Century Arms TP-9

A few months back I reported on another new Turkish import from Century International Arms, Inc. called the Stingray (American Gunsmith June 2012), a design mechanically related to the CZ-75. I relied heavily on the two articles I’d written previously on the CZ pistol in developing detailed disassembly/reassembly information to pass along to you for there was none available at Century Arms. The pistol was that new to their technical staff. The Stingray is aimed at the CCW market.

As soon as I opened its sturdy plastic case I determined the TP-9 was a different animal. It was wearing a bulky "hood" over its slide and the pistol, sans a loaded magazine, weighs in at nearly 1.50 pounds. What I just called a hood isn’t a plastic guard for the slide and I’ll tip off what it really is later. For now, a mere mention that it slips easily off to the front by pressing the upper section of its release on its right side is sufficient. Sufficient? Yes, and also very necessary.

While the hood is in place the pistol cannot be field stripped. It seems most curious, then, that no mention of the part, its purpose, how it relates to a couple of plastic pieces stored in the case lid or the need to remove it prior to field stripping show up in the owner’s manual. First, though, a few more specifics about the TP-9 that do show up. The pistol is chambered for the 9x19mm cartridge.

It comes with two 15 round magazines, has a 4.09 inch barrel with a predicted lifetime of 30,000 rounds, an overall length of 7.1 inches, a height of 5.7, a width How much farther a gunsmith can go is described in the text. Note the Glock-like trigger. of 1.35, 2 sizes of interchangeable grip backs, a rear sight adjustable for windage and a MIL-STD 1913 Picatinny rail for clamping lighting devices or lasers to the frame.

Unless the intent is to house the gun in a backpack, the addition of a flashlight or laser to this pistol makes simple concealment on the person nearly impossible. Hence, I would classify the TP-9 as a home defense weapon. Lord knows it’s packing plenty of firepower. Aside from and in addition to that it seems to be well constructed. Outer steel parts are poly coated against corrosion while helping to lubricate the slide and frame. The barrel is black chrome lined and cold forged.

It features an ambidextrous decocker

Next to the holes is a 1/16" standard drift punch. The two left of the 1/16th punch are ideal for the ultra small pins and pin holes in the TP-9. mounted on top of the slide just forward of the rear sight, a click adjustable three dot sight system and a cocking indicator. OK, no more sales talk. On to the goods. Field Stripping The magazine is out. There’s no live ammunition nearby. You’re wearing eye protection, the chamber is empty and, equally important, you have pulled the trigger to relax the trigger spring.

There’s a take down catch (9) on the left side of the frame. On the other side is a take down catch piece (10). You have to push both 9 and 10 downward to begin removal of the slide. Easy this ain’t. To make it tougher, you have to nudge the slide forward with a thumb while holding down the two parts. Once you have it started the slide slips off the frame quite smoothly. Invert the slide.

Push the recoil spring (53) forward then lift it, the spring A B guide (51), spring guide stop (52) and spring pin (54) out as a unit. Follow with removal of the barrel (50) in a similar manner. This is as far the owner should ever go. As for you, read on. Detailed Disassembly Before charging ahead examine all the pins you’ll be facing. If they look like roll pins—you know, no solid center—treat them accordingly by using roll pin punches exclusively. By the way, I’ve never come up against a tapered roll pin.

They’ve all drifted in either direction. Nevertheless, the Century Arms techs The opposite end of the catch (B) is on the right side of the frame. Both are simultaneously pushed downward to free the locking block. who regularly work with the pistol replace all pins from left to right in reassembly. The pins can be coped with but as I plodded my way through the TP-9 I became pretty convinced the manufacturer was determined that no one should take it apart.

I’ll flag each problem area I had to tangle with by starting every sentence or paragraph it involves with the words Code Red. As you probably discovered in field stripping it, the TP-9 is well put together. Don’t let that frighten you. By working with reasonable caution you won’t break anything.

A B For example, the lug at the upper rear of the firing pin collet (36) locks into a cut-out in the top of the slide end cap (43). If you press inward on the collet lug with a blunt tool while pushing down of the end cap, the cap will leave the collet behind as it travels down and out of the slide. Once again, invert the slide. The lug of the firing pin/striker (38) will require your attention. So will the firing pin block (31). Don’t ignore them.

Push the lug to the rear, lift up on it slightly and depress the block. The firing pin assembly should free up to be withdrawn to the rear. Chances are pretty fair it will pop backwards on its own. Righting the slide, allow the block and its spring (30) to be rapped out on your bench. If they don’t show up do not push them inward. They could become involved with each other in the firing pin tunnel and plug it up. Pick them out with tweezers. Our first Code Red.

