Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only CZ550 375 H&H.. What needs to be done to it?

I always get puzzled when I read these posts, because I have owned several of the 550's, in chamberings from 9.3x62 to .416 Rigby, and they have all shot great out of the box with the factory bedding, with no hint of any stock splitting.

The earlier ones were smoother, apparently, but I have yet to run into one that wouldn't slick up just from use.

Others have already mentioned that the factory trigger works pretty well, whether you want to use the set function or not. If you adjust the primary (unset) pull down to around 3 pounds the set function goes away.

well for me personally...a 25" bbl is just waaaay too long...some feel it's ok, and the bolt, just seems too close to rifle...these and bedding where my personall biggest concerns...
as you stated most cz's are shooters,

and you can most certainly shoot'em right outta da box!

I have both a ZKK 602 in 375H&H (Jon Speeds old gun) and a CZ550 in 416Rigby. Both have had the barrel cut to 21" and barrel band front swivels installed along with NECG front ramps with Flourescent red beads. These are the adjustable front sights that permit elevation adjustment of front bead. Easily handles the changes needed for shortening the barrel. Have no complaints with the rear sight at all. 375 has the original stock which I really like and the 416 has a Brockman laminated. Triggers are original on both with no complaints either. Both have Decellerators. They are my favorite African DGR rifles.

hows the brockman stock???
have been eyeing them up recently...

Yeah, a 25" barre; might seem way too long, and the bolt handle a little close to the stock. But I have used mine in pretty thick stuff (where, for instance, I could't se a buffalo until it was 17 yards away) and had to fire it pretty rapidly while hunting. Never had a problem. This isn;t to say others might not, just that I haven't.

there is no doubt...these rifles straight out of the box are GREAT!!!

My experience is parallel to Mule Deer's. My 458 Win was very accurate out of the box. I checked with my gunsmith friend (mentioned on another thread, who built Terry Wieland's 458 Lott)re: bedding and cracking. He said to pull it out of the stock and if the recoil lugs (it has 2)were bearing square on their steel blocks, not to worry. Mine are, and I've fired hundreds of 458 Lott equivalent loads in it. The set trigger has been dealt with here, but I learned from Mule Deer that if it was adjusted to the point where there was no more "set", it would act like a normal trigger. I did that and it has a crisp/consistent release at 2.7lbs.

One more thing: I would advise caution over cutting the barrel to 20" - 21" because of muzzle blast that can seriously damage hearing with these big bores. I have a serious hearing impairment due to shooting a black bear with a 22" 458 Win. It was fine at the bench with ear protection, but for hunting without ear protection it literally hurt my ear drum (the one closest to the muzzle) so that today I only have about 20% hearing in that ear. It is still ringing as I type this, and that was about a decade ago!

One more personal observation I wanted to add: I'm an "average" size guy 5'-10"/180 lbs, with long torso and short legs and arms. In other words, a "stocky" build. (And, by the way, an article by MD on stock shapes and shapes of people - was hilarious but all so true!)I'm also nearing my 73rd birthday but, thank the Lord, in excellent physical condition apart from some diabetes. So - my point being that a 10.2 lb/46" rifle fits me very well in Haliburton Highlands (famous for it's ruggednes and beauty). Like MD, I've not found my CZ550 to be too long, cumbersome or heavy on the high ridges, deep ravines and heavily forested regions of central Ontario.

Tomorrow, it is going bear huntin' with me!

God Bless, I'm about to turn 60 and I hope I'm hunting 14 years from now... My CZ could be a bit less muzzle heavy and a half pound lighter but I'm fixing that ...



Chuck

My 550 Safari in .416 Rigby is performing flawlessly right out of the box.

The modification I have made was to the trigger. And all I did was follow the instructions on removing creep; simply turning a screw clockwise.

I see no reason to change or modify a thing...yet. Speaking of seeing, I am still shooting irons. I have a scope ordered with LOTS of eye relief.

One of the conclusions I have come to in my years of cruising the Campfire is that the rifle loonies here just like to dink around with rifles, on the slightest excuse. This is of course an honorable pastime, but often not nearly as "necessary" as we'd like the rest of the guys to believe.

