People get service rifles like that because of their history, not "just for fun". People get mosins just to fuck around with, everyone I ever saw get an M14 clone always thought they were going to be some kind of Carlos Hathcock clone with it when the truth of the matter is it's just a shitty, temperamental rifle that requires a lot of expense to anywhere close to "accurate". I've never seen anyone pick one of these up just to do stupid mag dumps with and not care.
Edit: at the end of the day, it's his money and he asked for opinions. I personally wouldn't get one based on it's reputation from people I trust and have learned from but if the dude has his heart set on it, why not? Go crazy, it likely won't blow up on him.
Weird things to say considering the other 2 popular rifles in that category are FAL and G3 clones that you'd be hard pressed to justify buying for anything except fun.
They're each ~9lbs empty, got unusual manual of arms (by modern standards), have some quirks to be mindful of, absolutely outdated and inferior to a decent AR10 in pretty much every way, and less easy to maintain when things eventually bust.
Weird things to say considering the other 2 popular rifles in that category are FAL and G3 clones that you'd be hard pressed to justify buying for anything except fun.
They're each ~9lbs empty, got unusual manual of arms (by modern standards), have some quirks to be mindful of, absolutely outdated and inferior to a decent AR10 in pretty much every way, and less easy to maintain when things eventually bust.
Also, I don't know if it's just me, but every CZ I've ever owned gets scratched up pretty easily, so I don't think it would look wrong or out of place in a lineup of similarly aged and used guns.
it's a commercialized adaptation of an "okay" service rifle that a lot of people have nostalgia for. it has good potential for competitive accuracy with some investment and work, however out of the box it's fairly average. Springfield uses an 8620 steel alloy cast receiver which is fine for virtually all normal uses but can crack at the heel if dropped unassembled (vs forged receivers that tend to deform instead). it's going to be more accurate than you are, though, as are most rifles. be aware that specialty parts are widely available in the US and are sometimes more expensive than what you might expect. the 10 round magazine is a bit annoying because of how short it is, you can really only use fingertips to remove it. you can use some spare shoe lace to loop through a punched hole at the base of the magazine (drain hole) and one you make yourself at the rear of the magazine (no larger than 1/8") so you have something to help extract with, as the magazines are not typically drop free.
yes, although it would depend on your specific CZ-75B: if it's old enough to not have the stainless steel slide/frame that was powder/epoxy coated and painted (TuffCoat), then you can just parkerize the parts and card off anything that gets too much build up.
alternately, if it was made after around 1980 (stainless slide) or 1991 (stainless or aluminum frame) then you can do a duracoat shake and bake with an aerosol application:
detail strip the gun into individual parts (removing all pins and springs, et c), prepare the frame and slide metal by degreasing and then to remove surface roughness, use. scotchbrite or fine sandpaper and be mindful to use a backer appropriate to the the contour of the work surface (round for round, flat for flat, do not round over corners). with some polish (mother's mag or brasso) take out any scratches leftover and make the surface uniform. this is all light tough stuff, you aren't trying to remove metal, just polish the surface.
use gloves when handling to avoid putting grease or oil on the parts. if you feel paranoid, use simple green or something to degrease again. once the surface is in good order and clean and dry, bake the parts at 150 degrees in your oven for an hour to outgas and seep out any oil you missed.
in a safe, ventilated area make some test sprays for the color you like on a piece of scrap metal and get the hang of using the aerosol. it works like krylon: smooth, even, continuous strokes that start and end off the piece, applied thinly several times. using some wire, suspend the frame and any other major parts in your painting area and shake the duracoat can for at least two minutes, and use the included tool to puncture the hardener reservoir and shake it up for another two minutes.
you now have less than four hours to apply the contents of the can to your parts. smooth, even, continuous strokes applied in thin layers with the nozzle about a foot away from the surface, allowing a minute or two between strokes to set and examine your work piece for any gaps in the coating. once satisfied that you got everything evenly, take the parts and bake them in an oven at 150 to evaporate the solvent carrier from the coating. any paint runs or drips are because they were applied too closely or thickly in that spot - you want thin coats.
for small parts, you will only want to do maybe one or two coats - duracoat adds material, so be careful applying to pins. if you want a polished/smooth look, you can use wet sanding between coats to smooth it out after baking and before the next coat.
repeat these steps 3 times. allow to air dry in a cool, dry, area. duracoat is dry and safe to handle after about an hour (to move parts around, not to assemble or use just yet), and is cured within 12 hours in most climates - i like to play it safe and allow 24 hours to fully cure.
duracoat is not meant to be a permanent finish when applied in this way - it's a good finish for a gun you intend to use that needs some paint on it for protection and looks that will last a couple hunting seasons of rough handling. cerakote is more durable in some circumstances, but just like duracoat, the home application is not as durable as what you can get if it's done by a professional.
examples:
after a year of daily carry: View attachment 1674778
after a year of field use rattling around in a vehicle, note that duracoat needs some surface treatments to be removed prior to application. your CZ should not have this issue: View attachment 1674781
That has nothing to do with people buying those 3 rifles for fun. Feel free to rattle off how the m14 is a piece of crap vs those 2 though. For an actual service rifle I'd agree and so would countries around the world, but for an individual owner, particularly in California, it's a great gun.
If you're limited to one long gun and you don't want it fucked by CA's stupid laws, get a Tikka T3x in .308. At least then you're not stuck unshittifying a M14.
Brownings are nice; I’ve always wanted a BLR in .308 or maybe .358. (I like levers in general; I’d really like a new Savage 99 in .308 or a Ruger 96 in .44 mag. Too bad the market wasn’t there for these rifles)
Brownings are nice; I’ve always wanted a BLR in .308 or maybe .358. (I like levers in general; I’d really like a new Savage 99 in .308 or a Ruger 96 in .44 mag. Too bad the market wasn’t there for these rifles)
Never really appreciated them until I got to shoot one, now I definitely need one. Been eyeing an older BAR mk.2 in .270 but someone snatched it up. Levers are a ton of fun, I'm waiting for Ruger's new Marlins to come out, will get a 45-70.
They're not allowed to keep them, we have a dumbass war trophy rule now. I think they were destroyed but I'm not 100%, I'll have to ask him in the morning.
Gun stores near me are now out of anything that aren't niche revolver cartridges like .41 Mag or even .45 Colt. Most stores around me would still get in shipments at least once a week but those have since dried up. For a while 10mm was readily available and I'm now sitting on a pile of it that I got while the getting was still good but even that's gone now.
