CZ Shadow - constant FTE

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Mark S.

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I brought my Shadow to the range tonight for the second time and had a very poor experience. I shot 100 rounds and had roughly 10-12 FTE's. At least one per clip at random intervals. I was very much put off by this as I bought this gun expecting it to eat anything without any issues.

I was shooting Winchester Winclean 9mm 147gr. Is there a known problem with that ammo and the Shadow? Could it be the squared off nose of the bullet? I noticed on the little ramp on the back of the barrel there were marks as though the bullets were skipping up the ramp, rather than going smoothly.

Two days ago I put 100 rounds of cheap AE 147gr lead ammo through the gun with not one issue.

Before use today I fully cleaned and oiled the gun under the supervision of a range staff member (I'm still learning :D).

The bullet would fire, but the casing would get stuck between the barrel opening and the next round in the clip. I would have to fight with the clip to get it out, then I could remove the casing. It would usually go into the barrel and I would have to use a rod to push it out.

A few thoughts I had...the gun is new and has only had 200 rounds through it so far - does it need to break in? I didn't think it would as it ate the first 100 AE rounds like a champ.

Also, last time I was shooting round nosed bullets and all the FTE's were with the squared off heads of the Winchester Winclean rounds. Could that be the issue?

A very helpful member of the TSE staff looked over the gun for me and couldn't notice anything wrong with the gun itself.

Any suggestions? I am waiting for BDX TMJ 124gr 9mm to come in and I'm going to stock up on that but now I'm nervous that I'll buy 1200 rounds of something and have constant FTE's.

Thanks in advance, you guys have been great at answering my many questions.

Mark
 
I would get a hold of some more AE ammo and see if you still have the issue. I have 2500+ rounds through my Shadow without any FTE issues at all. I have mainly used AE 115gr, AE 147gr and Fiocchi 115gr.
 
Hey John, did you shoot revolver at Provincials?
Mark, #2 in that link is very important - beveling and polishing. Cleaning extractor claw and making sure extractor spring is working - is another thing. Use wooden chopstick to pickup the claw and spray cleaner in the gap, let it sit, lift and blow with compressed air.
Try playing with diff recoil springs - they may affect timing of ejection.
Make sure - hammer and rails have no tight spots (remove recoil spring and cycle slide manually) just to make sure you don't experience slide being slowed down during cycling.
 
Only thing I can think of is a gunk on the bolt face / extractor. It may be the mag? Try loading only a few rounds. Was the FTE with a mostly full mag? Or somthing major wrong where the action is going back fully to allow the shell to be thrown. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Well, with 147gr bullets, you DO have to make sure they clear slide stop inside the frame. Take slide off, insert slide stop into frame, insert loaded mag (with rounds you are to shoot) - and see if there is interferance between round/bullet and slide stop inside frame. You may have to file that slide stop down a bit; just make sure you don't file it too much as it has to activate on empty mag!!!
 
Thanks guys I will try the things suggested. That is a good link - the mods appear to be a little over my head though, I am still familiarizing myself with all the parts of the gun. I do find it odd that as soon as I switched ammunition I had the problem, but then again the shadow should eat anything I give it.

Mr.4X4 - the FTE's were completely random, anything from the first to last rounds and everything in between.

I also have 2 other mags to try since it came with 3 - I've only used 1 so far. The mags are a little oily from shipping, but they were worse when I fired the AE without problems and it was a non-issue.

Trying some more AE ammo is a good idea also, as it will help me learn if something has changed since I cleaned the gun or not. It's most interesting to me that this problem started A) instantly after I switched ammo, and B) after I gave it a good cleaning & oiling the first time.

I'm hoping to get back out to the range tomorrow or the next day. I will report back ASAP.

One thing I forgot to mention is that whenever I cleared the FTE, the next round in the clip was always a little bit forward, and not seated right back against the back of the clip as it would be if I had just loaded it. Not sure if that helps or not.

