CZ Shadow 2...

hlpressley

hlpressley

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I know there is a tremendous amount of love for CZ handguns here and rightfully so as they are generally amazing guns. I have owned more than a few and still have a couple including a newly acquired Shadow 2 that I picked up from KyGun Co a few weeks ago. This post will be specifically about that particular gun. As mentioned this wasn't my first experience with a CZ so as soon as I decided to order the gun I also ordered the necessary parts from David @ CGW, a Bladetech holster, belt, etc. I have come to expect great quality from CZ's and didn't have any expectations of this one being any different. I received the gun on the 22nd and immediately began to put it through the paces running drills. I ran Bill drills, Blake drills, 2 on 3, etc. Fit, function, and look was just as I expected, amazing. I broke it all down and cleaned it up really well and began the polishing and the installation of the CGW parts. Took me and a buddy about 2.5 hours as we made sure to polish every contact point as best we could to make sure the gun operated as smooth as it could. It worked, just like all of the others than I have done the same to. The trigger came out as good if not better than any Shadow that I have ever owned. I was extremely pleased with the feel.

Fast forward to the 28th when I took it to the club where I could setup some targets and really work the gun and familiarize myself it with in it's intended habitat, the competition range. I decided to see where it was hitting at 25 yards to see if I needed to make any adjustments to the sights. I fired 10 shots at a USPSA head box aiming at the center. This may not be the most scientific test, but it is how I have tested the accuracy in all of my competition handguns. I can't see holes in a target at 25 yards so after firing the 10 shots I proceeded to walk to the target and the closer I got I realized there was only 4 holes in the target. Yep, I had missed 6 of the 10 shots. Ok, I am human, and certainly not a GM so I decided to load it up again and try it again. Pasted the 4 holes and repeated the test. Walked down to the target and I see only 5 holes this time. I was perplexed to say the least. Those that know me will tell you that accuracy has and will always be my strong point. I generally shoot top 5-10% of points in most any match. With this said, I don't miss 11 of 20 head shots at 25 yards. I decided to shoot the lower Alpha box at 10 yards to see how the gun would group hoping this would help me understand what was happening at 25. It did indeed, a 3.5" group at 10 yards! Yep, 3.5" at 10 yards!! What the heck?

I have since had 3 buddies shoot the pistol at different times. They are all 3 as good if not better than I am. Same result, same buckshot looking group at 10 yards. I have tried 6 different projectiles of different manufactures, weights, and ogives. We even tried a few types of factory loads. Same result. How can a gun this nice have accuracy this bad? I can shoot my 5" M&P that everyone likes to make fun of at 25 yards and have tighter groups than this gun will produce at 10!

I know this is a really long post and if you have got this far, thanks! If you have any suggestions please let me know. I have owned more handguns in the last 5-6 years than I care to admit. I have a range at my house where I shoot most every day and shoot matches probably 75% of the weekends. As I said, I am no GM but I know my way around a handgun. I am as perplexed as I have ever been with any gun. Any advice and or recommendations is appreciated.
 
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If you have access to a Ransom rest I'd put it through its paces that way, document it all and send it back to CZ. Sounds like there is some inherent flaw. Or at the least use some kind of rest and shoot some groups at a couple distances. CZ service is supposedly very good, but detailing as much as you can can't hurt. If everything obvious looks good I'd guess barrel too.
 
Butter said:
Barrel bushing was my initial thought. Or sleeve, whatever that thing is
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This is what I was thinking too. I had a 75BD that was awful, too. Put in a new bushing and voila, MUCH better.
Iffn I was OP, I'd give that a try. If it doesnt help, then I would start thinking out of spec barrel
 
CZfool68 said:
If you have access to a Ransom rest I'd put it through its paces that way, document it all and send it back to CZ. Sounds like there is some inherent flaw. Or at the least use some kind of rest and shoot some groups at a couple distances. CZ service is supposedly very good, but detailing as much as you can can't hurt. If everything obvious looks good I'd guess barrel too.
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Trying to locate a Ransom type rest now. No luck so far without buying one myself. I will try bags tomorrow perhaps.
 
FlatFender said:
What ammo are you shooting through it? OAL? Bullet weight?
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I have tried several Lucas. 115 gr, 124, 125, 135, 147, etc. Blue Bullets, Xtreme, Acme, Bayou, etc. All were around 1.14'ish OAL and passed my Hundo and Dillon gauge as well as the traditional barrel plunk test. I have even tried three types of powders, Titegroup, VV N320, and Cleanshot.
 
