Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles No CZ love?

Welcome to the Fire...

The "complaint" of being a tad heavy is, for sure, not a problem with those big boomers...

DF

My 7x57 weighs 9 lbs with scope and it is pleasant to shoot. Even carried it rabbit hunting last fall and survived.

Forgot to add, CZ barrels look really great thru the Hawkeye borescope, no tool marks, just fine machine work.

I think they're hammer forged, not sure. They're a lot prettier than factory Savage/Remington, etc. It's pretty amazing that those barrels shoot as well as they do. They gotta foul worse than a CZ, just saying...

CZ barrels shoot about as good as they look.

DF

Thanks for the welcome!

Hmmm...

Over penetration...?

DF

What 100gr bullets? 1-10 should be fine, normally.

Never liked the DMs on those long actions as they complicate things if you decide to "go long" later on and don't do anything for the looks either. Someone else probably thinks they're the beans, of course.

I had my cz 550 for ....geez.. 13 years at least. Must have gotten lucky because the trigger is perfect and seriously crisp. Liked it so much Dad bought one in 6.5x55. Love that set trigger function, freaks people out when they try it for the first time.

Barrels are hammer forged. I remember seeing that they were hand lapped before leaving the factory. Mine is remarkably consistent no matter what I load for it.

Two more reasons I appreciate mine. Karnis redid my stock as a favor. Anyone who knows him will understand.

Second -my son used it this year to take his first deer. A decent buck at about 160yds. He thinks it is the greatest rifle the world ever produced at this point. I am not about to say otherwise.

Only gripe, like others, the bolt can be rough if not cycled just right.

Not with a 130 gr Speer. Which I killed one rabbit in 13 shots.

Now, one could conclude, you missed 12 and hit one.

Or, it took 13, 130 gr. Speer bullets to finally anchor one mad, charging bunny...

DF

Missed 12 hit one.

I'll second that. I know the one I used to own (CZ 550 American 9.3x62mm) shot lights out.....

Amen, that's the best post yet...

My 527 Carbine 7.62x39 is a fine, svelte little gem. Got it in 2004 when I was wanting the perfect cast bullet launcher and it's very close. A few years later, I got an American in .223 and now, I'm negotiating on yet another Carbine in 7.62. I kinda like them.

I also have a 527 American in .223. Like it so much I've thought about getting another and having it rebored to 6x45.

The CZ 527 American and Varmint models are greatly liked by small bore shooter/varmint/predator hunters. Great carry guns, user adjustable set trigger, and shoot great. I have seven of them.

I keep hoping they bring it out in 6.5 Grendel. Howa's supposed to take the plunge with the new Mini later this year.

The most fun I have is shooting larger centre fires at rabbits whilst afoot...lot of fun and not a lot to pick up.

Great fun in the sandhills.

Ky: I bought a CZ 550 in 416 Rigby when they first came out in that chambering. Controlled round feed, safety in the proper direction, priced right, no scope base needed, ammo available in Africa. What's not to like? However, when I started to work with the rifle in preparation for Africa I found the downside. It is not a "handy" rifle. It was heavy, had a long barrel and the long bolt throw required that I twist the forearm to the right when manipulating the bolt so that it cleared my face. Someone once told me that working a CZ 550 was like driving a garbage truck. I know what he meant.
As much as I wanted to like that rifle, when Ruger came out with the Guide gun in 416 Ruger I quickly sold the CZ and bought the Ruger. Both the Ruger and CZ had actions that are rougher than a cob and require the same amount of judicious application of 440 grit crocus cloth and polishing rouge. However, the Ruger is much more user friendly. After 4 buffalo, 3 zebra and a some plains game I am quite happy with my decision.
I must add the disclaimer that in my advancing years I do not have the upper body strength I once had so a younger stronger person might not have the same opinion of the CZ 550. Mule deer reshaped the stock on his 416 Rigby to a more svelte contour and I am sure that improved the CZ. The other negative to the 416 Ruger is that I seriously doubt that 416 Ruger ammo is available on the Africa continent outside of Joburg. Whenever anyone disputes that statement I ask them to give me the name of a store outside of Johannesburg that carries 416 Ruger ammo. The silence is deafening.

For a smallish lightweight carry I keep tossing around the thought of wither a 527 or a Savage lightweight. I kind of like the idea of a 222 so leaning CZ.

Reminds me of Benny hill movie and that killer rabbit.....