Help needed with old used Jericho 941 FTE issues

[DeadRavenLeg]

I have an early 90s style Jericho 941(9mm) thats been having issues since i purchased it recently this year. At least once per box I have been getting stovepipes and failures to eject from a range of 9mm loads from 115 to 147gr from various manufacturers. I've put around 600 rounds through it and I have even replaced the extractor and the spring with a more powerful wolff extractor spring. I've noticed spent shells landing at my feet( around 10-15 per box ), last spent round falling out of the magwell when I reload, and stovepipes in every direction ( up, down, forward and backwards ) otherwise ejection is about 8-10 feet at 3 o'clock( new extractor and spring didnt fix issues ). I've tried death grips to weak holds on the gun, 1 hand / 2 hand, and left compared to right hand with no noticeable difference in the guns reliability.

I've had one or 2 failures to feed but the mag is old and beat up so i have 2 new ones ( not fired yet ) although i doubt it has anything to do with the FTE . Dry cycling by hand with a spend shell and dummy rounds results in weak/no ejection regardless of new/old mags or if i hold the slide or let it go. When I got it i did a detailed take down and clean and made sure to pay attention to under the extractor and spring and even gave a good cleaning to the mag. I keep it well oiled and have tried the rails with a few drops of oil to a light coating of grease between range trips. The gun cycles easily by hand ( easier then my glock 19 and 1911 ) and i dont feel any binding( did minor polish to the rails ), there was no rust on it when i got it but it does have its dents and scratches and came with a broken decocker that I've repaired.


I think the recoil spring could be part to blame but I'm not sure if it would be too stiff or too worn out. I have ordered a replacement for it with a wolff 14ib spring but I'm not sure if 14lbs is a good weight for an old full size steel Jericho. My ejector looks very worn ( pics in album comparing to 40 cal baby eagle compact ) has rounded edge and it seems like the firing pin plate that holds the pin and spring in place on the back of the slide will sometimes rotate during field stripping and during reassembly hit the ejector ( not sure if thats what caused the rounded edge ). Simply turning the plate back in place allows smooth reassembly but its something that needs to be watch for. I'm starting to think maybe this is an issues caused by the ejector but am unsure if the sear cage from a compact baby eagle would fit a full size jericho. I'm frustrated because I wanted to run this gun in IDPA a few times and id like to salvage this gun instead to selling.

Heres a link to the imgur album showing pictures...

http://imgur.com/a/TFpnd

Here are notes from my last range trip:

remington 115gr
1 stovepipe / last round didnt eject / some/few weak ejection

lawman 115gr
1 stovepipe / 2 failures to eject last round / weak ejection

pmc bronze 115gr
3 stovepipes / very weak ejection

blazer brass 124gr
1 stovepipe / failure to eject last round / some weak ejection

winchester white box 147gr
1 stovepipe / failure to extract from barrel completely causing new round to jam into it / failure to eject / some weak ejection

lawman 147gr
stovepipe / failure to eject last round / failure to extract from barrel completely causing new round to jam into it / some weak ejection

[Jackson Hammersmith]

You may want to replace your extractor regardless. But take your barrel out and check for any buildup around the chamber, you may have some lead fouling or copper build up. If you do, the next step would be removing it with some Cerrosafe or take it to a gunsmith and get their opinion

[DeadRavenLeg]

You suggest trying a 3rd extractor? Also the barrel is clean... I did a thorough cleaning to the gun when i 1st got it paying attention to areas that can get buildup of crud.

[dakota.potts]

I think chasing the extractor any further would be a red herring. If I were looking at the issues you were and I saw a worn ejector, that would tell me to immediately spend my energy on the ejector.

For some reason or another, it seems like shells are not ejecting with enough force to always clear the slide before it comes back under pressure and jams it in the ejection port. Anemic ejection patterns with a number of loads tells me it's probably not an issue of timing such as the recoil spring but more likely has to do with the ejector surface.

Again, those are all guesses and just my personal opinion without seeing the gun.

[DeadRavenLeg]

I have an album on imgur showing pictures of the gun in question. Ill post it again in case my link got messed up.

https://imgur.com/a/TFpnd

The ejector i have does have a lot of wear when compared to one from a more recent baby eagle compact. The edges on my ejector seem to be rounded over and I'm not sure if the rounded edge and shorted ejector due to wear could play into these issues. Could squaring off my ejector with a file help improve reliability?

[Jackson Hammersmith]

Sorry, I missed the part where you said you had replaced it already. I would suspect the ejector needs replaced, but that would have nothing to do with your stovepipes. Hope you find a fix soon!

