New TS owner

[Pistolpete9]

This forum has been a great place for me to lurk and pick up info, so let me start by saying thanks to all of you. This is my first post.

I was playing the single stack minor game and having lots of fun, but realized that I was constantly most worried about not running my gun empty and always counting instead of enjoying the shoot. I decided to switch over to a TS. I do most of my competing with friends on courses we set up ourselves, so I stuck with 9mm to save on costs.

I really like this pistol. It cycles extremely smoothly! I'm very impressed by that. The fixed rear sight is also a big win for me as are the middle of the slide forward cocking serrations. The grip is definitely much bigger than a 1911, but I still find it mostly comfortable. Not a fan of the stock grips, but easy enough to modify or change out. The front sight will definitely need to be changed to a fiber optic. The magwell is plenty big for a guy who was used to single stack reloads (and lots of them). Trigger has very little movement and is very light.

Of course, you guys already know these things, so here's my questions. I've looked for most of this info and have found a few answers, but not quite everything.

1. That mag release sticks out a country mile! Can a different release be used or how do you guys work around it?

2. I have soft sissy hands (there's a medical name for the condition, but I prefer to call it what it is) and there seems to be some oddly sharp edges, like the bottom side of the safety when I'm engaging it and the bottom edges of the trigger guard all of the way up into the frame where they are finally "melded" in. Anybody sand these down? If so, how's it working for you now?

3. It looks like there is some extra material in the mag well portion of the frame that could be removed to blend with the mag well. Particularly, the rear has a noticeable lip that I clunked up against a time or two. Is it safe to remove some material there or are we already as thin as we should go on the frame?

4. I'm used to a 1911 with a very precise trigger break. While the TS trigger is nice, I can easily pull slow enough to feel the trigger working through the sear. Almost feels like my GP-100 before I worked over the sear/hooks. Is that normal and/or fixable? I would like it to be a little more crisp and was surprised to see that it actually did have an impact on my double splits (not really a big deal, since I can't shoot at that speed in competition anyway, but surprising nonetheless)

Thanks guys/gals,

Pete

[kneelingatlas]

Good morning Pete, welcome to the forums

1. No, the TS and the Czechmate have many unique parts among the CZ75 pattern pistols and the mag release is one of them; it can be ground down, but there is no drop in replacement which is shorter.

2. Grind away!

3. There is a lot of extra metal on a TS, I'm actually working on a project to remove six ounces from one, this is my inspiration:

4. Yes, I've tried just about every hammer on the market and this is my favorite: http://shop.cz-usa.com/ProductDetail/40108_Concealed-Hammer-Sa-Only

Combined with polishing the hammer strut, trigger bar, pin holes and the inside of the frame where those parts rub, it can produce a light crisp break.

[norbyam22]

Welcome! Good choice on the TS,

I'm a 1911 fan boy, but love my CZ guns too.

As it seems most of your questions are already answered

by the more than knowledgeable kneelingatlas, I'll just say, shoot and have fun!

[zzt]

I have smaller hands so I went with the thin Aluminum CZC grips. That made the mag release even more of a problem. I ground it down and radiused the edges so it doesn't dig in and the possibility of an accidental mag release is all but eliminated. I also did a grip reduction and undercut the trigger guard a little and deepened the beavertail. Now I can grip the pistol, shoot and release the mag without shifting my grip.

I'm a 1911 trigger snob. You are never going to get a trigger pull that precise on a TS. Mine has creep also. It is the price you pay for having a safe, sub-2LB trigger. You can eliminate most of the creep if you change to a competition hammer, preferably with a competition sear. I didn't bother, because the small amount of creep does not affect me in action shooting. If any of my bullseye guns had a trigger like that, I would fix it immediately.

The fixed rear sight is too tall IMO. I replaced the front with a Dawson .175 high with the .090" FO. I ground the rear sight down and deepened the notch to match. I also rounded the corners and beveled all edges except those in the notch. Now it is very comfortable to use as a slide racker. There are no longer any sharp edges to dig in.

[Pistolpete9]

Thanks for some quick answers! Looks like I'll be doing some grinding/filing. Is the frame stainless or will it need immediate refinishing? I would like to be able to do a little at a time and see how I like it, but I don't want it to rust up on me. I've also noticed that I can run the grip tape around the frame underneath the grips like I did with my 1911. It would stick to the back of the mag if I did that. I didn't expect the frame to be trapezoidal with all of the extra meat in the front like it is.

