Guns: The Detail Strip

To "detail strip" a gun means to disassemble it all the way down to its component parts - usually all the way down to pins and springs. It's an interesting activity, since a successful detail strip and reassembly simultaneously gives a gun owner more and less confidence in a given firearm.

The detail strip provides more confidence because if you know how to take a firearm apart and how it works, you'll generally be able to diagnose and correct any problems that it might have in the future. Without the ability to do a detail strip, you're going to have to ship your gun back to a factory or leave it with a qualified gunsmith. Either will cost money and time.

It also takes away your confidence, because it makes you realize that most firearms have dozens and dozens of fiddly bits. The failure of any one of them could turn your gun into a really awkward paperweight.

For my part, the only handgun I've ever detail stripped is my CZ-75B. It's an older design, so the detail strip isn't as easy as a GLOCK, but most people should be able to get the gun apart without too much trouble. I've had to replace the trigger return spring, the extractor spring, and the firing pin - strangely enough, the much-maligned CZ slide stop is still working fine. Go figure.

Thanks to the Web, you can find instructions for disassembling just about any popular firearm. Here are some links to help you detail strip a CZ-75B:

Dr. Strangegun: Past the pins
A Do-it-yourself Trigger Job from CZF
Another CZ-75 Trigger Job
Tutorial for Trigger and Return Spring Replacement