A new gun followed me home - can I keep it?

[Bullwolf]

I just had to share this with the folks on Cast Boolits.

I found an older CZ 75 clone. A 9mm Tanfoglio TZ 75 with a square trigger guard.
(and I love a squared trigger guard)

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=539&pictureid=3930

It points beautifully, and handles just like my old Browning Hi-power. I have heard so many good things about these guns, and I have always wanted one.

The barrel is beautiful, and if you look down it with a bore light, the finish is so smooth, that it resembles polished chrome. I am betting that it will shoot cast Boolits nicely.

I am not sure how similar it is to the newer Tanfoglio guns, or the EAA Witness line, or even if it is caliber convertible.

If it is convertible, a 40 barrel combination will be frosting on the cake for me.

Does anyone else out there have any experience with the Tanfoglio TZ 75, that they care to relate?


- Bullwolf

[bobthenailer]

Just so happens i bought one used about 2 years ago ! i installed a wolff trigger spring kit worked up some cast bullet load and all is going well after approx 3,000 rounds .
The only problem that sometimes arises with these pistols is extraction ! the fix is to install a wolff HD extractor spring .
For me the pistol shot low with every bullet weight tried , Soultion ! file the front flat of the rear sight blade which is the same angle as the slide dove tail cut which will raise the sight in the dovetail , now you have a gap under the sight, cut to fit a shim [ i used a piece of brass stock ] to fill in the gap for a tight fit , drill & tap a hole in the front of the rear sight & install a set screw . poor mans adj sights .
my brother has had one of thes pistol for mabey 15 or 20 years ! he has a 9mm with a 40 s&w conversion kit and a 40 s&w compensated 3 port barrel assy.
These guns were popular in the action shooting game in the 1980 & 90 s as a alternative to the 1911. and hold up well under alot of use.
I beleive EAA still has 40 conversions kits for sale .
CDNN investements has a 41 action express conversion for a 9mm slide that includes a 41 a&e barrel, recoil spring & 1 mag for $50.00 but how much would the brass & dies cost ? as they are rare

[eveready]

I also have a TZ75 I bought new in the early 90's. I also had problems with it shooting low. I called EAA and they had an extra high rear sight that fit. For a couple bucks it fixed the problem. It is a really great shooting gun with hard cast lead.

[Bullwolf]

The only problem that sometimes arises with these pistols is extraction ! the fix is to install a wolff HD extractor spring .
For me the pistol shot low with every bullet weight tried

I have put quite a few rounds down range through the TZ-75, and I have had a couple of issues with it as well.

As bobthenailer has said, mine also suffered from extraction problems.

It is now wearing a set of Hogue finger groove grips intended for a CZ-75, or a clone. They fit the TZ-75 just fine, and do not require the modifications that my older set of Pachmayr grips did to fit the gun.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=539&pictureid=4782


After looking up the serial number, and the 2 digit year code on mine, I found out that my gun was made in 1985.

I started to notice that about 2-3 rounds in a full box of factory ammo would fail to eject, but they would also just fall right out of the chamber if I held the slide to the rear. After carefully studying some dummy rounds I loaded up, it appeared that the extractor would often slide right over the rim.

I did not like the profile or the face of the stock extractor, so I replaced it with a modern CZ clone 3dot extractor. It had a smaller pivot hole, and I had to hand fit the extractor with some home made gunsmithing (I used a drill press, and then hand lapped it) so it would fit the size of the stock TZ roll pin that it rode on. I also replaced the extractor spring with a Wolff HD extra power extractor spring. The springs came in a 3 pack just in case I ever need to replace it again. The stock extractor spring was so weak I could manually manipulate the extractor by hand.

I figured this was a good time to replace most of the springs in the gun, including the recoil spring. I don't shoot hot, or heavy 9mm loads, so I replaced the recoil spring with a factory spec one. I also replaced the original magazine springs with +15% power ones at this time.

I did a light polish on the chamber, to remove the swirl tooling marks that were present.

I am pleased to report that I have not had one single failure to extract after doing all of the above to the gun!

Overall the gun functions quite well, and shoots to point of aim. I did not have to fuss with the sights, or point of impact. The gun is quite accurate.To me it feels like a modernized Browning Hi-Power.

I had one other issue with the gun, and an odd one at that. The slide stop broke on me at around 500-600 rounds. I have never had that happen to an auto pistol before, but I hear its a common thing with CZ race guns.

The year code on my TZ-75 (pre-1988) indicated it should have had an old dogleg slide stop.

The Image below is a good example of what a dogleg slide stop on a pre 88 TZ-75 looks like.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_187904eb8e0e55cde6.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=2636)

My TZ-75 did not come with a dogleg slide stop, so perhaps it had already been replaced before I purchased it. I had heard that EAA still has the dogleg slide stops in stock for the gun, and they did. I ordered and purchased one from them, and it fits the old Tanfoglio TZ-75. It was just somewhat odd looking. I threw it in my parts box in case I ever need it.

