The Riley Build!
The Riley Build
First I have to thank everyone involved who did a fantastic job on this special project that raised money for Riley Children's Hospital! I received Riley from our Grand Master the Churchmouse at his compound after he had the engraving done locally and it turned out extremely well done. I had all the CGW parts on hand from Birds Away to convert Riley to SAO!
My first task was to install the 10X bushing that is around .0045 smaller in diameter than the stock bushing which really makes for a solid barrel to bushing, no play. This task is not easy but is accomplished by freezing the bushing overnight and doing a little work on the inside of the slide to help the bushing install. This bushing is held secure by the front sight pin so alignment of the cross groove on the top of the 10X is critical with the front sight pin holes.
Next is installing the Extended firing pin with its reduced power firing pin spring both secured by the slide cross pin. I removed the firing pin lifter block and spring from to slide, this is done to reduce excessive take up on the trigger. Now it was sight install time, we went with a target rear and a green fiber optic front that just draws your eye to it. After its first test shoot I had to drift the rear sight to the right a smidge. The slide is now complete.
Next the slide release spring is put in place secured by a freakin tiny pin and dang it is not an easy install. The next thing I did was to prep the frame by polishing, smoothing the inside of the frame where the trigger bar makes contact because the cerakote is a little rough on the inside so I did not remove cerakote but smoothed it. Also inside the frame where the hammer moves, basically I smooth all contact areas inside the frame. Jon did a great job on cerakoting by not getting it in certain places, as I requested, and making assembly much easier!
Now I polish the hammer strut where the mainspring rides so it does not have any rough edges. Then the hammer pin, sear cage pin, sear cage contact points on the underside where the trigger bar makes contact when it slides under it. All contact points of the trigger bar are polished. The bottom grooves where the trigger bar spring rides gets polished. Special attention is given to the contact area or face of the trigger bar that contacts the lower leg of the sear. When assembling the sear cage using the adjustable sear I removed the firing pin lifter arm and the tiny lifter arm spring and replaced it with a spacer completing removal of the firing pin block.
At this point the race hammer is connected to the hammer strut using CGW hardened hammer pin. It is now time to assemble all the goodies! First the trigger bar, trigger assembly is slid into place with the reduced power trigger return spring secured by the removable trigger pin.
Second is to put in the race hammer, strut assembly, hammer pin, the hammer pin stop pin and the safety detent with spring go in.
Third the sear cage assembly can be dropped into the frame with its locator notch sliding into the back of the frame. The safety lever secures the sear cage to the frame. Now it is time to put in the 11.5 lbs. mainspring secured with a new strut cross pin. CGW SS-Lube Moly Grease was used on all friction points.
This is when I put the slide on and start to adjust the SAO straight trigger. The reach reduction has to be adjusted to allow for a positive reset of the trigger after a round is fired and releasing the trigger. On a CZ you can set it and it will reset with aggressive moving of the slide but when you are at the range during live fire sometimes it will not reset. After you find the happy place with the reach adjustment I set the over travel screw.
If I remember correctly the take up and reset on Riley are about .100 maybe less. The SA is about 2.10 lbs. After test firing I was happy with the reset and then put red Loctite on the reach screw, blue is used for the over travel screw.
I thought Riley turned out excellent all around and proved to be a great shooter and enjoyed by many at pack-Indy’s compound. There were a few covert operators who rang steel at 200 yds. Even though some were bounced into the steel by using a special shooting platform McGivered on the spot!
Thanks!
The Wizard
Some of you are aware of this project, but I wanted to explain it a bit more. This was a major effort by all involved and their efforts should not go unnoticed.
Let me start at the beginning..... Back around the holidays member canterbc did something that just left me in shock. He offered up an opportunity to win one of those MTM plastic ammo boxes. He did not have to do this, after all we were all strangers to him. I did not want to participate because I do not like accepting things like that. I thought about it for awhile and decided that if I had offered up the same thing, I'd be upset if people didn't jump on it. So I threw my hat in with the promise that if I should win, I would pay it forward in some way. I did not win, but ideas started flowing...
