Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires CZ 457 American

I thought I could resist but I'm to weak. LOL
No, no heavy barrel for me. I find it more fun to get a sporter weight to shoot right along with a heavy barrel. I was shocked that no one offers a sporter weight in 17HM2, so I'll have to make one. Geesh! I would like to return one of my Sako's that's running a 17HM2 barrel back to a 22lr. so I'll be turning the CZ into a 17HM2 at some point, well, at least that's the plan.


MT DD FAN,
Those 452's do shoot very good but man, they have 3 strikes against them in my book. A 90degree bolt throw, a safety that goes the wrong way, and a trigger that looks very similar to the chinese SKS trigger.
I had one in 22mag. several years ago. Changed the trigger to a Timney, pillar bedded the action and a couple of other small improvements, all before I shot it. What a stupid mistake that was on my part. It wouldn't feed. Tried different magazines.....nada, adjusted the mag. follower, nada, so off to CZ it went. Now the 2 main reasons I bought it was 1. I needed a 22mag for Coyote to fill in for my 164M Anschutz and 2. the stock was a beautiful tiger stripe.
Got the rifle back from CZ and the first thing I noticed was it looked like they dragged the stock across a cement floor, plus they ramped the back of the barrel to get it feed. It's a rimfire. Hell I could have ramped it with a dremel myself. Anyway, they would not take care of the stock nor replace the barrel. I traded it even up for an old Browning A Bolt 22 mag. that was rusted from one end to the other and the stock was scratched up. Swore off of CZ's from that point on.

Here's a picture of it before I even shot it. LOL

I finally couldn't stand just looking and ordered a CZ 457 American in 22lr. I've heard a lot of great things about the 457 and decided I needed to find out for myself. I've already ordered some parts to help the rifle out. Different trigger spring, although I have Wolf spring kits I normally use for triggers, an extra used trigger to play with, a steel cocking indicator, and some upgraded screws. I'm sure I'll replace the plastic pillars with aluminum ones we use in the shop, and of course a bedding job.
Next will be a Varmint stock unless I can find a 17HM2 sporter barrel.
So, who to blame for this addiction. Not me of course. bsa?, Penndog? Drover? and a host of others.

I am seriously considering getting a 457 American sporter in 22 LR, a local farm store has a new one priced at $600 and have 10% off sale going on.

I have looked at the 457's numerous times and two things have kept me from buying one yet -
#1 is the horrible mud colored finish on the stock and #2 is that I can't believe that it will group as good as my Tikka T1x MTR. I also am not a fan of the nearly 25" barrel.
But, I keep telling myself that it would give me a project for the winter. I am going to take another look at it on Monday, maybe by then I can convince myself that those things are not really important.

drover

drover,
You should really take a hard look at them. The longer barrel may create velocity loss, but sure would make a round quieter and the subsonics quieter even more. What's not to like about that.

One benefit we’ve seen at our local matches to the longer barrels is more consistent velocity. The longer barrels may be slightly slower but the speed is more consistent and they tend to be more forgiving on ammo.

The velocity loss isn't a concern for me but handling is. I go through a few thousand rounds of 22 LR in the spring and summer shooting gophers (ground squirrels). most of it is done from the drivers seat of my pickup. The Tikka T1x with a 20" barrel is so easy handling from that position that it has spoiled me. On the other hand with the 25" barrel I wouldn't need to constantly have the awareness of the barrels proximity to the outside mirror. Most gopher shooters that shoot from the cab have had a "Whoops: moment.

drover