So far my answers seem to be grind it, grind it, grind it, and deal with it or buck up for a new hammer and start polishing everything. Sounds good. I'll focus on the grinding for now. Any tips on knowing when to stop or how to shape the high grip areas?

[kneelingatlas]

I'm pretty sure the frame is not stainless, but I've left mine bare for a few years and haven't had issues with rust. I did finish with pretty fine sand paper though. Most people use the factory checkering as a guide for their grip reduction and just remove metal until it's gone, but I plan to go further and haven't designed what I want to do yet.

[Pistolpete9]

Is the flat aluminum trigger worth it? Looks like it might move the trigger position back slightly which would be nice. Or is there a way to get the plastic one to sit farther back?

[zzt]

The frame is not stainless. After i did my grip reduction, I blued the surfaces and then put strips of clear grip tape front and back.

I've seen lots of pictures on these forums and grip reductions that were filed or ground. They were uneven and required a great deal of time to smooth out. Some didn't bother. I did mine with a 1" vertical belt sander. It worked perfectly, especially in the beavertail and the trigger guard. The belt folds nicely into those curves and you maintain a curve instead of a series of flats or digs.

Here are some pictures of my grip reduction, before bluing. The grips were belt sanded with a used 220 grit belt, then hand sanded starting with 400 grit and finishing with 1000. I then polished and blued. The picture of the front was after the 400 grit. I finished the front the same as the rear. The rear was 1000 grit and polished. This was before I finished reducing and radiusing the mag release.

Edited May 9, 2016 by zzt

[mikeyjones]

Following this thread

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[11287]

Mine has the grip reduction along with hand checkering of the front and back strap. It has a burnt bronze cerakote finish. The mag release was shortened and checkered. I have the stock hammer and sear. There was a very very small amount of creep. I was able to eliminate that with a little sanding and polishing of the area where the hammer hook/shelf engages the sear. I doubt you will need any other trigger job as my trigger is a crisp 1.75 lbs.

[Pistolpete9]

Great stuff here fellas! ZZT, some good tips there. Tell you what. Since this is my first one, why don't I just send you my frame and you can send it back done right so I know how to do it in the future?

I am going to polish up the sear and hammer a little. The rest I'll have to figure out my tooling first.

[Pistolpete9]

Alright, I've acquainted myself with the hammer and sear and can see where my creep is coming from. There's probably about .5mm too much material on the sear. I think I'm going to try and hone it down just a hair. Seems easier to work with than I expected, so if I make a mistake, I can replace it easily.

[adamge]

I would appreciate seeing the tools you guys are using for this touch up on the sear or hammer. Can you link to pics of the tools?

[kneelingatlas]

I only use sandpaper, it's real easy to wreck parts with a Dremel.

[11287]

Definitely do not use a Dremel. I use 800, 1500 and 2000 grit sandpaper. It does not take much to eliminate the creep.

[zzt]

Unless you have, or have access to a real surface plate, don't use sandpaper. A decent surface plate can be had for about $30 and will be flat to 0.0001". You can get better, but it isn't necessary for normal gunsmith work. If you use sandpaper, make sure to get the thin adhesive kind, and roll it onto the plate. If you don't you won't get a true even edge, because the sandpaper will compress a little where you put pressure on it, but not elsewhere.

For trigger work I prefer to use India and Ceramic stones. The ones designed for gunsmiths are inexpensive, dead square and flat. I can put a mirror finish on the hammer hooks and the primary and secondary sear angles with my ceramic stone.

[rancher5]

The frame is not stainless. After i did my grip reduction, I blued the surfaces and then put strips of clear grip tape front and back.

I've seen lots of pictures on these forums and grip reductions that were filed or ground. They were uneven and required a great deal of time to smooth out. Some didn't bother. I did mine with a 1" vertical belt sander. It worked perfectly, especially in the beavertail and the trigger guard. The belt folds nicely into those curves and you maintain a curve instead of a series of flats or digs.

