So what's wrong with this thing?

[Rags]

I've got a CZ 83 .380, which can be thought of as CZ's answer to the Makarov, or to the Walther PPK.

The problem is, it malfunctions on every magazine. (It does it with both of the 13-round mags it came with.) For sure, it will not get through 7 or 8 rounds without a stoppage. It ejects the just-fired case very well, but then it strips the fresh round off the stack imperfectly, so that the cartridge winds up with the nose of the bullet lodged against the top of the chamber and the rim of the cartridge still inside the magazine.

It's very consistent about this. I would like to blame it on a too-strong magazine spring, because the spring is really tough, but the malfunction is even more likely to happen on the last 2 or 3 rounds, when the magazine spring is at its lowest pressure.

Anbody got any ideas? Is this type of stoppage common in certain cases? Maybe it just needs loosening up?

[White Horseradish]

Is this fixed to a particular magazine? If so, it could be that the feed lips are bent out of shape.

[Srigs]

Does it happen with someone else shooting the gun?

Sounds like as the gun gets lighter there is more muzzle flip which looses energy to make the side move all the way back. I hope that helps.

[MNBud]

I would get on CZ website and see if this is a common issue with this gun. It certainly was with the CZ 2075 in 40 caliber. I ended up sending both of my magazines in for replacement. There was a lot of talk about bending the tabs (lips) on the mags, but I felt this was their issue not mine. There were no problems with the gun in 9mm. After replacement I have had no problems.They do make a quality product.

Re reading my post, I meant to say CZ forum.
Here is the link to it.
http://p201.ezboard.com/bczechpistols82792

[Thor]

I would look at the feed ramp. I've heard of this causing a problem like this. The type of ammunition may be a factor, too.

[Rags]

Thanks for all the ideas, guys.

As far as ammo is concerned: I handload it all, and even though the purists say you should keep cases organized by manufacturer, I just pretty much load whatever I find lying around.

I'll be making sure in future to try to stay consistent and use only one type of case in each magazine. But I have the feeling that this one's outside that area.

[1911fan]

Before sending it off, go and buy some factory ammo, I would start with a box of UMC and WWB to see if the same thing happens with factory ball. I have no idea of your skill with reloading, but it might be something like OAL, bullet shape, or dies that are creating ammo that is just slightly out of spec of what the factory likes.

I had a set of .40 S&W dies that did not size the fired case down small enough, so reloaded ammo was hanging up in the feed lips of Beretta's. factory ammo sang thru the gun, it was not until I started Mic'ing the reloading ammo did I find the .003 case size difference.

If the gun likes the factory ammo, then keep a couple rounds of each and mic them and see where yours compare.

If the gun like the factory ammo, then buy one box of factory defense ammo and see if that works, if it does, then the problem is your reloading somehow, if it does not, then maybe the gun needs a feed job, just some simple rule it out type of tests.

[1911fan]

Before sending it off, go and buy some factory ammo, I would start with a box of UMC and WWB to see if the same thing happens with factory ball. I have no idea of your skill with reloading, but it might be something like OAL, bullet shape, or dies that are creating ammo that is just slightly out of spec of what the factory likes.

I had a set of .40 S&W dies that did not size the fired case down small enough, so reloaded ammo was hanging up in the feed lips of Beretta's. factory ammo sang thru the gun, it was not until I started Mic'ing the reloading ammo did I find the .003 case size difference.

If the gun likes the factory ammo, then keep a couple rounds of each and mic them and see where yours compare.

If the gun does not like factory ammo, then feel free to contact the factory and tell them you have a problem.

If the gun like the factory ammo, then buy one box of factory defense ammo and see if that works, if it does, then the problem is your reloading somehow, if it does not, then maybe the gun needs a feed job, just some simple rule it out type of tests.

[Jeff Bergquist]

That is what I believe is called a 3 point jam, because the nose of the round jams against the top of the chamber, the side of the case against the feedramp, and the case head against the breech face. One fix for this that has worked for me is to clean and lightly polish the breech face so that the case head can slide easily against it. If the case head is hanging up on the breech face the round will stay at too steep an angle to feed reliably into the chamber. I don't know how many rounds you have through this pistol, but if the gun is newer this issue can also go away on it's own after a little breaking in period.

[onebohemian]

I vote magazine feed lips or follower. I have an old Walther P1 and was getting nose jams on it with a number of my magazines. Once I started inspecting, I could see that the followers were different shapes, causing the rounds to slide off at slight different angles. I had to trial-and-error bend the metal followers into the correct shape as well as tweak the metal feed lips a little bit.

I know for a while Glock 19s were suffering from some of the same symptoms you talk about as well. Turned out the particular generation of follower was the culprit. Glock came out with a new follower to replace the old ones and problems went away. (I think Glock is on follower number 5 or 6 now, always trying to improve their design.)

If you slowly allow the slide to strip a round off from each magazine and at different rounds in the magazines, do you see rounds coming off at different angles into the chamber?

[Rags]

Great suggestions, all of them. I will follow them up and let you know.