Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires What's You Next Rimfire?

Did you pick up that Dakota action from gunbroker a few months ago?

CZ rifles are just as accurate for squirrels and such as the expensive guns. Buy one or 2 or 3 or 4 for your budget.

Well, maybe not quite but I doubt I can make use any added accuracy, in the field anyway. Meanwhile, the 457s are very nice rifles with good features at a fair price. Took them 60 years or so, but they finally got just about everything right.

No my gunsmith bought a bunch of parts from a former employee and there was a rimfire action in that.

That's sort of what I did. Got a Tikka T1x a couple of weeks ago and a CZ 457 Varmint should arrive in the brown truck this Saturday - both .22 LR.


Jury is still out on the Tikka. Initial trials with the three brands of ammo I had on hand (Wolf Match Target, CCI AR Tactical and Win. Super-X) showed that it didn't group any better than my 40 year old Kimber of OR Model 82 nor my box stock Ruger 10/22 Tactical - that's the older version with 16" heavy barrel and Hogue rubber stock. All three of them are capable of 50 yard, 10 shot groups in the .4's or .5's with Wolf Match Target and the .5's and .6's with CCI AR Tactical. The Winchester Super-X is good for making noise or tin can shooting and that's all I'll say about that.

The T1 had one failure to feed with some Super-X and ejection is erratic. It ejected all rounds successfully but pulling the bolt handle back with the same force each time it will sometimes throw the empty case out smartly and other times just dribble it out. That was all on the first day of shooting 100 rounds, no failures to feed the second day shooting a bit over 120 rounds - I only used Wolf MT and the AR Tactical so maybe the Super-X was the culprit - but the ejection was still forceful sometimes and dribbly other times with no apparent correlation to which ordinal position the round was in the magazine.

I added an Elay spring to get the pull weight down to 20 ounces and put Tikka's vertical pistol grip on it so it is very shootable and seems to be easier to hit with from a field position than either of the other two, I was dinging my 3" ringer at 100 yards from the kneeling position with boring regularity.

Not damning the thing at all, overall I definitely like the rifle and it's definitely a good shooter but from this sample of one it's not the "super duper head and shoulders better than everything else in its price range" that Tikka's reputation would promise.


In other news, have had that Ruger since 2011 but never really wrung it out side by side like this before. Its factory barrel shot so well I decided to reward it with a Brimstone trigger job and hope to get that back in another week or two.

Yeah, I have heard that from several friends.

I am a sucker for nice wood, classic lines...and accuracy. Cooper seems to put all three together nicely, but all of the Coopers I've seen, that I want, are $4k plus!

A CZ Grand Finale might be nice, but there are only a thousand floating around.

First world problems...

Tabre,
I have had three 452 sporters and one varminter, they would all put five shots into one inch at 50 yards, using wind flags and low to medium grade match ammo, My first Tikka T-1 would shoot five shots into one-quarter inch groups with boring consistency unfortunately in a moment of stupidity I sold it, my current one shoots five shots into 3/8 to 1/2" consistently.
My Cooper sporter shoots five shots into 1/4 to 3/8 at the same distances with the same quality ammo.
Just remember with a Cooper whether it is a base model or a highly optioned model the accuracy guarantee is the same - 1/4 inch five shot groups at 50 yards. I have had four 57M sporters through the years and they all met the accuracy guarantee, the only reason for selling any of them was because I found another one with better options.
If you are patient and search gunbroker, gunsamerica, etc there is an occassional pre-owned bargain to be had.

I have found that the same thing that Jim In Idaho mentioned about the Tikka being very shootable from all positions, and mine also dislike Super-X.

Jim In Idaho , The spring is the cartridge "kicker" so pulling the bolt back slowly only allows it to put a "slow or minimum" amount of pressure to kick the cartridge out whereas a normal pull back allows the spring to exert its full force all at once.
I also was discouraged about the accuracy of my second T-1 but at about 250 rounds it began to tighten up groups and it is at the point that it continually amazes me at how good a $500 rifle can shoot

drover

Thanks, thought I was pulling the bolt back the same each time but will pay more attention to it in future. Haven't given up on the accuracy by a long shot since it only has some 220 or so rounds down the tube.

Did you remove the barrel channel filler in yours? I left it in the first day but removed it the second day. Results were a tiny bit better without it but not statistically significant, such a small variation in grouping could be caused by different wind conditions from one day to the next, shooter alertness, whatever. Have left it out for now.

UPS brought some stuff from SWFA and Beretta this afternoon so it's now in its final form - full size recoil pad to get LOP the same as my T3x's, vertical pistol grip and an SWFA SS 10x42 mounted on top. Going out tomorrow to sight in the scope and get my dope for 40, 50, 75 and 100 yards and will see how it goes in a club rimfire silhouette match day after tomorrow.

