I think the force needed to rack the slide the first time is needed to balance out both the recoil spring and to cock the hammer.. Let her try to cock the hammer first and then rack the slide. May be the component of force to cock the hammer is the dominant one in the slide racking and not the recoils spring. I do this at the range after an hour of shooting as I am looking for less force to rack the slide.

I don't know the answers to your questions but the information on this site may be useful to your wife.

http://corneredcat.com/RunGun/rack.aspx

Originally Posted by 39plyguy

Does anyone know the recoil spring pounds of a cz 75 d compact pcr. I want my wife to shoot it more but she has a hard time pullihng the slide back. If i put a lighter spring would that effect performance. Thanks

I would be hesitant to change the slide spring as a stiff spring is desired to deal with the force of re-racking the slide and ejecting the round. Gunsprings.com lists factory springs for CZ/EAA compacts at 17 lbs. Again, I would be very hesitant to change this.

My brother had issues racking my CZ when I noticed he was using two fingers to rack the slide. I would put down a few bucks betting your wife is doing the same thing. If she is, recommend placing her offhand thumb along the rear serrations of the part of the body-facing slide, and her three-to-four fingertips of the same hand against the rear serrations of the slide opposite-of-body (depends on if she can get the pinky to play along). This will provide much more grip, more finger strength, and additional palm strength while racking. I bet this will clear up the issue.

If not, well, I fail

[Edit]: my recommendation for racking the slide is based on the fact that there is not a whole lot to grab onto when it comes to the CZ slides. I've found this to be a common problem when my friends handle my CZ. Just wanted to make sure readers keep this in mind.

Thanks for all the great input. I had my wife try out your methods it seemed to make all the difference.