New Owner and Member

[czakpacker]

Greetings to all:

For the past several weeks, I've read everything I could on this board about the P-64 so that I'd have an educated opinion when the opportunity came to buy one. Well, that opportunity came and since the postings that I've read show the pros greatly outweighing the cons I jumped on it ;D.

I picked up my first P-64 this weekend and I'm really glad I did. It is a 1971, in excellent condition, with two mags, a storage case and a cable-type lock. I think I did okay with the $133 + tax that I paid. If that's a real good price, I have an option for a second one, a 1970, also in excellent condition for the same price. I honestly don't know what to do :-/??? although I'd probably kick myself in the behind if somebody beat me to it >:(.

I haven't taken my P-64 to the range yet, hence the indecision on the second one. I accept the heavy DA because that's how they came so I'd like to wait a while to change springs. I do know, though, that I want Zeeborg's ivory Zee grips as I think my new CCW will look sharp with them . This a great board with a lot of nice members and a ton of information which helped me tremendously in my decision to purchase a P-64 .

Does anyone have a solution for a hard-to-engage/disengage safety? My thumb is still sore from working the safety back and forth in an effort to loosen it. For me, a stiff safety is preferable to a loose one but it takes quite an effort to work the safety. I carry with a load in the chamber, safety on. With the overly stiff safety, it might be necessary to have it off...not a good choice . Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.

Oh, I need my arm twisted on the second P-64 .

Edit: I found some answers to my stiff safety problem on the Mods and Repairs section of the forum. Is this a great site, or what??

[devlinfaust]

Welcome, CZapacker,

I think that you got a really good price on your P-64. I bought two 1968's, and since I bought them both at the same time, the dealer (who apparently decided he didn't really want these excellent guns) sold them both to me for a shade over $300. I would say that in almost 30 years of gun dealing, it is one of the best deals I've ever made.

The DA trigger pull is a little hard, but not unmanagable. I used to get my hand hurt something awful when shooting the P-64, but I got some advice on this message board on the corect way to hold the gun when I was shooting it, and no more pains!

I would put either P-64 up against my Walther PP or any other centerfire pistol I have (except for an 8 inch Dan Wesson .357) in terms of accuracy.

As to your question, this may spark some controversy, but I have always tended to feel that the safety on a DA semi-auto as just about worthless. Look, you have a DA trigger pull that is probably better than 15 pounds. There's no way that this thing is going off accidentally. If you need to draw it in a life and death situation, what happens if you panic and forget the safety? The gun won't shoot and you may get shot. Most of the modern combat guns don't have a manual safety, at all. I know that this may be a bit controversial, but given the DA pull of the P-64, this would be one of the safest guns to carry with the safety off. Of course, you should do what you personally feel comfortable with.

This is the first time I've heard of that safety lever being difficult to throw on a P-64. However, I can tell you that there's a ton of good folks on this message board who will read your problem and offer remedies. This is, without a doubt, the best message board I have ever dealt with.

Contrats on your buy! I don't want to twist your arm, as you say, but when I bought my two 1968's, I was very glad that I took advantage of the deal when I had the opportunity and didn't wait to see if I "liked" the first one. As it turns out, I liked 'em both--a lot.

I use mine for CCW, and I installed the clip that goes on the slide. An in-expensive and effective way to carry, but there are good holsters available as well.

[czakpacker]

Thanks devlinfaust.

Your point on carrying with the safety off is well taken. Heck, it's equally as hard to cock the small round-spurred hammer for SA. With the adrenaline flowing in a life-or-death situation, I'm sure the heavy DA pull will feel like butter!

[normsutton]

WELCOME


and I think you need to get the other one

you know they get lonely with out a mat




NORM

[ozarker]

My understanding is with the safety on the hammer is blocked, in case the weapon is dropped. However my safety is a little difficult to use. It's according where I'm at, but I do carry some with the safety off and one in the tube.

Also on the forum you will find a lot of good info. I finally bought a paddle holster for a SIG thats fits the P64 perfect.

[amd6547]

As has been posted here before, the P64 has a passive safety block, even with the manual safety off. The hammer can't reach the firing pin till the trigger is pulled. This follows the Walther pattern. Many DA pistols are designed this way, and the proper combat-ready mode is safety off.