Thanks drover....that is quite the recommendation for the Cooper.

I have been watching GA and GI and will continue to do so!

Look at one of the higher grades of the Kimber of Oregon model 82's.

I have read a couple of other complaints of the kicker not being forceful enough and if I recall correctly the owners complained to customer service and were sent a new magazine box (which contains the kicker) and the issue went away. It wouldn't doesn't cost you anything but a little time or an email to see if they respond accordingly.

I did remove the filler and if there was any difference I could not see it, I reinstalled it.

I too bought one of the vertical pistol grips but it did not work out for me, I have fairly long fingers and it forced my trigger finger too far forward and into the first joint rather than the pad of the finger and I would end up getting some vertical, I reinstalled the more open grip and got rid of the vertical and "rounder" groups.

drover

Good advice!

No new ones for me I don't think. In fact, I'll probably be putting some up for sale. Life changes and all of that.

52 win sporter when I finish it.

A nice 52 sporter or 75 sporter is on my list as well...

When Tikka gets their schidt figured out on the T1x, I may buy one. Accuracy reports are great, but feeding and ejection are not so great. In the type of shooting I do, I need a rifle that functions 100% 100% of the time. In a bolt action, that should be absolutely no problem to attain. Again, guys are going to bet bent out of shape reading this, but when rifles have problems like the Tikka T1x has, I don't ignore it.

An update on the last two new rimfires, the Tikka T1x and a CZ 457 Varmint. I think the ejection problems with the Tikka were my fault, i.e. my statement of pulling the bolt back with the same force each time was not completely accurate. You'd think I'd know how to work a bolt action by now but working the right hand bolt from the left shoulder I was trying to catch the empty cases as they came out and suspect I was pulling the handle back too slowly. Anyway, I've had it out a couple of times since posting my first impression and have had no further failures to feed since the one time the very first day, and while ejection is not quite as forceful as an H&K G3 it is entirely sufficient to throw cases well clear of the action.

Picked up the CZ on Monday, mounted an SWFA SS 10x42 scope that night and took it out Tuesday to try four different types of ammo - CCI AR Tactical, Wolf MT, Win Super-X and a box of Aguila "Super Extra" I picked up at a local store. The CZ really likes the Super-X where the Tikka didn't but we've all seen this before, some firearms like one brand and others don't. Like all of my .22's the CZ loved the Wolf MT and happily it also likes the AR Tactical - that actually gave the best group of the day. Good thing I only bought one box of the Aguila, don't think I'll be buying any more.

Between the two I kind of like whichever one I've shot last. The CZ with the 20" heavy barrel and wood stock feels really solid and the bolt lockup feels a bit tighter. With that nice piece of walnut it's much more aesthetically pleasing than the plastic stocked Tikka, but then I pick up the Tikka and really like the vertical grip and smooth bolt throw. Both have terrific triggers, the Tikka already has a reduced power spring in it and one for the CZ should be arriving in a while. The Tikka has a 10 round mag standard vs. the 5 rounder for the CZ; an extra Tikka mag was easy to find and order but extra CZ magazines are extremely scarce right now.

Accuracy wise they seem equal so far since both are capable of 50 yard 10 shot groups in the lower/middle .4s with the good Wolf ammo and in the upper .4's to lower .5's with the garden variety stuff. Was going to go out this morning and shoot both side by side but the wind is picking up a lot here, will have to wait for calmer conditions to be fair to each rifle.

Thanks for the update. Good comparison between the 2. Sounds like they both shoot just fine, as far as accuracy is concerned. So, no "one hole" groups yet though? Seems like you should be getting some with both rifles, if you shoot them enough. Maybe try some other ammo? My Savage single shot will shoot 1/4" targets at 50 yards pretty much on command, but the Tikka sounds like a contender...

I got a quick look at a Tikka at the range last week. They may shoot, but they don’t appeal to me otherwise. My 457 MTR however, is just nice, old-timey nice if that makes sense. Nothing cheesy about it in any way that I’ve discovered so far. Been neglecting it lately whilst chasing other notions, but its turn is coming. Gonna bear down and wring it out.

I bought a T1X a year or more ago. No feeding or ejection problems for me. What I like is the accuracy, and I don’t even shoot the expensive ammo. I put a VX3 with the varmint hunter reticle on it, and the fine cross hair in the scope is ideal for the 22. I put the 9422 and 39A back in the safe.

That said, I sure wouldn’t mind having a Cooper. Beautiful rifles.