I learned that some of the race gun folks would use a hardened slide stop pin, and no slide lock, sometimes in conjunction with a finger rest, and some just use a grade 8 bolt. That sounded pretty Bubba to me however, but I will remember it just in case I ever have to make the gun function, without the right parts.

I also read that some of the competition CZ-75's came with a pack of 10 or so slide pin's/slide stops, and that all the competition folks always keep a spare on hand. Apparently its a re-occurring issue with the part, or the design in general. Still I don't hear of it happening so much with the newer CZ USA guns.

I tried ordering a modern style CZ-75 slide stop pin. The "New Design" to alleviate the problem with 9mm bullets "catching" on the slide stop knub, during ejection of partially loaded magazines. It fits great, and works like a champ.

It's much easier to pull a loaded mag out of the gun after you have fired a few rounds while using this slide stop, which fits and functions just fine with my stock magazines. It will hold the slide back as well with factory mags, but not my Jericho mags. Since most parts don't interchange easily between the TZ-75 and the various other CZ-75 clones, I was very pleased that this worked as well as it did. Time will tell just how reliable it will be, or if the breakage was a freak occurrence for me in the first place. It's been working great so far.

Other than the extractor hiccup that was fixed with the new style extractor & wolff extra power spring, and the need to change to a new style replacement slide stop, I really am liking this gun.

It shoots my cast 9mm loads very well, points great, and feels good in the hand. I guess you can never have too many 9mm's.


- Bullwolf

[scrapcan]

I have a springfield P-9 that is the exact same gun as a Tanfoglio 75 (actually it was made by them and assembled and marked by Sopringfield). EAA parts will fit these guns. Mine is wearing a EAA barrel as Springfield would not/could not sell me a new barrel.

I love the gun. It is however one of the most sensitive I won to having the proper grip. It is a great learning gun as it immediately shows when one limp wrists. I can make it fail to feed by limp wristing at will.

I also like the feel of the gun better with the hogue grip rather than the thick wood grips that were oem.

[rbertalotto]

Best pistol you'll ever own........Ask G. Gordon Liddy!

Enjoy it!

[Olevern]

I own a CZ-75 compact, love it.

As to whether you can keep it, guess ya better ask momma about that!

[bowfin]

How do I like them?

I own seven of them. One .38 Super, one 9x23mm, Four are .41 Action Express, and one is a 9mm/.41 Action Express convertible.

They are easy gun to shoot well.

[tacklebury]

I have a newer EAA Witness Match I really love, great trigger, accurate and hasn't jammed yet after hundreds of reloads and factory ball ammo:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U-taXThAD0c/TsRBrJAWDfI/AAAAAAAAALI/7X54338w9E8/s800/EAA-Tanfoglio_Witness_Match_45cal_Left.jpg

[beroen]

Ttt......

[Petrol & Powder]

I had a TZ-75 back in the late 1980's and it was a solid pistol. It was actually very accurate with plain old white box Winchester 9mm FMJ and was a lot of gun for the money back in the day.

[FergusonTO35]

How about the Armscor version made in the Phillipines? Centerfire Systems one county over often has them for $299.95, some of them even have Tanfoglio on the frame.

[bobthenailer]

I have since sold my Witness TZ 75 to a friend and purchased a new Witness Elite Match in 9mm built in the EAA custom shop , IMO alot of gun for the money $580.00 .since, i have seen them go up about $100.00 more but still worth it , with many desirable features over the base pistol.

[beroen]

How about the Armscor version made in the Phillipines? Centerfire Systems one county over often has them for $299.95, some of them even have Tanfoglio on the frame.

I bumped the thread because I have one of those and I love it but I started having extraction issues with it. It is just a tanfoglio sold by RIA

[rintinglen]

No, you may NOT keep it. You have to send it to me. I don't have one and you do....good heavens, I've turned into a Democrat!:kidding:

[Bullwolf]

I bumped the thread because I have one of those and I love it but I started having extraction issues with it. It is just a tanfoglio sold by RIA

Dunno if you have the same extraction problems as I did, but... A new wolf extractor spring (I used an extra power) and a replacement CZ extractor fixed my used TZ-75's extraction problems right up. It wasn't all that hard to do.


- Bullwolf

[Handloader109]

Just got email from CTD advertising Eaa SAR B6 on sale for $299 kind of intrigues me.

[mjwcaster]

Just got email from CTD advertising Eaa SAR B6 on sale for $299 kind of intrigues me.

A quick search turned up cheaper prices else where and no dealing with CTD.

Even found some mags in stock, a big consideration since I have a gun that you cannot find reasonable priced factory mags for.

Yes it is an interesting pistol, added to my long wish list.