Tactical Sports to Czechmate Conversion

[kneelingatlas]

The Czechmate is a factory Open gun based on the Tactical Sports so as soon as I developed an aluminum replacement comp I started dreaming of using to to convert a Tactical Sports into an Open gun like the Czechmate, only better.

 

I'd like to share the insight I've gathered:

 

The OD of the barrel bushing is 0.675" and the cone of a Czechmate comp is 0.650 so if you simply pull the bushing out of a TS slide, the resulting hole is too big.  The area of the slide behind the bushing is 0.634", so by cutting the slide back to behind the bushing you also need to open up the hole slight (or turn down the OD of the cone).

 

 

 

[kneelingatlas]

[kneelingatlas]

I use a Ridgid hand threader with Chinese dies from eBay to cut my threads, using electrical tape to keep the barrel centered in the die housing:

 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2018 by kneelingatlas

[kneelingatlas]

I wanted to avoid cutting off too much and ending up with a big gap, so I crept up on the final length.  The threads are M14X1, so each revolution brings the comp 0.0394" closer to the slide.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2018 by kneelingatlas

[kneelingatlas]

 

 

The profile of the TS slide is just slightly different from the Czechmate slide, but the difference in weight was surprising.

 

[kneelingatlas]

 

 

[kneelingatlas]

Something else I observed: the Czechmate uses a recoil spring housing:

 

 

whereas the Tactical Sports do not, so if you simply slide the housing into the slide, the stroke is somewhat reduced.

 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2018 by kneelingatlas

[muncie21]

Wow, you have definitely immersed yourself in this, which I was 1/2 as talented . Thanks  for sharing!! 

 

[kneelingatlas]



 

So I trimmed the slide to make the strokes exactly the same for now.  There's enough room to increase the stroke an additional 0.075", which I'll certainly do, but not until after I shoot my 11.5oz TS slide side by side with my 10.5oz CM slide with the same stroke, comp, and loads.

Edited November 3, 2018 by kneelingatlas

[kneelingatlas]

I know what you're thinking "so you put a Tactical Sports slide on a Czechmate, big deal, I don't have a Czechmate!"

 

When the slide cycles the barrel (and therefore the comp attached to it) moves back relative to the frame by just over a quarter inch, and unfortunately the serial number on the TS frame is not far enough back to cut it without relocating it.  The relocation must be done by an FFL 07 with the permission of the BATF, so in an effort to solve this problem I modified one of my comps to clear the frame:

 

 

I suppose if you were to have a gunsmith cut the slide and thread the barrel for you, they could easily do this fitting for you as well.

[kneelingatlas]

One last thing: CZ USA does not carry Czechmate guide rods, which are needed for this conversion so I've commissioned the same machinist who made the comps to make a batch of guide rods out of aluminum, I'm excited to see how much weight they save over the steel.

Edited November 3, 2018 by kneelingatlas

[kneelingatlas]

23 minutes ago, muncie21 said:

Wow, you have definitely immersed yourself in this, which I was 1/2 as talented . Thanks  for sharing!! 

 

 

You're welcome, it's a sickness!

[Fo0]

3 hours ago, kneelingatlas said:

One last thing: CZ USA does not carry Czechmate guide rods, which are needed for this conversion so I've commissioned the same machinist who made the comps to make a batch of guide rods out of aluminum, I'm excited to see how much weight they save over the steel.

 

I noticed this as well. The only option I have found so far is the DPM System for Czechmate. Would be interested to see your guide rod version when it is finished. 

[rancher5]

Awesome, project, if you get to point of offering a conversion, or machine work for us mortals, I differently have a TS in mind ,right now I have 5 variations , that would be the best practical makeover yet, [emoji106]

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[kneelingatlas]

1 hour ago, rancher5 said:

Awesome, project, if you get to point of offering a conversion, or machine work for us mortals, I differently have a TS in mind ,right now I have 5 variations , that would be the best practical makeover yet,

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

 

My hope in posting this info is that it will inspire a real gunsmith to offer this service.

[Tok36]

Interesting stuff, thank you for the post and pics.

