cz97b 10 rd mag feed problem

[smeg]

Have a new cz97b. Shot for first time today. Noticed that the factory 10 round magazines were very tight when loading past round 7 or so.

With a full mag or even at 9 rounds, it would not load that 1st round. With 7 rounds loaded in magazine, no problems loading and no failures shooting the rest of the magazine.
This was with fmj rounds.

Is it a problem with new, stiff magazine springs? Or is this an issue with cz factory mags?

For now, i am leaving the mags loaded full with 10 rounds to 'break in the spring' then plan more break in shooting.

any help appreciated. thanks

[JeremyS]

Although I didn't have a single feeding issue with any of the 4, 10-round factory mags that I own, they were noticeably harder to load to full capacity when new. I've left two of them loaded with 9 rounds for many months and they are definitely easier to load fully compared to new. When I got 2 brand new ones a few weeks ago, I took them apart and cleaned them along with the old ones I've had, and the springs were actually longer by almost an inch. Now that they've been loaded many times and have sat for a few weeks with 9 rnds in them, the springs are all the same length and they all load equally.

...still plenty of pressure, even on a single round in the mag, that I'm not worried about weak springs...

BTW -- sometimes people have an issue with the nose of a bullet pushing on the slide release, especially with a full mag. Depends on ammo. It is common for people to modify the slide release to give it more clearance. This could be your feeding issue and it might change when the mags break in, or it might be a combo of full mag tension plus ammo choice.

Pic and following quote from CZforumsite.info:

Slide Stop Induced Feed Problems – It has been suggested that the tip of the slide stop can interfere with a round being chambered as it approaches the feed ramp. The tip of the slide stop can be filed shorter to reduce the chance of this occurring. The following photo (coutrtesy of eerw) shows the unmodified slide stop (left) and the modified version (right).

[smeg]

Jeremy,
thanks for the info. I see what you mean about the slide stop tip, but can't tell for sure if it is part of the problem. Since gun is new and under warranty, I decided to send it in to cz for them to work it out; before i do anything to void the warranty.

[dfletcher]

Most of my CZ97B magazines are made for the EAA Witness of the same caliber. They work fine and cost much less than the CZ version.

[smeg]

Most of my CZ97B magazines are made for the EAA Witness of the same caliber. They work fine and cost much less than the CZ version.

thanks. i see those and Mec-gar mags for around $20. I understand the mec-gars are OEM for CZ?
I'll see what the shop says and new mags will be the witness/mec-gar mags.

[dfletcher]

thanks. i see those and Mec-gar mags for around $20. I understand the mec-gars are OEM for CZ?
I'll see what the shop says and new mags will be the witness/mec-gar mags.

Don't know if they are OEM but they are good. Mags for the CZ, EAA, Jericho, Tanfoglio and alike is one of the great gun mysteries - buy a mag for a Jericho and it's $49.00, buy the same thing for an old TZ75 and it's $19.99. EAA mags in 41AE are about $40.00, same thing in 40 S & W for the CZ 75 is $23.00.

Check out Gunclip Depot for a look at the swings.

[JeremyS]

...sometimes hard to find the 10-round 9mm ones for full-size... allegedly the Mec-Gar ones have a different follower than the ones that Mec-Gar manufactures for CZ, and the CZ mags are supposed to feed more reliably because of this. Some people will buy the cheaper MG ones and swap the follower (which you can buy new from CZCustom or CZUSA for a couple bucks). I just bought OEM CZ ones from www.bigsupplyshop.com, which has 'em for the lowest I've seen them online, $32.

Before you send the gun in, you may want to give it a little time. Leave the mags loaded for a few and see if it makes a difference, and just break the gun in. A few hundred rounds should probably be shot before making any determinations. From my experience and from others' comments, the CZ75 family is typically very reliable out of the box. However, it's a gun made for extremely high round counts and it's not weird to expect a break-in period of a few hundred rounds.

[smeg]

Just giving an update. Well i left the mags loaded for a few days and shot a few more hundred rounds. Yet the same problem persisted: failure to load from a full or near full magazine.
So gun went back to cz for warranty service.

Service was quick. I received the gun back and it now functions perfectly. As expected they polished the feed ramp and also modified the slide release. But what they did do that I think was the solution was to replace both mags.

The new mags are entirely different than the original mags. In addition to appearance, the new mags are much easier to load. The original mags were a complete bear to load past round 7 or so, even with a loader device. These new mags are much, much easier to load to full 10 rds.
Unlike the original 10rd ones which look to have been factory modified with a indent on both sides to limit to 10 rds, these seem to be designed and built up as just 10 rounders.
Much nicer mags. Wonder who makes these.

[smallshot13]

[QUOTE=smeg;6924951]Just giving an update. ............
So gun went back to cz for warranty service.

QUOTE]

Mind if I ask a related question? Were you able to send your pistol directly to CZ USA, or did they require you to use an FFL? I am being told by service that I must use an FFL to send a pistol back to them for warranty work.