The magazine spring on my CZ-550 .458 Lott is very weak. I ordered a Mauser magnum magazine spring from Brownells to replace the stock CZ spring. I installed the Mauser spring and found it was no better. With the magazine full either of these springs are "mushy" and the cartridges are not feeding reliably.
I had to figure out a solution! The aforementioned Mauser magnum spring I ordered from Brownell's was the answer, but maybe not the way you would expect. What I came up with is very unconventional...
When Brownell's filled my order they screwed up and sent me 2 springs; but on 2 separate invoices so I did pay for both. I decided to keep the extra spring cuz' you never know when it might come in handy.
I phoned Wolff Springs to ask them about it, but they mainly deal with pistols; they sent me to CZ USA. I talked to Mike at CZ USA and he basically said I was S.O.L. CZ doesn't make 'em, they cannot get 'em and do not know of anybody that does make a custom spring to fix this (common) problem. He actually told me if I figure it out to let him know, cuz' they get lots of these calls. !!Nice...
So I took the Lott out and looked at the stock spring and the Mauser springs. The Mauser is a little bit shorter then the CZ. So I got the idea that I might be able to double up the Mauser springs by putting one inside the other.
And damn it worked perfectly! On the floor plate both springs sit with one of them inserted into the keeper slot (at the front), and the second, which I call the "captive" spring in behind it. Due to the extreme curve on these Mauser springs both are solidly held in place. The first spring slides into the retainer slot on the bottom of the floor plate and the "captive" is held in place by the rear edge/retainer of the floor plate.
The magazine follower was a bit trickier. It is not possible to insert the 2 springs quite the same way; not as much clearance. So the captive spring, had to be bent over about 1/2" and this allowed the first spring to perfectly slide into the magazine insert and then the captive to fit in behind it and it snapped into the retainer on the back of the follower just right.
The 2 springs work perfectly together, no binding or twisting or anything. I was amazed at how simple this worked. It has strengthened the magazine spring immensely also. Far more "ummph" to lift these big cartridges.
The only problem is the dang wife headed off to the mountains for a holiday with her sisters so I cannot post any pics to show what this looks like...
I had to figure out a solution! The aforementioned Mauser magnum spring I ordered from Brownell's was the answer, but maybe not the way you would expect. What I came up with is very unconventional...
When Brownell's filled my order they screwed up and sent me 2 springs; but on 2 separate invoices so I did pay for both. I decided to keep the extra spring cuz' you never know when it might come in handy.
I phoned Wolff Springs to ask them about it, but they mainly deal with pistols; they sent me to CZ USA. I talked to Mike at CZ USA and he basically said I was S.O.L. CZ doesn't make 'em, they cannot get 'em and do not know of anybody that does make a custom spring to fix this (common) problem. He actually told me if I figure it out to let him know, cuz' they get lots of these calls. !!Nice...
So I took the Lott out and looked at the stock spring and the Mauser springs. The Mauser is a little bit shorter then the CZ. So I got the idea that I might be able to double up the Mauser springs by putting one inside the other.
And damn it worked perfectly! On the floor plate both springs sit with one of them inserted into the keeper slot (at the front), and the second, which I call the "captive" spring in behind it. Due to the extreme curve on these Mauser springs both are solidly held in place. The first spring slides into the retainer slot on the bottom of the floor plate and the "captive" is held in place by the rear edge/retainer of the floor plate.
The magazine follower was a bit trickier. It is not possible to insert the 2 springs quite the same way; not as much clearance. So the captive spring, had to be bent over about 1/2" and this allowed the first spring to perfectly slide into the magazine insert and then the captive to fit in behind it and it snapped into the retainer on the back of the follower just right.
The 2 springs work perfectly together, no binding or twisting or anything. I was amazed at how simple this worked. It has strengthened the magazine spring immensely also. Far more "ummph" to lift these big cartridges.
The only problem is the dang wife headed off to the mountains for a holiday with her sisters so I cannot post any pics to show what this looks like...
