Photographs needed: Vektor CP1 Pre-recall

[Odd Job]

To make this short: I have a Vektor CP1 9mmP pistol. These were subject to a recall from the manufacturer in the year 2000 (or thereabouts). Apparently there was a design fault where the weapon could discharge a chambered round if bumped or dropped.
I sent mine in and it was modified by Denel. Additional papers supplied by Denel were:

1) A certificate of Conformance
2) Addendum to owner's manual

Unfortunately I couldn't take photographs of the pistol before I sent it in, but I have taken photographs of the pistol recently on a visit to South Africa.

Does anybody here have a CP1 or know of somebody with a CP1 that has not been returned to the manufacturer for alterations? I would greatly appreciate photographs of the hammer, slide and trigger bar if these can be easily obtained. I will provide whatever images I have in return. I can provide PDFs of all the relevant manuals and paperwork too, if it is useful. I am also curious to see if there are any differences between CP1s sold in the US and those sold in SA (besides historical magazine capacity differences in some places).

Many thanks in advance.

 

[MrHuckFin]

Re:Vektor CP1 Pre-recall

I have two CP1's that have never been sent in or modified, what kind of pictures do you need? One of them needs a repair but I don't know who to send it to as all I ever hear it that it's been recalled and should be sold back to Vektor Arms and I'm not about to do that as I like it and want it to work again, the other one I've never put a round through it.

 

[Odd Job]

Aah, that's great news! I will post my info and photographs tonight. I just need three photographs that match mine. I will post those as soon as I get back from work.

 

[denfoote]

Being in London, how is it that you are able to own a hand gun??

 

[Odd Job]

Being in London, how is it that you are able to own a hand gun??

I am not, sir.
But this time last week I was in SA

 

[MrHuckFin]

Re:Sorry I Found Something Out

I DO have the two Vektor CP1's as I said, but a few years ago I moved and had to leave some stuff behind in storage and this whole time I thought I had my Vektor's and after my post to you last night I went to dig them out and it turns out I brought two other pistols with me and not the Vektor's. For now I don't have quick access to them but if you wish to exchange information with me and stay in touch I will endeavor to get them as soon as I can. Sorry to mislead you.
:-(

 

[Odd Job]

Edit: just read you don't have the Vektors at hand - no problem, I can wait until you next get them.

MrHuckfin, these are the papers that accompanied the Vektor when it came back from Denel. (If you don't have the original owner's manual I can send you a PDF of it).

First there was a conformance certificate. The next two images are the front and back of that paper respectively:

Then there was an addendum to the owner's manual:

Next, here are the photographs I would like to see of a pre-recall CP1:

(Right side of rear frame area, hammer forward)

(Same area from the rear)

(Rear underside of the slide)

Basically I am interested in the hammer, firing pin assembly and the trigger bar.

I will be very grateful if you can get those pics for me, and also comment whether your recoil spring has a yellow powder coating on it. I seem to recall that mine did not have this before it went in and when it came back it did. It caught my eye when looking at an angle at the forward part of the ejection port.

 

[MrHuckFin]

Re:My Vektor's

Odd Job,

I do have original manuals (still with the guns) and everything else they came with, I have one other source I can check about my Vektor's. The gun smith who tried to work on one of them for me may have taken some pictures of the parts while he was researching parts and "how to" manuals for them before he hit a dead end. I'll check with him and find out as I'm still in touch.

 

[denfoote]

Is the Vektor division of Denel still in business??
Word here was that the CP-1 debacle put them in bankrupcy.
Why did they simply confiscate all the pistols here if they had a fix.
We were all told that there was no fix and that the guns were hopelessly dangerous!!

 

[Tom2]

I traded mine back in before the recall as I could not get it to fire a whole magazine full without numerous malfunctions. Afterwards for years I kept getting recall info and shipping slips etc. thru the mail for the thing. Would have kept it if it was functional, I guess, as I liked the ergonomics and features. Oh, and the sight fell off during firing at the range, too. Perhaps it was rushed to market prematurely?

 

[Odd Job]

I agree on the reliability (or lack thereof of the CP1). I have had issues with mine where it has been fussy with ammo. The front sight also worked loose and I had to cure that by putting Loctite on the grub screw. When the pistol cam back from Denel they had reset the sight to dead center and glued it down so that I battled to get it free

Anyway, the fact remains that the CP1 was all I could afford at the time. It is very comfortable to carry and therefore has more utility than a lot of better-off friends with HKs who left theirs at home.

The other downside to the Vektor is it has a terrible trigger. I got used to it, but I can't see someone moving from a CZ to the CP1 for example. Just wouldn't make sense.
The CP1 was a budget gun, no doubt about it. With practise and careful ammo selection I got it to where I was comfortable carrying it. I changed the mag release to left hand release because under stress I found that the right hand release was exactly under my right thumb. I couldn't train a different grip and just changed releases. Thereafter I was okay. Back in the day when I was carrying it 24/7 I could draw very quickly from an IWB holster under a T-shirt. I recently found out that 3 years of not carrying has made me somewhat slower
It is an interesting gun, but comes with compulsory 'growing pains' and needs a recall and quite a bit of getting used to. As such I cannot recommend it for self defense carry. If I could go back in time and had more money I would have got the HK P7 M13 that was at the same shop (for almost 4 times the price).

Of course, if my aunt had testicles she would be my uncle...

 

[Odd Job]

Why did they simply confiscate all the pistols here if they had a fix.
We were all told that there was no fix and that the guns were hopelessly dangerous!!

The only thing I can think of is that the tolerances in terms of legal liability and pay-outs were somewhat tighter in the US than in SA. I still haven't found out what the precursor was to the recall: there must have been an accidental discharge or mishap of some sort to get the recall started.
The only thing I can say is that I have known several CP1 owners in SA and nobody has ever had an AD with that pistol or told me about one in SA. Maybe something happened in the US?
One other thing I don't know is whether there were differences between the pre-recall CP1s in SA vs the pre-recall CP1s in the US.

I would like to see more pictures of CP1s and know more about the circumstances of the recall.