which rifle do you prefer in the 9.3x62?

Both weight nearly 8 lbs unloaded

Ruger = 7.75 lbs
CZ = 8 lbs

Put on a scope and load them and your close to 9 lbs
Plan on a Mc light stock, that's what I did.

I went sako, after having the CZ, CZ is vary accurate, but I didn't care for it's action that much. I do like ruger but again all of them run into weight issues.
At least for me that is.

Its a toss up for me. I'd go with the one that you can get the better deal on. However, I don't care for the eruopean slope pos stock they are putting on some of the CZ's and the kevlar one is dog azz ugly....If you could find a nice old CZ 550 american with nice wood like the one I have then it would be a toss up.....Rugers have nice clean lines and generally have nice wood on them. I've never had a ruger I can't get to shoot well either.....Should I change my answer to Ruger??? Maybe

Having handled but not shot both, the Ruger hands down.

Ruger feels better shouldered.

I have a dog azz ugly CZ 550 American 9.3x62 with kevlar stock that is one of my favorites. It shoulders well, is accurate and is a real joy to shoot. Though not a Ruger African, I do own a M77 Hawkeye in a 358 Winchester that is a real shooter as well. I don't think you could go wrong with either.

The average CZ 550 weighs less than 8 pounds. I bought mine 10 years ago and it weighed 8-1/2 pounds with the factory stock and a 4x Leupold in Talley rings. Had it restocked in a fancy piece of walnut 4 years ago, and the stockmaker (Gene Gordner of Kilimanjaro Rifles) made it so nice and slim the rifle now weights 8 pounds on the nose with scope.

I had a Ruger Hawkeye African in .375 Ruger for a while and as I recall it also weighed about 8-1/2 with a 4x Leupold in the factory rings. The 9.3x62's weight won't be much different.

Of course either rifle's weight with a walnut stock will vary somewhat with the density of the wood.

Yeah, but which rifle would you pick out of the 2??? I love my CZ 550 american but it is an older one like yours. Sombeesh is accurate and tough as nails and looks good too....I can say the same for the rugers too...

I've got an older CZ 550 9.3x62 (maybe 8-9 years old, I bought it used about 7 years ago) and it's smoother than any out of the box Ruger 77II I've handled, with the exception of the RSM's.

Mine is the FS model, with the 20.5" barrel and in its McMillan stock it runs 8lbs with a Leupold 4x in Burris rings.

I also hav a CZ550 in 9.3X62, it was a bit stiff cycling when new. It is very smooth now. Great trigger either set or normal. Never have been a real Ruger fan, triggers normally need work, and the wood on my CZ is much better than what I normally see from Ruger. I do not have an Ruger African model, but have handled one, for myself I like the CZ.

I like both, but for me the Ruger is a better value. By that I mean less to do to it to make it how I want it. For me that's less $$ out of pocket for a finished product

That's what my Ruger H African with the same scope weighs exactly. I will add a
A McM McWoody though not so much for the weight factor as the durability one.

It ain't just weight. The Ruger stock "feels" much better than than that of the CZ. Go to a shop and play with them both. Short of ergonomics they are darn close (a win for the Ruger sights) to one and the same I believe.

I agree on the sights. The sights Ruger puts on their 9.3 are much better than the current sights on the CZ's. My CZ came with an EAW rear sight island with a two-leaf folding V-sight and an EAW banded front sight base with a hand-detachable red fiber optic bead. They stopped putting nice sights on the 550's about 6-7 years ago I think.

I have not handled a CZ 550 but know the Ruger stock is alright with me and was pleasantly surprised at the stoutness of the irons in this day "cheapening down".

I also bought a CZ 550 Lux 9.3x62 back around the same time - probably based on the praise you were giving it then (mine still wears the original hog back stock). I also picked up a Ruger African 9.3x62 last year and it is a bit heavier than my CZ - the Ruger is closer to 8# and the CZ closer to 7.5# (without scopes). As you say - different wood densities I suppose. I was planning to sell the CZ when I bought the Ruger but I can't seem to bring myself to art with it. If I was looking at both new today, I'd probably go with the Ruger mainly because I prefer the Lux to the American and understand the Lux's are no longer imported. They both shoot equally well - I'd have to give a slight edge to the CZ regarding accuracy, though both are easily sub-MOA with their preferred loads.

I own the CZ and have fired the Ruger some. They are very close in weight etc. The Ruger looks a little better but my CZ shoots Norma factory ammo crazy good, so I have to say CZ. I am not putting down the Ruger at all and if every thing were the same, I would buy American as I do at every opportunity. YMMV.

PS - Given the chance to put a Rifle's Inc. trigger on the Ruger and do some load development and my answer would probably change.

Again, YMMV!

Mine's older as well and I like some of the features they had then better than the newer CZ's.....The guy I bought mine from said it was an older one without the set trigger. He told me he "bought it way back when CZ's wern't really popular in the US". He's hunted with it in africa a few times and loved it but didn't see himself going back so he sold it to me.....All I know is the old one and I love it:

I chose the CZ550FS, I wanted a light stalking rifle and the hogback stock is designed for open sight use, I added a NEG peep sight. The gun shoots very well.

It's my observation that Ruger 77's have nicer looking stocks than the CZ 550 American wood stocks. My CZ 550 has the older style Lux stock with the wood and checkering as nice as a Ruger has. This is just my subjective opinion. Performance wise I experience the models 550 and the 77 as equal. My Ruger 77 in 270 is terrific. And my CZ 550 in 9.3x62 shoots as reliably and accurately.

The 270 and the 9.3x62 are a nice combination! A little less recoil than the traditional 30/06 and 375 H&H combo with less felt recoil.

