Shadow 2 light strikes in DA with CGW reach reduction kit

[AArunNGun]

I have an accushadow that I decided to try the CGW reach reduction kit in.  I got it installed without much trouble and it felt great with about a 6 ounce reduction in DA trigger pull weight.  I'm running a 10 lb main spring.  I noticed that the hammer doesn't seem to cock back as far with the CGW kit in DA it as it did with the original parts.  I does drop fully.  I took it to the range to function test and had many light strikes with CCI primers and no problems with Federal primers.  The light strikes were only on the DA press.  I took a look at some of my fellow competitor's guns with the CGW reach reduction kit at the last match and indeed their hammers are cocking back further in DA than mine does.  I wouldn't care too much if I had an unlimited supply of Federal primers but these days who does?  CCI for practice, Federal for matches.  

 

From what I can tell I need to delay the timing so that the DA press brings the hammer back further before the sear breaks and drops the hammer? My understanding is that I need to remove a very small amount of material from the bottom of the sear cage to make this happen? The DA press breaks very closely to where the single action press does.  Maybe a a millimeter sooner but not by much. Sure, I could put a heavier mainspring in but that would kind of defeat the purpose.  Just want to get some input from more knowledgeable folks before I do anything.  Thanks!

[D_B_X]

10 lb main spring does sound like on the light side of things.  Perhaps try a heavier spring and see?   

 

IMHO the Accushadow2 is pretty amped up by CZ custom. I would just run it "stock".

[GeneBray]

10 lb MS is too light to reliably ignite all primers IMO.  Specifically, Tula and Wolf.  Less of a problem with CCI and Winchester.  Federal is the easiest to ignite with 10 lb MS.  No experience with Remington SP primers.  

 

That said, what is the seating depth of the CCI primers?  Federal? My experience is that without cleaning the primer pockets you will find significant various in seat depth.  The seating depth will vary by brass manufacturer and is not consistent within the same manufacturer.  Seating slightly deeper will help the problem but there is a point where the primer is seated too deep.  See comments below.

 

Seating slightly deeper may help significantly.  My experience with too many Tula and Wolf is I could never get close to 100% ignition with a 10 lb. MS regardless of anything I tried -- both SA and DA.  

 

I deeper seating helped with Tula and Wolf and as I increased the depth past a certain point it got worse.  I suspect but cannot prove, you can seat those primers deep enough anvil pushes significantly enough primer material out from under the primer that there is not enouth primer material to detonate.  Just a guess.  I also suspect there may be more variation in the amount of anvil sticking above the primer cup in Tula and Wolf.  Again cannot prove. 

 

CCIs and Winchest were orders of magnitude better the Russian primers.  Federal the best.

 

In this primer staved world, I suggest Federal for the barney bullet on loaded starts, and for the first round in the 1st two magazines you will use on an unloaded start.  That comment assuming you are not having issues with CCIs in SA.

[Lightj75]

GeneBray may be correct i had a similar issue after installing the RRK2 in My CZ SP01. i was getting light strikes in DA but mine were only happening occasionally almost random times. One thing you can try to do to diagnose the issue is when you pull the trigger in DA and get a light strike pull the trigger again and see if that ignites the primer. If the primer ignites it is likely a primer seating depth issue. The first  DA pull is seating the primer the rest of the way into the primer pocket so that the anvil is depressed fully and the primer will ignite when struck again. This solved my issue and i havent had a light strike since.  

[AArunNGun]

Thanks for the replies.  I thought about the primers not being seated properly.   I don't think this is the issue.  To Lightj75's point I tried multiple strikes in DA 3-4-5 times.  No luck igniting them but I get 100% ignition in SA. 

[slowhands]

Are you running a stock firing pin and FP spring?

[2MoreChains]

I ran into this problem with a CZC short DA disconnector.  I tried ammo that I took special care to ensure primers were seated fully.  My thinking matched the OPs in that the hammer was not going as far back as it should in DA mode, aka a short stroking of the hammer that was occurring about 1 in 100 rnds, or once per match or twice per big match.  A quick second pull of the trigger and the round would lite off.  

 

I went back to the original disconnector until I could figure out what was causing the short-stroke.  Curiously enough, the CZC short DA disco I installed in my first Shadow 2 functioned perfectly, and I can tell the hammer has a longer stroke in DA than the one with problems. 

[slowhands]

CGW notes that the RRK shortens the double action stroke and they recommend not going lighter than a 13lb hammer spring. 
 

I have an RRK installed and recently went to an 11.5lb spring with no issues, but I also have an extended firing pin and a RAMI firing pin spring. 

