CZ Accu Shadow Match Fit Barrel

[Neomet]

Not specific to CZs but informative. http://www.gunreports.com/special_reports/accessories/Drop-In-Pistol-Barrels181-1.html

[trgt]

On the comparison I did, there were noticeable differences from stock SP01 Shadow to custom version, then again from custom version to accu-shadow, yes.

I think the majority of the gain in accuracy from stock SP01 shadow to custom version is in the trigger work, both effort reduction and SRTS. The best comparison here I can think of from my experience is the difference between shooting an AR-type rifle with a stock trigger group vs one with a Timney or Giesele trigger. Its just night/day difference (to me) for accuracy and consistency at any distance or rate of fire, and the differences in results more pronounced as the distance increases.

The Accushadow gain for me is primarily beyond 15 yards. Headshots or small steel at 25 yards I can hit better with the accushadow vs custom. But I'd be just as happy with a Custom version (or trigger work if I were more talented and able). The AccuShadow is not leveling me up faster by leaps and bounds, maybe its a few extra points per match? I haven't quantified how much better, but for a few hundred dollars difference from custom, if I've bought 15-20% better accuracy at distance (hit vs miss) for the life of the gun, it's worth it to me. At some point I will quantify further.

FWIW, my understanding that match fit barrel was a different alternative for a more accurate custom shadow, but there's probably very little if any gain for match barrel on top of accu-shadow for USPSA distances, which is why I personally did not get that option. If Accu-Shadow was not an option, I'd probably instead get a match fit barrel for the increased 25 yard accuracy over a stock barrel / slide fit. (If I'm wrong on this, I'd like to know)

BTW, this is my experience with the variants - I wasn't appreciably more horrible with Glock vs CZ, but I was spending a LOT more time focused on the trigger and basic accuracy on that platform. Going CZ, then leveling up the pistol, has let me spend MUCH less time on trigger control and accuracy issues, and more time on all my other issues. I have purchased something more enjoyable for me to shoot where I am right now with my game.

Edited April 19, 2014 by trgt

[trgt]

Am I the only one who thinks this 'accu' craze is getting a little out of hand? When a $500 CZ is fully capable of putting shots in the A zone at 20 yards I'm not lining up to spend 3-4 times as much money for small gains in accuracy...

Totally changed/edited in case my answer would come back to haunt me :-)

I think its cool there are custom options for folks that want something tricked out. And for those that don't, no big deal, train more/better than me and you will more than likely kick my a$$ with the $500 CZ or even Glock.

Edited April 19, 2014 by trgt

[fiddler]

Since when is any of this about 'need'? I want an Accu-Shadow because I want it. I might want a match fit barrel too.

[JGus]

Is the Accu expensive? Compared to a stock Glock, M&P, XDm, etc,, sure it is. But start upgrading trigger, sights, mag release, firing pins, roll pins, etc, to various polymer guns (and maintain Production status), and the Accu is not ridiculously priced in comparison based on all its stock features.

Agreed. Here's a Production legal XDm, maxed out by Rich's genius at Canyon Creek:

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=183736&hl=

It's over 1300 bucks, and worth every penny, imo. So the Accu-Shadow is in the same ballpark.

But the question in this thread isn't "is this gun expensive" or even "are expensive production guns worth it" (there's another thread specifically addressing the Accu-Shadow being 'worth it') it's about the value of a gunsmith-fit barrel, esp when the gun itself is marketed as being extremely accurate without a gunsmith-fit barrel.

My bad. Thanks for being the thread police. Will I be receiving a ticket?

[ummm]

The AccuShadow is not leveling me up faster by leaps and bounds, maybe its a few extra points per match? I haven't quantified how much better, but for a few hundred dollars difference from custom, if I've bought 15-20% better accuracy at distance (hit vs miss) for the life of the gun, it's worth it to me. At some point I will quantify further.

BTW, this is my experience with the variants - I wasn't appreciably more horrible with Glock vs CZ, but I was spending a LOT more time focused on the trigger and basic accuracy on that platform. Going CZ, then leveling up the pistol, has let me spend MUCH less time on trigger control and accuracy issues, and more time on all my other issues.

Great stuff. Looking forward to any further quantification, too

My bad. Thanks for being the thread police. Will I be receiving a ticket?

Yes. It's a $900 first-time infraction, and goes directly into my Open Gun Fund

No, I apologize if my wording made it seem like policing, I was just hoping to steer you into that area of the discussion

[eerw]

This conversation a few years ago would have been hilarious.

there was a time when people said CZ? what the f%(k is that. You had to convince someone that it was the next thing coming.

Now we talk about if its worth all the upgrades. hammers, triggers, barrel, sights. With offerings from more and more shops.

Funny to see the change from one of the new dogs to one of the top considerations.

Thank you to all the CZ fans.

[kneelingatlas]

Since when is any of this about 'need'? I want an Accu-Shadow because I want it. I might want a match fit barrel too.

Well said

So many forum threads degenerate into "my preferences are better than your preferences"

We're all crazy, but in the presence of others who have tens of thousands of dollars invested in a hobby we can feel 'normal'

[Torogi]

I really like how CZC improve and innovate the CZ platform. An aussie match fit barrel in accu? That will be nice=)

I guess it's not only me, that when i plan to spend something in my gun it has to go through a jury. Then when a reloading component or group buy comes up, bam! 1k easy. No questions asked. Hehehe.

[Fantom919]

Match barrel won't make any difference!

I really hope that statement is true since I just bought my Accu-Shadow and they released that option after..Damn! I totally would have dropped the extra money for it.