I had a Ruger African for a couple years as well as a CZ550FS in 9.3X62. Both are good rifles but I eventually sold the Ruger because try as I might it would not shoot as well as the CZ.
I had the Ruger glassed and pillar bedded because of the rumors of stock issues so there were no problems in that regard.
I still have and use the CZ and also acquired a Ruger Alaskan 375. Having had several different Rugers in recent years, I do think they suffer a bit from quality control in terms of fit and finish compared to the CZ, just my observation...

You may have that right. The Rugers always seem to be gritty and the actions are rough. It takes a while to smooth them up. The CZ's are slick from the factory and they are shooters to boot. Mine thinks it's a varmint rifle

Out of the two, I would go for the CZ550. Although I do find it a heavy rifle and find the barrel too long (you can always cut it back).
You could always do what I did and use a VZ-24 (or Mauser/clone) and put a 9.3x62 barrel on it. I cut mine down to 21" and its made it a vey fast handeling rifle. I have gone for ghost ring sight as I want to use it on driven boar. [img:center]http://[/img]

I would-and have-chosen the CZ-550 and then sent it to Jan Kolenbrander, formerly of Martini Gunmakers.

He will install a Micky AHR stock I had, my NECG "ghost" rear peep, a modded Recknagel front banded ramp and Euro Sourdough, smooth the action and install AHR trigger and 3-pos. safety, this was to be a "truck gun" as my three other 9,3x62 rifles are all fairly rare and a bit costly.

But, once all of this is done, it will not longer be a "cheap" rifle and I will just have to deal with rough usage....which is why I own and use only Mauser-type CRF rifles, now, other than a couple of combo guns.

The Rugers are OK, but, the CZ have the true Mauser CRF and are, IME, a bit better overall. YMMV, of course.

I boought my CZ in the 90's for $450 out the door NIB. I spent 2 evenings cycling the bolt with valve grinding compound and then gently glass bedded it. I like the Bavarian stock and the way it takes recoil. It made 4 trips to Africa before I fell off the truck and broke the stock. My PH cycled the bolt and allowed it was the smoothest CZ he had ever handled. I had to replace the stock in South Africa(for $700 USD) with a "custom" CZ stock. It is the best rifle I have ever used and I have a closet full of most every make. If you like something else well "Good on ya'". I find no faults with it. I have a couple Ruger 77's and they are OK. They made an "Express Rifle" a few years ago in 338 win mag I fell in love with but didn't get. You can get better custom built but "to a price" the CZ is hard to equal ,let alone beat.
With 286gr Nosler Partitions or Barnes TSX and Norma 201 or IMR 4895 it will put 5 rounds under an inch at 100 yds
I like "Rubenesque Women" too.

I've handled a couple of Ruger Africans, a 9.3x62 and a 375 Ruger and they both seemed balanced and shouldered nicely. My M77 Hawkeye 358 Win is one of my favorite rifles. However, since I wanted a composite stock, I ended up getting a CZ 550 American 9.3x62 Kevlar and I'm very pleased with the rifle. Even though I still have not finalized the load or powder (using 286gr Nosler Partitions), I believe it will be one of the most accurate rifles I own based on how it has handled factory ammo I've tried. I started with Ram Shot Big Game and will also be trying RL 17 and Varget.

I have a 550FS 9.3X62. Very accurate and the 9.3X62 is the easiest cartridge to load for accuracy in my nearly 40 yrs. of handloading. It weights 8.75 lbs. with a Leupold M8 4X in Warne steel rings. The action was gritty when new, but smoothed up extremely well after being cycled numerous times and being properly lubed. The CZ would be my first pick.

What no option for Sako 9.3x62

When I first got my CZ 550 it was a bit rough. I had some work done on it, which you probably won't need with a Ruger, but it's my favorite rifle now. All machined steel, wood's pretty, very very accurate, Mauser variant action. Much to like.

off topic but some of the above posts suggest they are not happy with the weight and barrel length of the rifles above
-Tikka T3 is available right or left handed at 6.25 lbs. and up depending on type of stock with a 22" barrel ss or blue or 20" in the Batteau
-I have been using the ss lite for a few years with the 5 shot mag. which is an asset for shooting offhand and a spare fits in most shirt pockets
-briefly had a Batteau, nice sights, but went down the road for no particular reason

I had a T3 in 9.3X62 for several years and really liked it,
unfortunately My son borrowed it for an Elk hunt and was so impressed I never got it back, hence my getting the CZ550 FS.
He hunts almost everything on horseback and loves the T3.
In spite of any criticism regarding ' tupperware' guns it has put a lot of meat in his freezers.

I'll admit that I'm biased as I have a CZ 550 LUX that I purchased in 1999, it has a 1.5-5X Leupold (Hvy Plex) in Talley rings.

I'd certainly choose the CZ 550 LUX again.

Did any of the carbine kevlar 9.3x62s ever hit the market?

Yes, I've had one for six months.

Trevor

Would you kindly post pics and a review?

A while back I was looking for a shorter barreled factory 9.3x62. I looked at a group purchase to import a M98, I looked at the newly announced CZ carbine kevlar, and I looked at a group purchase to import a Sako. The M98 fell through and the CZ never came, but I was successful at getting an imported Sako.

It was my understanding that the carbine kevlar was the basic FS 9.3x62 with the stock being replaced with a CZ exclusive Bell and Carlson unit. The specs of this rifle looked good and I thought it would fit my needs well. I'm far more than pleased with my Sako 9.3x62 and doubt I'll ever let it go, but I still like the idea of the carbine kevlar.

Thanks