[CocoBolo]

If you have Federal Primers (SP) you can run a 10# spring, I've done that with 100% reliable ignition in WARM WEATHER.   When the ambient temp dropped to about 40, things got weird.  I started to get delayed ignition, I would pull the trigger, and it was like a second before the bang.  It probably wasn't a whole second but it seemed like it, the first time it happened I was about to reach up and grab the slide when it went off.   This continued thru the match.   The next day it warmed up and it was all good, but I swapped in the next heavier spring an 11# anyway.

 

I now use whatever primer I can get, and this led to inconsistent ignition, shooting a match I had a few failures.   All of those failures were CCI primers, all the WInchesters went off.  Some were rifle primers, and the ones with no dent at all were Magtech Rifle, they have a D on them.  The good thing was it was steel challenge and it didn't spoil my match, just a few runs.

 

I just got the calibration kit and changed out the 11# for a 13#.  

 

Upping the spring did not significantly change the single action pull, but since I have the short disconnect in the gun that makes the double action pull much shorter it did add a couple pounds to that pull.  The shorter pull works for me, but you might like the long easy pull better, depends. 

[GeneBray]

@AArunNGun.  What is your primer seating depth?  You may be seating primers too deep or too shallow.  0.003-0.004" is the usual seating depth is my understanding.  That said I just measured old Speer GDs with LP primers averaged 0.008" and new Federal JHP with SP are 0.007".  Maybe I should seating primers slightly deeper.  Did find Tula and Wolf more reliable at deeper depths but at 0.008" things went from slightly better to bad again.  

 

I also failed to mention that I run a extended length firing pin and reduced power firing pin spring.

 

Have you pulled bullets and removed primers with  3-5 strikes?  I suspect that if you do you will find the anvils flush with the cup on those that have 3-5 strikes.

[hlsccsfa]

On 9/15/2021 at 12:20 AM, AArunNGun said:

I took a look at some of my fellow competitor's guns with the CGW reach reduction kit at the last match and indeed their hammers are cocking back further in DA than mine does.

Topic followed. Did you ask your friend what they did to make the DA stroke longer?

[AArunNGun]

19 hours ago, slowhands said:

Are you running a stock firing pin and FP spring?

Extended firing pin and RAMI spring. 

[AArunNGun]

16 hours ago, 2MoreChains said:

I ran into this problem with a CZC short DA disconnector.  I tried ammo that I took special care to ensure primers were seated fully.  My thinking matched the OPs in that the hammer was not going as far back as it should in DA mode, aka a short stroking of the hammer that was occurring about 1 in 100 rnds, or once per match or twice per big match.  A quick second pull of the trigger and the round would lite off.  

 

I went back to the original disconnector until I could figure out what was causing the short-stroke.  Curiously enough, the CZC short DA disco I installed in my first Shadow 2 functioned perfectly, and I can tell the hammer has a longer stroke in DA than the one with problems. 

Interesting.  Did you ever figure out what was causing it?

 

[AArunNGun]

13 minutes ago, hlsccsfa said:

Topic followed. Did you ask your friend what they did to make the DA stroke longer?

I don't think they changed much but we could all see that their hammers were cocking back further in DA than mine. 

 

[AArunNGun]

1 hour ago, GeneBray said:

@AArunNGun.  What is your primer seating depth?  You may be seating primers too deep or too shallow.  0.003-0.004" is the usual seating depth is my understanding.  That said I just measured old Speer GDs with LP primers averaged 0.008" and new Federal JHP with SP are 0.007".  Maybe I should seating primers slightly deeper.  Did find Tula and Wolf more reliable at deeper depths but at 0.008" things went from slightly better to bad again.  

 

I also failed to mention that I run a extended length firing pin and reduced power firing pin spring.

 

Have you pulled bullets and removed primers with  3-5 strikes?  I suspect that if you do you will find the anvils flush with the cup on those that have 3-5 strikes.

I will check them but I am running an old 550 reloader.  Maybe I need to tighten up the shell plate. 

[2MoreChains]

24 minutes ago, AArunNGun said:

Interesting.  Did you ever figure out what was causing it?

 

Unfortunately no.  Reached out to CZC but nothing definitive.  I’m back to stock parts and all is well.  

[AArunNGun]

Am I crazy?  This is as far back as the hammer goes in DA.  A video would be better but I couldn't get a file small enough to upload. 

[Lightj75]

Your disconnector timing may be off or it could be something to do with the sear. Is the sear engaging the hammer hooks in that position? A picture from the back down on 5he hammer with it in 5hat position would be helpful. Also what I would do is call CGW and explain to them what is happening they are very helpful.

Edited September 18, 2021 by Lightj75