If money wasn't an option and you would honestly still buy a Shadow Custom instead of an Accu-Shadow with match fit barrel, then more power to you. At least you still went with a CZ

Edited April 22, 2014 by Fantom919

[Philo_Beddoe]

FWIW, my understanding that match fit barrel was a different alternative for a more accurate custom shadow, but there's probably very little if any gain for match barrel on top of accu-shadow for USPSA distances, which is why I personally did not get that option. If Accu-Shadow was not an option, I'd probably instead get a match fit barrel for the increased 25 yard accuracy over a stock barrel / slide fit. (If I'm wrong on this, I'd like to know)

This makes sense to me, the Accu bushing is for a tighter/consistent barrel/slide fit, which is essentially the same idea with an oversized fitted match barrel.

http://www.brazoscustom.com/Home.htm

magazine articles > acheiving practical accuracy.

Edited April 22, 2014 by Philo_Beddoe

[Friction]

Is the actual barrel on the match fit accu shadow a different barrel or just one that's been fit to the bushing? I thought all accu shadows had factory barrels that were hand fit to the bushing but I may have been mistaken.

If it's just a factory barrel that has been fit to the bushing then how much accuracy improvement can there be. How much play is being eliminated in the fitting proccess? I'd bet that at 25m the difference is likely less then the width of a 9mm bullet hole in cardboard.

If it's not a factory barrel, who makes it, what are the specs, chamber dimensions, etc?

[IDescribe]

The match-fit barrel option on the Accu-Shadow is not the factory barrel. They're custom barrels that are over-sized then hand-fit. I don't remember all the specifics, but CZ Custom has the blanks made by another company (I don't think they've said which one), then CZC finishes them to what the customer needs, then hand-fits them to the gun. You can have them standard length with a target crown, or extended and threaded. They have 9mm and .40 barrels. They're basically giving you the options on hand-fit barrels and bushings that are pretty much expected on custom 1911's. This thread is a lot like a thread in a 1911 forum asking if a hand-fit custom barrel is better than a factory barrel.

You can have the Accu-bushing handfit to the factory barrel, OR you can have the Accu-bushing hand-fit to a CZCustom hand-fit barrel. Or you can have a CZCustom hand-fit barrel fit in a gun with the standard bushing.

[trgt]

Thanks IDescribe, that helps.

This thread is a lot like a thread in a 1911 forum asking if a hand-fit custom barrel is better than a factory barrel.

Not exactly the same, the Accu-Shadow is marketed has having hand fitting around the barrel ( "the bushing is fitted to the barrel creating far less play than the current bushing system" ) -- once you've hand fit that tolerance to any barrel, how can better be possible at that point? And unlike regular custom shadow, seems like they've done other hand fitting of slide to frame, etc. So I don't think as clear cut as the 1911 question you offer.

[Friction]

Thanks IDescribe, you did, in fact, describe what I was wondering about.

I'm curious abou the chamber setup on the match barrel then. Since I have to ream out the chamber on a factory barrel to run the ammo I like (MG 124JHP) it might be worth it to me if the match barrel already had a slightly longer chamber.

[IDescribe]

Since I have to ream out the chamber on a factory barrel to run the ammo I like (MG 124JHP) it might be worth it to me if the match barrel already had a slightly longer chamber.

Why would you need to ream the barrel for MG 124JHP? I seat those to 1.08, and my 75 ShadowLine has less than average free-bore for a CZ. For most bullets, I have to seat shorter than most other CZ owners, and I have no trouble with MG 124JHP.

Edited April 23, 2014 by IDescribe

[Friction]

I couldn't get any longer than 1.080 which was way to short for the fluffy powder I've had to use lately so I had to get about a half turn out of a reamer to open things up a bit. I load to 1.10 now and things run. Maybe my gun was sub standard for an SP-01 Shadow target but I borrowed the reamer from a buddy with 5 different CZ 75/SP-01s and he has had to do it to all of them.

[Chris_C]

Both of my Shadows (one Accu) are reamed. I like to load them to 1.15" (MG 124 jhp).

Edited April 23, 2014 by Chris_C

[IDescribe]

IMHO, too much is made of the low free-bore in the CZ's. I have a couple bullets that seat deep, right to the mechanical limit where the case walls start to thicken -- .300 from the casemouth in Starline brass, but MG JHP's at 1.080 seat to .246. Everyone loading 147's seats deeper than that, and with heavier bullets. I've been loading a lot lately with American Select, which is super fluffy, and just about every bullet bullet I load compresses that stuff a little. I certainly don't consider it a "compressed load".

If it works for you great. Just not sure it's necessary.

[Friction]

Agree that it may not be necessary in some cases. When I did a mechanical fit check on the bullet using a few of the random cases I use I wasn't happy with the 1.080 OAL limit that I saw i my gun. I might have been able to get away with it with the 124 JHPs and consistent cases but based on the fact that what components are available from month to month is so random that I chose to do it when the gun was new so it could accommodate more options with no perceivable loss of accuracy. I ran some test loads on the MG 147 CMJs loaded to 1.120 and they had very acceptable accuracy after the reaming and I still had what I considered to be an acceptable level of powder contact/compression in the case. At less than that OAL I wasn't happy with the compression levels. May just have been an incorrect concern on my part but now its not anything I worry about and the gun runs brilliantly.

So now I know that I have some options down the line if they are needed. I might have been able to swing a bunch of them as it was out of the box but now i have some slack and all it cost me was 10 minutes in the very beginning. My question about the match fit barrel chamber specs was more of a curiosity then a go/no go issue.