On Personality Traits?

[Lobo_79]

I have been shooting a CZ75B in .40S&W for almost a year now. I picked it up used and did an extractor spring swap out to resolve a FTE problem. This led me to replacing the recoil spring and my magazine springs as a matter of routine maintenance. The gun is a real shooter although it does seem to have a mind of its own at times. For example if I shoot more than 50 WWB 180 gr FMJ rounds I have to stop and clean the feed ramp or I will start experiencing problems with it not returning fully to battery. So I'm curious.  Is the feed ramp on this particular model/caliber prone to getting dirty that quickly? Mine gets totally coated with residue.


My obvious workaround is to take some cleaning supplies with me to the range. I've tried other ammo with varying degrees of success. Monarch seems to be worse than WWB but that's not news to most shooters. I always clean and lube this gun after every range visit, and when I first start out shooting it everything is fine. But somewhere around round 50 or so it wants to be cleaned again.  I've concluded this is just a personality trait...LOL. My P01 does not have this same characteristic.

[Angryvikingman]

My only suggestion would be to polish the feed ramp or replace the barrel. As it is really difficult to do at home unless you order the right stuff from the internet, I suggest you take it to a gun smith. It would cost less than buying it all yourself and doing it. Polishing would also be cheaper than replacing the barrel. Of course you could always send it off to CZ-usa for polishing.
 
Heres why I say take it to a gunsmith or send it to CZ-USA:
 
If you use the wrong grit, you could make the problem worse.
You could inadvertantly change the angle of the feed ramp causng more problems and maybe ruin the barrel.
 
There are things that I trust myself to do, and things I don't. This is one of the things that I wouldn't do myself, and if you've read any of my mod topics, you'll see that there isn't much I won't do myself.

[Lobo_79]

My only suggestion would be to polish the feed ramp or replace the barrel. ....

Heres why I say take it to a gunsmith or send it to CZ-USA...
 
If you use the wrong grit, you could make the problem worse.
You could inadvertantly change the angle of the feed ramp causng more problems and maybe ruin the barrel.
 

Good advice; thanks. I can think of a few folks on other boards who probably wished they hadn't tried this at home...LOL.

[wiggley]

When you say not going fully into battery, under what condition? Is it when you load a new magazine and drop the slide (by releasing slide stop, or slingshot method)?? Or, is it failing to go into battery during the the normal shooting cycle (Round fired, slide cycles,  and new round being chambered)?? You changed the recoil spring. Did you go to a lighter spring??

The feed ramps on my CZs always get pretty gunked up, but that never causes failures to go into battery. I use a light coat of synthetic oil on the ramp when I clean and lube them. As far as the chamber/bore, I may use "whatever" to clean the bore, but always end up by using Breakfree CLP to conditon the chamber/bore - wet patch, let it sit for awhile, then run a dry patch).

[Lobo_79]

When you say not going fully into battery, under what condition? Is it when you load a new magazine and drop the slide (by releasing slide stop, or slingshot method)?? Or, is it failing to go into battery during the the normal shooting cycle (Round fired, slide cycles,  and new round being chambered)?? You changed the recoil spring. Did you go to a lighter spring??

The feed ramps on my CZs always get pretty gunked up, but that never causes failures to go into battery. I use a light coat of synthetic oil on the ramp when I clean and lube them. As far as the chamber/bore, I may use "whatever" to clean the bore, but always end up by using Breakfree CLP to conditon the chamber/bore - wet patch, let it sit for awhile, then run a dry patch).

Initially I had the problem when I'd load a full ten-round magazine using the slide release. (A habit I picked up from shooting my Kahr PM9.) I use a Wolff 16# recoil spring and an their extra power magazine springs. This combination seemed to solve the FTRB problem I was having after I changed my extractor spring. I tracked this problem back to a bad magazine because releasing the slide stop would hang up with a round half way into the chamber. Replacing the magazine fixed this. The problem was repeatable with the faulty magazine (1 of 9).


I realize my recoil spring might be a little stiff for normal range loads but after I swapped out my extractor spring I was having a lot of FTRB conditions either via chambering a round or by shooting. The new recoil spring resolved this problem.