Amen to both thoughts. But what would we do if not fiddling rifles to perfection?

The actions do tend to be a bit sticky as well, but cycling the bolt smooths things out quickly. All in all a great price for a complete rifle with a magnum Mauser-variant CRF action. They are known to be shooters as well.

Chuck

Just picked up my new CZ-550 375 H&H yesterday. Bavarian Hogs back stock and mounted a Leupold V3-1.5x5x20mm with G#4 reticle. Beautiful rifle but as has been written up here, action pretty rough and a little creep in the trigger, both full and set. Saw references to people slicking up the action and adjusting the trigger. I may have missed the directions on trigger adjustment in the manual. Can anyone provide those directions here, and also what techniques others have used for slicking up thier action. Gun shoots great!!!

Here's my 2 cents: I am awaiting either tonight or tomorrow my LH CZ 550 375 to arrive home from the skillful hands of Dennis Olson. Here is what I asked him to do:

1. replace factory bolt with one from Half Moon (lg Oberndorf style)
2. replace factory safety with 3 pos AHR (Dennis it went in perfectly)
3. Tune and adjust the factory trigger (Dennis said it was very good when tuned up)
4. Built up the bolt release into a pad
5. Knurled the floor plate release button
6. Tuned and slicked up the action
7. Scrubbed off the horrible billboard writing from the side of the receiver
8. Had Dennis custom mill a single leaf rear sight element and fit it into the factory rear sight
8. Added a barrel banded sling swivel
9. Cut barrel to 23"
10. Re-crowned the barrel
11. Added an NECG banded front sight/new sight element/hood
12. Bedded the rifle

Future plans for this winter are to have the factory stock re-worked and slimmed down considerably, then re-finish after getting off that nasty gorilla finish they throw on. Finally I'd like to have it rust blued. I have a wonderful 1/4 sawn walnut blank that I'd like to use if I can get the factory stock done the way I want; then I'll simply duplicate it with the good wood.

Like Colorado said earlier, most of this was because I wanted it not because I feel the rifle needs it. I'm keeping the factory barrel because it shoots better than I can.

I want no part of a trigger safety in any form. I'm only interested in a three position safety on the shroud that locks the firing pin. As to the stock I want the pistol grip and the recoil lug with steel added. As to barrel length, I'll leave that up to the individual. Length of pull is vary important and I would not forget to put a lot of consideration into working on that. Also I do not want any hang-ups from the butt. As to action work, get with the shroud and fit that perfectly, rail work had better be a no hang -up affair. If it needs a better follower spring do that for sure.

Last but not least, make this rifle your primary rifle, forgetting all others until the rifle becomes a thoughtless piece of machinery to you. Carry it everywhere.

Here is another vote for shooting it before rebedding; my 9.3X62 shot great just as it came. The factory bedding was well done with both recoil lugs bearing evenly. A friend of mine split the stock on his CZ .458 Lott, but no telling what kind of monster load he was shooting. The trigger was easy to adjust; the set trigger was easy to disable.

As others have said, there is not a lot you have to do but there may be a few things you want to do.

My 550 magnum is in 416 Rigby. For whatever reason it did not come with crossbolts so I had these installed. My thoughts were the stock would last longer...

I did some other things but the only thing that it really needed was to work the action during a football game to smooth it up. It shot great out of the box, shoots great now.

A couple of posters have cut their barrels back from the stock 25". I think barrel length is pretty subjective. For example I'm pretty tall and I find my CZ about right and would not touch the barrel length. Indeed, for me, barrels under 22" inches don't "feel" right. I think it may be worth just shooting the CZ with barrel as is to see how it suits you.

I am toying with putting a Model 70 style safety on but again, this is clearly a want.

Congratulations on a very nice rifle.

Let me say right here that bedding with glass and adding steel to strengthen any wood stock is never a mistake, just look around at old large recoiling rifles.

I've seen reference to replacing the follower/magazine spring. Now that I've used my 375 several times over the last week, I also find my spring is quite a bit weaker than I would like. Where have people been getting stronger replacement springs?