Check out the 2.25 sec area. Accu bushing improves slide to barrel fit

 
I understand what the barrel bushing does and how a tighter bushing theoretically could produce tighter groups. However, my question is shouldn't the factory supplied barrel bushing produce better accuracy than this? Should I expect to have to replace the barrel bushing immediately on a $1200 gun so that it will shoot as well as my $300 M&P Shield?
 
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hlpressley said:
I understand what the barrel bushing does and how a tighter bushing theoretically could produce tighter groups. However, my question is shouldn't the factory supplied barrel bushing produce better accuracy than this? Should I expect to have to replace the barrel bushing immediately on a $1200 gun so that it will shoot as well as my $300 M&P Shield?
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That's why I asked about the ammo, but since you've tried so much ammo, I'm inclined to think it's something weird with the gun.

Maybe try slugging the barrel to get an idea if it's oversized or something?
 
Sounds like the cajun gun works 10x bushing could be in your future. I agree that gun should shoot better groups than that though. From what Ive read that bushing can take poor shooting guns and make them much better.
 
When you put it through the shake down, how was the accuracy then?
 
hlpressley said:
I understand what the barrel bushing does and how a tighter bushing theoretically could produce tighter groups. However, my question is shouldn't the factory supplied barrel bushing produce better accuracy than this? Should I expect to have to replace the barrel bushing immediately on a $1200 gun so that it will shoot as well as my $300 M&P Shield?
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No, the stock SP-01 I had with a CZ Custom action job shot better than that. @amnesia might be able to chime in as he has that gun now.

If all else fails you could just grab a nice 1911! :p
 
CZfool68 said:
No, the stock SP-01 I had with a CZ Custom action job shot better than that. @amnesia might be able to chime in as he has that gun now.

If all else fails you could just grab a nice 1911! :p
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I've never had any issues with my stock Shadow. If you were closer I'd let you shoot mine for comparison.
 
Tony Sinclair is the only other guy I know that shoots a 2
 
IMG_2260.JPG

Here is the first 7 shots I ever fired for a group out of this CZ. This is about 12 yards casually shooting off a table. Forearms rested but not gun. You can see I pulled the first shot high right.
Cheap white box 115 grain.

This is a 600$ CZ, so I would expect accuracy at least this good from a Shadow 2.

You have a gun issue and I think you should contact CZ for a return. Pain in the ass, but if your barrel/bushing fit doesn't seem obviously sloppy, not sure how much a CGW bushing will help. Is there any obvious damage to crown?
I'd send them a group shot from your 2011 and a group shot with yer S2. That should clear anything up. Or use another CZ or two. But heck they can shoot gun and see its jacked.

I bet they will fix you up! What a bummer though for a new gun! Sorry you have to deal with this.
 
The one thing I have noticed with several Shadow 2's I've handled was kinda rough frame rails/ fit. But didn't seem to affect accuracy.
But I admit I didn't shoot groups with them.
But whenever I shoot a gun, the first thing I do is try to put rounds on top of each other on a clean part of a target, and never noticed anything like that!
 
I own a Shadow 2 and if you do your part the gun is more than capable of keeping everything in the X ring at 10 yards. In the right hands, not mine, it can make a single ragged hole in a target if we are talking about slow fire. The same is true for the other CZs that I own or have owned in the past. I know you know your way around a gun but just to double check have you looked at and verified the following:

How is the lockup on your particular gun? Is it tight? My Shadow 2 is tight. Not Les Baer tight but solid for a production gun. CZs tend to have a very good lockup at the rear but as others have mentioned the front bushing can be a little loose. CGW sells their 10X bushing to correct that little bit of slop in the front but with the accuracy you are reporting that is not the issue IMHO.

How is the crown on the barrel? Does everything look good from the front end? Sometimes a small imperfection in the right/wrong place can cause issues but again with the accuracy you are reporting the defect on a pistol barrel crown would have to be substantial.

What parts did you install from CGW? Was it their Shadow 2 kit? https://cajungunworks.com/product/75800-shadow-s-2-kit/ Any other spring changes? Sometimes a weak or low powered recoil spring can cause inconsistent lockup from one shot to the next.

