Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Tikka vs CZ

Both of the 527's I spoke of are older 12 twist .223's owned by my brothers. As I said, they both shoot quite well now, just needed a little work.

What was the work?

Explained a few posts back. Have you done anything to yours ? I've been thinking of buying a 527 American in 6.5 Grendel myself. Don't know if I can get past that damned ugly trigger guard/magazine arrangement though.

OK, checked your post again.

Have not encountered any of those problems with my CZ rifles. In fact the first 3-shot group I shot at 100 yards with my 452 .17 HMR in 2002 measured .24 inch, right out of the box.

Have had similar OTB luck with 15-20 other CZs from rimfire to various centerfires. Have worked over or adjusted the triggers some, and did put a heavier magazine spring in my 550 Magnum .416 Rigby, but other than that they've been pretty much good to go.

I also shoot competition at my club. Sometimes we do "hunting" rifle shoots. They hated it when I pulled out my CZ 550, even though it was chambered in 9.3x62mm, it was still damn accurate. Of course I worked it over a bit:

I've shot perfect's with that rifle and also filled the freezer a time or 2:


Like I said earlier, there's a night and day difference between the heavy clunky CZ550 and the Tikka. Especially when you want to compare it to something like your superlite 6.5 creed. There are absolutely no flies on the superlite for a hunting rifle either, and they can be extremely accurate:


Don't expect your everyday right out of the box superlite to shoot like that though. It's not going to happen. If you are looking for an extremely accurate Tikka, that you could also possible hunt with that is closer in weight to the CZ550, look up the Tikka CTR. They shoot great. Almost effortless. I don't/won't take my CTR to one of our "hunting" rifle shoots, but will take it to our "precision" rifle shoots:


However, I do still feel a little guilty because it shots so well....:

I have a bunch of Tikkas, two of them are in 7mm-08. When you buy the Tikka let me know, I have load data for you.



P

I prefer the Tikka a lot more
The stocks on the CZs feel like clubs

They don’t all...many of the older cz/brno rifles had very trim stocks...similar to the Winchester 54. The Safari stocks are perfect imho...

Cz s are a European sporting Mauser...not designed to or intended to be a sub 7lb stainless synthetic mountain rifle. This comparison is foolish

My 527 in 17 Hornet would not feed out of the magazine, unless you were mad and really worked the bolt.


I think they used an extractor out of a 223 on it.

Wouldn't say a Tikka vs Howa comparison be more appropriate?

Not a gunwriter but I've owned both in .223. The Tikka I bought new. It was the basic, least expensive "Plastica" model. It was and still is the most accurate out of the box with several different loads rifle I've ever owned. Basically put a scope on it and start shooting. It seems like most shooters that get these say the same thing.

The CZ is an older 527, 18&1/2" barrel, 1-12 twist, walnut stock Carbine with good open sights. I've had it about a year. The only thing I've done to it is put a 2-7x33 scope on it. Getting mounts that weren't too high without altering or replacing the bolt handle was a hassle. I ended up using some old Tikka mounts. So far the only load it shoots real well is the 40 gr V-Max with 27 gr of Varmint Extreme but it will put 5 rounds and sometimes more into an inch at 100 yds consistently with that load.

I know alot of people around here with 527's and this is a common complaint/problem.

CZ obviously wants to be a big player in the American market but they keep fuuckin it up. The 557 stock is bulky/clubby. The overall styling leaves much to be desired. People bought 550's because it had a Mauser action so CZ comes out with a fat, overweight, push feed action with a two positon safety that doesn't lock the bolt to replace it. BRILLIANT ! Just what every American hunter wanted and needed, another heavy, two position safety push feed in a market already loaded with them . Same with the 527. It is a truly tiny, micro action. If CZ would do away with that dopey, ugly, steel trigger guard/bottom metal/magazine arrangement and put an aluminum triggerguard/floorplate or aluminum botton metal with flush fitting detachable magazine in it's stead, they could have a truly slick, good looking lightweight micro action sporter that would be very appealing to American hunters. Instead they have a micro action rifle that is neither good looking nor particularly light. Good job CZ, your engineering and marketing departments are right on the ball.

I have the older CZ550 American in .243. It's an accurate rifle as long as I stay with bullets < 87 grains. It's one heavy sporter than feels like a block. The length of pull is really long for me and I'm of average size. It has the set trigger which is nice on the bench; I'd never consider hunting with it set as it's too light. Fit and finish is more on par with Remington than Tikka/Sako. CZ does have good customer service. I bought a CZ 452 American prior to the 550 which is what sold me on CZ. They're decent rifles until you hit a certain price point and then there's better.

I have a 527 in .221 Fireball that feeds great.

A little work shaping my extractor and the 17 feeds great too.

I think they got them mixed up at the factory. Probably test fire with a single shot carrier.

BSA, funny I have the same rifles, in the same calibers.. The CZ550in 9.3X62 does the same thing. I have yet to shoot the Tikka Creedmoor but am expecting good things.

For varmint shooting the CZ527 magazine setup is perfect and feeds flawlessly. At least the examples in 204 and 223 I have do. The only thing I did to my 527's is taken some emory cloth to the magazine feed lips as they were scratching cases, which drove me nuts.

I haven’t commented per the CZs because it’s been years since I saw one and
am not looking.

I have 2 Tikka T3, one is T3x. Very Light, Well Balanced, Best, Easiest, No hassle, Out of the box accuracy I’ve
experienced in 47 yrs of messing with CF rifles.

I’ve had 3 Howas. 223, 270, 06. All were good shooters.

ALL were heavy ! ! That’s been my experience.


Jerry

If you like Rem, but not the current stuff take a look at Bergara. They are 700's done right. That said I own CZ rimfires and am a fan, have not tried the centerfires. Tikka just feels cheap to me-obviously subjective. They have a great reputation for accuracy, but so does Bergara and they feel better to me.