My brotherman Travis (T-DOGG) was the lucky winner for the ammo can, he had the same thoughts about paying it forward somehow, but didn't know what to do. I came up with this idea to have a raffle for a gun, he thought I was nuts. I even thought I was nuts. The original idea was to try to generate enough money to purchase a brand new CZ or purchase a CGW CZ. That just didn't seem right for this group.
I was getting hung up on the logistics of the project, so I needed help. I approached Tim (Churchmouse) with the idea and my concerns. He had the same concerns and we just needed to think on it for a little bit. This is where the idea changed a bit. There is just too much talent in this group to not utilize it. That's where I decided that it needed to be a custom one off gun built by members of the group. I had already started to look around for the perfect candidate and then it popped up. A surplus '99 model 75B on Armslist in Muncie. That's where I got the CZ guru involved. I approached Rick (Birds Away) with this idea, he had concerns as well, but this is where the project took a truly special turn. He said rather than raising funds to pay for the build, let's donate the money to a charity. A couple were mentioned, but it was decided that Riley Children's Hospital was the best fit. We decided to just go for it!
Timing couldn't have been better. I was already set to meet up with Tim (88E30M50) around the Muncie area that following Saturday to purchase a couple guns from him. I got ahold of the Armslist guy and arranged a meet up, asked Tim if he'd be willing to drive a little further to meet with this guy at his work early in the morning, I told him it was for a super secret project, he agreed. So we met the guy, I checked the gun out and made the purchase.
Project Riley was officially underway, I was super stoked (still am)! The very next day I got together with Travis to run her through her paces. She performed flawless. Then we started to brainstorm about how she should be transformed. I was to do the Cerakote work on her, The Wizard was to do all the parts install, mechanical build up and tuning. I really wanted her to be special, different, stand out. It took a couple tries with DOGG's computer skills and Paint program (he was getting pretty frustrated with me)... We thought we had a game plan down, was later changed for the better IMHO.
First order of business was to get her completely stripped down. We pretty much had a game plan for her mechanically. I was still up in the air about colors. Had to figure out what to do about that horrible import mark the surplus guns get before their trip over here. I researched many different options, found one that I thought should work and gave it a try. I began experimenting with colors at this time, she needed to be different. No out of the bottle color would work. I wasted a lot of Cerakote in this process, but came up with the perfect color. 50/50 mix of Blue Titanium and Tungsten, I call it CZickness Blue. Graphite black slide and controls.
Color was done and she looked really good! Tim (88) had offered to donate some grips when I bought the gun. We wanted grips that went with the heirloom vibe. DOGG found the perfect set. She was ready for her next process. We had discussed having some laser etch work done somewhere on the gun, struggled finding the right spot on a 75B, but figured it out last minute. Next she found her way to the mouse man who got her to Wendall at Indy Laser Engraving for a special touch. Wendall was kind enough to donate his work and time to this project, major thanks goes to him for that!
Her final trip was over to see the Wizard to make her back into a firearm! I will let him explain what he did to her.
This project was a huge effort by several folks in here and pretty stressful for some. The whole thing turned out way better that any of us ever thought it would.
Many many thanks to all those involved and all who participated.
Canterbc, none of this would have ever happened if it hadn't have been for your generosity with the ammo box giveaway. Thank you, sir. I hope to meet you in person soon.
Rick, Riley wouldn't be what she is without your donation of the parts to build her. Your generosity astounds me. You are a truly special person and I am honored to call you a friend. Thanks "Uncle Rick".
Losey, This would not have been possible without you. You are amazing at what you do and one could argue that this group exists solely because of you and your work. Thank you, sir. She turned out absolutely stunning!
Tim (mouse), you further inspired this build with your talks of what Riley Hospital did for your family. Thank you for running her around and taking care of the laser work for us. That helped out tremendously and it turned out fantastic! Thanks, "gramps"!
Tim (88), thank you for meeting me that day this all started. None of us would even be able to hold Riley without your donation. I do believe those grips were well liked and I know I will be using them on a future build.
Travis, bro I could not have done this without you. You were the heart and sole of making all of this happen. I know it was a logistical nightmare, but you handled it perfectly. P.S. I won't tell anyone about the hug you gave me.
