I have a Norinco NZ85B which is a CZ85 clone.

It is the most accurate 9mm I have owned and has been reliable until now after some 2500 rounds.

It is very tight, perhaps too tight and the slide has always been harder to rack than the "real" CZ I also shoot.

Lately I have had repeated failures to fire because of very light primer strikes. Pulling the trigger again DA does not fire the round but if I extract the round (which is quite difficult to do for some reason) and then rechamber it, then it will fire.

Never happens with the first round stripped out of the magazine or if a round is dropped straight into the chamber and the slide dropped.

Happens with all manner of reloads, light to +P and also to factory ammunition.

I have stripped the slide and checked the firing pin and all seems normal.

I suspect that the slide is not going fully into battery though I can't tell by looking at the gun or that the firing pin safety is not fully being disengaged even though it's operation seemed normal when I stripped the slide.

As suggestions as to what may be happening and a fix other than a trip to a pistolsmith?

Ozzie, you may be getting some binding in the trigger and hammer mechanisms. I would see how thoroughly I could clean both of these areas. I would shoot some brake cleaner through them th see hwo much gunk you can get out. If the hammer binds, this will happen. If that doesn't help, a trip to a good smith is in order.

I routinely spray the trigger mechanism with Brake cleaner after each shooting session and lubricate with a CLP type or Tetra gun lube. I will have another look though to check if some stray bit of foreign matter has gotten stuck in there though.