CZ52, failure to EXTRACT PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 11:22 am

[Avyctes]

A friend is having problems with a CZ failing to extract on almost every shot.

He researched it and found the most common problem was the extractor, so that has been replaced - to no avail.

Any other suggestions?

The pistol is clean and well oiled, so this has to be something mechanical.

Any help appreciated,

Chris.

[Mikey]

What ammo is he shooting?  If it is some of the surplus sub-machine gun ammo it may well be too hot for the pistol and may expand too tightly in the chamber for the extractor to pull it out.

After a round is detonated and sticks in the chamber, how does he remove the spent cartridge now??

[Avyctes]

We tried some of the 80's Romanian in it a couple of weeks ago, which was working fine in two other CZs, and it jammed.  I'm not positive what his own ammunition is, but the ammo we used in the other two 52s worked perfectly. 

I believe we even tried his ammo in one of the other two CZs and it functioned flawlessly in that gun.  We then exchanged main springs and magazines with a functioning gun to see if that helped, to no avail.

To get rid of the un-ejected brass he has to pull the slide back and shake the pistol while holding it over on it's side, the empty will fall out, and let the slide slam forward and it loads another ( to repeat the jamming process  )

[Avyctes]

To clarify the non-ejection: The casing is sticking out of the ejection port, but is not fully ejected and is then captured by the returning slide mechanism.

[Mikey]

It has to be either the extractor or the ejector.  Has this pistol fuctioned previously that you know of? 

The extractor was replaced - was it first examined to see if it had a proper extraction claw - straight across or slightly beveled?  Does it lool like it grabs a dead case from the chamber when you cycle the action by hand? 

Take a fired case that will fully rechamber, coat the inside of the rim with magic marker, chamber it from the magazine to see if it leaves a mark on the inside of the rim from going up and under the extractor and if it leaves a mark where the extractor grabs it.  If not, get another extractor - they are not expensive and think about one of the aftermarket extractors guys use for a better 'grab', and 'adjust' it to firmly grab the case; that should fix it(I hope)...  We do the same thing with 45 extractors to make them grab better.  HTH.

[PA-Joe]

Clean the ejector spring and polish the chamber.

[Avyctes]

The gun has had the problem since he first got it.  The extractor has already  been replaced with one of the new and improved extractors, with the same results as the original factory extractor.  The gun will cycle and eject snap caps fine, when cycling by hand.  I will pass on the info about polishing the chamber and extractor spring. 

Question:  Could it be the extractor spring?

Thanks for all the questions and info by the way.

Regards,

chris.

[Mikey]

It could be the spring - if it does not have sufficient tension to keep the claw in the extractor groove of the case it should be replaced.  I too would pass on the chamber polish since the fired case shakes out as easily as you describe, although I would give it a good look under a strong light to see if it is smooth.

BTW - I forgot to ask if the slide functions properly on those rare occasions when it does not jam?  Also, you can try switching slides to see if it malfunctions on another frame, that way you know the fault is in the slide assembly.  First I would switch the barrels to see if that is the problem and if not you will have eliminated two potential problems - the slide and the barrel.  That leaves the extractor......and spring....

Have you tried using magic marker on the case rim?  If the extractor spring does not have sufficient tension you should not see any marks where it is supposed to grab the case and should think about replacing the extractor spring. 

[Avyctes]

Mikey,

I passed the info on to my buddy, hopefully will have answers to your questions soon.

Appreciate all the suggestions.

Since mine functions fine, I can bring my extractor spring for him to try, that would eliminate that possibility (or verify it one).

Will post back when I know more.

Regards,
Chris.

[wiley]

Check the firing pin out. If burred/broken or dirty, it can hang the fired case up.

[Avyctes]

Got these replies on the various inquiries and questions.

Snap caps and unfired cartridges eject fine during hand cycling, even with minimal pressure.
The firing pin is clean straight and un-burred, took it out last nite and peered at it
Extractor spring could be weak, no real way to measure it per se.

I think there is a good chance the pistol is extracting fine by hand because the movement of the slide is slow, but under the exigencies of recoil, the extractor spring doesn't have enough tension to maintain its grasp on the rim of the cartridge.

[jcn59]

You figured it out.  Go to a stronger extracter spring.

[S.S.]

Mine was doing exactly the same thing when I got it.
I polished the chamber and packed the Roller Bearings with
teflon. Problem solved. I would first replace the extractor spring
though to rule that out. Lots easier than making a polishing jig for
the chamber.

[Avyctes]

A final follow up on the resolution of this problem. 

In this case it wasn't the extractor spring as we had suspicioned. 

It turned out that the ejector was bent outward toward the left hand side of the slide, and was barely if at all catching the brass.  We finally go to comparing it to my CZ a couple of weeks ago, after he had replaced extractor and spring and it was still jamming, and noticed the different angle of the ejector.  We took a multi-tool and bent it inward to approximately the same angle that mine was and oila, it worked perfectly.  He had invested some aggravation and unneeded parts, but was just happy he didn't have a paper weight.

End of story.   Gun works like new now.

[doncisler]

check for a rough shamber