I'm looking for a companion for my Remington 788 in .233, which is very accurate but homely <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. The CZ 527 American in .222 or.223 has caught my eye and I was wondering how many warts it has? Any thoughts on accuracy, feeding problems, smoothness of action ect. would be appreciated.
Principal uses would be shooting groups from bench, offhand target (plinking), and the occasional varmit at a max of 200 yards.Thanks, Joe

I have experience with three different 527s: 22 Hornet, 223 and 7.62x39, two were full stocks. All shot very well. To the point I expected 1 inch or beter groups with factory ammo (most of the time). For that matter, I have yet to shoot a CZ that I could not expect that from.

I think the 527 is the best of the best of the CZs. Do not expect to mount a scope very low or expect to find a wide variety of ways to mount a scope. The set trigger is nice and the action of the 527 is very smooth to operate.

The extended magazine makes field carry awkward but someone here on the campfire has a fix for that.

I have a CZ 527 in 223 and it is one of the most pleasing rifles I own. Only tried one factory load in it I can't recall and it shot a little over an inch. Once I got my reloading components I worked up a load with 40 gr. barnes VLC's over the chrono till I the velocity where I wanted and promptly shot my first under 1/2" 5 shot group.
I like the set trigger. I find the magazine that sticks out a non issue as it carries very well with your hand in front of it. The magazine is also very well built. The action is very slick. I also find the safety working in reverse a non issue although I have heard/read of fixes.
With the little mauser action sized to the .223 cartridge I think it is in a class by itself.
I bought mine over one of the gun auction sites as a dealer put it up because it had a particularly nice piece of tiger striped wood on it and I ended up working a trade. If you can find multiple ones to look at you could come away with a very nice piece of wood as they vary greatly.
In case you can't tell I'd highly reccomend one.

The wood is the "thing" with the CZs. I have a 452FS and a 550FS that have "to die for" wood. And, then, some I have seen had wood worse than an econo stud. The best part is that they all cost the same unless a dealer tries to jack the price up on the ones with good wood.

I've got one in 221 Fireball. It's one of my favorite guns. The trigger is excellent with no adjustment, the safety blocks the firing pin and has a good clip, what more could you ask for? I've just started working up loads for it and have gotten some pretty good groups (under an inch). The wood looks good too. Not much downside to getting one.

Hey Whitetail,



Found a way to get that scope really low a few weeks ago. It's kinda expensive, but my 527 shot so good I thought it was worth it.



Conetrol makes a 'DapTar' mount for the 527. On these mounts you can put any height Conetrol ring you want. (Come to think of it, Conetrol makes the only true mount for the 527; all the others are rings w/integral bases like the factory ones.)



Anyway, I went with the low rings. Total height was .338" vs. .550" for the factory rings. You will have to take a bit off of the bolt handle. I recontoured mine in about 30 minutes with a file. It's fairly soft steel.



Mounted a Leupold 2x7 compact. The smaller objective bell was easier to work with (2/10's of an inch less in diameter than others) when clearing the bolt handle, and hey, it's a 22 hornet, how big a scope do I need? I love this combo; my cheek is now firmly on the comb, it is proportionally perfect, and these mounts look like they're made for the rifle. In fact, they exceeded my expectations, and I'm normally too picky for my own good.



Here's the mount and ring specs:

DapTar mount - .275"

low ring - .63"

med ring - .125"

Didn't ask for the height of the high ring.



If I ever figure out how to post a photo I'll give you a look at it. Don't hold your breath tho.

GA Hunter,

I have been considering a 221. I think the CZs are a great buy for the hunter. They are not perfect but I have yet to see one that would not shoot. A friend had a 6.5x55 550 Lux that was THE most accurate out of the box rifle I have ever fired and I shot some groups with the 7.62 Carbine that were "special". I keep waiting to run across a lemon.

tcarr,

Thanks for the info. I have been planning a wildcat .25 on the 6mm PPC case and may use the 527 action. If I do I will try that system.

Dang, Whitetail,

You got me brainstorming on that 25-PPC. What kind of bullet weight/speed you reckon to get out of that thing? If that thing will move a 100gr. partition fast enough, it just might be the bees knees.

I think my wife hates you already. (At least I'm not alone now).

Depending on shoulder angle, capacity and such at least 2800. The 6mmPPC load data says 3000+ with 29 gr. of H335 and a 90 gr. Sierra.

Gonna get C. Sisk to do it so we can pressure test it and work load data from there. Charlie wants to use the CD mini-mauser action because the CZ has metric threads.

I think it would be a super cool varmint / deer cartridge in a compact rifle.

Not trying to be smart, but what's the deal with gunsmiths and metric threads? I know I would rather have the CZ action over the Interarms/Chuck Daly action any day, the CZ being a true Mauser type, better trigger, smoother, etc...

Maybe Mr. Sisk can learn me what it takes to cut a metric thread?