Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only CZ-550 or Model 70

You better get 7 more holes in them targets before BSA tells you 3 shot groups are worthless. I settled on 74.5gr RL15, with a 300gr TSX and federal 215. Don’t tell anyone but I’m using a leupold scope as well..

Ok, here is what I've been packing, it has, and will Get-er-Done.....
Lj, Alaska....

I like my New Haven SS M-70 .375 H&H, chopped and fluted.

Speaking of CZ's, I had traded for this AHR in 9.3x62. It handled great, was a tad heavy but shot really well with JB's loads. I kept it a while, traded it. AHR does great things with the CZ. It's gotten sorta expensive, though.

DF

Hey, are you spying on me??? You remember sherars bridge? Its part of the warmsprings tribal land. Girlfriend and I cruised by there earlier today and those fn indians are crazy sitting out over that rough azzed water on the Deschutes!!! Some have fallen in and died, but they still do it on those rickity azzed platforms..
Sherars falls

Lol, I never did get a chance to fish the John
Day river. I had friends that did and they caught some nice cat fish.

Seriously, you been spying on me...??

Just the bathroom camera, you keep missing a spot when you shave your back..

I'd say the CZ and BRNO 602 are unnecessarily large/heavy for a 375magnum. Owned two 602s over the years.

If it was for a 416 or 404, go for the CZ.

That is one sweet rifle!

Thanks, and it shot about as well as it looks.

Here's a fav, one of JB's loads.

DF

CZ 550 for me. I live in grizzly country (we get them right in our farmyard time to time) and used to pack a .45-70 but wanted something more versatile and have long bin fascinated by the .375 H&H calibre and what the pros say about it. So i did my research, took a look at CZ and Winchester mostly. I went with the CZ. I liked the lines a little better, i liked the sights better, i liked the capacity better, as others have said.

Also, when Rigby couldn't get Mauser actions during WWII they chose BRNO (CZ) actions for their rifles. You can still find the occasionally high-end Rigby for sale with these actions. Indeed i have read reviewers who say they cycle BETTER than the magnum Mauser actions they are styled after. They have a reputation for flawless dependability amongst PH's in Africa where it has been commented that more PH's carry CZ's than any other rifle. I thought, good enough for Rigby, good enough for PH's, good enough for me. Oh, i have also read comparisons where it is the most accurate of rifles tested - including Winchester - right out of the box.

So i bought a base model, about $1,200. As many others have written, the bolt needed some breaking-in, but after several hundred cycles it became very smooth. Also, while the walnut was perfectly decent the stock was overbuilt and rudimentarily finished. I reshaped and refinished the stock (planed, sanded, stained and oil polished) based on the lines of the old Rigby stocks. I also put a barrel-band sling holder on and had the barrel shortened 2" from 25" (too long for me) to 23" which i think is perfect. There was no effect on the superb accuracy.

It now looks and handles like vintage high-end working safari rifle. I reckon for $1,200 that's what you get from CZ - a high-end rifle in the rough. A little elbow grease and you end up with the equivalent of a $5,000 rifle cos of course that's where much of the cost is in these premium brands - the time put into hand finishing. And you can get one of those with CZ too, if you don't mind paying that much and don't want to do the work yourself. With a lower-priced CZ you have a great platform. Oh, the set trigger is a really nice feature too, on the range or on the stand. I carry this rifle with me everywhere in these hills and even on the farm when i'm in the thick stuff and the dogs have bin going nuts at night and those little tufts of silver tipped hair are on the barbed wire along with those big, long-clawed tracks. Love it. I've worked up some nice handloads for various hunting duties.

I have recently heard they are discontinuing manufacture of their magnum rifles, however. I have also heard more recently manufactured ones are not what the older ones are (but others saying their late models are just fine.) So i suppose there may be some urgency in finding one.

Incidentally, as an addendum to my above post, my CZ .375 "American Safari" came with a fairly slim stock when i bought it new about a decade ago, if overbuilt in the grip area especially. There was no comb and the fore-end had a slim contour compared to all the pics i've seen of this model. I have never been able to find a pic of a late model CZ 550 magnum with the stock mine came with in fact, and i would agree wholeheartedly with those who say the stocks on most of them are way overbuilt. Big, rectangular, clumsy things. So mostly the work i did on the stock was smoothing edges and considerably recontouring/streamlining and reducing the pistol grip.

Most interesting is that i was just looking at pictures of old BRNO .375's that others here have commented were slimmer than the recent CZ's and lo and behold there on some of these 60's guns is the stock that my later model CZ came with, contour-wise. I wonder what was up there? Did they have some old BRNO stocks laying around they wanted to use?

Yeah, those are good, solid guns, diamonds in the rough.

I've read where JB did similar with his big CZ, got it slimmed down to fit him, refinished the stock and is pleased with the result.

DF

Within a couple of weeks my wife's refined cz 550 7x57 will arrive home. I will have to get pics up. I understand it is a shade over 7lbs which is a decent weight savings compared to what it began life as from the factory. I will say the trigger was tuned well.

I would say with the CZ push forward set trigger that the trigger goes to CZ also.

I don't find their set trigger all that great. The MOA on my M70 308 is better than my CZ set trigger. The set isn't awful, but is no Canjar.

I only have one 375 H&H, but it is an AI version. It's a Pre-64. I can find no fault with it.

I had another 375 H&H but the stock didn't fit me. It was a straight 375 H&H but it felt like it kicked harder than the Winchester. I can't recall the manufacture and I only shot maybe 10 rounds through it.

I had a Post 64 300 Winchester Classic and I didn't care for it. I doubt I'll buy another.

If you can find a pre-64 Winchester, buy it.

I have a couple of CZ's though, nothing as powerful as a 375. I find no fault with them.

While I haven't owned a FN Winchester, I did own a 80's NH. The Winchester handles better, but the CZ is a better built gun. I no longer own the Winchester, and have two CZ's in the safe. One a 375, and the other a 270 from CZ's custom shop. It's a shame they are no longer being built. But as Jeff Cooper used to say, "I've got mine."

I bought a CZ 550 Safari American, found it a Gander Mountain about ten years ago on sale so got it for a real bargin. I already had a Ruger #1 in that caliber and it is not pleasant to shoot, kicks hard and fast, which I think has to do more with stock shape and fit. The CZ attracted me because of two things, it fit me perfectly, and yes the stock is a bit chubby,but the wide buttplate helps with recoil. I could throw it up and those express sights line up perfectly for me. Second thing was that the stop was absolutly beautiful.. They had two other identical models, in .458 Lott and .416 Rigby. I would have liked the Rigby but both of those had rather pain wood, and I rightly figured I could afford to shoot the .375 more, especially considering the price of the Rigby brass. With the weight and "chubby" stock this rifle is milder in the recoil dept than my old Win 70 featherweight in 30-06

You guys better be careful with those CZ triggers too, they are weak and are prone to breaking.