As you can see now the firing pin assembly has A B Compare it to the holes in the top of the slide. The wood chip is in position to protect the frame and the smallest cup punch placed to drift the catch/catch piece retaining pin downward. a number of components. Yes, it can be further disassembled for replacing damaged or lost parts. The most frequent amongst the latter are the retainers (40). In addition, when the assembly has been removed, two things happen.

The decocker can be lifted off the slide and the decocker springs (41) are likely to hurl themselves out of the slide. Make sure they land on a "no bounce" surface. I trapped the little devils in a shallow pan of water, wiped them dry, air blew them with a dryer, lightly lubed both and placed them in a They are very easily lost. It is built up on its pivot pins and reassembled in a manner similar to other pistols with rear-mounted firing systems. magnetic parts tray to immobilize them until needed.

One Code Red is followed almost immediately by another in the extractor (35). A single numeric mention of it doesn’t do removing this particular gremlin justice. I can’t blame the entire problem on the extractor itself, however. It’s the extractor pin spring (32) and pin (33). Actually, it’s primarily the pin and pin holes. Look at the bottom of the slide. The pin mikes to 0.140 in diameter. Now flip the slide over and get take a gander at the two upper

holes. They’re both out-of-round, smaller than a 1/16 inch punch and the rearmost of them aligns with number 33. Did I have to pick out apiece of drill rod small enough to enter the upper hole, cut off apiece, cup its end, harden it, then solder it into a short piece of cold rolled to fabricate a punch, spending time I didn’t have doing it? No. Over in a tool drawer in the corner was the solution. It’s a set of cup punches I purchased from Brownells about ten years ago and still offered in their latest catalog.

They are made specifically to start out round headed pins without marring the heads. I’d discovered they worked well on moving roll pins if the punch diameter mates exactly with the OD edges of the pin. There were six punches in the set with diameters measuring from 0.050" to 0.072". Into the small hole perfectly went a punch, I could feel it ripple past the inside of the extractor spring. A couple of mild taps later the pin began to exit its hole. A few more taps and it was out, bringing the spring along with it.

Of course I had to retain the extractor with a free finger. The extractor spring (34) would push it free of the slide and itself escape to hiding places. Removal and reinstallation of the front and rear sights present A The "hood" slips off when the upper end of the release lever (A) is depressed. The three screws bolt to the mounting piece of your choice and can be set for a number of rake and cant options. no major problems.

Just be careful not to lose track of the front sight retaining screw (49), the rear sight detent spring (44), pin (45) sight adjustment screw (47) and the sights themselves. It’s time to tackle the Code Red situations lurking in the frame. In preparation for the challenges, I recommend you cram some on Glock pistols. The back end firing system of the TP-9 appears to have been mechanically approached with a Glock mentality. There are already sources of information available on the Glock system.

One is the Gun Digest Book of Automatic Pistols Assembly/Disassembly. There are also owner’s manuals containing schematics to be downloaded from the web. The best source is the book Glock: The New Wave In Combat Handguns by Peter Kasler and originally published by Paladin Press. I happened to get my copy from Glock. Contents range from the pistol’s genesis, through the media frenzy about "plastic pistols," function, maintenance, features and even includes a resource list.

Just as I had to refer to previous knowledge of the CZ-75 when working up the past article on the Stingray, I suggest you dig into the Glock in preparation for the TP-9. To begin with, the housing for the TP-9 firing system is identified in the parts list as the ejector (17). Drift out the ejector pin (25). Lift the housing from the frame.

Coming along for the ride will be the trigger lever (22), firing pin activator (19), its activator pin (21), trigger lever spring (23), trigger lever bar (24), trigger bar guide (18) and firing pin activator spring (20). Make no attempt to further dismantle the firing system until you’ve made notes and sketches of how each part relates to another and in what order they’re installed. Pay special attention to how the springs are fit to the components they influence.

You’ll begin to recognize signs of the Glock mentality and initiate planning the later rebuild the TP-9 firing system using slave pins. Starting from the left side, you spear each part on the slave in place as it was when originally assembled at the factory.

Let’s move forward from the firing system to the locking block (6). First glance tells you it’s secured to the frame by its pin (12). Partly true but Code Red: The block is also held in tightly by the takedown catch. Under magnification the schematic will show a small hole near the right end of the catch. You see, the right end of the catch fits into the takedown catch plate (10). The catch plate pin (11) holds the catch and the plate together.

The pin hole in the upper side of the catch plate is even smaller than the extractor pin holes in the top of the slide. I mention that because it gives you some idea of how small the pin is that lives in the catch plate hole. To make things nastier, the pin inside the hole has to be drifted enough to allow the catch to be withdrawn from the catch plate. It gets worse.

There’s no way to get at the pin hole from the bottom and pushing the pin too far down via the top of the catch plate could result in impact with and damage to the frame. Reach for the set of cup punches again as one of them will fit inside the pin hole. Before you start any movement of the catch plate pin, protect that portion of the frame beneath it by doubling up a small piece of duct tape or temporarily attaching a strip of shim stock.

Even a little chunk of wooden coffee stirring stick between the catch plate and frame would do. With your first line of defense in place, tap downward slightly on the pin. See if the catch can be withdrawn from the frame. Try removing the catch plate from the catch. No luck? You only have to move that pin enough to clear the hole and release the catch so try a couple of more taps. Still no luck? You might be able to gain a bit more room between the bottom of the catch plate and frame by pressing down on the catch.

Alternately, and with extreme care, you can add another layer to your frame protector to push the catch plate itself upward, then press down on the catch. With patience and caution you will have moved the pin enough. When you have, remove the catch to the left, the catch plate to the right, place both aside, discard the protective material and lift out the locking block. Ready, set, go after the trigger (14). Drift out the trigger pin (13). Reach into the frame. Lift out the trigger and trigger bar (26) as a unit.

If you want to separate them later drift out the trigger bar pin (28). If you’ve done much pistol work at all there’s nothing left in the frame that should need step-bystep instructions. That’s the good news. The bad news comes in the form of the magazine catch (4) and spring (5). Consider the catch an innocent bystander. The spring, on the other hand, is an underscored Code Red. Looking at it, I’ve never seen a spring in a firearm as weird as this one.

It’s no big deal to grab on to with a pair of long nose pliers and pull it off the catch, which meekly slides out of the frame in either direction, however, I didn’t touch this spring. I’d been warned by guys who work with the TP-9 every day that there is no tool made this side of the pond, so far, making it possible to reinstall this odd ball among all springs. It is certainly no Turkish Delight. Leave it alone. About The "Hood" The truth is it’s a quick release holster. Honest.

In addition to the holster, the two pieces of unidentified plastic arriving with the TP-9 offer a choice for packing the pistol. They both securely attach to the holster with its integrated screws and allow a variety of cant and rake options. The horseshoe-shape object slips over the uppermost rim of the pants as a paddle holster and the square piece serves as a belt supported mount adjustable to the width of your belt. This unit is very similar to the Blackhawk SERPA line. It is a nice addition to a solid pistol.

AG American Gunsmithing Association

1 Frame 2 Back Strap 3 Back Strap Pin 4 Magazine Catch 5 Magazine Catch Spring 6 Locking Block 7 Locking Lever 8 Locking Lever Spring 9 Take Down Catch 10 Take Down Catch Piece (Plate) 11 Take Down Catch Pin 12 Locking Lever Pin 25 Ejector Pin 26 Trigger Bar 27 Trigger Bar Spring 28 Trigger Bar Pin 29 Slide 30 Firing Pin Block Spring 31 Firing Pin Block 32 Extractor Pin Spring 33 Extractor Pin 34 Extractor Spring 35 Extractor 36 Firing Pin Collet 13 Trigger Pin 14 Trigger 15 Slide Stop Lever 16 Slide Stop Spring 17 Ejector 18 Trigger Bar Guide 19 Firing Pin Activator 20 Firing Pin Activator Spring 21 Firing Pin Activator Pin 22 Trigger Lever 23 Trigger Lever Spring 24 Trigger Lever Bar 37 Firing Pin Return Spring 38 Firing Pin (Striker) 39 Firing Pin Spring 40 Firing Pin Retainer 41 Decocker Spring 42 Decocker Lever 43 Slide End Cap 44 Sight Detent Spring 45 Sight Detent Pin 46 Rear Sight 47 Sight Adjustment Screw 48 Front Sight Century Arms TP-9 (Speci ications subject to change without notice) 49 Front Sight Retaining Screw 50 Barrel 51 Recoil Spring Guide 52 Recoil Spring Stop 53 Recoil Spring 54 Recoil Spring Pin 55 Magazine Case 56 Magazine Follower 57 Magazine Spring 58 Magazine Lock 59 Magazine Lock Pin 60 Magazine Plug