[truth]

AMEN

[czakpacker]

Thanks for the recent replies. It appears the choice to carry with a load in the chamber, safety off, is not a bad one but probably preferable. The hard-to-work safety issue seems to be a popular one.

[abwehr]

I will throw in my .02 cents worth on the safety problem. It appears that during assembly, sometime the spring may get a little "kinked" and make the safety hard to move. Also, the detent may have a small burr on the tip making it hard to move. My suggestion is to remove the safety, polish the end of the detent, clean the Detent area, add some light grease and re-assemble with the spring in the proper position.

With that said, there are more qualified folks on the Forum that can help with the dis-assembly of the safety and hopefully they will chime in to give you good advice on the best way to dis-assemble.

The P-64 is one of the best small pistols I have found, but we have to remember that they were made during the Communist rule and the folks in the plant did not take the time to remove all the burrs, polish contact points, and did not clean them internally real good. A new P-64 does need to be COMPLETELY cleaned of the preservative oil and relubed before firing. The oil on the pistols is not a lubricant. A little TLC will go a long way into making a perfect pocket pistol. With that said, most all pistols as they come from the factory requires the TLC of cleaning and getting all the gunk out of it. Most manuals that come with any new pistol states they need to be completely cleaned and lubed properly before firing; the P-64 is no different.

Even new firearms from US manufacturers lack lubrication on the "guts" of the pistol. A little lube goes a long way into making them operate from the start. If any handgun is to be carried, the TLC is required; even from any manufacturer.

[space]

If you can get another one that cheap, jump on it. Even if it's only used for spare parts in case something happens to your first one.

[devlinfaust]

CZAKpaker,

I recall getting a suggestion several months ago, from another member, who suggested that I bake my P-64's. The idea is that this would cause all of the perservative to melt out of teh pistol. This might help with your issue with the safety, but at any rate, it needs to be done when you take delivery of one of these. The directions were to take the grips off the P-64, and preheat the oven to about 140 degrees. Put the P-64 on a towel (to catch the melting crud) and in a pan. Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the crud is melted off the gun. Allow to cool, but not cool too much, because the advice was to spray down the gun with WD-40 (someone suggested brake fluid, and I personally used break free) while still fairly warm. aftewards, wipe down, lubricate and put on the grips.

This helped smooth out the function of my P-64's when I did it, and it might help, to some degree with your gun (or guns, if you decide to take advantage of what sounds like a very good deal).

[czakpacker]

I DID IT!!!

abwehr,

As you suggested, I disassembled the safety (inside a large transparent plastic bag, of course) and did all the polishing and deburring I could find. I polished off the sharp point on the detent and rounded the edges on the detent areas. The detent itself is solid and not hollow like the example I saw in an old post in the Modifications section. Mine has a short tail that goes inside the spring. I found that the detent, when not installed perfectly straight, binds inside the channel, preventing a smooth movement which contributes to the problem.

The hardest part was putting it back together as anyone who's done this can attest. And, being anal (like no other) I did the whole procedure THREE times until I was satisfied!!! Fortunately, my son was around to help me. I don't see how anyone can put it back together by themselves, unless they had four hands! Now, the safety is still a little stiff but it moves! Like I said before, I prefer it over one that drops easily.

Thanks to all. And, I apologize for this thread not being in the Mods and Fixes section.

[abwehr]

czakpacker,

Sorry to take so long to respond, but I have been really busy the past few days. I have not gotten to the Forum until this morning. I am glad the info helped with the safety! I agree with you about being "anal", I am sort of the same way, LOL! Being "fat fingered" myself, I need help from my wife sometime to put stuff back together. She has the long skinny fingers that can go anywhere.

If the Poles had spent a few more minutes with the deburring process on the parts, and a little more careful with assembly, they would have been perfect out of the box. But they were made under Commie rule and only wanted to produce pistols. With a little TLC, the P-64 is the best small pistol I have found yet!

Glad you got the problem solved!

[tunnelrat]

I recall getting a suggestion several months ago, from another member, who suggested that I bake my P-64's. The idea is that this would cause all of the perservative to melt out of teh pistol.

Yup, but don't use a microwave oven... ::)

[devlinfaust]

Tunnelrat,

Pretty good. I wanted to use our Ronco Rotesseri, so I could see the gun spinnig around while I was baking it, but my wife is kind of protective of the rotesseri, so I just slipped the guns in the oven so they wouldn't be too conspicuous.