Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Anyone here Deer hunt with a CZ 527?

I’ve got a 223 flavor I’ve killed a few wary gobblers at over 300 yards with 60 gr vmax hand loads it is Devine

Don’t buy a cz527 in 223 assuming it will shoot nosler and heavy Barnes bullets. It’s a great rifle I love mine and every barrel is different so your results maybe different but I can’t get my 223 CZ527 to shoot 60 gr partions or the 55gr Barnes into groups smaller than a pie plate at 100 yards even got some hitting the paper sideways. It groups light weigh 40-50gr bullets well in every factory load I’ve tried and I have found a handload that groups well with a few different bullets in this weigh range but mine doesn’t like heavy bullets at all. I was told CZ has changed the twist rate in the 527’s in 223 since it was first released mine was purchased new about 20 years ago so beware your results may be different if you get a factory new rifle vs buying an older one.

Newer 527 .223s have a 1 in 9, don't know when it changed, but mine is 5 years old.

My grandpap had one he popped quite a few deer with in his last few years of hunting. Most were head shots. 2 were ribs. Found both but no blood trail.

Pap gave it to my son. His greatgrandson......
Fantastic little rifle

My stepson got his first deer today with my, maybe now his CZ 527 chambered in 6.5 Grendel. This was my first time hearing the rifle fired while not having hearing pro on and was impressed with how “quiet” 6.5 Grendel with the 24” barrel is. Definitely not at all obnoxious compared to some bigger cartridges. He heart and lower lung shot it on a slightly quartering away small buck at 30 yards using factory Hornady 123 SST ammo. The bullet entered just behind the front leg and exited low in the chest and through the leg bone at the point where it connects to the chest leaving a nice round quarter or slightly larger size hole. The deer ran 40-50 yards leaving a steady blood trail the entire distance, not one of the massive Helen Keller could track it type of trails that you sometimes see but a solid smattering of blood droplets every few feet and heavy internal damage.

I started my own son off with a .223 and hand loaded 55 grain TSX that he killed several deer with. The blood trails were sometimes a little lighter than I liked for hunting around swamp edges but none went far and we always found them without to much work. As a sample of one and probably not surprisingly given the bigger and much softer SST bullet the deer ran about the same distance as those my son shot with his .223 but it left a better trail to follow.

Hi All.
Consideration for less experienced/ recoil sensitive is wonderful. So is the challenge of placing shots " just so".
But can we, for just a moment, think about the critters? Deer in this case. This is a creature with blood and breath. Fully capable of feeling pain. And suffering.
Its not like punching paper or ringing steel where a bad hit is an " oh well".
My biggest buck, to date, was shot in the head from less than 100 yards. I had the deer in my scope, crosshaids on his chest, when BOOM! I didn't know the guy was there, but I saw the spray of a head shot.
I also saw the buck run off. The s.o.b. didn't even check the results of the shot. Never moved. I shouted over " You hit him!" The guy walked over to where the deer was standing. I walked away, figuring he would follow up.
I wandered around for a bit, and picked up a drip drop blood trail. Tracking practice is always good, so I follow it. About every 60-70 yards there'd be a big spray pattern. Whiskey tango? Now I'm curious! Followed this for almost a mile. No wobbles no bouncing off things, this deer was still strong. Just big sprays.
I got between a couple autumn olive bushes, and saw a deer, head down drinking from a trickle. I gave an " uurp!" and up came his head, a NICE 9 point, and down went the hammer on my 30-30.
FLOP. When I got to him, guess what? It was the head shot buck!
The round went in to the sinus cavity on the right side, just ahead of his eye ( that mesh are if you've seen a deer skull) and exited breaking the left jaw just down from the joint. The big sprays? I guess, was his attempt to clear clots so he could breathe?
The blood trail I was following was from this deer and was easy to track!
You can guess what I think of headshots and those who take them.
I feel the same way about calibers under .24. Do they work? Yes. And sometimes spectacularly. But if you NEED a blood trail, or hit bone... Its even harder for an inexperienced shooter, nervous enough already. If bump and blast are an issue, go with a Grendel, or x39, or maybe wait a bit until they're no longer an issue?
We owe it to our kids, to give them a wonderful experience. Have you seen a new hunter , who KNOWS they hit the deer, but can't find it? Heartbreaking...
We owe the animals we kill, the fastest, most humane death possible AND to recover them.
As the old saying goes " Use enough gun".
And wait for the best shot. Neither will be regretted.

We will be down to 2nd hand CZ 527's as choices B4 long as CZ has dropped THE 527 line up. Was happy to have this one recently chambered in 6mm ARC this fall.

63 gr Sierra is awesome especially considering your 100 yard maximum range. It shoots bug holes in every 22 centerfire I’ve ever tried and kills deer like lightning.

I have a CZ 527 kevlar varmint in 223 Rem. Have not taken a deer with it ( 1-9" barrel ). I like it a lot.

If I was looking for a CZ 527 for deer hunting, I would select one in 6.5 Grendel, no hesitation.