Thanks again,

Mark
 
next round in the clip was always a little bit forward

Again - #2 in the link - slide may drag next round forward while chambering top round. Bevel/polish. Check slide stop/file to clear longer 147gr bullets.
 
CeeZer said:
next round in the clip was always a little bit forward

Again - #2 in the link - slide may drag next round forward while chambering top round. Bevel/polish. Check slide stop/file to clear longer 147gr bullets.
Click to expand...

That is probably what is happening, and also explains why it was very difficult to remove the clip after a FTE.

I think before I do anything, I am going to try some more AE and/or some more rounded point ammunition. Also, if 147gr bullets are indeed longer that the lower grains, I'll try some 124gr or 115gr as well. The first 100 AE rounds that went through flawlessly were 147gr, however.

Thanks again,

Mark
 
smokechecker said:
I had that problem with Blaser ammo. Groove for ejector claw was too shallow. Have had no problems as soon as I went to RYO.
Click to expand...

That also makes sense...and could possibly explain why AE 147gr worked flawlessly but a different brand of 147g (Winchester) did not, assuming they use different depths of grooves for the ejector claw.

Thanks,

Mark
 
Had the same problem. Put in a 13# recoil spring and haven't had a problem since. The Shadow is a military type pistol and needs a hotter round to cycle...thus a lighter recoil spring. After I changed the spring the shadow is by far my favorite pistol to shoot. Good luck!
 
Not to sound rude, but how firm is your grip? (You mentioned you were still learning).

My shadow runs flawlessly for me, but when a guest at the range tried it out one day he had at least one stovepipe jam per magazine. He was clearly "limp wristing" it, and when he started to hold the pistol a bit more firmly the extraction problem was resolved once and for all. This is a very common problem for people who are new handguns.

(If you have already ruled this out, please disregard me. I'm just throwing this out there as a possibility if you are new to handguns).
 
mr_trout said:
Not to sound rude, but how firm is your grip? (You mentioned you were still learning).

My shadow runs flawlessly for me, but when a guest at the range tried it out one day he had at least one stovepipe jam per magazine. He was clearly "limp wristing" it, and when he started to hold the pistol a bit more firmly the extraction problem was resolved once and for all. This is a very common problem for people who are new handguns.

(If you have already ruled this out, please disregard me. I'm just throwing this out there as a possibility if you are new to handguns).
Click to expand...

No offense taken whatsoever, I openly admit I am learning and that is why I ask you guys so many questions :D.

My grip is pretty tight, and I believe I am holding the gun properly as per the instruction videos I've been watching. Strong (right) hand up as far under the beaver tail as it can go, strong hand thumb resting on the safety, weak hand 45 degrees down from the barrel, thumb on the side of the gun barely under the slide, and weak hand fingers overlapping the bottom few fingers of the strong hand side. As far as I know I'm not limp-wristing, but for all I know I still could be. What leads me to believe that I am not is that I shot those first 100 rounds without a single issue before I had refined my grip.

cambamboom - I had already planned on a #13 main spring, so that is good news.

Thanks again guys, the info here is awesome as per usual. I really appreciate the help.

Mark
 
As far as I know I'm not limp-wristing, but for all I know I still could be. What leads me to believe that I am not is that I shot those first 100 rounds without a single issue before I had refined my grip.
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Well I am glad you are at least aware of it. And the fact that the first 100 worked fine kind of pokes holes in a grip issue theory (unless it is a combination of factors). I found the Shadow to be very forgiving with ammo, so hopefully it will turn out to be something simple like a spring.

Best of luck.
 
Many guns need to be tuned to one degree or another for 100% reliability; Shadow is one of them. But after you work out the 'bugs', it works wonders and is one of the best guns you will ever shoot in your life.
 
Had the same problem, was using s&b 115 gr. New gun and first 150 rounds no problem. Second time out same issue as op, every mag or one after would have a fte. Shot 150 and 3rd time out still happening but less frequent. Shot 150 this time only about 4-5 times. Gun is cleaned every time out. Hopefully the gun just needs to "break in"
 
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