If all these things check out I would simply give CZ USA a call. They have an online form that you can fillout. They will send you a prepaid label and you put your gun into its original case and ship it back. Turn time is quoted as 4-6 weeks. Which is not great but not horrible. I my experience CZ customer service is good and if you say your "dog don't hunt" they are not going to argue with you or question your shooting ability. They will tell you to send the gun in.
 
wvsig said:
I own a Shadow 2 and if you do your part the gun is more than capable of keeping everything in the X ring at 10 yards. In the right hands, not mine, it can make a single ragged hole in a target if we are talking about slow fire. The same is true for the other CZs that I own or have owned in the past. I know you know your way around a gun but just to double check have you looked at and verified the following:

How is the lockup on your particular gun? Is it tight? My Shadow 2 is tight. Not Les Baer tight but solid for a production gun. CZs tend to have a very good lockup at the rear but as others have mentioned the front bushing can be a little loose. CGW sells their 10X bushing to correct that little bit of slop in the front but with the accuracy you are reporting that is not the issue IMHO.

How is the crown on the barrel? Does everything look good from the front end? Sometimes a small imperfection in the right/wrong place can cause issues but again with the accuracy you are reporting the defect on a pistol barrel crown would have to be substantial.

What parts did you install from CGW? Was it their Shadow 2 kit? https://cajungunworks.com/product/75800-shadow-s-2-kit/ Any other spring changes? Sometimes a weak or low powered recoil spring can cause inconsistent lockup from one shot to the next.

If all these things check out I would simply give CZ USA a call. They have an online form that you can fillout. They will send you a prepaid label and you put your gun into its original case and ship it back. Turn time is quoted as 4-6 weeks. Which is not great but not horrible. I my experience CZ customer service is good and if you say your "dog don't hunt" they are not going to argue with you or question your shooting ability. They will tell you to send the gun in.
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I will give them a call tomorrow. Hate for it to be gone that long as that really sidetracks the upcoming competition season.

Lockup is tight. Almost as tight as my custom 2011. Tighter than any of my other CZ’s. The barrel bushing to barrel fit seems as solid as you’d want two pieces to be that move against one another.

Nothing looks abnormal about the crown of the barrel. I’m no gunsmith though. I actually know very little about working on guns. I just load ammo and shoot them! I usually have folks work on my Guns for me if they need something beyond the basic maintenance. Especially on my competition guns.

I didn’t install the entire kit from CGW. Just the basics. 11lb mainspring, extended firing pin and reduced power spring, floating trigger pin and reduced power trigger return spring. I also installed a 11lb recoil spring but thought about the early lockup release that you mentioned so I went back to the factory spring, same results.

I think there is an issue with the barrel itself. Just not sure what else it could be. Although, as previously mentioned, I’m far from a gunsmith and have no problem admitting that.
 
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I'm not that familiar with CZs but from what you are describing I believe it will be barrel or chamber related. I would definitely call them tomorrow. That model is purpose built and should do a lot better out the box! Keep us posted on what you find out.
 
Once in awhile there's a stinker!
They'll probably just stick a new barrel in it and send it back.
 
NKD said:
Once in awhile there's a stinker!
They'll probably just stick a new barrel in it and send it back.
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Yep he got one made on Monday morning or Friday afternoon!
 
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hlpressley said:
I will give them a call tomorrow. Hate for it to be gone that long as that really sidetracks the upcoming competition season.

Lockup is tight. Almost as tight as my custom 2011. Tighter than any of my other CZ’s. The barrel bushing to barrel fit seems as solid as you’d want two pieces to be that move against one another.

Nothing looks abnormal about the crown of the barrel. I’m no gunsmith though. I actually know very little about working on guns. I just load ammo and shoot them! I usually have folks work on my Guns for me if they need something beyond the basic maintenance. Especially on my competition guns.

I didn’t install the entire kit from CGW. Just the basics. 11lb mainspring, extended firing pin and reduced power spring, floating trigger pin and reduced power trigger return spring. I also installed a 11lb recoil spring but thought about the early lockup release that you mentioned so I went back to the factory spring, same results.

I think there is an issue with the barrel itself. Just not sure what else it could be. Although, as previously mentioned, I’m far from a gunsmith and have no problem admitting that.
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Everything screams bad barrel. I would also call David at CGW and just go over the parts you installed and describe the accuracy or lack of accuracy you are seeing and get his 2 cents. I am not a a gunsmith or much of a tinkerer myself so you are only getting my best WAG. David surely will have more insight and CGW is always very helpful.
 
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