CZ Tuning

[Stafford]

O.K., I did not read the pinned thread at the top of this forum. My question is this, do the CZ competition guns need tuning out of the box, or is it that they can be tuned? At some point down the road, I will decide to quit shooting my stock Glock 17 and 22 in competition and purchase something specific for a particular division. Of course, the 2011's interest me, but I keep reading that they need to be dialed in. And that if you don't want to tinker, then just get a CZ. I don't like to tinker with my guns and prefer the simplicity of the Glocks.

 

So, from that standpoint, a 9mm Shadow 2 or a TSO in .40 have a much greater appeal. The idea of pulling them out of the box, and clean and lube and shoot, is very appealing. However, when I looked at this forum, the first sticky at the top was in regards to tuning. So, do those two models need tuning to be competitive?

[Blackstone45]

My first handgun was a second hand SP-01 Shadow which had been tuned by its previous owner with a competition hammer, trigger and competition sights.

 

I picked up a Shadow 2 earlier this year, and wasn't impressed. The single action trigger had noticeable creep on it (maybe it just needed a few hundred rounds through it) and the double action trigger was much worse than my tuned Shadow 1. This was rather disappointing since the Shadow 2 had been marketed as being competition ready out of the box.

[kneelingatlas]

The TSO is more likely to feel perfect to you right out of the box than the Shadow 2.

[igolfat8]

I’ve put thousands of rounds through my 9mm TSO with zero tuning except a swap to a lighter recoil spring (included with the pistol). The STOCK 14 ounce trigger is fantastic and the accuracy has been exceptional. I have large hands and long fingers and the gun fits me well. I don’t like the stock grip panels and found them slippery when my hands got sweaty so I swapped them out for LOC Bogie grips which are in a league of their own for traction and control.

 

I recently bought a used Shadow 2 and don’t have as much time with it, yet. The grip is thinner and would fit a person with smaller hands much better than a TSO. My large hands feel cramped on it and the trigger reach is much shorter for me. Otherwise it’s a great shooting pistol and as accurate as the TSO. The previous owner only put a few hundred rounds through it and he swapped out the main and recoil springs for lighter ones. Other than that it’s had zero tuning and has run flawlessly.

 

BTW, I am a Glock fan boy having shot them exclusively for well over a decade. CZs are certainly a step up in price but IMO are worth it. I also (owned) some very nice 2011’s too which I just couldn’t adapt to the grip angle change. I think the CZ grip angle is very close to Glocks and I had no trouble with the transition.

[Red_Dot]

You absolutely CAN (and should) tinker but you don’t HAVE TO by any means (assuming you’re looking at a proper competition pistol).

[tbarker13]

On 7/16/2019 at 5:48 PM, Stafford said:

O.K., I did not read the pinned thread at the top of this forum. My question is this, do the CZ competition guns need tuning out of the box, or is it that they can be tuned? At some point down the road, I will decide to quit shooting my stock Glock 17 and 22 in competition and purchase something specific for a particular division. Of course, the 2011's interest me, but I keep reading that they need to be dialed in. And that if you don't want to tinker, then just get a CZ. I don't like to tinker with my guns and prefer the simplicity of the Glocks.

 

So, from that standpoint, a 9mm Shadow 2 or a TSO in .40 have a much greater appeal. The idea of pulling them out of the box, and clean and lube and shoot, is very appealing. However, when I looked at this forum, the first sticky at the top was in regards to tuning. So, do those two models need tuning to be competitive?

 

You can definitely make improvements to your stock Shadow 2 with a bit of tuning - particularly polishing of the trigger bar, etc.

I've had several of them and with less than an hour's worth of work, you can smooth them out quite a bit. Whether or not you need to do that is another matter.

Coming from a Glock, you'll probably be pretty happy with the stock Shadow 2.

Some shooters become obsessed with making their triggers as smooth as possible. But at some point, you start to get diminishing returns. In the end, your own grip fundamentals will matter more than all of that internal polishing.

 

[MemphisMechanic]

On 7/16/2019 at 4:48 PM, Stafford said:

Of course, the 2011's interest me, but I keep reading that they need to be dialed in.

 

When you buy a 2011 by “dialing it in” they mean that your gun likely won’t run. Some work is to be expected tuning your ammo, mags, and the like in order to achieve 100% reliability. This is particularly true of a gun a newcomer to Limited is likely to buy, like an STI DVC.

 

Quote

And that if you don't want to tinker, then just get a CZ. I don't like to tinker with my guns and prefer the simplicity of the Glocks.

 

Like the Glock, the CZ will need some minor work for optimal results. But the gun will run 100% with factory ammo right out of the box. You’ll never ‘tune’ a magazine. If you want a light smooth trigger, you’ll do some internal polishing and change a few spring out... just like guys do with a glock. That’s the tinkering people refer to.

 

Edited July 19, 2019 by MemphisMechanic

[Stafford]

My guess is that guys who tune or dial in 2011’s have experience in building up a 1911 already. I don’t own a 1911, though a friend is encouraging me to pick up the budget Springfield Defender 1911 that is available for $499. His idea is that I can start with a new trigger and then add on gradually to it from there until it’s built up to the levels of a higher end model. Sounds good, but it doesn’t appeal to me. 

 

Sounds like a CZ may be in my future.

[OdinIII]

It’s impossible to buy something that will require no work. If you are serious about shooting then you are going to shoot a lot and in challenging conditions. You’ll have to clean mags, change springs, slide stops, etc. there is no perfect gun or we’d all be using it. You can pay someone else to do it but whatever you buy will need maintenance at some point.

With that said, just go shoot! It’ll all take take of itself.

[Bunsen]

Only thing I felt the need to fix right out on my CZ was trigger work but I was being picky. The real question is will you like shooting a TSO that is 5.3 inches long and the balance. I have let people shoot my gun before. Some notice the extra length/weight and like the feel versus others don't. Everything other than that can be fixed in time. 

[M1A4ME]

If you don't like to "tinker" with it.  Send it to someone who can do what you want done to it.  There are members here on the forum who work on CZ's as a business and do really nice work.

[Hansb57]

Until now I do all my work myself. (polishing, trigger work, exchanging or installing parts, springs, fine tuning, etc.) I dont know if you could call it gunsmithing

What I did was buy me a rather cheap CZ75. There is hardly any difference between a 75 and a S2, even a lot of parts are interchangable.

I learned a lot, made some mistakes and corrected them.

It was  very satisfying to see that with my S2 I was able to work on it without asking myself the question if it shoot after I was done.

 

I got to add that I dont have the luxury to send a gun to GCW or CZ custom and gunsmithts are far between in the Netherlands.

 

Edited July 23, 2019 by Hansb57

[Bunsen]

On 7/23/2019 at 4:25 AM, M1A4ME said:

If you don't like to "tinker" with it.  Send it to someone who can do what you want done to it.  There are members here on the forum who work on CZ's as a business and do really nice work.

 

You can always go to CZC!

[45 Raven]

On 7/27/2019 at 7:34 PM, Bunsen said:

 

You can always go to CZC!

This!