[dakota.potts]

This is just a guess and NOT advice as to what you should do, but squaring it with a fine file (needle or diamond file) might give it a flatter striking surface and help it eject. On the other hand, the ejection problems could be because the ejector is too short and the case is taking too long to strike it. In that case, filing would do nothing.

If you touch the ejector with any file or sand paper at all, I would be prepared to replace it with a new one. You can make an educated guess at re-shaping it to solve the problem, but you could also risk shaping it wrong and making it useless.

Wish I could tell you more about it, but I don't have that much information available for the Jericho.

[DeadRavenLeg]

I guess replacing the ejector should be my next goal. I think i can get a hold of one for a compact 40 cal baby eagle. Would a compact 40 baby eagle sear cage work in a full sized 9mm jericho? The sear cages look similar and both are based off the cz design so I think it would work, right?

[dakota.potts]

I recommend you call the importer and ask them those questions. They might be able to send you a matching part for your gun like Taurus did for me recently, or they might have you send it in and fix the problem for you. If not, they can maybe point you in the right direction for which parts will work for you.

[DeadRavenLeg]

Update. So I've tried a new extractor,mags,ejector,recoil/extractor springs,all types of ammo, and all types of ways to grip the gun with no luck. Still get stovepipes about once a box.

[P-35HP]

Sorry to hear about your 941's problem, I would suggest to post it on the CZ Forum, somebody there might have an answer.
Also, see if Magnum Research or IWI can help. Keep us posted please

[hemiram]

About the only thing I can think of is maybe replace the mag spring, or try another. I have 2 Tanfoglio guns very similar to yours, one was made in '89 or so and the other is a '90 model. Both were shot a lot before I got them, but out of the plain white box they came in, neither of them missed a beat. The satin nickel one, the first one I bought, is my favorite semiauto. The "Mossad" on the slide always gets attention when I shoot.

I bought a Taurus 809 a couple of years ago after shooting a friend's 809 that was just fantastic. I love the grip, and his gun shoots anything. It has over 4000 rounds through it without a hiccup. Mine wasn't so good, random FTF and stovepipes. We looked over everything, and found nothing that looked bad at all. Swapping slides made two guns with issues. Mine got better, his got worse than mine was. He has a ton of calipers and stuff and we measured a lot of parts and saw almost no differences and nothing out of tolerance. He bought mine and after polishing almost everything possible (chamber, feedramp mag follower, changing recoil and mag springs) he has it almost perfect. But in all honesty, we never really did find out what the problems were with it. Another friend of mine recently bought an 809 and I bought an 809 Compact. It's going to be interesting to see what happens next week when we shoot them, and my other new and new to me guns.

[DeadRavenLeg]

I've tried new mags so I dont think id need new springs or even more mags to figure out the issue. The gun will eject absolutely fine then randomly with no noticeable cause start weakly ejecting about 10 or so round ( this is also when the gun will jam ) before going back to normal. This happens at any point in the mag and I cant imagine what would work well one second then stop working another. My LGS said its the recoil spring rotating in place around the guide rod to a worn spot then causing the issue for a short period of time but I've tried a new recoil spring and guide rod since then with no luck.

[ShootistPRS]

Have you weighed (measured its strength) the spring? I know a few of the guys at the range who reload their 9s hot had trouble because of the light spring in the CZ. They put heavier springs in to make the gun work for their loads. If you got a gun that was fitted with a heavier spring it might not let the slide back far enough to function with standard ammo.
My brand new CZ 75B is all factory and I tested it by loading ammo up to the maximum listed load of 4.5 grains of TiteGroup and then incrementally down to well below the suggested starting loads (after talking to the fine folks at Hodgdon). I took it down to 3.1 grains and it operated perfectly with each load. As long as I don't hotrod the loads (and I don't after initial testing) I feel it will work fine.
If you haven't already, I suggest weighing the recoil spring and examine the guide rod for wear or damage. The guide rod is plastic and are a known weakness. I measured mine new and drew it up in my CAD software so that when it fails I can make a metal one to replace it. I am contemplating making a three piece rod for it. The hollow base rod with a spring inside and a plunger that compresses the spring on hard recoil for added safety. I haven't completed the idea yet but when I do I will test it in my gun to see if it adds anything worth the added complexity.

[cougar gt-e]

14# is way to strong. I use an 8# in my 9mm tanfoglio stock 2.

I use a 12# in my 40sw.

[hemiram]

I have new Wolff stock 14 pound springs in my two Tanfoglio TA/90 guns. They functioned fine with the originals, but the one's slide was really slamming back to the point I could hear and feel it, so I put springs in both. I have no idea what's going on with the OP's gun.

[DeadRavenLeg]

I currently run a 14lb wolff spring. Tried it on a new guide rod and the old captive one.

If 14 is too much for my full sized, steel, 9mm should i try 12 or lower?