Zastava ez9 issues

[SgtBrummy]

Hello all,
My friend owns a zastava ez9 that is having feeding issues. The gun fires straight and accurate but the slide sometimes does not go all the way forward not allowing the gun to fire.

I am not too familiar with these guns so I went through all the basic steps to resolve this problem. We tried different magazines, different type rounds, gave it a good oil bath(not too much) and it is still doing it.

I'm trying to see if there is anything more I can do before having him send it back to EAA. I have read great reviews on this gun and would hate to see him with a lemon on his first gun purchase. Kinda puts a bad taste in the mouth of new shooters. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Angered_Kabar]

I'd just send it back and see if they could fix it.

 

[Lobo_79]

Hello all,
My friend owns a zastava ez9 that is having feeding issues. The gun fires straight and accurate but the slide sometimes does not go all the way forward not allowing the gun to fire.

I am not too familiar with these guns so I went through all the basic steps to resolve this problem. We tried different magazines, different type rounds, gave it a good oil bath(not too much) and it is still doing it. ...

When it does this can you return the gun to battery by giving the rear of the slide a light tap? If so he may only need a replacement recoil spring. Without knowing how many rounds have been put through this gun and whether it has been "re-sprung" there it is a possibility it just may need a spring tuneup.

 

[cuate]

I am not familiar with the Zastava ez9, mine is a M88A 9mm, I am heading for Google to look at that one...

 

[cuate]

Back again after googling the Zastava EZ9....Completely different from my M88A, larger pistol with all the bells and whistles, ambi safety, the works....As to the problem, were it mine, back to the supplier, I am sure that EAA is a reputable company and will make things right...Either a fix or new pistol. The ad stated that it has an alloy frame, in my books better than polymer. My M88 is steel framed, not near the pistol as yours but I love it. Sorry to be a buttinsky but just wanted to help. There may be an EZ9 in my future, darn well worth the cost !

 

[M. Sage]

Make sure the feed ramp doesn't need polishing. If these are built anything like the Israeli Golan version I've had a chance to look at, they're one step above "Khyber Pass"...

 

[SgtBrummy]

When it does this can you return the gun to battery by giving the rear of the slide a light tap? If so he may only need a replacement recoil spring. Without knowing how many rounds have been put through this gun and whether it has been "re-sprung" there it is a possibility it just may need a spring tuneup.

It will go forward with a slight tap. Thought about it being the spring but it's been doing it since it came out of the box. Starting doing it the first day we took it to the range. It's my friends gun but I am always in the market. If he sends it back and they adjust the problem, it would be an outstanding gun. May have to get one myself

 

[M. Sage]

I'd bet it needs a polish job on the ramp.

 

[Lobo_79]

It will go forward with a slight tap. Thought about it being the spring but it's been doing it since it came out of the box. Starting doing it the first day we took it to the range. It's my friends gun but I am always in the market. If he sends it back and they adjust the problem, it would be an outstanding gun. May have to get one myself

Copy...FWIW: If it were mine I'd try an extra power magazine spring first. This could be a cheap fix compared to the cost of returning the gun to the factory. To some extent you could verify this by cycling a full magazine through the gun manually ~ with extreme caution obviously. I had a similar problem with my CZ75B .40S&W. I found that if the gun cycled manually without issue it would fire properly. The corollary was that if it hung up when chambering the first round or when manually cycling the gun it would not fire properly either. This is not an absolute but it turned out to be true for my CZ.

I wouldn't discourage anybody from returning a gun to the factory for repair. But I also think you can learn a lot by trying to fix the problem yourself. In the case of my CZ it turned out to be two issues: the weak recoil spring and a weak magazine spring that couldn't hold the heavier .40 S&W round in position correctly.