The 452 American, not all 452, come with a nice polish and blue with walnut stock. The stocks are or were like a lottery, some real winners. The 455 American may have the same wood. The 455 American is not as well polished and blued. Anyone who does not understand need only visit a gun shop that has a 452 left hand model on display next to a 455 right hand gun.
The polish and blue is real money and the typical American consumer is not, in my opinion, willing to pay for that. This is exactly same for old model Smith & Wesson and the new guns today. Even $2400 Sako has a matt/satin cheapo finish. People buy that crap, so; it makes sense.
The 452 had several barrel lug and receiver bolt patterns so that a stock from a lux or trainer would not interchange with an American and even a 22LR varmint stock is not the same as a 22mag varmint stock. The 455 standardized the stocks. IMHO generally a good idea to standardize, good for CZ. But; the fullstock had a special barrel lug attachment which was very accurate on the 452. The 455 does not and it suffers for that change. The bolt was simplified, the smooth feeding guide lug removed. Not good. The barrels are a slip fit, obviously not as rigid as being threaded on.
For accuracy, in theory, my theory, the 452 (and 453) shpould be more accurate because the gun is more rigid and the attachment screws are optimized for the barrel & stock configuration. In practice, cz, like most others, has the occasional bad chamber, bad crown or rough bore. The 455 is easier to correct with a new barrel. Watch the fit and headspace. For the $$$ involved I generally prefer to dump a lemon and move on, rather than re-barrel. I would put that up charge toward an Anschutz. For those who like to tinker and build up a gun the 455 is a great option.
