

Yeah, wished I could have made it. The weather was so bad up here that I blew it off. I'll catch up with y'all again soon, I hope.

[beltjones]

Ken - Did you ever go with the +10% mag springs?

[justaute]

I did. However, I got them from Wolff, not CZC. The Wolff springs appear to be a bit shorter than the stock ones. Now I wonder whether the +10% springs from CZC are the same.

Ken - Did you ever go with the +10% mag springs?

[blind bat]

I seem to remember Angus recommending the extractor being removed for cleaning every 5000 rounds or so. Actually removed, not just hosed down with gun scrubber and a tooth brush. You'd be amazed at the amount of crud that gets jammed back there.

[tobin]

adjustable sights suck and serve little purpose other than making it easy to zero or allow you to change loads, I'd rather have one load, zero, and never worry about it again.

X2 on that one.

Just replaced the LPA adjustables on my 85 Combat with CZ Competition sights as I got tired of checking to see if the hinge pin or the set screws were still there. All my Glocks have either Warrent Sevigny of Heinie/Dawson fixed sights as well.

I used to think that adjustable sights were the only way to go but I rarely adjusted them so why bother with the possibility of breakage or movement?

[CZinSC]

I seem to remember Angus recommending the extractor being removed for cleaning every 5000 rounds or so. Actually removed, not just hosed down with gun scrubber and a tooth brush. You'd be amazed at the amount of crud that gets jammed back there.

+1. Get a set of dental picks ( got mine at wally world for $5). One of them should be a scraper, little wider than the pick. Use that to scrape out the junk. After 9000 rounds, you probably have a lot in there. Even if it doesn't look like it to the naked eye, start scraping. You'll be surprised when gunk starts coming out of spots that you think look clean. And like others said, can't hurt to replace the spring and possible the extractor itself.

[justaute]

Update:

Problem 1: Adjustable Rear Sight

Summary - Well, my local gunsmith came through for me. He fixed the sight.

Situation - I called Kensight this morning to do a warranty replacement and was told I need to first send in my non-working sight; was told they would either repair or replace it. So, I took my Shadow to my local gunsmith to remove the sight -- he previously installed my sight and loc-tite it for me. After he removed the sight, he told me he re-staked the windage screw and all is well. He said the sight innards looked fine and that Kensight would've likely done the same thing. Cost --> absolutely nothing and almost no down-time; I knew there's a good reason I gave him a 6-pack of expensive beer. Should have let him look at the sight sooner. We'll see how long the repaired sight will last.

Problem 2: Jam & Stove-piping

I took the advice from all of you. I removed the extractor and cleaned it. It looked fine, but I replaced the spring, anyway. I soaked the extractor cavity in cleaning solution, brushed it, wiped it, and then blew it with my compressor. There definitely was a lot of gunk in that crevice. We'll see how it goes when I practice -- sorely needed -- this Friday.

I'm hopeful the gun will run as new. While at the gunsmith/range, I shot my Fusion/Severns 1911 (9mm), my M&P Pro, and the Shadow. Well, you might have guessed it... I clearly prefer the Shadow to the other guns. While my 1911 is a very good shooter, I'm still more comfortable and accurate with the Shadow. I'm not a great shot, but I put 10 relatively quick shots in a 4-inch group at the 15-yard target.

Recoil-control/Follow-up shot: Shadow > 1911 > M&P

Comfort: Shadow > 1911 > M&P

Edited May 24, 2011 by justaute

[GeneBray]

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.

Update:

Problem 1: Adjustable Rear Sight

Summary - Well, my local gunsmith came through for me. He fixed the sight.

Situation - I called Kensight this morning to do a warranty replacement and was told I need to first send in my non-working sight; was told they would either repair or replace it. So, I took my Shadow to my local gunsmith to remove the sight -- he previously installed my sight and loc-tite it for me. After he removed the sight, he told me he re-staked the windage screw and all is well. He said the sight innards looked fine and that Kensight would've likely done the same thing. Cost --> absolutely nothing and almost no down-time; I knew there's a good reason I gave him a 6-pack of expensive beer. Should have let him look at the sight sooner. We'll see how long the repaired sight will last.

Problem 2: Jam & Stove-piping

I took the advice from all of you. I removed the extractor and cleaned it. It looked fine, but I replaced the spring, anyway. I soaked the extractor cavity in cleaning solution, brushed it, wiped it, and then blew it with my compressor. There definitely was a lot of gunk in that crevice. We'll see how it goes when I practice -- sorely needed -- this Friday.

I'm hopeful the gun will run as new. While at the gunsmith/range, I shot my Fusion/Severns 1911 (9mm), my M&P Pro, and the Shadow. Well, you might have guessed it... I clearly prefer the Shadow to the other guns. While my 1911 is a very good shooter, I'm still more comfortable and accurate with the Shadow. I'm not a great shot, but I put 10 relatively quick shots in a 4-inch group at the 15-yard target.

Recoil-control/Follow-up shot: Shadow > 1911 > M&P

Comfort: Shadow > 1911 > M&P

[jayd]

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.

I need to try that