How to get rid of the infamous CZ/VZ gremlin

We'll likely offer it again, but in pre-paid blocks. Once we get 10-12 orders we'll give info when to send in.

It takes very little more time to do a pile of them as it does to do one or two. We were doing a few a week, but not at the same time.. We're too busy in the shop to organize the work lately. With pre determined "tabbing dates" we may be able to offer this again in the future.
 
Hi ,I thought I would let you all know ,I seem to have cured my gremlin by bending the leaf spring under the sear up by about 1/4".
I don't know if this will be permanent but at least it goes bang when I pull the trigger now.
Does any one know of a source for a stiffer spring?
 
Last edited:
Update:
quick trip to the range with bent up sear spring, and 100 more rounds without a ftf.
My friends cz also had the gremlin and after bending the spring he ran 40 or so shots without a ftf.
 
Last edited:
I was thinking ...if it's possible to shim up the spring with a washer or two that might be a better solution than bending the spring.

Update:we ran another 75 (175total)rounds through it today and I had no problems but my friend had 2 FTF's .If it happens again I'll be trying the shim.
Otherwise I am still really pleased with my new toy.
 
Last edited:
That shim idea is a good one. I don't have a gremlin problem (yet), but I would like to find out if that one works if anyone with a gremlin plagued gun wants to try it.
 
So I got my 858 in November and the gremlin manifested my first trip out. Although my problem seemed different. My bolt didn't travel forward, It would not. No matter how many times I would pull the trigger nada. Upon inspecting the internals the trigger group was shifting to the left whenever I pull the trigger. What I did was get the smallest internal snap ring I could find and inserted it around the trigger pin from below so it is between the trigger and the receiver making sure the trigger group doesn't slide to the left. It seems to have solved all my woes and seems to be stable but will give range report on saturday.
 
Xman said:
Most likely you won't have a problem ever. The gremlin is a function of the striker nose pushing the sear down just a tiny bit too far...it could be as little as 1/100 of an inch. That makes the sear rehook the disconnector and get locked in the down position before the striker nose had a chance to get hooked on the sear.

If you haven't experienced it it in 2000 rounds, it's safe to say that the parts are fitted together in such a way that they don't facilitated that malfunction.
Click to expand...

I put about 2500 rounds through mine before I first experienced the gremlin, sometimes I go out with it and it doesnt happen once, other times I go out and its every other shot. VERY frustrating. I have been using the corrosive ammo though, so that may be a factor. (I'm 19 and I find the affordability of the ammo to be a godsend)
 
Took the 858 shooting today and fired 55 more for a total of 230 with the bent spring!
Also brought along my .375 and fired my buddies .505 Gibbs,I'll remember that one.

update 285 rounds
 
Last edited:
I have an FSN-01 from Marstar and if I squeeze the trigger it will not reset. I have to eject the live round and re-#### the action in order to fire. But if I pull the trigger the gun works fine. Is this the so called gremlin ???
 
Undergiver said:
I have an FSN-01 from Marstar and if I squeeze the trigger it will not reset. I have to eject the live round and re-#### the action in order to fire. But if I pull the trigger the gun works fine. Is this the so called gremlin ???
Click to expand...

Yes. Working the trigger slowly seems to increase the frequency of the gremlin.
 
goldidig said:
I'm at a crate and a half after doing Cyaniderides' fix and not a single "Gremlin" issue has ever occured again. That cured my Gremlin totally with no welding or filing at all. You couldn't get a much cheaper fix! :D
Click to expand...

I'm on my third 858 now with this fix without any issues... No I didn't sell because I didn't like, I sold because I wanted a Rauch Tactical finished one... That is all...

fingers said:
How is the additional spring held in place?
Click to expand...

The leaf spring is an "L" shape with the short part of the "L" facing downwards. This is what holds the spring in place (along with a little downwards pressure)

jeff270 said:
Hi ,I thought I would let you all know ,I seem to have cured my gremlin by bending the leaf spring under the sear up by about 1/4".
I don't know if this will be permanent but at least it goes bang when I pull the trigger now.
Does any one know of a source for a stiffer spring?
Click to expand...

Not that I know of. The spring method I covered in post #64 does essentially what you are doing with abit more consistence.

Applying more upwards pressure.

The problem with bending the leaf spring is that it can be inconsistent sometimes and cause that dreaded "click" at the most inopportune time.

I may have overestimated the strength of the spring initially, but I wanted to make sure it'll never "click" again unless it's time for a reload :)
 
So I have read all of this post 'cause I HAD the Gremlin, and I was surprised to see how many people had it. After reading, I decided to try adding a spring under the sear and sear spring. It definatelly increased the trigger weight, but to my pleasure no more problems. I shot 80 rounds without any issues and I had issues every 2-3 rounds before. So thanks to everybody for the good info.

Now I did not have access to a spring easilly. So I found in my shop an old bifold door rail with the plastic ride. It happened to have a couple of spring in it with the good diameters. I cut it to lenght, inserted it under the sear spring and VOILA!!! Cheap (free) solution. And my accuracy was not overly affacted by the heavier trigger weight.

To complete my mods, I also have a Scout mount bas and a red dot sight on my rifle. I followed the instructions given by Curtton and removed metal on the bridge of the forearm an on the front lugs. Now I can shoot as much corrosive ammo as I want and i can clean the rifle every time. Makes lifeso much easier.

Thanks everybody for the good info.
 
What percentage of CZ 858's have the Gremlin, if someone would care to guess?

The CZ is my first firearm purchase, and I haven't fired it yet.
 
mine never had it till i read this thread! beware! lol! of course i had just installed a red do and was sighting it in(slower trigger pull)
removed the spring and tweeked it up 1/4" still has problems but with a lot less frequency,
more bend? if i break it can i get a new one? can u get the original? would it have what appears to be the broken off tang to engage the r/h side?
not confident in rifle...:(
 
Of the three I had purchased, two of them had the gremlin, the third came with a tabbed bolt carrier and I plan to run it hard next week to test.

Wolfgang at Wolverine supplies should be able to set you up properly if you ever break anything. It was there I was able to order two firing pins (which noone else had) and some other stuff.

I've heard that the original designs had two "tangs" and one had to be cut off to meet "Canadian requirements" not sure how much of it is true, but it does indeed look like there has been one tang cut off.

The issue might be the amount of upwards pressure the spring can provide with consistency.

In all seriousness, for a quick fix, do the spring mod. If that isn't to your liking, you can get the bolt carrier tabbed, but there is a wait for that :)
 
I have a restricted and a non res cz858 have been shooting the res one most, after a couple thousand rnds the gremlin showed up. wasn't sure which way to go, looked at a buddies csa vz58 and made a tab to weld on my bolt carrier, what a pain, tiny little part to grind then welding it is tedeious must be careful not to melt through and plug up the hole that the striker slides through. Hard to do still had to file the inside of the hole. haven't tried it out yet since we have a ### 7.62 fmj ban at our club in town. Note it didn't weld that nice (used a tig to do the welding) will let know if it's the cure
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom