Disassembly and /Reassembly Of The EZ9/EZ40 Pistols

The story of these defensive handguns begins with anew cannon foundry (1851) in the Serbian town of Kragujvac, about 80 miles south of Belgrade in former Yugoslavia. Then and there, the firearms manufacturing entity Zastava came to be. Ever since, the town and the company have remained inseparable. The foundry cast its initial barrels in 1853, several of which became the nononsense components of Polish field pieces in 1855.

The caisson-mounted boomers looked like a World War One-era French 75mm but lobbed an 85.6mm shell that must have made them considered to be the railway guns of their day. At the turn of the 20th century, the cannon foundry name was changed to the more expansive Military Engineering Works and Zastava rapidly grew the complexity of its product line along with product quality.

Production of military, law enforcement and civilian firearms became prolific and included a box magazine-fed military bolt-action, fine double shotguns, the Radon B2 submachinegun, tanks featuring twin, turret-mounted cannon and a belt-fed, bipod-supported, shoulder-stocked 20mm anti-tanker. A flood of really well made Kalashnikovs came along after Zastava temporarily got out of the car manufacturing business. Cars? You bet. For over 50 years the company was the Serbian national car maker.

Then, as a result of poor European economies, Zastava was absorbed by Fiat into its world-wide operation. In the deal, Fiat poured 700 million Euros into building a brand new factory. Sound familiar? Look up "Chrysler Deal, 2009." With the grips removed, a through cleaning is possible.

o shorten this lengthening history lesson and get on with the EZ pistol, suffice it to say the last vehicle produced by the Fiat/Zastava union was the Yugo Sana. In all fairness, a major reason for the car’s short life and disappearance was a thorough NATO bombing of the factory during the regional wars of the early 1990s that tore Yugoslavia apart. Nevertheless, Zastava returned to car making in 2000 and its firearms production, thanks in part to US importer European American Armory, has prospered.

I personally became aware of Zastava with an article on its Model 88 pistol in our August 2008 issue. Before actually receiving the EZ, I assumed it to be an upgrade of the Model 88. To say I was wrong would amount The only roll pin currently present in the pistol is indicated (A). to gross understatement. There is no similarity between the two as a mere glance at their respective schematics and specifications makes obvious. Dissimilarities begin with magazine capacity. The Model 88 is a single stack.

The EZ is mechanically identical regardless of caliber, holds 10 or 15 rounds depending Further dissassembly should be left to the factory! A A Bon caliber and is, in my opinion, more complex in its take-down/reassembly. Lest you forget my earlier words of warning, should the gun be brought to your attention as a bag of individual pieces, there are two assemblies in the pistol you can’t do anything with. Not you. Not personally. Having alerted you once again, A

it’s worth mentioning that the EZ is the fifth generation of the Crvena Zastava (CZ) 999 and Zastava CZ05, primarily used by present day Serbian security forces. Field Stripping Before getting into the particulars, a note on the parts list. Don’t get confused as the writer did. They don’t identify parts in Serbia the way we do this side of the pond. Where the list says "cover" it means grip panel, or grip insert.

Where it says "axle" it means pivot pin except when it says "lock," which is really a pin that secures another component of the pistol in place. As for the otherwise unidentified Axle #57, its purpose lies in the vicinity of the magazine follower. The unofficial moniker I chose to give it? The Magazine Follower Lock Axle. Among all the axles and locks in the EZ only one is a roll pin. This could change so check the pin you’re about to drift before attacking it with a punch.

Eye protection on, magazine out and chamber checked for empty first, please. Pull the slide all the way to the rear with one hand while holding the grip frame with the other. With the thumb of the grip hand, lift the slide stop into engagement with its slot in the slide, thereby locking it open. Maintain your hold on the grip. Use the fingers of your free hand to release the barrel by rotating the barrel link (34) ninety degrees downward.

Grasp the slide securely with your unoccupied hand and depress the slide stop (10) with the thumb of your grip hand. Hang on to the slide as you ease it forward and off the frame. Invert the slide. Mildly press the recoil spring guide (44) forward and lift it from its barrel engagement.. Withdraw the guide and spring (47) to the rear. Lift the breech end of the barrel to pull it back and out of the slide. The EZ is now stripped down and ready for a cleaning. So far, no problems.

Detailed Disassembly The slide remains inverted. Remove the lock (45) which retains the firing pin (40) and spring by drifting the lock in either direction. Depress the firing pin lock (41) and lift it along with its spring (42) from the slide. The extractor (39) is swaged in place. It isn’t easy to remove but with the help of needle nose pliers you can pull it out. The loaded chamber indicator is one of the assemblies you’ve been warned to leave alone.

It, like the extractor, is also swaged in and so it must remain. A special tool is required to remove or reinstall it and that tool doesn’t even exist on this side of the Atlantic. Sure, EAA in Florida knows how to fabricate the tool. They could handle the job but the service charge would have to include time, labor and material cost for tool making. Rule One for slide disassembly: Hope loaded chamber parts aren’t in the plastic bag.

Rule Two: If they are, tell the person who handed you the bag they’ll be getting a larger bill for services than expected. Rule Three: Explain the Florida requirements, then offer the alternative of shipping the slide and parts by air to Zastava Arms, 34000 Kraqujevac, Kosovska 4, Serbia with a replacement request while settling back in a nice, comfortable chair until it gets done and is shipped back. Of course, the latter is also at the owner’s expense.

Despite all temptation to the contrary, on certain guns keeping all hands off certain components is not merely the wise thing to do. It is the only economically prudent thing to do. The loaded chamber indicator of an EZ pistol is perhaps the prime example of things best left alone. Then again, maybe it shouldn’t be classified as prime. You see, there is another EZ assembly that must be similarly ignored for all the same reasons and left to the factory.

I’ll be getting to that one as I take you through frame disassembly. Please pardon me while I interrupt these instructions for a bit of hard-earned advice. If you sell as well as service, upgrade or otherwise work on what you sell as I once did, take the time to point out such items as the EZ loaded chamber indicator to a purchaser and stress the A

1 Front Sight 2 Rear Sight 3 Frame 4 Screw Insert 5 Lever Holder 6 L. H. Lever 7 R. H. Lever 8 L. H. Lever Spring 9 R. H.

Lever Spring 10 Slide Stop 11 Slide Stop Spring 12 Trigger Lever 13 Trigger Lever Spring EZ9/EZ40 Pistols (Speci ications subject to change without notice) 14 Trigger 15 Trigger Axle 16 Locking Insert 17 Sear 18 Sear Spring 19 Sear Axle 20 Sear Spring Limiting Shaft 21 Triggering Lever 22 Hammer 23 Hammer Axle 24 Hammer Spring 25 Spring Guide 26 Rest 27 Rest Spring 28 Rest Axle 29 Ejector 30 Magazine Catch 31 Magazine Release Button 32 Magazine Catch Spring 33 Magazine Catch Axle 34 Barrel Link 35 L. H. Cover 36 R.

H. Cover 37 Cover Screw (4) 38 Slide 39 Extractor 40 Firing Pin 41 Firing Pin Lock 42 Lock Spring 43 Barrel 44 Recoil Spring Guide 45 Loaded Chamber Lock 46 Firing Pin Spring 47 Recoil Spring 49 Magazine Body 50 Follower Spring 51 Follower 52 Magazine Bottom Lock 53 Magazine Bottom 54 Loaded Chamber Indicator 55 Loaded Chamber Lock 56 Loaded Chamber Spring 57 Axle

problems that will created if they are removed or otherwise tampered with. It’s good for business now and more of it later. Agreed? Thank you and now on to frame disassembly. Back out all "cover" (i.e., grip) screws (37) to remove the right and left hand "covers" (35 and 36). Start on the left side of the frame with the left hand lever spring (8). It lifts off. Do the same with the left lever (6). Move to the right hand side of the frame and pull off the lever spring (9) and the lever (7).

The right and left levers pivot on a stud-like trun cheon that isn’t removable. The sear axle (19) drifts in either direction to free the ejector (29), the sear (17), the triggering lever (21) and the sear spring (18). It’s a good idea to study the relationships between these parts, make notes and/or drawings of what you see and refer to them for reassembly. Do this before taking these parts out of the frame because when the axle is removed they’ll all come out somewhat separated. Drive out the hammer axle (23).

The hammer will rise up a little when you do. Push the hammer forward to disengage it from its rest (26) and rest spring (27). These are held together by the rest axle (28). Study this assembly as you did the sear group before drifting part #28. Note how #27 sits atop #28 and must be so positioned for reinsertion in the frame.

The strut (25) and hammer American Gunsmith Mailing List Policy Like many other publishers, we make portions of our customer list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services we believe you may enjoy. If you do not wish to receive these offers, and/or information, please let us know by contacting us at: American Gunsmith Opt-Out Program Norwalk, CT 06854 Please include your current mailing label. spring (24) are lifted out as a unit.

The lever spring (13) has what EAA refers to as "a two-way dog," one end of which inserts in the trigger lever assembly. Study this prior to removing the spring. Now pull out the barrel link and lift the locking insert (16) from the frame. Beware the slide stop spring (11). It should accompany the insert but may elect to take off on its own and gets lost real easy. The slide stop (10), trigger lever (12) and trigger (14) are all retained by the trigger axle (15).

This axle has a screw head on the right and two slots — one larger, one smaller — on one side. This side has to be rotated in a certain way in order to reinstall the locking insert in the frame. What certain way? There is an angle on the insert block that allows it to cam over the axle and slide back into place. Look at the angle on the block and orient the axle accordingly. You’ll have to play with this axle/ block angle relationship.

There’s no exact way to describe what "play" means except to state the axle has to be at a slight, but matching, angle to the block angle. Back to disassembly. Lift the trigger lever (12) a little and move it toward the rear. Lift the lever a little more and the trigger (14) will fall out. Remove the lever. The other nightmare lurking within the EZ awaits. It is the magazine catch assembly (31,32 and 33). If those parts somehow found their way into the bag the gun has to go to Florida.

Here is a skimpy idea of what you’d be up against if you tried putting it back together yourself. The magazine axle has to be driven outward. There is a spring and plate which pressures the release button and the plate while applying pressure against the grip frame wall. The Zastava factory uses a fixture to put together the catch assembly. They sure don’t get it done with their fingertips. Neither do the service technicians at European American Armory.

Even there, it often takes two hours and three hands to assemble and install this small bundle of frustration back inside the frame. Reassembly Tips Other than those already provided in the course of describing the detailed take-down of an EZ, when you remove the insert block note how the slide stop spring fits into it. The slide stop itself has a bottom slot for the end of the slide stop spring (11). The spring pushes the stop to the rear and tensions it.

This applied tension is necessary to allow the slide stop to function as one and for parts 6 and 7 to perform their slide release/ decocker duties. I hope I’ve made it clear: Tension as applied by the slide stop spring is very important to the proper function of an EZ pistol. For reasons previously emphasized, there are no reassembly tips for the loaded chamber indicator and magazine catch assemblies. They’re beyond your help.

As for the balance of a CZ, it goes back together in reverse order but with another reminder. The angles of the trigger axle and insert block either match up or the pistol refuses to be reassembled. Anyone trying to strong arma submission will likely succeed in delivering serious damage to the frame that can extend to several vital internal parts. The flip side of this disaster is the dubious distinction of creating the world’s first, Zastava-designed fishing sinker. AG