[abb1]

One interesting thing though. One issue that the Czechmate had though, was that the barrel constantly broke with 9 major ammo in earlier versions. CZ has came up with a fix in that it had to re-enforce the barrel with extra BEEF in the lug. How did you address this in converting a TS to 'open'? Did you use the re-enforced Czechmate barrel?

 

* On a side note, I have tested your CM comp and it really is an improvement simply in the weight reduction making the CM much more balanced,  as well as the design offering a flatter shooting gun which is really noticeable using slower burning powders. Very well done!

Edited November 6, 2018 by abb1

[kneelingatlas]

I just used the TS barrel, it's a 2017 manufacturer, I wonder if they changed the TS barrels with the CM barrels?

[abb1]

7 hours ago, kneelingatlas said:

I just used the TS barrel, it's a 2017 manufacturer, I wonder if they changed the TS barrels with the CM barrels?

The barrels in the CM were changed in that it beefed up the area shown here. This is a pic of the original barrel which is prone to breakage (new ones have that area beefed up):

 

If your TS barrels are as the one pictured above without the beef, it will break. I know all the CM's have been upgraded about three years ago, not sure though about the TS models.

Edited November 6, 2018 by abb1

[kneelingatlas]

All my barrels look like that, maybe it's my low pressure loads, or maybe it's just luck, but I haven't had any issues with broken barrels or slide stops.

[abb1]

For a comparison, here is the Czechmate barrel as it has been redesigned. Earlier on, CZ had three barrels included with a CM. With the barrel upgrade, only ONE came with the CM, but it is the only one you need. As you can see, there has been considerable beef installed in the link which is where the breakage was happening.

Some people have had extreme luck with the older barrels, whereas others have had them break after 6-7K rds. I think that it also deals a lot with the loads that are used, and what you use in practice as compared to matches. The smarter guys are the ones that use reduced loads throughout practice shooting the older barrels. As far as slide stops, I have never broken one. I have always used a shock buff earlier on, and now I use a DPM system. I find that the DPM does not do much to reduce felt recoil, but it works incredibly as a shock absorber between the action of the slide and barrel/frame. The DPM system also replaces the current CZ guiderod, so this too would help you with the guide rod issue converting a TS to Open. Definitely a good investment!

Edited November 10, 2018 by abb1

[muncie21]

Thanks for the pictures @abb1 seems the improved design locking lug is being used on all of the newer TS/TSO models. 

[George16]

13 hours ago, abb1 said:

For a comparison, here is the Czechmate barrel as it has been redesigned. Earlier on, CZ had three barrels included with a CM. With the barrel upgrade, only ONE came with the CM, but it is the only one you need. As you can see, there has been considerable beef installed in the link which is where the breakage was happening.

Some people have had extreme luck with the older barrels, whereas others have had them break after 6-7K rds. I think that it also deals a lot with the loads that are used, and what you use in practice as compared to matches. The smarter guys are the ones that use reduced loads throughout practice shooting the older barrels. As far as slide stops, I have never broken one. I have always used a shock buff earlier on, and now I use a DPM system. I find that the DPM does not do much to reduce felt recoil, but it works incredibly as a shock absorber between the action of the slide and barrel/frame. The DPM system also replaces the current CZ guiderod, so this too would help you with the guide rod issue converting a TS to Open. Definitely a good investment!

 

When did CZ started shipping the CM with just one barrel? I bought my CM last June and it came with two and both are the upgraded barrels. 

 

I just wish they were stainless like the barrel that came on my TSO.

[Fo0]

I bought this Czechmate Barrel from CZ-USA a few months ago - Does the barrel lower lugs need fitting where the slide stop goes through like 1911 so slide stop won't break?

 

 

[kneelingatlas]

5 hours ago, Fo0 said:

I bought this Czechmate Barrel from CZ-USA a few months ago - Does the barrel lower lugs need fitting where the slide stop goes through like 1911 so slide stop won't break?

 

 

 

No, in my experience the only fitting required is at the breech face when using a TS/CM barrel in a TS/CM frame.  There is a little fitting to be done at the front of the lower lug to use a TS/CM barrel is a standard 75 frame.