I also use CLP Breakfree during the cleaning process but I use a little Shooter's Choice grease on the slide rails. Discounting one bad magazine this gun shoots well until it gets dirty (50 - 75 rounds of WWB).  After that I can expect a FRTB condition unless I clean and lube the feed ramp.  If I do that...it resumes normal operation. Hence my claim it's a personality trait.

[wiggley]

From what you've said, I guess I'd have to agree that feed ramp must be just a little rough. Polishing would seem to be a good idea - unless you've already tried that.

[Lobo_79]

From what you've said, I guess I'd have to agree that feed ramp must be just a little rough. Polishing would seem to be a good idea - unless you've already tried that.

It's an interesting issue because it's independent of the ammo I'm shooting. It doesn't matter what bullet shape or weight I use. I may take the barrel to my local gunsmith eventually but truthfully I'm really okay with having to do a quick clean after 50-75 rounds.  The issue is consistent and predictable.


Thanks for your feedback.

[Angryvikingman]

Theres one problem, you're using CLP on a pistol. Not a good idea. Use Outers, hoppes, or rem oil, because CLP gums up in handguns. Its ok to use in rifles and shotguns because there is ample power to overcome the gummed up action. I found that my pistols gum up with CLP, but not with the other products.

[Lobo_79]

...I found that my pistols gum up with CLP, but not with the other products.

Curious? Do you you have this problem even on pistols you shoot regularly? I use this a lot on the only Polymer framed handgun I own because I'm cautious about using Gun Scrubber on it. I've not experienced any issues with it yet.


In the case of my CZ75B I use Polymer Safe Gun Scrubber on it to remove all the junk around the extractor and other moving parts. I also use those pipe cleaners they make for cleaning black powder guns to get under the extractor claw. Pretty much all the residual traces of my last cleaning are removed and then I re-lubicate the gun. This also helps recycle the grease I use in the slide channels.  It gets replaced every week.


So in my case I clean my guns often enough to where I may not notice a problem using CLP Breakfree. 

[wiggley]

Reference prior post, I only use Breakfree CLP in the bore/chamber (last) after first cleaning with Hoppes Elite Cleaner, then run dry patches until they come clean.  For rest of pistol I use synthetic oil as a lube (No CLP).

Yeah, CLP worked great in the internals of the Winchester model 1897 that I had.

[Lobo_79]

When you say not going fully into battery, under what condition? Is it when you load a new magazine and drop the slide (by releasing slide stop, or slingshot method)?? Or, is it failing to go into battery during the the normal shooting cycle (Round fired, slide cycles,  and new round being chambered)?? You changed the recoil spring. Did you go to a lighter spring??

The feed ramps on my CZs always get pretty gunked up, but that never causes failures to go into battery. I use a light coat of synthetic oil on the ramp when I clean and lube them. As far as the chamber/bore, I may use "whatever" to clean the bore, but always end up by using Breakfree CLP to conditon the chamber/bore - wet patch, let it sit for awhile, then run a dry patch).

I know this thread is getting a little long in the tooth but I thought I'd post some feedback.  Upon close inspection of my gun (read: wearing my glasses while cleaning it) I discovered an interesting anomaly. The plating was seriously peeling off the full length guide rod including the ends, and it made the surface very rough.  I purchased a new guide rod from CZ Custom. It came in yesterday and I noticed it was physically a little different the my original one.  The new one was slightly shorter and had a constant diameter over the entire length. The old one had a two step diameter...if that makes any sense.


I took it to the range today and successfully put about 150 rounds through the gun...no problems at all.  I was using a mixture of WWB 165 gr FMJ, WWB 180 gr JHP, and Monarch 180 gr FMJ ammo.


I'm thinking I had a random success here. I don't think I've ever heard of a guide rod contributing to FTRB problems. But as of today's results I happy with the .40 S&W version of the 75B again.

[Angryvikingman]

The two step rod and peeling of the surface could have been causing the recoil spring to not fully compress and expand causing the FTRB. Just a slight possibility.

[Lobo_79]

The two step rod and peeling of the surface could have been causing the recoil spring to not fully compress and expand causing the FTRB. Just a slight possibility.

That's what I was thinking too even if it is looking for the next decimal place. It has been the most perplexing issue I've had to solve. But, it's working well now so I'll keep shooting it.