VZ58 experts, is this normal wear and tear?

G.Mitchell

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My CSA VZ58 rifle has been in for repair once and I don't think the issues were resolved.

There is peening and obvious forceful contact between the bolt carrier and the receiver around the barrel, even peening on the top of the barrel.

Is this normal?

bolt%2520carrier.jpg


receiver%2520and%2520barrel.jpg


I need some feedback before I contact the repair depot for a second trip in for repair.

Thanks
 
LOL another CSA vz58 fail. the bolt should not even touch the receiver. Throw it out get a CZ858
 
No wear like that on my cz858. 3000+ rounds. I honestly feel bad for these guys having problems with VZ's.

Nothing worse then spending your money and having malfunctions or defects. I almost bought a VZ online but found a new cz local to me.
 
personnally on my CZ i have some little mark on the receiver but it because i have some loose with the bolt carrier but they are very smaller than your mine are just a scrath on the paint andi have probably 3k of shot in maybe more i have stopped to count
 
You guys are confirming my feelings on this.

Not normal.

Repair depot sent it back with "new parts" that should have resolved the issue. However the peening has continued and has got worse with only a few hundred more rounds down range.

I've got emails out to all parties involved. I will keep you guys posted.

Thanks for your help.
 
I have a NR CZ 858 with approx 3500=4000 rds through it. It shows EXACTLY the same four wearing surfaces that yours does.

Strip the receiver and slap the bolt without the carrier in place, and you'll see that the extractor contacts the upper side of the chamber mouth since it sits slightly proud of the bolt face. There are corresponding wear marks on the nose of the extractor.

Pull the bolt out and install the bolt carrier by itself in the receiver. You'll see that the two wear marks on the top surface of the receiver are caused by contact with the front corners of the bolt carrier as it slams into battery position. Corresponding wear marks on the bolt carrier.

Pull the bolt carrier out and place the bolt into position in the bolt carrier. You'll see that the single wear mark in the center of the bolt carrier lines up perfectly with the extractor when the bolt is almost in its rearmost position. The extractor flexes up and toward the bolt carrier during ejection, and I believe that this is the cause. The extractor is (should be) very very hard steel, while the bolt carrier is not.

EDIT: I was just reassembling my 858 and noted that the wear on my bolt carrier is caused by the rear corner of the extractor, not the front. My extractor sits with the rear corner proud of the bolt, and this surface shows wear corresponding to that central mark on the bolt carrier. END EDIT

I'm no expert, but just putting these observations together leads me to believe that all of this might simply be "within tolerance wear". This is a military-grade rifle not particular famous for its tight tolerances. Just looking at the locations, I don't expect that the wear that my rifle shows will be a functional problem. They are not lockup surfaces, and even so I'd expect the parts to "wear in" to one another to a certain point and then just stop progressing. The one and only concern I'd have with your particular rifle, OP, is that the bolt carrier might not be hardened appropriately (known problem with CSAs, IIRC). If so, the extractor wearing on the carrier could become an issue. The design has a pretty violent ejection cycle, as I'm sure you know. But maybe it will be just fine, since the location doesn't necessarily interfere with any function.

Some 858s and 58s probably have tolerances that stack differently and so might not show this wear. Some do. I'd guess that the rifle is designed to function within these tolerances. If someone has a report of a 58/858 that has failed due to this sort of wear, I'd be very interested to hear it. Nobody likes their baby to be an ugly duckling, but it's a military rifle designed for hard, hard use. Personally, I'm glad mine is scratched up and shows wear: Now I have no reason whatsoever to be concerned over its cosmetic state.
 
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i have a cz858 and a csa with none of those issues. sorry to hear about your bad experience so far if you really want to go out and shoot some vz58's we can take mine out!
 
Thanks alpining for a thorough response.

I've got an email into CSA, I will let you guys know what they say.

Leviathan024, thanks for the offer. We really need to get together and do some shooting for sure!

I will keep you guys informed as I know more.

Thanks again all.
 
sorry for the ignorance but whats the difference beetween a csa 58 and a cz858?

CSA is one comapny

CZ is another

CZ is the original maker. Uses suprlus mil parts for theirs.

CSA is known to make a less quality versions.

I do not own a vz58, just throwing the info.
 
The early CSA 7.62 VZs are comparable in quality to the CZs. I've got well over 3k through my 11.75" carbine with zero issues.

Lately, their quality seems to have gone down in general, and the .223 CSAs are a crap shoot, at best.
 
The early CSA 7.62 VZs are comparable in quality to the CZs. I've got well over 3k through my 11.75" carbine with zero issues.

Lately, their quality seems to have gone down in general, and the .223 CSAs are a crap shoot, at best.


X2^ My 11.75 CSA i bought when they first came in a few years ago is the best built nicest VZ type rifle i have seen , sorry to hear they seemed to have gone downhill , and it does not help that the CZ858 is not being imported anymore . I was going to pick up one of the NR chrome lined CSA but now im scared a bit.
 
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