Big shoutout to Wendall at Indy Laser Engraving. Nice work! Turned out exactly how we envisioned.
When all was said and done we raised a whopping $1475 to donate to Riley Children's Hospital!!! Well done friends! This will not be the last gun we do like this, so hang on.
Big Congrats go out to Chris and Henrietta who got to bring her home! You guys are awesome and I love the both of ya. I hope you really enjoy her and let as many people as possible give her a go!
This is why INGO is amazing. I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the coolest, kindest and most generous people right here. I am honored to call all of you friends and I look forward to many more happy years shooting together.
Thanks again to everyone involved,
Jon aka "Rusty"
The Riley Build
First I have to thank everyone involved who did a fantastic job on this special project that raised money for Riley Children's Hospital! I received Riley from our Grand Master the Churchmouse at his compound after he had the engraving done locally and it turned out extremely well done. I had all the CGW parts on hand from Birds Away to convert Riley to SAO!
My first task was to install the 10X bushing that is around .0045 smaller in diameter than the stock bushing which really makes for a solid barrel to bushing, no play. This task is not easy but is accomplished by freezing the bushing overnight and doing a little work on the inside of the slide to help the bushing install. This bushing is held secure by the front sight pin so alignment of the cross groove on the top of the 10X is critical with the front sight pin holes.
Next is installing the Extended firing pin with its reduced power firing pin spring both secured by the slide cross pin. I removed the firing pin lifter block and spring from to slide, this is done to reduce excessive take up on the trigger. Now it was sight install time, we went with a target rear and a green fiber optic front that just draws your eye to it. After its first test shoot I had to drift the rear sight to the right a smidge. The slide is now complete.
Next the slide release spring is put in place secured by a freakin tiny pin and dang it is not an easy install. The next thing I did was to prep the frame by polishing, smoothing the inside of the frame where the trigger bar makes contact because the cerakote is a little rough on the inside so I did not remove cerakote but smoothed it. Also inside the frame where the hammer moves, basically I smooth all contact areas inside the frame. Jon did a great job on cerakoting by not getting it in certain places, as I requested, and making assembly much easier!
Now I polish the hammer strut where the mainspring rides so it does not have any rough edges. Then the hammer pin, sear cage pin, sear cage contact points on the underside where the trigger bar makes contact when it slides under it. All contact points of the trigger bar are polished. The bottom grooves where the trigger bar spring rides gets polished. Special attention is given to the contact area or face of the trigger bar that contacts the lower leg of the sear. When assembling the sear cage using the adjustable sear I removed the firing pin lifter arm and the tiny lifter arm spring and replaced it with a spacer completing removal of the firing pin block.
At this point the race hammer is connected to the hammer strut using CGW hardened hammer pin. It is now time to assemble all the goodies! First the trigger bar, trigger assembly is slid into place with the reduced power trigger return spring secured by the removable trigger pin.
Second is to put in the race hammer, strut assembly, hammer pin, the hammer pin stop pin and the safety detent with spring go in.
Third the sear cage assembly can be dropped into the frame with its locator notch sliding into the back of the frame. The safety lever secures the sear cage to the frame. Now it is time to put in the 11.5 lbs. mainspring secured with a new strut cross pin. CGW SS-Lube Moly Grease was used on all friction points.
This is when I put the slide on and start to adjust the SAO straight trigger. The reach reduction has to be adjusted to allow for a positive reset of the trigger after a round is fired and releasing the trigger. On a CZ you can set it and it will reset with aggressive moving of the slide but when you are at the range during live fire sometimes it will not reset. After you find the happy place with the reach adjustment I set the over travel screw.
If I remember correctly the take up and reset on Riley are about .100 maybe less. The SA is about 2.10 lbs. After test firing I was happy with the reset and then put red Loctite on the reach screw, blue is used for the over travel screw.
I thought Riley turned out excellent all around and proved to be a great shooter and enjoyed by many at pack-Indy’s compound. There were a few covert operators who rang steel at 200 yds. Even though some were bounced into the steel by using a special shooting platform McGivered on the spot!
Thanks!
The Wizard