Here are some pictures of my grip reduction, before bluing. The grips were belt sanded with a used 220 grit belt, then hand sanded starting with 400 grit and finishing with 1000. I then polished and blued. The picture of the front was after the 400 grit. I finished the front the same as the rear. The rear was 1000 grit and polished. This was before I finished reducing and radiusing the mag release.

Great job man, you got time for another, talent

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[rancher5]

Unless you have, or have access to a real surface plate, don't use sandpaper. A decent surface plate can be had for about $30 and will be flat to 0.0001". You can get better, but it isn't necessary for normal gunsmith work. If you use sandpaper, make sure to get the thin adhesive kind, and roll it onto the plate. If you don't you won't get a true even edge, because the sandpaper will compress a little where you put pressure on it, but not elsewhere.

For trigger work I prefer to use India and Ceramic stones. The ones designed for gunsmiths are inexpensive, dead square and flat. I can put a mirror finish on the hammer hooks and the primary and secondary sear angles with my ceramic stone.

I innerweb surface plate, aren't they big for sanding gun parts, or am I looking at wrong item? or what size you talking about.

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[Pistolpete9]

Ran into some major issues tonight. I could not get the safety out of the pistol. I tried driving it out but not only did that fail, I ended up trying so hard that I scratched my frame. I've never scratched a gun before. Normally that would really piss me off but I'm planning on sanding the frame down a little anyway ( okay, it still passed me off). I checked and rechecked and I'm doing all of the steps correctly. Then, to top things off, I couldn't get the rear sight to budge with any amount of pressure. Kind of crazy because I've successfully done nearly every kind of modification on all of my pistols. I'll try again tomorrow.

[BeerBaron]

Do you have the safety detent held back? Also have to rotate it to get it out.

[zzt]

rancher5, my granite surface plate measures approximately 9" x 12" x 2". The dimensional map that came with it shows the center is higher than the sides by a little less than 0.0001".

This is what I use for rough cutting hammer hooks and sear angles. http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/handgun-tools/trigger-tools/1911-trigger-track-stone-prod798.aspx It is a fine ceramic stone.

These are my extra-fine ceramic stones. http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/stones/gunsmith-s-premium-ceramic-stone-file-set-prod797.aspx These are more for polishing than metal removal and do a great job.

The nice thing about these stones, other than they are sharp, square and flat, is you can use them dry or with water. No oil required (or desired, actually).

Edited May 14, 2016 by zzt

[rancher5]

rancher5, my granite surface plate measures approximately 9" x 12" x 2". The dimensional map that came with it shows the center is higher than the sides by a little less than 0.0001".

This is what I use for rough cutting hammer hooks and sear angles. http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/handgun-tools/trigger-tools/1911-trigger-track-stone-prod798.aspx It is a fine ceramic stone.

These are my extra-fine ceramic stones. http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/stones/gunsmith-s-premium-ceramic-stone-file-set-prod797.aspx These are more for polishing than metal removal and do a great job.

The nice thing about these stones, other than they are sharp, square and flat, is you can use them dry or with water. No oil required (or desired, actually).

Appreciate you taking the time to explain and post links, I'm in the process of redoing my TS, Thanks

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[Tok36]

rancher5, my granite surface plate measures approximately 9" x 12" x 2". The dimensional map that came with it shows the center is higher than the sides by a little less than 0.0001".

This is what I use for rough cutting hammer hooks and sear angles. http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/handgun-tools/trigger-tools/1911-trigger-track-stone-prod798.aspx It is a fine ceramic stone.

These are my extra-fine ceramic stones. http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/stones/gunsmith-s-premium-ceramic-stone-file-set-prod797.aspx These are more for polishing than metal removal and do a great job.

The nice thing about these stones, other than they are sharp, square and flat, is you can use them dry or with water. No oil required (or desired, actually).

Appreciate you taking the time to explain and post links, I'm in the process of redoing my TS, Thanks

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

Indeed, thank you for the links, i have been looking for some stones to try out.

[adamge]

Thanks zzt!

[Pistolpete9]

Thanks to kneelingatlas, I figured out that the left side detent was stuck (most likely from my banging on it like an idiot) and got everything taken down. Spent yesterday working on the sear, hammer, and doing all of the filing. I've spent all day today with sand paper and am almost ready to switch to polishing. I'm also going to adjust the tension on my trigger return spring because I want it to get back with a little more vigor.

If I figure it out, I'll post final details and pics