AGI Armorer’s Course for CZ-75, E.A.A Witness Pistols

Covers CZ-75, TZ-75, TA-90, Springfield Armory P9,  Bren 10, ArmaLite AR-24, AT-88, IMI Jericho 941, Sphinx M2000, EAA Witness Pistols

Bob Dunlap is a renowned expert on most of today and yesterdays important and obscure firearms. He has been a warranty station for most manufacturers, foreign & domestic, both large and small. His understanding of the design, function, and repair of firearms in general is unsurpassed. His appreciation of European & exotic arms is legendary among his students. The CZ-75 was an extremely successful Soviet Bloc service pistol, whose production numbers exceeded 1,000,000. The gun was termed by none other than modern technique of the Pistol Guru, Col. Jeff Cooper, and the “best designed DA autoloader available.”

The gun was a very hot commodity on the gray market since it could not be legally imported into the U.S. until 1993, after the collapse of the Evil Empire. This started the Clone Wars that led to the importation of all of the other guns listed above during the period of its unavailability. It and its clones have become exceedingly popular in the U.S., and this course is designed to help all of you owners who love the gun, but are a little mystified about its workings. We use a rare factory cut-away gun that allows you to actually see how the various parts work and interact.

If you want the quick course on how to get this Czech hot shot semi-auto pistol apart, back together, and operating as intended, then this course is for you (if you want the long course, look into our basic 108 hour Professional Gunsmith Course.)

Among the items covered are:

History

• Pistols produced at CZ (esk Zbrojovka) in Strakonice, Czechoslovakia from 1976 on for the Czech police. The brothers Josef and Frantisek Koucky did the final design work on the pistol.
• esk Zbrojovka claims the CZ 75 and variants are in service with “more Governments, Militaries, Police and Security Agencies than any other pistol in the world”.
• Pistol is a traditional DA/SA, short recoil, tilting barrel, locked breech, semi-auto
• The TZ/TA guns as well as the EAA guns were made by Tanfoglio in Italy, under license from CZ
• Very accurate, reliable, smooth operating, reliable, and feel right in the hand

Design & Function

• Barrel lock-up and cam operation demonstrated and explained
• What stops the barrels rearward travel
• Loose breech explained and demonstrated
• How to cure less than minimal lock-up
• Ramp system explained, why the gun usually feeds reliably
• Single action operation shown and demonstrated
• Double action operation shown and demonstrated, corrections to early or late release of the hammer by the drawbar or sear explained
• Trigger disconnect system demonstrated and explained
• Firing pin operation
• Safety systems, old model vs. new model
• Extractor operation and its clever design shown

Disassembly

• Extensive disassembly, and instructions on how to take apart those parts/assemblies not disassembled, such as the hammer strut pins
• Field stripping the gun
• Slide disassembly with barrel removal, extractor, firing pin and its blocking safety
• Magazine disassembly shown, both Hi-Cap and 10 round
• Grip removal shown and mainspring shield discussed
• Mainspring removal shown
• Frame mounted safety removal shown and safety detent spring caution given
• Sear housing and hammer removed
• Trigger and drawbar removed
• Drawbar spring and magazine catch spring removed
• Magazine catch removed
• Sear housing disassembled
• You get a good look at how the various parts fit together and interact (particularly the springs) after they are removed from the gun and Bob demonstrates their fit and inter-operation

Cleaning & Lubrication

• AGI cleaning & lubrication methods shown, along with the reasons for their use
• After cleaning, dry with air gun, or in the oven on Warm ~185-200 degrees (metal parts ONLY)
• Lubing the Bob way, and what kind he likes

Reassembly

• Magazine assembled
• Slide reassembly, extractor, firing pin and stop, barrel and recoil spring
• Magazine catch reassembled, and trigger drawbar spring
• Trigger re-installed. Its required slave pins dimensions are given
• Slide stop detent spring re-installed
• Hammer reassembled
• Sear housing reassembled, and the dimensions of its required slave pin given
• Sear housing re-installed in frame
• Frame mounted safety reassembled with its detent spring and detent, but it does not give up easily
• Mainspring and cover reassembled
• Grips and final reassembly

Accessories

• Grips
• Ambidextrous safety
• Trigger with over travel screw
• Sights

Final thoughts

If you noticed how often the terms “explanation” and “demonstration” are used, you may be getting some idea of why this course is necessary for any CZ-75 owner, or someone who intends to be.